LOUDON CLEAR (Loudon Wainwright III)

Member Name: lynn_bex

Product:	Loudon Wainwright III
Date:	21/01/02 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Performer, Funny and Intelligent, Clever Songs

Disadvantages: Could be a bit too clever for some tastes, Otherwise, no disadvantaces

Loudon Wainwright III - Bloomsbury Theatre, London - 26 September 2001

Having repeatedly requested this category, I feel duty bound to post my opinion, albeit several months late…
By way of explanation for the delay, I must firstly thank Jo, the busy little bee who set up many an overdue and yearned for category during dooyoo’s period of reorganisation and relocation.
Unfortunately, there followed a month or more when I was unable to access dooyoo from my home computer, receiving instead that irritating picture of the two little boys “…optimising the system” and, after a while, you might say that I lost my momentum.

By the time I got back into regular dooyoo contact, we were having some work done on the house so, what with one thing and another… It’s been a while…
~~
Still, here goes with the first of my long overdue opinions:-

Having spotted the ad for Loudon Wainwright III’s only London show within a day or two of the gig being announced, I was able to book excellent seats in the third row of the stalls. - This being near enough to see all of the artist’s rubber-faced expressions without becoming unnecessarily alarmed, Rocky [the daughter is a geology student] and I having been somewhat disconcerted, on a previous occasion, by Loudon’s expressive licking of his lips, a manoeuvre which gave the appearance of his tongue enveloping his whole face. In repose, it is by no means an unattractive face, but there is something quite startling about some of things Mr Wainwright does with it, during a live performance!

Loudon Wainwright III is a singer/songwriter/sometime actor who appeared in the TV series “M.A.S.H.” and has recently been signed to the American series “Undeclared” [I have no idea whether this is available in the UK]. He is also something of a cult figure, who has been performing his semi-autobiographical songs
since the 1960’s and was resident singer on Jasper Carrot’s television show a decade or two later.

Frequently ironic and sometimes in dubious taste, he is guaranteed a place in my heart, along with all those other left-field players who regularly make me smile with their commentaries on the extraordinary life-choices we all make, often for the strangest of reasons.

To put Loudon’s musical credentials in place, I should perhaps refer you to the CD “Loudon Wainwright III - BBC Sessions” which features some of the man’s self-selected songs from live performances on the shows of John Peel, Johnnie Walker and Andy Kershaw. The liner notes are by Andy Kershaw and dated September 1998 so, although I appreciate this is not exactly “cutting edge”, it’s pretty darn hip for the likes of Loudon and Lynn_Bex…

Which brings me to this London show, showcasing Loudon Wainwright’s excellent new album, “Last Man On Earth.”
“Has anyone here bought the album?” he asked the audience. Continuing, when the reply was in the affirmative, “It’s pretty darn good, ain’t it?”

Lynn_Bex is here to tell you that the album IS pretty darn good, containing some of the “new” songs I last heard him sing at the Jazz Café a couple of years back, at which time he told the audience that they were as-yet unrecorded because he did not have a record deal “…but there must be one more fool out there…”

Clearly, he found another fool, and the cover notes on the recently issued “Last Man on Earth” are exceptionally useful in putting these new songs into context. Loudon Wainwright writes:

“My mother died in 1997 and naturally my world fell apart. I was living in London at that time, trying (sort of) to keep a sinking romantic relationship afloat…”

Returning home
to Westchester County, New York, he lived in his mother’s house for eighteen months; the relationship with the lady in London ended and he thought he would never again be able to write songs but gradually, this new batch of songs emerged and they are as strong as any of his earlier compositions.

Unsurprisingly, Loudon Wainwright opened this London show with “Missing You”, a song about an older/ageing man and the aimless but structured life he lives to a set routine whilst recovering from a failed relationship and the resultant broken heart.
There are some comical lines to disguise what might otherwise be a howl of anguish to lost love as he goes through the motions of day-to-day-living…
Performed live, this is pure theatre, appreciated by the entire audience as, towards the end, “…his teeth fall out so does his hair/But in his dreams you’re always there… …there’s a heaven and he knows it’s true…/…But he’s back on earth just missing you…”

“Living Alone” has a similar theme, but more humour. It’s a tale of mooching around the house, able to do exactly as you please, but it’s an unnatural and lonely existence, just mooching to pass the time. The performance of this song ends with Loudon hollering the lines, “Your parents are dead now/And your kids are full grown and/You’re fifty-five now/You’re fifty-five now/YOU’RE FIFTY-FIVE NOW/You’re living alone.” Great stuff.

[The CD liner notes tell me that this was one of the songs written in his mother’s house, before he “got the hell out of there” and moved to a new location in Suffolk County, New York. Clearly, there are many truths in this lonely story.]

One of my favourites, played live, is “White Winos”. A tale of drinking sessions with his mother, who liked her white wine and would ha
ve a glass or two almost every night, “just to take the edge off.” As the song progresses, mother’s capacity for white wine increases – and I get a sharp elbow in the ribs from daughter, Rocky… Though I cannot imagine that she sees any similarity whatsoever between Loudon’s mother and her own…

There was also a song about his father and the resentment felt by Loudon Wainwright III at being a numeral with his father’s name, sent to his father’s old school and so forth. He mentioned in passing that, in the end, his father wound up as “Loudon Wainwright”, whereas our man remained a numeral!
[Why do you suppose the Americans do that thing with names? Years ago I worked for an American lawyer, who I will call John Smith III, and he explained that this was because his grandfather was John Smith, his father was John Smith Junior, and therefore he was “the third” or John Smith III. I thought it was daft then, and I still think it’s daft.]

There was a wonderful song about heaven, which we were told will be full of people drinking, smoking and having a lot of fun, as was demonstrated by Loudon practically dancing around the stage. I’m happy with the warped logic of this idiotic song, and will be delighted if it’s true, as this style of heaven will certainly suit my taste.

This show was a mere couple of weeks after 11 September 2001 and the horrors of that day did not pass without comment. Loudon Wainwright can be quite political but in this instance he had written a simple, restrained song and he explained that this was about his regular New York subway journey, beneath the East River, where the World Trade Centre was the stop before his usual destination of Canal Street, China Town. Travelling after the disaster he told of the silence in the compartment of his train as he and his few fellow travellers shared unspoken thoughts as they passed t
hrough the darkened station bearing the symbol “WTC”.

He really did not need to say more, the entire audience understood.

Naturally, the audience also wanted to hear their favourite songs from his back catalogue, and he did not disappoint.
[Unless anyone hoped for the Skunk . He no longer performs, “Dead Skunk”, the song about the road-kill incident of a dead skunk, lying in the road, stinking to high heaven, which is a pity because it still makes me laugh!]

Given an opportunity to call out for their favourites, one member of the audience called for two songs in quick succession. “Is that the same woman?” asked Loudon, “Oh. It’s a request juke box.”

Naturally, he performed “Hard Day on the Planet” and “You Don’t Want to Know,” the latter an affectionate commentary on life in Britain by a confused American living in this country. We are a ridiculous people but we can laugh at ourselves when it is gently pointed out that the entire country grinds to a halt in bad weather: we are told to stay indoors, the trains don’t run, there are tales of freezing old ladies, and to cap it all, we think “with that silly umbrella, you can conquer all the elements!”

This was a great performance, thoroughly enjoyed by the entire audience.

Those of us there in time for the support act, Sid Griffin, were equally impressed by his performance. An American now living in the UK, Griffin is a former member of the Los Angeles based country rock band The Long Ryders, but now works as a journalist as well as performing both solo and with his group the Coal Porters.

This was a solo performance and Griffin was terrific, particularly when he performed the old Jimmie Rodgers song “Waiting for a Train”, complete with yodels. – Lynn_Bex wants to see more of Sid Griffin, who has been added to the list sh
e watches out for when scanning the ads for forthcoming shows.

Oh, talking of shows, I was at the London “Concert for a Landmine Free World” on Thursday, 17 January 2002. It was a great night and I hope to post my opinion sooner, rather than later. - This is the concept I have mentioned before and to which I intend to donate my first £50.00-worth of dooyoo.

A belated Happy New Year to everyone.

Lynn

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