10 April 2018: New Charlie Harper Solo Album Out This Week

The following news story appeared on the T&M homepage:

10/04: NEW CHARLIE HARPER SOLO ALBUM

Charlie is all set to self-release his brand new solo album - his second solo outing, an incredible 36 years after his solo debut 'Stolen Property' in 1982!

Entitled 'Little Black Crow', it will initially be available on CD, and on sale at Yuko's merchandise stall at forthcoming gigs as well as via mail order exclusively through the T&M webshop, from Thursday 12 April 2018.

The new album - on 'Road Dog Records', which is Charlie's own new label imprint has 14 tracks as follows:

1. THE FOX
2. THE CUCKOO
3. SAN FRANCISCO BAY
4. DRUNKEN SAILOR
5. RIDING IN MY CAR
6. RAIL ROAD BILL

7. LITTLE BLACK CROW
8. SPOKANE SPECIAL
9. INSPIRATION
10. HOBOS LULLABY
11. GOING TO THE ZOO
12. TRUE LOVE WILL FIND YOU
13. OLD MAN TRUMP
14. FROGGIE WENT A COURTIN

The set comprises 3 Harper originals, 5 traditional songs arranged by Charlie, 2 cover version songs as well as 4 songs written by legendary American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie.

The album was recorded and mixed over 5 days in September 2017 at The Brighton Road Recording Studios at Newtimber in West Sussex and features Charlie playing 6 and 12-string guitar as well as harmonica.

Ali Gavan, who jointly runs the studio played drums and piano and The Ramonas' Victoria Smith played bass. Charlie himself played harmonica on one of the tracks on the recent brilliant Ramonas debut LP, which was also put down at the same studio.

As well Charlie, Vicky and Ali, they were joined in the studio by Attila The Stockbroker on fiddle, who posted a photo (seen to the right) of himself in the studio with Charlie on 25 September 2017, on his Facebook page.

The CD is a limited run of 500 copies and the LP is due in the next few months on yellow vinyl, which will be limited to 300 copies. T&M will again be distributing this via our mail order shop.

The album title 'Little Black Crow', is taken from one of the acoustic songs Charlie recorded for the bonus disc of the U.K. Subs 2013 'XXIV' CD release. Charlie produced the new album himself and the artwork was done by Jack Hamilton, who also did the art on The Ramonas' aforementioned release.

Talking exclusively to T&M, Charlie described the album as "...a children's album adults will love..." and is hoping to record a follow up solo album later this year, time permitting. Of his newly written songs Charlie revealed that "'Spokane Special' is a country blues, harmonica fuelled song in the style of Sonny Terry, Spokane being a city in the state of Washington in the northwestern USA which was a sort of crossroads for Hobos..."

Charlie's other new song, called 'Inspiration', was actually initiated via Charlie and Alvin trying to write a chanson, or French style story song which Charlie developed the chord sequence from subsequently.

Charlie also enthused about his serendipitous version of 'True Love Will Find You', a song which he had never heard of by Daniel Johnston, before "...someone said to Jamie at a Subs gig 'has Charlie recorded that song by Daniel Johnston', which led me to look it up, listen to it and actually love it and now record it..."