The Forum - The Forum

Kick out the Jam!

GreenMan — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:22:55 +0100

Hey Jimbo - good to know that you appreciate The Dukes.

Comic Man! B)

Re: Happy Bonny Black Hare day!

Windflower — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:57:25 +0100

I'm really liking this track... I know it's an "old track" but as I'm not lucky enough to own the EP - I'd never heard it before 14th May! It's very refreshing to hear Jim with another string to his bow - ie a bit of hard rock!

Jim - out of interest, what's the timing of the bars in the track as the syncopation is brilliant - and sounding a (very) little bit Jethro Tull-ey!! (I hope you take that as a compliment!) ;)

Cheers! Ali

Re: Happy Bonny Black Hare day!

MATTG — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:54:11 +0100

Hmm, not bad for a "fraud who relies on gimmicks & technology to make up for his lack of ability" (see Jim's post 24/4/12).

Thanks for making this available Jim, hopefully the rest of the tracks will follow at some point.

More of this type of thing (electric guitars & rock drums) on your next work I hope.

Re: I was thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"...but I'm not now.

martin — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:24:50 +0100

Does the release of Bonny Black Hare as a download on Sound Cloud mean the others are to follow? I appreciate these are early works and may not sound as polished as some of Jim's later stuff but they do provide the complete picture. And for those of us who didn't pick up on Jim until Sweet England are a missing part of the jigsaw.

Re: Happy Bonny Black Hare day!

Windflower — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:31:53 +0100

>:D< >:D< >:D<

Re: Happy Bonny Black Hare day!

cnm — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:25:13 +0100

Be careful with your Ramrod!

Re: Lyrics

jimmoray — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:04:33 +0100

Hogeye Man is an exclusive bonus track for Bandcamp only - which includes the Modern History Club downloads but also those who ordered early from Bandcamp.

iTunes meanwhile has a bonus track of the If It's True video. If we do vinyl (and I'd really like to do a small run, maybe in the autumn. Well see how it goes) then I'll put an exclusive bonus track on that too.

I'm quite happy to send out the missing tracks if anyone feels they missed out by buying in any particular format though. Hogeye Man is a bit of a joke though - it's not supposed to be serious, I was just having fun.

I think a songbook is unlikely right now, especially since I don't own the publishing on the first two albums. When I have more material to pick from along the lines of Lord Douglas or Hind Etin then maybe. I won't rule it out, but not just yet.

Re: Lyrics

redpete — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:05:10 +0100

Valentine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What Ali said is mostly right but the "free"
> download was a Gift from Jim
> to all of us who paid the extra money to the In
> Modern History Pledge monthly
> download club.
> Hogeye Man was an extra special track for All of
> us who subscribed to this.

I'm not sure that's entirely correct... I have Hogeye Man as a download track, but I've never been a member of the In Modern History Pledge monthly download club (not having been aware of its existence until now). I am a tad confused about this, but I think I remember (though I have the memory span of a fish these days) that when buying Skulk from Jim's website when it was being released there was an option to purchase a download version of the album plus being sent the CD version when that was released a little later. Hogeye Man was then included with the download version of the album. I'm fairly convinced that's how I come to have the bonus track... I'm happy to be corrected if I'm even more confused than I think I am.

Happy Bonny Black Hare day!

jimmoray — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:16:58 +0100

"On the 14th of May at the dawn of the day..."

[soundcloud.com]

Re: Lyrics

Valentine — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:17:49 +0100

Hi Mate,

What Ali said is mostly right but the "free" download was a Gift from Jim
to all of us who paid the extra money to the In Modern History Pledge monthly
download club.
Hogeye Man was an extra special track for All of us who subscribed to this.
I hope that helps and I`m sorry to have brought it up now. :-)

Peace,
Andrew.

PS

I wonder if I`m The Hogeye Man, Jim?

AltheFolker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Windflower Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Althe - Hogeye Man is a track which (I think)
> was
> > only available on the digital download version
> of
> > Skulk through Bandcamp, as I'm pretty sure it's
> > not on the physical album... I will stand
> > corrected if I'm wrong!
> >
> > Hope this helps!! Ali x
>
>
> And that's hardly fair! I was deliberately waiting
> to buy the CD when I see JM at Shrewsbury so I
> could get it personally signed! :(

Re: Lyrics

AltheFolker — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:09:47 +0100

Windflower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Althe - Hogeye Man is a track which (I think) was
> only available on the digital download version of
> Skulk through Bandcamp, as I'm pretty sure it's
> not on the physical album... I will stand
> corrected if I'm wrong!
>
> Hope this helps!! Ali x

And that's hardly fair! I was deliberately waiting to buy the CD when I see JM at Shrewsbury so I could get it personally signed! :(

Re: Lyrics

AltheFolker — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:05:22 +0100

redpete Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MATTG Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > I assume that it is oats & not Oates, a lyrics
> > section would certainly help with this one!
>
>
> Indeed. A friend of mine got very confused about
> the subject matter of Horkstowe Grange, having
> misheard John Bowlin as Jon Boden.

Haha.

One thing I'd been meaning to ask was whether there would be any chance of getting songbooks made? I've got 3 of the 4 Steve Knightley songbooks, and they're well made and invaluable. It would certainly help with a few of these questions, and various other ones about chords, etc.

Any chance of it, Mr. Moray?

Re: Lyrics

redpete — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:01:32 +0100

MATTG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I assume that it is oats & not Oates, a lyrics
> section would certainly help with this one!

Indeed. A friend of mine got very confused about the subject matter of Horkstowe Grange, having misheard John Bowlin as Jon Boden.

Re: Lyrics

MATTG — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:56:04 +0100

AltheFolker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At the moment, I'm trying to see if the song
> "Valentine" is a trad. or what. Or what the
> relevance of throwing oats against the vine is all
> about.

Given that we're dealing in folk music here, I would have thought that "throwing oats against the vine " was fairly self explanatory (and rather rude).

I assume that it is oats & not Oates, a lyrics section would certainly help with this one!

Apropos of nothing, I've just seen Jim performing at the Bristol Folk Festival as part of the Bristol Morris Men, both playing a squeezebox and doing some morris dancing, although not at the same time. Is there no end to the man's talents ?

Re: Lyrics

Windflower — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:31:46 +0100

Althe - Hogeye Man is a track which (I think) was only available on the digital download version of Skulk through Bandcamp, as I'm pretty sure it's not on the physical album... I will stand corrected if I'm wrong!

Hope this helps!! Ali x

Re: Lyrics

AltheFolker — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:32:57 +0100

There is the odd thread on here about lyrics for particular songs. I know because it's usually been me asking. But it'd be good to put them in one place.

At the moment, I'm trying to see if the song "Valentine" is a trad. or what. Or what the relevance of throwing oats against the vine is all about.

Valentine, what is this "Hogeye Man" of which you speak? I must have missed that track. It's not on bandcamp is it?

Re: Lyrics

Valentine — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:32:26 +0100

Hi Doogyrev,

And welcome to our little part of the Web. :-)
That is a great idea I think, I for one would love to see what
Jim changes from trad folf songs as well.
When I was speaking with Jim at the Cabbage Patch gig the other
month I foget to ask him what he was singing in one of my favourite
tracks on Skulk (And I do realise that I am most likely in a club of one)Hogeye Man
as it sounds different from the original version.
Excepting the Swear word of course. ;-)
Anyway I Love that song, can you just imaging Jim and the band on stage, Jim with Greeced
back hair and a Massave Quiff with he`s Guitar slung across he`s shoulder and doing an Elvis
or a Billy Fury whilst singing Hogeye Man.
Just close yours eyes and think of this the next time you listen to that track Guys. :-)

Peace,
Andrew.

Doogyrev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It would be great to have a lyrics page on here.
> I don't know how it sits with copyright issues as
> there are a number of songs based on trad stories
> and other old folf songs. It would be great to
> read what changes you've made in lyrics Jim from
> original versions. Plus my daughters fav song in
> the whole world is your Silver Dagger (despite it
> being tragic!) and I can't quite make out all the
> words when I sing it to her haha! :)

Skulk Plug on Radio 5 Live

bigsnitch — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:52:23 +0100

I've just heard the podcast of last week's movie discussion with Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode, and at the end, Simon mentioned that Skulk was his album of the week.

I don't listen to the show on the radio, only the podcast, so I don't know if this comment made it to a national audience, but a friend of mine alerted me to it after he'd heard the podcast, saying that the singer I'm always banging on about got a mention and he was going to check him out on YouTube.

Martin

Lyrics

Doogyrev — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:54:55 +0100

It would be great to have a lyrics page on here. I don't know how it sits with copyright issues as there are a number of songs based on trad stories and other old folf songs. It would be great to read what changes you've made in lyrics Jim from original versions. Plus my daughters fav song in the whole world is your Silver Dagger (despite it being tragic!) and I can't quite make out all the words when I sing it to her haha! :)

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

redpete — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:13:46 +0100

Blimey, that's a great thought. Or almost anything off the first couple of Ants albums. Or even a crack at Goody Two Shoes could be interesting...

btw (totally off topic), it's fantastic to see Adam touring again and seeming to thoroughly enjoy it. Was lucky enough to be at his gig at Cambridge Junction last year, which was astonishingly good.

MATTG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... (I've always wanted Jim to have
> a crack at covering Cartrouble).
>
> So how about it then Jim - the download that is,
> I'm guessing that there's more chance of that than
> an Ant cover.

Re: Skulk reviews

tgreul — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:53:03 +0100

I posted a 5 star review on amazon. Boy, it takes a lot to overcome a 1 star review

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

cnm — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:31:06 +0100

Valentine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> PS,
>
> What sort of music do you play Col and where can I hear some Mate?

Sorry Andrew, missed that bit of your post. My originals days are long gone, so I've sold out and I'm playing in a covers band these days (google Blinkwatch and you'll find us) or search on Soundcloud for Not_the_DJ, I've uploaded a few tracks there from various projects I've been involved in. A couple of originals, a few covers and some noodling.

Hope no one minds the spam there, he did ask!

Cheers,
Col

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

cnm — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:23:32 +0100

Thanks guys, to be honest I am having cold feet, so I think
I will hold onto it (for now at least!).

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

jameslord — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:54:33 +0100

I like the idea of a download (perhaps only from this website?) and would happily pay for it. I think Lemady and Poverty Knock are excellent and would like to hear the rest - even if it isn't all up to the same standard in Jim's estimation.

Good luck to the OP with selling his copy and MattG, the only thing I can say in response to your Ant suggestion is Dirk Wears White Socks ;-)

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

MATTG — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:37:42 +0100

What's happening then Col ? Are we under starters orders or not. I wouldn't be surprised if you decide not to sell it now. You're clearly a true fan of Jim, who got into his music right from the start. You've beaten my by at least five years I'm ashamed to say. I'd keep it if I were you, you'll only regret it if you sell it.

As someone suggested previously (under a different topic heading I think), perhaps the way around the dilemma that Jim has (as per his post above), is to put the tracks out as some sort of download - maybe to the IMH Club members only, or just to the people who have bothered to register on this Forum, or even to everyone. I'll admit that people like me would still like to have a copy of the original CD, and would still be prepared to pay a premium, but it might just stop 'silly money' being asked for it.

If it were done this way I don't think that people would regard it as a 'new' release. If you're still in doubt Jim, take a leaf out of the book of one of your heroes, Adam Ant no less. When he started having hit records, his back catalogue all got re-released. I think that people realised it was old stuff and not new stuff, and it didn't damage his legacy in any way, even though there was some dodgy material in there (Young Parisians anyone?), there were also some gems such as Cartrouble (sic). (I've always wanted Jim to have a crack at covering Cartrouble).

So how about it then Jim - the download that is, I'm guessing that there's more chance of that than an Ant cover.

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

shushapye — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:19:58 +0100

I'm not in a position to have an opinion on "I Am Jim Moray" specifically, as I think the only track off it I've actually ever heard is "Poverty Knock" (which I'm guessing Jim likes, at least a bit, seeing as he put it on The Beginner's Guide).

In general terms, though, while I've never seen the point of people paying silly money for the bright green Japanese import version of an album with exactly the same versions of exactly the same songs on it as the black vinyl English copy they already have, I do understand when it's a completely separate deleted album by an artist they love and they just want it because they really want to hear the material (even more so when it's a band that has now split up, so they're never going to be producing any more of it).

Some of the artists I like are quite disparaging about their early work (David Sylvian has, I think, gone as far as describing people who still listen to Japan records as "pathetic", which is, IMO, just plain rude!). I think, though, that sometimes it's even harder for an artist to be completely objective about earlier work than it is for fans - even if it's really good, you just don't have the same emotional investment in it and excitement about it that you do for your current work.

I'm not a completist at all and rarely go down the e-Bay route, but I must admit there are a couple of long-deleted 80s post-punk albums that I would probably pay more money than I can afford for if I ever saw them up for sale.

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

cnm — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:05:21 +0100

Thanks Jim. Sorry that you're not keen on the material (although with the greatest respect you're wrong ;-) there's some great moments on there, and for a fan you can see the roots of some of the ideas explored on Sweet England and beyond.

Lemady is a great intro with the vocal looping, quite haunting really

Poverty Knock is just wonderfull, and a firm favorite of mine.

As I Roved Out really sounds like a forerunner for the Sweet England album, excellent arrangement.

Fair Sally's more traditional arrangement works really well (just acoustic guitar and vocals for those you haven't heard it).

The Bonny Black Hare works less well I'll admit, but still it's part of your history and who doesn't chuckle at those lyrics!

Come With Me has a great string arrangement and again points a clear sign post to what would come next.

Don't be ashamed of it Jim!

How about putting just one of those songs in the set for Warwick this year?

Re: Thinking of Selling my "I am Jim Moray EP"

jimmoray — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:39:24 +0100

Hmmm. This gives me mixed feelings. I want Col to get a good price for it because he needs the money for other stuff (and don't worry - I don't want a cut as was suggested above - it's your property to sell as you want!). But also, I don't want to drive the price up any more. I find the whole thing embarrassing because its just not very good. Like having drawings you made in wax crayon as a child traded for silly money in later life. I'm flattered and a bit proud in one tiny way, but horrified that anyone would be paying £60 for that particular set of songs and then might either judge me by it, or be disappointed with what they'd got after that kind of outlay.

And anything I say will only make the situation worse. If I state categorically that it won't be re-issued then that pushes the price up more. And maybe reissuing it is the only way to stem the rising price of the EP. But then, reissuing it would present it as a 'proper' record and part of a body of work and would actually be quite damaging to my 'track record'. If you know what I mean.

If I could afford to, I'd slowly buy the records back each time they appear on ebay and keep them in a locked cupboard here... ;)

P.S. I understand and sort of agree with Andrew's point of view on selling on records for more than they are worth, but I have a confession to make. During my five months of having no gigs, Christmas was funded by the sale of a signed copy of the *very* rare first Muse EP. It didn't reach what some copies have, the buyer was overjoyed at a Christmas present for their son, and I didn't need to hang on to it any more. And I desperately needed some income having spent all my money on making Skulk.

Re: If It's True video

jimmoray — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:48:08 +0100

A feature on the video on Radar Music Videos site. [www.radarmusicvideos.com]-

I'm just embarking on commissioning another video through them...

Re: Non-Album Tracks/Rarities/B-Sides 2003-2011

cnm — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:40:49 +0100

There was an earlier Eliza version on Heat, Light & Sound as well.

*Edit* Actually ignore that version, the one on red/rice is a much better.

As for Jim's version I love it. Quite sparse but if I'm not mistaken that's an e-bow on there which adds a lot to the backing.