LINER NOTES: Vol. II Live! The First Scottish Tour
Since the first album, Nae Plans has now become a touring show! And we now have a live album to give you a taste of the live gig atmosphere!
This second release from ‘Nae Plans’ on Errogie Records is a collection of ten live recordings taken from their recent tour of Scotland. The record is a natural progression from the freshness of the first ‘Highland Livingroom’ album; the duo once again applying the daredevil philosophy of allowing no prior discussion of the music before committing to performance. This time though, instead of attempting this feat from the relative safety of a private recording studio, they have boldly taken it to the stage, the results of which are live recordings that are charming, heart-warming, sometimes hilarious, other times poignant, and all of course wonderfully spontaneous.
With Hamish on piano, vocals and flute and Adam on fiddle, beautifully captured here, this is music making with a rare sense of urgency and purpose, making for an exhilarating, touching and truly unique album.
#1 – “Gordon Duncan Classic – Pipe Band Hall Wick”
Jock Broons [Gordon Duncan] Adam learned this tune from good friends Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton, both students of the great composer and piper, Gordon Duncan.
#2 – “Second Reverb – Scapa Flow Museum Oil Tank Hoy”
Auchengeich Disaster [melody is trad, lyrics by Norman Buchan 1959]. In September 1959, 47 men lost their lives in a coal mine near the town of Auchengeich when a faulty fan purifying the air in the colliery went on fire due to an electrical fault. The men were in bogies travelling to the coal face to start work, and due to the intense smoke they were abandoned just a few hundred yards from safety. The mine was eventually flooded to put out the fire; there was only one survivor from the crews. The Mining accident was one of the worst within the UK in the 20th century, widowing 41 women and leaving 76 children without a father.
#3 – “Stage Banter 1 – An Tobar Isle of Mull”
Hamish gets a roasting.
#4 – “Country Song – An Tobar Isle of Mull”
“I Always Get Lucky [George Jones, 1983] Hamish would like to apologise to all those hardened country fans that are offended by the his lyrical errors, in particular his older brother, who sings this song far better than Hamish, and who is a brilliant songwriter himself. Check Findlay Napier out here.
#5 – “Stage Banter 2 – An Tobar Isle of Mull”
Adam gets a roasting. What goes around comes around.
#6 – “Flute Air – Deserted Orkney Saloon”
Cornaig Beach [Hamish Napier] Written during an amazing Hebridean holiday on Tiree.
#7 – “Slipjigs – Glenurquhart Public Hall Loch Ness”
‘The Butterfly’ and ‘Ho Ro Mo Bhobag An Dram’ (The favourite dram) are two well known Irish and Scottish 9/8 jigs, each packed with charm and a delight to play.
#8 – “Fairmer’s Singalong – Strathspey House Concert”
Alexander’s Mill [Buff Wilson] Alexander’s Mill was written, in the early 1960’s, by Buff Wilson who’s father farmed just outside Irvine, Ayrshire. Hamish learned this from the singing of brilliant Scots singer Scott Gardiner.
#9 – “Fisherman’s Singalong – Hatton Castle Angus”
The Final Trawl [Archie Fisher, 1987]
A beautiful song that Hamish sang with Gillian Frame in their Scottish folk band Back of the Moon.
#10 – “Serenading The Minch Crossers – Ullapool Ferry Terminal”
Crossing the Minch [PM Donald MacLeod]
The opening gig on our 2014 tour was on the Calmac ferry gangway in Ullapool for the passengers as they disembarked from their crossing from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Not surprisingly the last man off the boat, who was the last man to leave the bar on the boat, asked us for this West Coast classic!
#11 – “CalMac Siren Jam – Ullapool Ferry Terminal”
Battle of the Somme [William Laurie] / McGoldricks [John McCusker] / Muireann’s Jig [Niall Vallely]
More from the ferry gangway! ‘The Battle of the Somme’ is one of the many classic melodies by William Lawrie, 1881 – 1916. William came from Ballchulish. The death of Willie Lawrie at age 35 in 1916 remains to this day one of piping’s greatest premature losses.
#12 – “Rabbie’s Farewell – Deserted Orkney Saloon”
Auld Lang Syne [Rabbie Burns]
1am in a deserted bar in Kirkwall, Orkney, November 2014.
#13 “[hidden track] 😉 ssshhhhhh……..One More Tune – Deserted Orkney Saloon”
“Mercedes Benz Song [Janis Joplin, 1970]
Eight minutes later in that deserted bar in Kirkwall, Orkney, in November 2014. The lyrics of this famous song were written at Vahsen’s, a Port Chester, New York bar at 30 Broad Street on August 8, 1970 during an impromptu poetry jam between Janis Joplin and songwriter pal Bob Neuwirth. The lyrics were inspired by the first line of a song written by San Francisco beat poet Michael McClure, “Come on, God, and buy me a Mercedes Benz”. The song was recorded in one take on October 1, 1970. Sadly, these were the last tracks Joplin ever recorded; she died three days later, on October 4. The song appeared on the album Pearl, released in 1971.