It's not often that
Oxford hosts any stars of the
Alt-Country movement but Sunday the 26th
October 1998 saw the wonderful Neal Casal
gracing that well known Honky-Tonk stage
the Gloucester Arms! His first recording
'Fade Away Diamond Time' slipped
through the net as Zoo Records U.S.
dropped him but he has gone from from
strength to strength courtesy of German
label Glitterhouse and U.S. indie Buy or
Die to produce some of the best Band/Van
Morrison/Dylan derived harmonic folk-rock
of the past few years. Hard to track down
but well worth finding discs like the
solo acoustic Rain Wind and Speed or
the more recent The sun rises here
not to mention the Ltd ed. Field
Recordings'or newie Basement
Dreams showcase a talented songwriter
whose harmonic wistfulness at times
recall Van Morrison's Woodstock daze
(sic). These solo gigs following a
full band line up alongside The Good Sons
and Hazeldine at London's the Borderline
gave those of a country persuasion
a chance to appreciate his talent live. A
special gig for a local music scene not
know for its country leanings! If
you like Casal you should also check out
his contribution to Smashing Pumpkin's
James Iha's 'Let it Come Down' which is
as good a 1970's soft rock record as ever
was made in the 90's! casal plays
guitar and sings back-up!
Looks like 1974 is back
with a vengeance -get out the old copies
of ZigZag!
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