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My Darling Clementine

Venue: Grateful Fred's
Town: Formby
Date: 6th June
Website: http://www.mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk/

Grateful Fred's in Formby is fast-becoming one of the top venues for Americana music in the North West of England. Its reputation was further enhanced by a rare acoustic concert by the highly accalaimed My Darling Clementine [MDC] tonight [6th June].

MDC's debut album "How Do You Plead" was ,rightly, described by Country Music People magazine as " the best British Country record of original material ...ever". Having owned the album since it was released , I would certainly endorse that plaudit. It is a "truly great record" and that was said by none other than the legendary Chris Hillman of The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers [with Gram Parsons], Manassas [with Stephen Stills] and the very successful Desert Rose Band [with Herb Pedersen].

For the unitiated , MDC are the husband and wife duo of Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish. Michael [MWK] , who was brought up in Southport, just up the road from here, should need no introduction as he is well-known as a pioneering figure in British Alt Country music, first with his band The Good Sons and ,more recently, as a solo artist. He has worked with the Late Great Townes Van Zandt , the aforementioned Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen ,Ron Sexsmith and the much- missed Jackie Leven. My first encounter with MWK's music was in the early 1980's when I saw his fledgling band ,Fragile Friends [with Chas Cole] in a bar in Ormskirk .Even though his music was very different then ,his talent was obvious . He went on to join a local [and quite succesful] country rock band called Gary Hall and the Stormkeepers before forming The Good Sons. The "other half" of MDC is Lou Dalgleish .She and Michael have been together for 13 years .Lou's career includes dancing, acting ,singing and songwriting and she has released four albums in her own right.

Tonight MDC are playing an acoustic set as a four-piece. Usually, they have a full electric band , comprising the cream of British musicians ,including Martin Belmont [guitar] , Bob Loveday [violin] , Geraint Watlins [piano and organ] and Alan Cook [pedal steel]. Tonight , of those players ,only the brilliant Alan Cook is present . Alan has worked with The Charlatans, Chris Hillman and Jackie Leven. On stand-up bass tonight is Martin Cox, making his debut with the band. Tonight we are treated to the whole of the superb "How Do You Plead" album [bar one track] and it is an absolute delight to see and hear it performed live on stage . The chemistry between Lou and Michael is obvious from the start as they perform stunning duets in the classic style of Johnny Cash /June Carter; George Jones/Tammy Wynette and Gram Parsons/ Emmylou Harris.

Alan Cook , does an amazing job on pedal steel ,playing all of the lead parts usually played by at least four musicians. Also, Martin Cox provides splendid slap-bass, all the more creditable considering that this is his first gig with the band.

It's really difficult to pick out highlights as all the performances are great but my personal favourites are "I Bought Some Roses" [check out the wonderful video on You Tube] ; " You Found Your Man" [too country for the Good Sons] and "Reserved For Me and You ". Another standout was "She Is Still My Weakness" ,which is Michael's tribute to the country-soul of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham [of "Dark End of the Street" fame] . On this song, Alan Cook makes his pedal steel sound uncannily like a Hammond organ [how does he do that?].

As an interlude [while Alan and Martin take a break] ,Lou and Michael performed some songs which are not on "How Do You Plead". Firstly, Lou sings, unaccompanied and off-mike ,a moving version of Ed McCurdy's anti war song" Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream " [as recorded by Simon and Garfunkel on their Wednesday Morning 3 AM album]. This was most fitting as today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day . Lou and Michael also sang a couple of songs from Michael's solo albums, "Endless Wandering Stars " and " My Heart Stopped Today " .The latter [which ,on record, features Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen] had Michael and Lou singing some gorgeous harmonies.

Appropriately, the show ended with the last song on "How Do You Plead" , "Goodnight Louise" . After it had finished ,I heard one member of the audience say that he felt as though he had been transported back to Nashville at some time in the 1960's to witness one of the classic country duos. The best British country act ....ever? Absolutely.

Peter Cowley