- The Coal Porters:
Rebels Without Applause
- (Rubber Records;
RUB017)
- At first sight this debut album by The Coal
Porters was a bit of a disappointment I have to
admit. Having seen Sid in concert on some of his
solo outings I guess I expected to see more than
the six tracks offered on the Australian-only
initial release. I was also more than a little
surprised that I only recognised two of the
tracks from what I'd been hearing from concerts
at the Mean Fiddler Acoustic Room. However this
album is a real grower and some of the tracks
that I tended to skip over at first I now relish,
thanks mainly to hearing them 'souped up' by live
renditions. Roll Columbia Roll and Rhythm And
Blue Angel are both classic examples of this.
Hearing them performed live actually enhances the
version on the LP. Unfortunately I don't think
this is the case with The Light That Shines
Within, which lacks the atmosphere, calm and
beauty of Sid's solo rendition. However, that
does not mean that this is not a great song.
-
- I Tell Her All The Time is quite possibly the
best Coal Porters song ever to appear so far and
this version easily matches that of any live
performance, complete with brilliant harmonies
from Billy Bremner and our old friend Greg
Sowders on drums (remember him?!). Sittin' In An
Isle Of Palms gets the live treatment courtesy of
Mary Costello's GLR show from May 1990.
-
- The UK issue of the album benefits from three
extra tracks, though loses out somewhat from a
poor reproduction of the cover which gives it
almost a bootleg appearance. Of the extra tracks,
Stuck On An Island stands out as the best and is
a clear attack on a certain record company that
didn't do Sid or The Long Ryders any favours. The
live version of The John F. Kennedy Blues suffers
from the same failing as The Light That Shines
Within in that I had heard the song played live
and remembered it as far tighter and full of
Sid's humour that the Californian version. The
final track, The March Of The Tapdancin' Rats may
well be a filler to add a bit of bulk to the LP
but it is actually a very good instrumental which
deserves some praise. All in all this debut can
only leave the listener desperately wanting to
hear more of The Coal Porters, whether live or on
further official releases.
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