Song Of The Day 1/12/2014: Eggs Over Easy - "Face Down In The Meadow"

British Pub Rock Week: This is pub rock, the elemental music formed in annoyed response to stratospheric space jams, the Stones playing the Royal Albert Hall, rock operas about clumsy and inarticulate messiahs, any use of flutes, and whatever stacks of wax Keith Emerson flung his emissions upon. None of that progtastic folderol for pub rock. This was basic rock and roll, maybe steeped in a little R&B and country, with no other ambitions than to be heard above orders for pies and pints in British bars named things like the Hope & Anchor, the Tally Ho and the Nashville. If you're looking for 17-minute pieces you have to refer to as "suites" or songs by men who were mere boys if they couldn't find their pancake makeup, this here blog might not be your cup o' tea for the next week. You have my permission to hang out here 'til Sunday next.*

The band commonly credited with launching the British pub rock craze was, I'm not that surprised to find out, actually American. Eggs Over Easy had been moved over from New York to record an album in London, which they did, but their record label's instability and eventual collapse kept their music from being released. So they had to play live around the country to make any money. They appealed to the proprietors of the Tally Ho, a pub in Camden, but were informed the club only booked jazz performers. So Eggs responded the only way they could: "Uhhh... yeah, we play jazz!"

Of course, they didn't play jazz, and proceeded to bust that policy by becoming very popular. Anybody who became ever a pub rock luminary -- if indeed you can call any of the bands you're going to hear in the next week "luminary," or reflective of any kind of light in any way -- saw Eggs Over Easy. They're responsible for this whole very nice mess. "Face Down in the Meadow" was on their album Good 'n' Cheap, which was recorded upon their return to the States and produced by, believe it or don't, Link Wray.

Tomorrow I'll present the band everyone's expecting to see this week, just to get it out of the way early. (Not Dr Feelgood. Oh, wait, maybe you were expecting to see Dr Feelgood. I'll consider it. But it's the other band.)

*(However, seeing as I've just used up my allotment of callous insults to prog rock, I hereby promise I'll do a prog rock week later this year. In fact I'm planning on a Canterbury Week in February. But I'll do an additional prog rock week at some point, as soon as I can afford the vehicle insurance.)