B99: Why is Nick Cave not more successful? (and other things)

I’m going to bring together a few of the things I’ve done and seen lately, talk about a few famous men, and offer up a couple of playlists too.

For the first time in three years, I’ve been to the theatre and to live music. Both are good, I can confirm.

A couple of weeks ago, at pretty short notice, I took the opportunity to go to the Marlowe in Canterbury to see the touring production of ‘Girl from the North Country’, Conor McPherson’s acclaimed musical based on the songs of Bob Dylan.

 I’d wanted to see it for a long time, but things got in the way, as they've done.

I loved it. 

Two takes

 – one, there are so many great singers out there. This was a touring cast, not West End and Broadway stars, and there were certainly a couple of understudies in major parts, yet nevertheless, there were several showstopping vocal performances by different cast members.

- two – the song selection was wonderful. There were a handful of major Dylan numbers, done in fairly thrilling ways, but mainly it was pretty obscure songs from unlikely eras, particularly the early 70s and early 80s. 

It made me think how many Dylan “playlists” there are. How many ways there are to categorise his songs, from Greatest Hits, to Great Non-Album songs, to Great Lost Tracks, to Great Bootlegs, to Hate Songs, Love Songs, Political Songs, Christian Songs, Comeback Songs etc etc.

Inspired by that, I made a new Dylan playlist. The only remit is that it’s something new. As in, not the obvious greatest hits and not my personal favourites. A lot of my favourites were already quite (quite, not very) obscure, but I wanted to just create something pretty fresh to my own ears. That also meant avoiding, mainly, what was used in Girl from the North Country. There are a few which I already liked a lot, but none which were right in my Top 10, so I think this is pretty nice.

I’m not pretending it’s deep cuts, it’s just a slightly different angle. It’s called

BOBBITIES

• New Morning
• As I Went Out One Morning
• I Feel a Change Comin’ On
• False Prophet
• Born in Time
• Death is Not the End
• Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
• Dignity
• Angelina
• ‘Cross the Green Mountain
• Red River Shore
• Bob Dylan’s Dream
• Spanish Harlem Incident
• Spirit on the Water
• Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight
• Something’s Got a Hold of My Heart
• Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
• If You Gotta Go, Go Now
• Mama You Been on My Mind
• Can’t Wait
• Soon After Midnight
• My Own Version of You
• Nettie Moore
• Spanish Harlem Incident
• Sugar Baby
• Only a Pawn in Their Game
• Tomorrow is a Long Time
• Long and Wasted Years
• Mozambique
• Up to Me
• When the Deal Goes Down
• You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
• I Believe in You
• I and I
• Talkin’ World War III Blues
• Po’ Boy
• No Time to Think
• Silvio
• Foot of Pride
• Standing in the Doorway
• Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance
• Million Dollar Bash
• One More Cup of Coffee
• Tell Me That It Isn’t True
• Ring them Bells
• Angelina
• Paths of Victory
• Dark Eyes
• Trying to Get to Heaven
• I Shall Be Free Number 10
• Let Me Die in Me Footsteps
• Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
• Lay Down Your Weary Tune
• Boots of Spanish Leather
• What Good Am I?

There’ll be another playlist later.

Now I’m going to write about Paul Newman and Nick Cave. Funnily enough, I had started thinking about Nick Cave and Paul Newman together before the most notable link, which I’ll get to, hit me between the eyes.

I was going to write about them as rare examples of icons in whom there is worth investing some “moral” value. Cave and Newman have both striven to connect with the world, to be forces for good. And have succeeded.

My favourite footballer was Ryan Giggs. I was never invested in the idea of him as good person, but still... Bob Dylan was egregiously accused in court this last year. The case has been thrown out, but still, I can’t have been the only Dylan fan reckoning with the nuances of continued fandom if there’d been a whiff of truth in it. In any case, Dylan’s never been a saint. That’s the whole point of him. He never wanted to be anyone’s anything.

We should never want our famous guys to be anything. It’s a recipe for disaster. This guy from Arcade Fire with his high-minded preachy shite. Jesus.

But if one can avoid hagiography, there does remain a place for a famous person to be more than nothing and to do more.

There was a recent six-part documentary about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, called ‘The Last Movie Stars’, directed by Ethan Hawke, with soundtrack by Hamilton Leithauser. I like all of those things, so I lapped it up.

I’ve always been a fan of Paul Newman, and the ideas that he was “better” than other famous people has seemed to me like it's always been around. A lot of that was previously expressed, rather tritely, in the idea of his marriage to Woodward being some perfect idyll, an idea this documentary sympathetically dismantled.

Newman was complex, difficult, alcoholic, lived with great frustration and guilt. He always thought his wife, and lots of other people, were much better actors than him. But, look, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, The Verdict, all the way up to The Road to Perdition. He outdid them all.

In 1976, his son Scott, with whom, having left the boy’s mother for Woodward, he’d had a difficult, guilt-stricken relationship, died from drug misuse.

Newman had always been an involved citizen, a civil rights activist who was politically outspoken. But, nevertheless, it is his actions in the wake of his son’s death which are most remarkable, as Hawke’s film points out. Philanthropy doesn’t cover it. Philanthropy always seems a sinister word to me, some billionaire setting up a self-glorifying charity as a tax break, something distinct from goodness.

Newman set up a food company which earned more than he ever did from acting, and gave absolutely all the profits away. He set up camps for terminally ill children, drug charities, he and Woodward got numerous theatre companies (including Hawke’s own) off the ground with donations. Hawke says they gave away three times more than they were ever worth. 

He was an extremely handsome man, then a sex symbol, then a great film star, a great film actor, then an activist, than a man whose life was given over to service after grief.

And, of course, we get to the significant, terrible, link with Cave. Cave’s Red Hand Files and concerts are an act of love and, above all, communication, after grief.

I think I grasped something about Cave and grief on Sunday, something he’s explained before, but I only really understood properly now. The end of ‘I Need You’ was so raw, so real, when he’s repeating “just breathe, just breathe, just breathe …" his ghosts are right there. Then, within minutes, he’s rabble rousing and taking the piss on Tupelo and Red Right Hand. But it’s not incongruous, at all, it’s the same thing. His ghosts are right there for him all the time. He’s able to live with them in everything he does. It’s something other than fragility, it’s incredible strength.

Most of us, including me, have never known a fraction of that grief, and hopefully never will, but it’s an incredible lesson, that it isn’t “sad for a while, then get on with it” or “sad in moments, but put brave face on”, it’s permanent engagement with grief and ghosts, whatever the context.

Anyway, I haven’t expressed that well, but there we go.

So, it was great. Cave and the Bad Seeds are the best live act in the world. Everyone says it. Always with the 5* reviews and the “this was a religious experience” reviews. Which is where the slightly silly title to this blog comes in. Cave’s famous and successful, of course, but still, there remains something a little baffling about someone who everyone says is the best live act in the world, who has massive name and face recognition, manages to play big, sought-after shows, but, still, has not had a UK Number 1 album, and doesn’t exactly seem to grow in size. When people are really, really good, and do something really, really meaningful, I sometimes expect some exponential engagement from the general populace, but, you know, people ain’t no good. That’s always the answer.

Anyway, as I say, I was at the live music on Sunday. All Points East – Victoria Park – lots of great acts, Cave the headliner. I had a moment where, halfway through his set, having been mid-throng near front, needing the loo and drink, I dodged and pushed out somewhat regretfully, but then, was struck, rather beautifully, by the realisation that this is the part I love and I’ve missed, the bit just on the outside, where the stragglers are dancing, where the bar stuff look on bemused, where the ground is trodden, where the music’s still loud but you can breathe and look back at the people, and they’re more your own people than most other people, and it’s a summer sky, and it’s all a little bit beautiful but not too intense. That’s the part I love.

All Points East isn’t a proper festival, but anyway, I made a festival playlist of songs which I remember bringing the good vibes back in the good days.

FESTIVAL FRIENDS

• Not One Bit Ashamed - King Creosote
• Furious - Joan as Police Woman
• The Wolves (Acts I and II) - Bon Iver
• My Girls - Animal Collective
• The Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys
• The Rat - The Walkmen
• Why I'm Bullshit - Mark Eitzel
• Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
• Goodbye England (Covered in Snow) - Laura Marling
• Negative Vibes - Damien Dempsey
• Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
• Monkey Gone to Heaven - Pixies
• Wake Up - Arcade Fire
• Baby You're My Light - Richard Hawley
• Tortoise Regrets Hare - James Yorkston
• Cosmia - Joanna Newsom
• The Trapeze Swinger - Iron and Wine
• No Pussy Blues - Grinderman
• Lover Leave Me Drowning - Blitzen Trapper
• Sometimes - James
• Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
• Zorbing - Stornoway
• A Matter of Time - The Leisure Society
• Stand and Deliver - Adam Ant
• Rapture - Blondie
• Fuck It, I Love you - Malcom Middleton
• Hello Sunshine - Super Furry Animals
• We Are the People - Empire of the Sun
• I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
• Head Home - Midlake
• We're from Barcelona - I'm from Barcelona
• I Often Dream of Trains - Robyn Hitchcock
• All Night Disco Party - Brakes
• The Opposite of Hallelujah - Jens Lekman
• Lloyd I'm ready to be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura
• Chips Ahoy - The Hold Steady
• Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear
• Sigourney Weaver - John Grant
• Spanish Sahara - Foals
• The Easter Parade - Emmy the Great
• Ice Cream - New Young Pony Club
• 1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
• Light Flight - Pentangle
• Inside of Love - Nada Surf
• It Ended on an Oily Stage - Sea Power
• Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap
• Be Good or Be Gone - Fionn Regan
• I Wish That I Could See You Soon - Herman Dune
• Gold Soundz - Pavement
• Hounds of Love - Futureheads
• It's the Sun - The Polyphonic Spree
• The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
• Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above - CSS
• People Help the People - Cherry Ghost
• What Good Am I? - Tom Jones
• Not Dark Yet - Bob Dylan