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Boz Boorer My Wild Life
With Morrissey, it's difficult to get beyond the charming quiffed singer, but let's face it, Morrissey doesn't write music
- his bandmates do. And so, if you've only ever encountered Boz's music under Morrissey's auspices, then I recommend you cast
your ears further afield, to truly appreciate just how fab Mr Boorer is. Can you honestly say when the last time was you heard
Boz sing? It's not difficult, if you make the effort, to listen to more - and Boz has been a busy boy over the years. Of course
there's The Polecats, but there's also numerous projects he involves himself in, such as The Bozmen, The Deltas and The OneThree.
Like a shark that will die if it doesn't swim forwards all the time, Boz needs to DO music all the time - and so here's this
lovely album, My Wild Life.
Allegedly - well, according to the sleeve notes - Boz put this cd of 17 tracks together all by himself. Yes, Boorer of
Burnt Oak sings, plays guitar and bass, does his own backing vocals, then presumably produced and mixed the whole lot. He
blushingly admits to using a purloined drum sample, but heavens, Boz, after achieving a feat like this, who cares about the
small matter of a drum sample? For us mere mortals, all this sounds like one hell of a lot, but for someone like Boz who has
staves in his veins instead of blood, he probably knocked the whole thing together in the space of a week, while he was waiting
for Morrissey to peel himself off his chaise longue to write the lyrics of a catchy chorus.
The album in fact started life as a 10" album called My Wild Life's Gonna Get Me Down, released in 1996 on Steve
Hooker's NV Records (Mr Hooker is a guitarist in Boz's Bozmen and likes to wear leather trousers). The 10" is a delight
savoured only by musicians who aren't trapped in the hamster wheel of a major label deal. This cd contains the ten tracks
from the 10", plus another seven which had never been released before, and they're pretty much all cover versions, although
Boz plays The Polecats' "Gravedigger Rock", written by Boz, where the song's protagonist scares the ghosts in the
graveyard. He also twangles his way through "Howlin' Wolfman", "You Can't Get That Stuff No More", "Nothin'"
But A Nothin'" - and my two favourite tracks on the cd, "Bongo's Breakdown #1" and #2.
I would hardly say this is a fantastic, amazing, knock-your-socks-off-and-pass-into-a-coma album, but it's still a nice
little number to have in your record collection. Boz's singing is rather good, but of course, the rockabilly/blues/hillbilly
style means he sings in a fake American accent, though it never becomes irritating and false. It's plain that he had a fab
ol' time laying down these tracks, and Boz's joy is infectious. Ever seen how thoroughly happy he seems to be when he's on-stage?
It'll seep from your record speakers and make you rather happy too. Edit Text
Reviewed by Helen
pretty petty thieves
http://prettypettythieves.com/
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