Singer-songwriter M. Lockwood Porter pays tribute to his musical heroes on his new single Chris Bell b/w Secrets. Guitarist Chris Bell was in Big Star but left after the first album, #1 Record, embarking on a solo career that did go anywhere. Only the brilliant single I Am the Cosmo and You and Your Sister made it to vinyl on Car Records during his lifetime. Quite Ironic considering he would died in a car crash shortly afterwards. The posthumous full-length I Am The Cosmos got the deluxe treatment in 2010. Lockwood came up with a touching song "the beauty in your music shows that you got what it takes", namechecking Paul Westerberg and quoting Neil Young, he describes that fatal night in Memphis. What if Bell never had made that drive?
The B-side Secrets is another A-side. He channels Stephen Malkmus, icon of the American Nineties indie scene with a slow guitar ballad that with vocals that show his country roots. Production-wise this new single is a step from his home-made debut album Judah's Gone, backed by a full band that is pushing him forward.
M. Lockwood Porter: vocals, guitars
Peter Labberton: drums
Bevan Herbekian: bass, vocals
Jeff Hashfield: keys
Jules Leyhe: pedal steel
- 03/06 Brick & Mortar Music Hall San Francisco, CA
- 03/07 The Crepe Place Santa Cruz, CA
- 03/08 Avion and Claw Atascadero, CA
- 03/09 Torch Club Sacramento, CA
- 05/13 Cafe Nine New Haven, CT
HCTF review of Judah's Gone.
