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John
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Echo
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"Area Code 0161".........named after the telephone code for the area he lives in........ is the sophomore CD from Salford born Singer/Songwriter John McCane, following on from the highly successful, "You Get The Lights". Once again, John went over to Northern Ireland to record and co-produce with Stephen Smyth, and in order to follow on the success of that album..................which spawned many hit singles such as, Collin Raye's "'Scuse Moi My Heart", Gram Parsons' "High Fashion Queen", his self penned, "You Close The Door And I'll Get The Lights" and "Fall Down A Tramp, Stand Up a Lady", and his superb reading of the wonderful Narvel Felts song, "Wrap My Arms Around The World"................... John needed to come up with something extra special. Well, with the 13 tracks on offer here, I think he might just have done that. The tracks are made up of 5 original's, 2 co-write's, 2 from John himself, an absolute cracker from the pen of Liverpool artist Tony Ainscough, and 8 covers. I'll start with the original's and a song that Tony wrote many years ago. The song is titled "Afraid," and has been performed on the country music circuit here in the U.K, in various arrangement's, with the many bands that he has fronted since the 1960s. John hadn't heard the song until he attended a show at the "Welcome Country Music Club" ........on one of his rare night's off.........last year, when Tony was appearing there as vocalist in the popular duo, "Bandelero". At the time, John had just started work on his new album and had compiled 12 songs for the project, but he was so taken with the song, that he asked Tony for permission to record it for the album. Tony's response was that he would feel honoured for John to record it, as he felt John's rich, baritone voice would be perfect for the song. Such is the esteem that this talented man is held in by his peers! "Afraid" raised the track list to 13, and far from being unlucky, I think the song could prove to be a major influence, when it comes to album sales. Of the other 4 original's, two J. C. penned tracks book-end the album. The lively "Ya Know The Dance," a song telling of the joy's of being free after a marriage breakdown is the opener, while a tale of a passionate love affair in "Only A Fool" brings it to a close. The joy of love on San Diego's "La Jolla Shore" is a song co-written with his ex Dakota's (remember them from the 60s) keyboard player Pete McDonald, while the slow ballad, "Running Round In Circles" is the second of two co-writes, that make up the quintet. When it comes to covers, John doesn't follow the trend of covering the most popular songs of the moment. Instead, he goes for good songs, that are rarely picked up on. On this occasion, John does an excellent reading of Southern Pacific's, "New Shade Of Blue", a terrific song that was a top 5 hit for the band in the late 80s. Surprisingly, I haven't heard a cover of the song in the 15 or so years since. Until now that is! "Familiar Pain" is a song that...... I must admit......... I hadn't heard before, but research tells me that it was recorded by Restless Heart, and there again, although it's a good song, I don't believe any other band have picked up on it, thus it retains it's freshness and appears on the album as a new song. The very catchy "Why", is taken from the Tracy Byrd songbook and is given an excellent airing here, as is Aaron Tippin's "How's The Radio Know," a sure fire winner that is bound to attract much radio airplay. I know that John is a big fan of Ronnie Milsap, so I fully expected him to include a song of his on the album, and he does so with "She Keeps The Home Fire's Burning", a song that was a #1 for Ronnie in 1985, and I'm sure the star would be proud of John's rendition of it here. A couple of very familiar songs round up the album..............catering for those who always look for something they know................with Vince Gill's "Don't Come Cryin' To Me," and George Strait's first ever #1, "Fool Hearted Memory" from 1982. John McCane is one of those artists who always looks for total perfection in anything he does, whether it be his stage shows, or the recording of an album, everything has to be just right, or it won't do. Speaking to John, he told me that "Area Code 0161" took many months and many trips across the water to Ireland to try to achieve that, and in my opinion, after listening to these 13 tracks, the trips were well worth it! The album is an excellent follow up to his previous CD "You Get The Lights", and I have already marked down 9 of the 13 tracks on here, that could be chart hits if released to radio as singles. "Area Code 0161" is already marked down for my album of the year, and it's gonna take something extra special to beat it!! If you can't get to one of his gigs, then E:mail John now and get your copy by mail order. I promise, you won't be disappointed! Highly Recommended!! E:mail Address john.mccane@ntlworld.com Ray Grundy |
