Chris Connelly & Monica Queen
Tae the Poets / My father took me everywhere
Jnana records
Out now
Ahead of the release of The Birthday Poems album later this month, an impeccable collaboration between Chris Connelly and Monica Queen, the second single and video is now available for your delight and delight.
The album is a “song cycle” about the relationship between the Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown, his muse Stella Cartwright and her friend Stanley Roger Green. A review of this frankly stunning album will be posted on the website very soon.
Tae the poet
The first single, Tae the Poets, gives a voice to George Mackay Brown and his adventures with like-minded people in Edinburgh's Rose Street, or more precisely the Abbotsford Bar. In addition, this enlivening and exhilarating song is a celebration of all Scottish poets and writers.
My father took me everywhere
The second single introduces us to Stella Cartwright and the story of her and her father who, as the title suggests, took her everywhere, including the pubs and bars, where she eventually met the great and good of Scottish culture and literature. Voiced by the honey-sweet vocals of Glasgow's own chanteuse, the much sought-after Monica Queen, this is another piece of the album's perfection.
The video is also a feast for the eyes. Produced by Iain W Mutch (Walker and William), it shows Monica and her equally coveted guitar slinger partner Johnny Smillie reproducing scenes from a 1964 short film called Palindromes. The original version of this film contained rare footage from the real-life Stella Cartwright.
If those songs whet your appetite for more, you can order the album from the dedicated The Birthday Poems site.
Chris Connelly – Website – Facebook
Monica Queen – Facebook
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All words from Neil Hodge. For more articles by Neil on Louder Than War, see his Author archive. You can also find Neil online on his blog, thegingerquiff.
