August 14th 2007

Prozac Yodel leaves home.. finds new home!!

“A change is as good as a rest….but to get both at once takes a special kind of genius”....Oscar Wilde said that…or he would have if they’d have thought of it before me.

If you were paying attention a month or 2 ago you will recall the news about our monthly Prozac Yodel shows.  We have now moved lock, stock and 2 smokin’ Gibsons to the fine ST ANNE’S CASTLE in Great Leigh near Chelmsford.

Since announcing the monthly shows, the line-ups have filled up real quick with great artists you’ll adore, and we have a great debut line up for you on Sunday 2nd September.  It’s a combination of luck, charm and bribery that means that our first 2 special guests are also very good friends of ours…

Lance Cusack was present at the final Walthamstow Prozac gig…The therapy helped, and now it somehow seems fitting that he should bring his good looks, insatiable appetite for ale, and ooh let me see, the odd genius song or 6 to our first gig at St Anne’s Castle.  He’s really very good indeed and you should come and grin at him.

www.myspace.com/cusackmusic

David Lewis, is a very fine singer-songwriter in the great acoustic tradition Al Stewart, Nick Drake and Alan Hull.  His albums have got 4* reviews in the press, he has worked with John Wesley Harding and members of REM….do you want me to go on?? We’re very lucky to have him come and play, so don’t dare miss him.

www.myspace.com/davidlewisfornow

…All that good stuff and a set from myself and the Welfare Mothers to round off proceedings in style.

So to recap…. Sunday 2nd September, St Anne’s Castle in Great Leighs near Chelmsford…oh, and did I mention it’s FREE!!!  We kick off at the very respectable time of 4pm.

You’d need a check-up from the neck up to miss it!




July 2007

Hey all!

The new album, SET THE STUPID FREE, "is in the can" as some in this biz we call "show" like to say.  I just finished mixing with Andy LaVine at RMS studios in Croydon and I think we have made a pretty good record. Me and the guys wanna send out heartfelt gratitude to the musicians who added to these recordings...

Julian Wilson on Hammond B3, Steve Honest on pedal steel, BJ Cole also on pedal steel, Steve Botcher on mandolin, Ben Fisher slide guitar, and David Lewis on vocals.

And where would I be without the friendship and musicianship of Dan Wilkinson and Paul Quarry, the lovable scamps otherwise known as The Welfare Mothers.  Viva la Mères d'Assistance Sociale!!!

The track listing is as follows

1. Set The Stupid Free

2. Virginina Mystery

3. Mean river

4. Damaged One

5. Disco Jesus

6. Nevermore Maria

7. Jennifer Jones

8. Well Runs Dry

9. Cemetery Blues

10. A Little Wind

11. Brought Up Wrong

12. Katie I Agree

Clips and more info coming very soon so keep your cyber eyes and ears open!

x

BC




March 2007

People of earth.... greetings.

Just a reminder/warning that our MySpace site located at
http://www.myspace.com/bobcollumthewelfaremother
is the best place to get the latest gig and whatnot info for the band.
Go on and take a look! We'll still be updating this site of course but
info will probably make it first to our MySpace page.


February 2007

Hello everybody. I was just attacked by my Big Muff fuzz pedal. I was pushing the on/off switch with my right thumb and a metal shard got stuck in the aforementioned digit (is a thumb an digit?). Ouch! Who says rock and roll isn't a dangerous game? I shall survive though... but I think I shall stick to a less prickly fuzz box.

Our good friend David Lewis has a brilliant new cd out called GHOST RHYMES. It's fab and everyone should visit www.davidlewismusic.co.uk and snap up a copy ASAP.

Speaking of friends, the always rightious Graham Larkbey has put together a formidable group called Graham Larkbey and the Word On The Street.  Hop on over to his MySpace site and say hi.. http://www.myspace.com/grahamlarkbey

over and out
bc

5 Records Blowin' Bob's mind

1. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
2. Mighty Baby - Mighty Baby
3. Michael Nesmith - Witchita Train Whistles
4. The Jam - Sound Affects
5. United States Of America - United States Of America




December 2006

Dear Santa

Dan, Paul, and myself have been very good boys this year and we hope that you can find it in your heart to bring us the following for Xmas..

* a "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots" game
* all 5 seasons of QUINCY on dvd
* one of those plexi-glass guitars like Keith Richards has on the back cover of GET YOUR YA YA'S OUT
* socks
* a Furby (for Dan)
* a "Tickle me Billy Cobham" doll (for Paul)
* the complete collection of "PLOP" comic books
* an autographed photo of Hal Blaine
* peace on Earth... blah blah blah


your friend
bc

p.s. Ho Ho Ho!


5 Records Blowin' Bob's Mind

1. Paul Butterfield Blues Band - East/West
2. J Geils Band - The J. Geils Band
3. Randy Newman - Good Old Boys
4. Peter Blegvad - King Strut
5. Flamin' Groovies - Flamingo




September 2006

Hey gang. The new recordings are in the mixing stage. We had the fantastic Julian Wilson from Grand Drive come in and ad some Hammond B-3 to VIRGINIA MYSTERY a few weeks back. Along with Julian the new record will feature Dan, Paul, and myself along with a few guest musicians here and there. Also, former Welfare Mother Ben Fisher has added some amazing slide guitar work on a couple of tracks. If I had to compare what we've done so far to one of my previous albums I would have to say the feel is closer to LOW RENT ROMEO than anything else.

The summer went by pretty uneventfully excepting...
*an exlpoding  Vox amp (replaced with a Fender Deluxe reverb)
*cars that leak mysterious fluids overnight (fixed but not quite fixed)
*learning to swim (you can teach old singer-songwriters new tricks!)
*attacking and destroying the out-of-control piece of shrubbery in my front garden
*Getting a brand new computer

Hope to see you all soon!
bc

5 records blowin' Bob's mind

1. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (duh!)
2. The Bevis Frond - New River Head
3. HP Lovecraft - Complete Recordings Of..
4. The Monkees - The Monkees (2 disc reissue)
5. The Flame - The Flame




June 2006

Man, has it been hot.   I've gone soft after living in the UK for 5 years. Back in the US it's impossible to go for more than 20 feet without being enclosed in some kind of air conditioned enviroment... that is unless you are a continually broke musician. Then your best bet is to buy a cheap movie ticket and hop from theatre to theatre and soak up the free air con until the ushers get wise and toss you back out into the unforgiving heat of  the day . Yes, I speak form experience!

Not much to report as we have been taking it easy the last month or so. I've just finished up a batch of solo acoustic shows and now I'm ready to kick out the jams ala the MC5.  My new Vox amp is slowing turning me into a string shredding, plank-spanking, axe weilding, honest-to-goodness guitar god. Well, not really... but it sounds great and is a blast to play through. 

later
BC

5 records blowin' Bob's mind

1. Grateful Dead - From the Mars Hotel
2. T Bone Burnett - The True False Identity
3. Mike Heron - Smiling Men With Bad Reputations
4. The Who - A Quick One
5.  Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint - A River In Reverse




May 2006

Congratulations go to Dan Wilkinson and Bridgett Bailey as they are getting married this month!!!! The last of the single Welfare Mothers is taking the plunge at last.  Since they will spend most of the month of May off honeymooning I will be doing a series of solo gigs including a support slot for the wonderful Clive Gregson at the Green Note in Camden Town.

As those of you at the most recent Prozac Yodel might have noticed, we have streamlined the band back to a trio.  Some of my favorite bands have been a three piece with a singer like the Who or just a good old fashion power trio ala the Jam.  Best wishes to Ben Fisher as he continues on his path to guitar god status.

In a rather bizarre turn of events I will be judging a battle of the bands in Leytonstone on the 10th.  I wonder if I will be more like the snotty dude on Pop Idol (I swear I don't watch it! I've heard about it though..) or more like Judge Judy?  If anyone is near the O'Rielly's pub at the Green Man roundabout in Leytonstone make sure and stop in and watch the festivities in person.  And if any bands taking part are reading this, please keep in mind that I'm am not above bribery!




March 2006

"Beware the Ides of March" said the man.  As of today (Saturday the 18th) I have not seen hide nor hair of a single Ide but I intend to keep my eyes open just in case one tries to creep up on me.  March always makes me homesick for SXSW.  There's nothing quite like submerging yourself in music 24 hours a day for an entire week. Where else on earth can you see Bob Neuwirth playing at 3am in a art gallery owned by Butch Hancock, Stand in line line for the toliet behind Robyn Hitchcock, and get up for a late breakfast and find yourself sitting at a table next to Michael Hurley?

Our new pal Wolfie has sent us some very groovy pics he snapped at our Riga gig on MArch 11th. Make sure and cruise on over to the photo  page to check them out. We actually look almost human in them....

This upcoming Prozac Yodel will feature a great new acoustic band called Perrpercornrent. They are fun and full of the Prozac spirit so make sure and check them out. We also have a couple of brief acoustic acts as well which I'm sure will set the mood for a night of fun and excitment.  It will be a bit of a different one for me and Th' Mothers as our loveable and huggable guitarist Ben will be off in Poland racing his beloved pure breed racing pidgeons (or have I just made that up.. he may possibly be just going to New York for a holiday.. you decide!).  Brace yourself for some extremely ugly guitar strangling form yours truely.

Also, I did an short but sweet interview with Berlin based radio station Kontrastradio. The interview can be found HERE



see ya soon
BC

Five records blowinig Bob's mind

1. Ray Davies - Other People's Lives
2. The Smoke - High In A Room
3. Mississippi John Hurt - Today
4. Marshall Crenshaw - #447
5. Stooges - The Stooges





Febuary 2006

Where did January go !?!?!  I swear I blinked once and all of the sudden it's Febuary.  A big"thanks" goes out to Steve Curtis & Co. as well as Pavlov's Cat for making January's Prozac Yodel such an easy night on the ears. The Welfare Mothers and myself decided to play a bunch of songs that we had never played together before which probably won't ever happen again.  All I can say is that no one was injured and that a late night stop at the Log Cabin kabab hut for a bag of chips on the way home made it all better.

Those of you with sharp ears might have noticed that we have been doing a brand spanking new song as of late with a chorus that goes "Roll on down, all the way down".  This tune is called Disco Jesus and is my new favorite song to play.  Paul came up with the mathmatically intense break in the middle that may or may not be somthing rude in Morse code.  Will this epic be one of the songs to be recorded later this month?  Me thinks so.

Ben has turned me on to a great Hoyt Axton album that keeps showing up in my cd player. Members of Mike Nesmith's First National Band play on the album which makes gives it instant "cosmic country" credibility.  The dude was an amzing songwriter and performer but sadly seems to be remembered best for his movie roles.  Hoyt was a fellow Okie so that's cool too.

We're heading back to one of out favorite gigs on Feb 8th.. the Beehive in Swindon.  Last time we played there the swindonians were dancing and hollerin' and generally making us feel like the Bay City Rollers in 1976. Needless to say, we can't wait to get back!

see ya soon
BC


5 records blowin' Bob's mind

  1. The Incredible Casuals - That's That
  2. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
  3. Jefferson Airplane - After Bathing At Baxters
  4. Wings - Wildlife
  5. Peter Hammill - Fools Mate





January 2006

Hello everybody!

Welcome to 2006.  2005 wasn't too shabby a year for me and the guys as we played a load of gigs and met a lot of really cool people all over the country.  We played quite a few new venues and some that really stand out would be The Green Note in Camden Town (great atmosphere and awesome food!), The Railway Inn in Winchester (Oliver rocks!), and The Old School in Doncaster (thanks for the flat Rick!).  Thanks to all of you who came out to support us throughout the year.

Probably the biggest change in Welfare Motherland circa 2005 was the addition of Mr. Ben Fisher on guitar. Ben brings to the band some amazing guitar picking which is cool but he's also a really great fella which is even cooler.  Does this mean that you'll be seeiing some smoking dual lead guitar jamming ala' Duane & Dicky, Tom Verlaine &  Richard Lloyd, Nigel Tufnell & David St. Hubbins, etc? The short answer is no.  Maybe we could be persuaded to break out in a jazz rock odyssey someday but definately not in front of a festival crowd.

We're heading back into the studio next month to start work on the next album which means that the upcoming gigs will be full of new tunes. We've got some cool new songs that go in interesting directions and hopefully you'll agree. We're recording in Croydon at RMS studios which has tonnes of personality and hopefully we can translate it to the recordings.  The albums that I'm using as sonic templates are records like The Faces' A Nod's As Good As A Wink, The Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet, and The Who's The Who Sells Out. Of course the record will probably come out sounding completely different... stay tuned to find out!

Until later,
BC & WM



5 Records Blowin' Bob's Mind

  1. Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street
  2. Dream Syndicate - Days of Wine and Roses
  3. Patto - Hold Yr Fire
  4. Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
  5. Donald Fagen - The Nightfly