DONALD BYRON WHEATLEY
MOONDOGS AND MAD DOGS
Maiden Voyage Recording Co.
- 2017
Singer songwriters are a breed of people beset by comparisons with others, and I know I'm a big offender, but however you look at it, it is an easy way for readers to get a clue as to what they can expect, so here goes. Much of what is on this disc is reminiscent (at least to me) of the Band and Bob Dylan, a man of whom many have been accused of being the new version, but don't worry, I am not saying that. There are certainly very strong echoes of both, probably much more than any of Donald's other influences, but the fact is his influences are from a wide range of 'roots musicians.' Those musical similarities are one thing but Donald and his band have a completely open, unselfconscious, uncluttered attitude that is so reminiscent of Dylan and the Band's classic 'Americana' as it (certainly the Band's music) was described way back in the late 1960s.
The arrangements are made to fit the song rather than a particular generic style by these musicians who seem to be so incredibly comfortable in their own musical skins and to whom the song is more important than any stylistic leanings; generic labels being coincidental rather than hard and fast. Equally, the writing style is very much based on the songs subject matter rather than trying to write generically, in many ways, perhaps most, the genre being dictated by the makeup of the instrumentation, which in the main is an at least faint echo of the music of the Band but far from exclusively so. With more listens it is starting to become apparent that the similarities with the above mentioned are heavily rooted in their seemingly relaxed, flowing and confident style but with little vocal similarities as well as musical 'chops!'
Donald's vocals have an appealing rawness that fits as well on warm balladry as it does the more up tempo material, in fact his voice is not easy to pin down but I suspect that because of his various inflections it will take very little time for his individual style to be recognized by many. He writes songs on a variety of subjects, played at various tempo's and styles, and although there are detectable 'country' elements, and despite the use on some songs of steel guitar, I still think 'Americana' is probably the best label if we actually need to affix one (which really, we don't!)
Much of the sound generated and the arrangements are dictated by the songs themselves. That should be obvious I know, but It feels as if the various instruments were selected to suit the individual needs of each song rather than having a set number of instruments to choose from, as a consequence of which I am even more reminded of the Band. I don't think that is a loose comparison either. I've been a huge fan of theirs since their debut album and know their music intimately, including the extraordinary 'Basement Tapes,' and this album seems to go some way to actually achieving the atmosphere of their first two albums. Artists have often striven to recreate that loose but highly skilled and completely original music with varying degrees of success but until now no one has been able to tap into that atmosphere. One of the great beauties of this album is that I'm sure there was no intention to recreate the Bands sound; that would have been pointless and would have turned this from a tremendous album of original music into yet another poor copy of some great musical moments in time. It was simply a creation of music that flowed completely naturally and with varied elements of other roots styles; not just that catchall 'Americana,' even at times having a strong 'funkiness'! I've been told that much of the music that influenced Donald came from his father's collection which included Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison and John Lennon so this recording is an amalgam of those and other musicians, leading to something fresh and original.
The songs were all written at different times by Donald for himself, friends and family, with not a thought being given to becoming a musician, but such was the quality, he was persuaded to make this recording, whilst still not considering himself to be a musician! This London based Englishman, who has yet to play live, comes from a 'carnie' background, something that very few if any of us can relate to and his fascinating bio appears elsewhere on this website.
The co-producers, Chris Clarke (Danny And The Champions Of The World), whose Reservoir Studios were used for the recording, and John Wheatley (Suburban Dirts) will be fortunate if they are ever able to match the quality of their work on this album again, however long they continue to produce music. Of course, they had the advantage of great musicians and songs to work with, but they still had to organize everything so that it flowed. Whilst the sound is often 'dense' it is never over done, always having just the right instrumentation to add the perfect amount of 'colouring,' to the requirements of each and every song. The band included producer Clarke, as well as Steve Brookes and Andy Fairclough, all three being members of Danny & the Champions of the World, alongside Siobhan Parr and pedal steel legend BJ Cole. The full lineup is mentioned elsewhere on this website in Donald's 'Bio.'
A distorted electric guitar gets things going on album opener Life's a beach, before leaving the scene to a gentle acoustic and Donald's evocative vocal. Eventually the more restrained electric weaves in and out along with atmospheric 'ooh, ooh' harmonies and percussive handclaps on an excellent and quite wordy tale that has a catchy melody. It is followed by Smoking gun, a Dylanesque (accompanied by the Band!) song with a hugely evocative vocal and an arrangement that includes organ, percussion, bass, piano and brass for company. There is a raw melodicism on this song that whilst beautifully structured and arranged has a hugely appealing loose feel with a tremendous electric guitar solo. Ten dollar Jenny is introduced to us by brass, piano and percussion on what feels like 'the big ballad,' which to a degree it is, but quite unlike what anyone else could come up with on an excellent hooky song that has a tremendously melodic feel and a lovely flowing atmosphere. There is an excellent guitar solo midway, soon joined by the piano, giving the song an 'almost' contemporary feel. Acoustic guitar, percussion, piano, bass and harmonica provide an intro to Hand me down Leopard skin hat a composition that has the feel and tempo of a song such as Subterranean Homesick Blues, although this song has a much fuller sound and a deeper musicality with an excellent guitar intervening regularly on a speedy mid tempo song that despite its strong tempo still has a laid back, relaxed feel. When the rain comes includes a gorgeous steel guitar and a more manipulated sound on a song that has an occasional distorted guitar, excellent percussion, chiming guitars and a restrained vocal with some ghostly harmonies on a song that has a slightly spooky, haunting feel, particularly with the later brass intervention, as the intensity and power gradually builds. Finally, there is a rolling barrel house piano with percussion on Swaley Howell, a song that harks back to the old days in New Orleans with an excellent manipulative vocal from Donald and some nice background harmonies, a throbbing bass and a relaxed easy going tempo.
Someone I played the album to a couple of times got the impression that the recording is a little derivative, although he also agreed with the view that Donald merely wears his influences on his sleeve. His main influences are obvious but there are lesser echoes of other artists throughout this album, all coalescing into a recording that is highly original. All musicians who write their own songs have 'borrowed,' however inadvertently from others; it being more important that they follow their muse wherever it takes them. Donald Byron Wheatley has certainly achieved that with this brilliant debut from someone who, remarkably, lays no claim to being a 'musician!' I don't think it will be long before he has to rethink that claim. To me and I'm pretty sure many others, even at this early stage, this is an album of the year contender so get yourself a copy as soon as possible!
https://www.facebook.com/DonaldByronWheatley/
- 2017
Singer songwriters are a breed of people beset by comparisons with others, and I know I'm a big offender, but however you look at it, it is an easy way for readers to get a clue as to what they can expect, so here goes. Much of what is on this disc is reminiscent (at least to me) of the Band and Bob Dylan, a man of whom many have been accused of being the new version, but don't worry, I am not saying that. There are certainly very strong echoes of both, probably much more than any of Donald's other influences, but the fact is his influences are from a wide range of 'roots musicians.' Those musical similarities are one thing but Donald and his band have a completely open, unselfconscious, uncluttered attitude that is so reminiscent of Dylan and the Band's classic 'Americana' as it (certainly the Band's music) was described way back in the late 1960s.
The arrangements are made to fit the song rather than a particular generic style by these musicians who seem to be so incredibly comfortable in their own musical skins and to whom the song is more important than any stylistic leanings; generic labels being coincidental rather than hard and fast. Equally, the writing style is very much based on the songs subject matter rather than trying to write generically, in many ways, perhaps most, the genre being dictated by the makeup of the instrumentation, which in the main is an at least faint echo of the music of the Band but far from exclusively so. With more listens it is starting to become apparent that the similarities with the above mentioned are heavily rooted in their seemingly relaxed, flowing and confident style but with little vocal similarities as well as musical 'chops!'
Donald's vocals have an appealing rawness that fits as well on warm balladry as it does the more up tempo material, in fact his voice is not easy to pin down but I suspect that because of his various inflections it will take very little time for his individual style to be recognized by many. He writes songs on a variety of subjects, played at various tempo's and styles, and although there are detectable 'country' elements, and despite the use on some songs of steel guitar, I still think 'Americana' is probably the best label if we actually need to affix one (which really, we don't!)
Much of the sound generated and the arrangements are dictated by the songs themselves. That should be obvious I know, but It feels as if the various instruments were selected to suit the individual needs of each song rather than having a set number of instruments to choose from, as a consequence of which I am even more reminded of the Band. I don't think that is a loose comparison either. I've been a huge fan of theirs since their debut album and know their music intimately, including the extraordinary 'Basement Tapes,' and this album seems to go some way to actually achieving the atmosphere of their first two albums. Artists have often striven to recreate that loose but highly skilled and completely original music with varying degrees of success but until now no one has been able to tap into that atmosphere. One of the great beauties of this album is that I'm sure there was no intention to recreate the Bands sound; that would have been pointless and would have turned this from a tremendous album of original music into yet another poor copy of some great musical moments in time. It was simply a creation of music that flowed completely naturally and with varied elements of other roots styles; not just that catchall 'Americana,' even at times having a strong 'funkiness'! I've been told that much of the music that influenced Donald came from his father's collection which included Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison and John Lennon so this recording is an amalgam of those and other musicians, leading to something fresh and original.
The songs were all written at different times by Donald for himself, friends and family, with not a thought being given to becoming a musician, but such was the quality, he was persuaded to make this recording, whilst still not considering himself to be a musician! This London based Englishman, who has yet to play live, comes from a 'carnie' background, something that very few if any of us can relate to and his fascinating bio appears elsewhere on this website.
The co-producers, Chris Clarke (Danny And The Champions Of The World), whose Reservoir Studios were used for the recording, and John Wheatley (Suburban Dirts) will be fortunate if they are ever able to match the quality of their work on this album again, however long they continue to produce music. Of course, they had the advantage of great musicians and songs to work with, but they still had to organize everything so that it flowed. Whilst the sound is often 'dense' it is never over done, always having just the right instrumentation to add the perfect amount of 'colouring,' to the requirements of each and every song. The band included producer Clarke, as well as Steve Brookes and Andy Fairclough, all three being members of Danny & the Champions of the World, alongside Siobhan Parr and pedal steel legend BJ Cole. The full lineup is mentioned elsewhere on this website in Donald's 'Bio.'
A distorted electric guitar gets things going on album opener Life's a beach, before leaving the scene to a gentle acoustic and Donald's evocative vocal. Eventually the more restrained electric weaves in and out along with atmospheric 'ooh, ooh' harmonies and percussive handclaps on an excellent and quite wordy tale that has a catchy melody. It is followed by Smoking gun, a Dylanesque (accompanied by the Band!) song with a hugely evocative vocal and an arrangement that includes organ, percussion, bass, piano and brass for company. There is a raw melodicism on this song that whilst beautifully structured and arranged has a hugely appealing loose feel with a tremendous electric guitar solo. Ten dollar Jenny is introduced to us by brass, piano and percussion on what feels like 'the big ballad,' which to a degree it is, but quite unlike what anyone else could come up with on an excellent hooky song that has a tremendously melodic feel and a lovely flowing atmosphere. There is an excellent guitar solo midway, soon joined by the piano, giving the song an 'almost' contemporary feel. Acoustic guitar, percussion, piano, bass and harmonica provide an intro to Hand me down Leopard skin hat a composition that has the feel and tempo of a song such as Subterranean Homesick Blues, although this song has a much fuller sound and a deeper musicality with an excellent guitar intervening regularly on a speedy mid tempo song that despite its strong tempo still has a laid back, relaxed feel. When the rain comes includes a gorgeous steel guitar and a more manipulated sound on a song that has an occasional distorted guitar, excellent percussion, chiming guitars and a restrained vocal with some ghostly harmonies on a song that has a slightly spooky, haunting feel, particularly with the later brass intervention, as the intensity and power gradually builds. Finally, there is a rolling barrel house piano with percussion on Swaley Howell, a song that harks back to the old days in New Orleans with an excellent manipulative vocal from Donald and some nice background harmonies, a throbbing bass and a relaxed easy going tempo.
Someone I played the album to a couple of times got the impression that the recording is a little derivative, although he also agreed with the view that Donald merely wears his influences on his sleeve. His main influences are obvious but there are lesser echoes of other artists throughout this album, all coalescing into a recording that is highly original. All musicians who write their own songs have 'borrowed,' however inadvertently from others; it being more important that they follow their muse wherever it takes them. Donald Byron Wheatley has certainly achieved that with this brilliant debut from someone who, remarkably, lays no claim to being a 'musician!' I don't think it will be long before he has to rethink that claim. To me and I'm pretty sure many others, even at this early stage, this is an album of the year contender so get yourself a copy as soon as possible!
https://www.facebook.com/DonaldByronWheatley/