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Track Listing

1. Butcher's Daughter  3:06

2. Zigzag Highway  3:47

3. Maybe The Sun  4:25

4. Feels So Good  5:26

5. Lady In The Big House  3:39

6. Ocean Calls  4:03

7. Love Is  2:46

8. Niggers' Leap  2:58

9. Lucy  2:44

10. Pleasures Of Sodom  4:13

11. A Day Alone  2:56

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“Having listened to it again, I think the most public spirited thing I can do is hand it in to the local police and let them deal with it. Alert the butcher shops and gay bars with a profile of a slightly unhinged individual who disguises sly perversity with Donovanesque arrangements. Actually, I really liked the arrangements … sort of Georgie Fame meets Donovan meets Cat Stevens. That Zigzag thing’s got a real Georgie Fame feel and it’s a good mood catchy opener. Standout track? For me, It Feels so Good … it’s got a sort of I-Put-a-Spell-On-You feel, great raunchy violin [cello actually] ... who would have thought of that? Maybe the Sun, a good'un with really effective piano. Lady in the Big House, another strong track. And I also liked the last one, A Day Alone ... good way to end it.” Well that’s what Ray says.

If you’re going to be all things to all people, you’ve got to make yourself invisible. That’s what I say. There … but not really there at all. For instance, few artists, writers, pundits, or politicians would have been listened to as much as, say, Bob Dylan in the last 40 years. And yet the guy remains opaque, enigmatic, unknowable. What the hell is he on about? As for Early Risin’, well in truth it may not satisfy those in search of oracular guidance … except maybe the second last track, The Pleasures. But the Early Risers? These guys cook. Some of the best players in Sidders as we speak I reckon … Adam on piano, Craig on sax and flute, Anatoli on cello, Rodrigo on drums, and Jorge, my old mate and collaborator, on bass. Then there’s me and Patrice of the lovely Irish lilt on vocal chords while I fiddle with a guitar here and there. I never heard a cello played with such attitude! And the sax? Such a sweet sound. Good on you Craig! New Zealand of course produces the finest musicians in the Antipodes, without a doubt. Come to think of it, I was born there too.

I guess Butchers Daughter and Lucy both started as jokes … and that’s more or less where they remained. Both written around the same time some time back on my world-weary travels. But I always liked the tunes. Jorge wanted Butchers to kick off proceedings so we did. Jorge has a different conception of things to me … he knows all the chords, he likes bossa nova … he can play an instrument. But somehow Jorge and I get on musically really well. We started arranging some Italian tunes for SBS radio and it sort of went from there. I think I can fairly say that the arrangements were a genuine collaborative effort. We bounced them around for months before signing off. That’d be right, wouldn’t it Jorge? But who could have predicted the solos? Craig got most of the space for his sax lines, Anatoli pulled a terrific cello solo out of the hat just like that, but all of the Risers are capable of … well, whatever you like.

“Niggers Leap? Why’d you write a song about Niggers Leap?” Ray asked. “Where’s Niggers Leap?” “Little place up New England way I used to know.” I said. “Tried to give it a bit of a Tamworth feel.” “Don’t include it” said Ray. “You’ll get busted.” “Bullshit!” I said. “Win the Country Music Awards that one will.” “And whatever you do, don’t include that bloody song about Sodom” said Ray. “Whyever not?” I said. “It’s harmless enough, isn’t it?” “It’s embarassing and you’ll wind up being prosecuted for that as well.” “Chance’d be a fine thing” I said. “Why would anyone sing a song about that?” Ray said. “And what would you know about it anyway?” “Whatever are you alluding to?” I said. “What’s wrong with a song about hedge fund management? I mean, isn’t it obvious?!”

You be the judge.

James Benn
2007

“And why’d you call it ‘Early Risin’” Ray said. “Well you sometimes rise early, don’t you?” I said. “I know all the band members do.”

 You can e-mail James'  at jamesbenn@tpg.com.au