Somewhere Down The Crazy River

"She said, you like it now

But you'll learn to love it later..."

A little while ago a pub conversation got me thinking about my favourite 'talking' records - tracks that feature a characterful, filmic narrative where a vocal melody would usually sit. I've compiled quite a list of them since and will be blogging on this theme when the fancy takes me.

First up is Robbie Robertson's 'Somewhere Down The Crazy River'. It came out in 1988 when I was ten - a year of total pop immersion for me. A time of obsessive chart taping, Casio keyboard programming and live 'broadcasting' direct to an endless supply of TDK C90s using my Dad's slimline AKAI pencil microphone.

I remember listening to Robbie's honeyed burr over and over again and feeling deeply absorbed by the mystery of it all. I didn't really know what he was on about, but I sensed the voodoo, the headiness, in my own way. Hilariously (looking back), I remember linking the track, mentally, to Um Bongo - of 'consumed in the Congo' fame. I felt certain that exotic liquid must spring from a similar kind of 'crazy river'.

These days, when I put my seven inch on, I am struck instantly by two things: the sheer atmosphere and potency of the lyric, and the stunning Manu Katché groove. I could disappear for days at a time down the cracks in that spacious groove. I've even managed to find some footage on YouTube of other drummers deconstructing it.

And last, but not least, of course, I must mention the great Daniel Lanois - I can almost smell Lanois all over this record...Eau De Lanois.

Gorgeous...