Wesley Stace reprises Late Style's songs solo acoustic

The artist also known as John Wesley Harding is sharing acoustic versions of songs from Late Style. Check the snazzy wardrobe.

LATE STYLE - Solo Acoustic

1 of 13: Where the Bands Are

"'Where the Bands Are' was certainly never meant to be a solo acoustic song but, as everyone says these days, "here we are"! Seems like a good show opener, in whichever version. Enjoy."

 

2 of 13: Everything All the Time

"Today it's 'Everything All The Time,' here minus the beautiful singing of Kelly Hogan and Nora O'Connor Kean but with more whistling to make up for it. (I am modeling a very cosy Rick Owens sweater for those interested in these sorts of details.)"

 

3 of 13: Your Bright Future

It was a real pleasure, and quite hard work, to get inside these songs, particularly this one! And I'll note that it's a totally different version and arrangement from the bonus acoustic version on the LATE STYLE LP, which so far has escaped digitization into any format, and is therefore only available on the wax. Today I am modelling a piece of Bob Dylan merchandise, as featured on the cover of Desire and in the movie Renaldo and Clara.

 

4 of 13: Hey! Director

"I wrote 'Hey! Director' many years ago, and I always loved the lyric. I then wrote more than one melody for it, of which the best can be found on Sings to a Small Guitar Vol 2. (Back then it was called Hey! Director!, a small difference puncutationally, the original inspired by those exclamation marks in Oh! Calcutta!) The song never quite made it on to an album with any tune, yet the lyric kept feeling worth singing, and even more so as time rolled on. So I put it before David Nagler and he came back to me with the lovely tune that made it on to Late Style. His riff was originally the riff from Bob Dylan's I Want You, so I persuaded him to flip it around and it ended up what I'm whistling here." 

This is the older version, if you'd like to compare and contrast: https://johnwesleyharding.bandcamp.com/track/hey-director

(It isn't a competition!)

 

5 of 13: Come Back Yesterday

"Come Back Yesterday was the easiest because a) it's a strummer and b) I play the guitar on this one in the shows. Huzzah! It's going up early today because I am going on Gentleman's Record Shopping Trip. Have a nice weekend. I will put up #6 on Monday and collate the first five this weekend."