'Sweet Home Quarantine' online show on StageIt.com
Part celebration of Richard Thompson's and Ronnie Lane's birthdays

Review by Adrienne Meddock from Zub Records
Greetings, Groovers. Eyes on the Swiftcock Studio C this week are mine again, as I sub in for dyed-in-the-wool Feg Steve. Tonight we’ll have RH songs and celebrations of the birthdays of Richard Thompson and Ronnie Lane. I was lucky enough to get my second Covid jab this afternoon, so any side effects will hopefully enhance the general grooviness of these wonderful, intimate shows.

RH opens with ‘Captain Dry’ from You & Oblivion. Robyn is playing the lovely Gibson with the lozenge inlays on the neck and they sound great together. He observes that he “definitely recorded that song at sometime. I have no memory of writing it, but it sounds like me.” He explains that Johnathan Demme had suggested it for inclusion in Storefront Hitchcock.

Next up, a song he notes is “sadly not ‘Roadhouse Blues,’ but ‘Star of Hairs.’ He quips the Invisible Hitchcock track “would have been a natural for Marc Bolan or an artist of their calibre.” On that note, enter Ringo Stardust, coming in for a little love from RH. The kitty reportedly smells great tonight and Robyn pronounces him “a perfect Fold.”

The Richard Thompson birthday remembrance kicks off with ‘Calvary Cross,’ which RH starts with a lovely picked interlude, sounding very Richard-Thompson-NPR-bumper-tune, as is apropos. He notes that it is not quite the 1975 version of the song, ”but 1975 is hard to access.” It is a lovely rendition. The next song, “is by me, but it is as dismal as Richard Thompson could have written.” It’s ‘Luminous Rose’ from Globe of Frogs and I am not mired in dismalia at all.

Enter Emma, and the two of them are excited to discuss the venture Tiny Ghost Press, the literary arm of their in-house media empire. I think it quite literally is in their house. It is a fantastic idea that they seize the means of production for their creative works, adding to their recording endeavor, Tiny Ghost Records. Tiny Ghost Press will debut with a beautiful illustrated lyric book, Somewhere Apart: Selected Lyrics 1977 - 1997, featuring Robyn’s work, coming to us in “high summer.” Order here: https://robynhitchcockofficial.bandcamp.com/merch/somewhere-apart-selected-lyrics-1977-1997

Emma launches into ‘I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight,’ their second Thompson song. Reaching for a capo “that limits the bloodstream to the guitar,’ Robyn switches guitars again. Emma jokes “you are channeling Elvis Costello” because RH keeps changing instruments. Conversation veers in a few directions, culminating in RH’s making up a silly song about eggs, breaking it down to a beatbox again, as he has tended to lately. Emma asks, “is that your version of ‘Avalon’?” RH: “Eggalon. Must be the love object that turned into a bird, so there’d be an egg. So it all adds up.”

Ronnie Lane’s day is not forgotten and The Faces “Ooh La La” kicks off that part of the celebration, Em and Reg trade verses, joining together on the choruses. “Written by birthday boy Ronnie Lane,” Robyn adds in a dj voice, mid-song. The last verse is entropic, as they make each other laugh.

“Dig the clams, folks, here we go,” says Robyn as they quickly launch into ‘I Want to Tell You About What I Want’ from Robyn Hitchcock. Discourse then turns to a discussion of the Beach Boys, “Everybody hates Mike Love, mention his name and plants wilt . . by your works ye shall be known, he nails himself to that very unlovely cross … (referring to the MAGA hat Love wears) Emma, laughing, interjects into the tirade “Happy Easter, folks!”

She announces that the Christmas cards have finally all gone out, so coming at Easter makes them a twofer! The capo is on, and Emma is ready to sing as Robyn plays, the wrong thing. “Want to get the chords right, Guv?” They start over, this time getting right “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” the Richard Thompson song.

Next up is “Itchycoo Park,” perfect for RH’s voice, with Emma calling the questions out and harmonizing. Transcendent and simple, a great salute to Ronnie Lane. “The duck-feeding lyrics are a gas, and they know it,” RH comments, adding in beatbox “phased drums.” He really is a rhythm machine these days; Biz Markie, watch your back.

They suggest the upcoming album, Check Out that Tram with Mira Sorvino (a gatefold double album, natch).

RH breaks into “San Francisco,” admonishing us to wear some flowers in our hair, in a low voice. Emma objects “with that baritone, you sound like a creep in the park!” So they move on to “Balloon Man,” a not-creepy, pretty, picked version with Emma in harmony and that is SHQ for March.

--Adrienne Meddock, It’s All Too Beautiful