Nick Cave - The Pricks Kick Back (2009)

Back in 1980 I heard a song on the John Peel show which was unlike anything I'd ever heard before - the song was 'The Friend Catcher' and it was by The Birthday Party, an Australian post-punk band led by a young Nick Cave. I tried to find more by them but there wasn't much around, although 'Mr Clarinet Man' proved that the earlier song wasn't just a one-off. The band started out in 1975 as a sextet, with Cave on vocals, joined by Mick Harvey on guitar, Phil Calvert on drums, Brett Purcell on bass, Chris Coyne on saxophone and John Cocivera on second guitar. After playing a few local venues under various names, they decided to continue as a four-piece, with Tracey Pew taking over on bass, and in 1976 The Boys Next Door was born. They were still doing covers, such as 'Gloria' and 'Blitzkreig Bop', but Cave was now coming up with some dark and disturbing songs, such as the afore-mentioned 'The Friend Catcher'. In 1978 they recruited Rowland S. Howard as a second guitarist, resulting in a change in their sound, with Howard's use of feedback combining with the prominent repetitive basslines and minimal drumming to make a noise that incorporated punk, blues, rockabilly and free jazz. 
In 1980 they headed to London and changed their name to The Birthday Party, and were championed almost immediately by John Peel, offering them a Peel session early in their career. With the 'Release The Bats' single they really hit the mainstream, and from there on could do no wrong. Their debut album was a classic of the post-punk genre, and while the follow-up 'Junkyard' had a lot to prove, and so suffered for that, there was some good stuff on there as well. The years 1982 to 1983 were especially fraught for the band, with arguments between the band-mates resulting in one member after another leaving, and after the excellent 'Mutiny' and 'The Bad Seed' EP's in 1983 the band split up for good. Perhaps surprisingly, considering that they made such a unique sound together, each member has gone on to considerable solo or band success since the spilt, with Mick Harvey forming Crime And The City Solution, Rowland S. Howard teaming up with Lydia Lunch for a number of records, and then forming These Immortal Souls, and of course Nick Cave going on to the greatest success after he formed The Bad Seeds with ex-Einsturzende Neubauten guitarist Blixa Bargeld, Barry Adamson, and for a short period Tracey Pew, before he passed from injuries sustained following an epileptic seizure in 1986. 
Cave's first album with the Bad Seeds was 'From Her To Eternity', and was the equal of anything by his former band. 'The Firstborn Is Dead' and 'Your Funeral... My Trial' followed, and established Cave as a musician of some note and influence, so it was something of a surprise that for his fourth album he decided to release a selection of cover versions by artists as diverse as John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, Leadbelly, Roy Orbison, Lou Reed, and Jimmy Webb. The album was a massive hit, and Cave has continued to perform covers in his shows and in the studio, although he's never got around to releasing a follow-up to 'Kicking Against The Pricks', so it's therefore down to me to put it together for him. Over the past 20-odd years Cave has covered a wide variety of songs for compilation and tribute albums, as well as helping out bands that he admired with vocals on their records, and so I've compiled two covers albums - one of just Cave and the band, and one of covers that he's performed as duets with other artists. 'The Pricks Kick Back' comprises songs recorded by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, or by Cave on his own, and are taken from a number of sources, as listed here:
'I Put A Spell On You' was an exclusive recording for the NME's cassette 'Department of Enjoyment' in 1984 
'The Pinery Boy' is from 'Rogues Gallery', a 2006 collection of Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs And Shanties
'Ramblin' Mind' is from the 2009 Jeffrey Lee Pierce tribute album 'We Are Only Riders'
'Let It Be' is from the soundtrack of the 2001 fim 'Son Of Sam'
'Mack The Knife is from 1997 CD September Songs, a collection of Kurt Weill songs   
'Helpless' was recorded for the 1989 Neil Young tribute album 'The Bridge' (this is the full version which is 40 seconds longer than the one on the 'B-Sides & Rarities' compilation 
'Disco 2000' was released as the b-side to Pulp's 'Bad Cover Version' single of 2002
'John The Revelator' was recorded for 'The Harry Smith Project' CD of American folk songs
'King Kong Kitchee Kitchee Ki-Mi-O' was the b-side of the 1996 single 'Henry Lee'
'Rainy Night In Soho' was the b-side to the 1992 single 'What A Wonderful World' (with Shane McGowan)
'I Feel So Good' comes from the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese's 2003 film 'The Soul Of A Man', and
'There's No Night Out At The Jail' was recorded for a 1993 Country covers album that never saw the light of day. 
So here we have a very belated second volume to 'Kicking Against The Pricks', which I hope is as interesting and varied a selection as the original album. 

Track listing

01 I Put A Spell On You (Screaming Jay Hawkins/Slotkin)
02 Pinery Boy (Trad.)
03 Ramblin' MInd (Jeffrey Lee Pierce)   
04 Let It Be (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)  
05 Mack The Knife (Bertold Brecht/Kurt Weill)    
06 Helpless (Neil Young)
07 Disco 2000 (Banks/Cocker/Doyle/Nackey/Senior/Webber)   
08 John The Revelator (Trad./Blind Willie Johnson)
09 King Kong Kitchee Kitchee Ki-Mi-O (Trad./Nick Cave) 
10 Rainy Night In Soho (Shane McGowan)  
11 I Feel So Good (J. B. Lenoir)
12 There's No Night Out In The Jail (John Harold Ashe)