h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Although many people believe that the era of true folk-rock singer-songwriters is over, there are some gems left. One of these, and most probably the greatest of them all, is Loudon Wainwright III from Westchester County New York.

Loudon started singing in the mid-sixties and was regarded as somewhat of a sex-symbol When he went solo a year or so later he sang a lot of Bob Dylan songs and even won some Dylan imitation shows... Although Loudon has been compared to Bob Dylan numerous times there is no real similarity at all.

Consider this : Dylan's voice is very unclear whereas Loudon can be heard and understood in the whole concerthall.
Furthermore Bob Dylan used to write very cryptic lyrics while Loudon's greatest strength lies in the fact that he writes about everyday-life(although it is usually a bit of a twisted everyday-life).

Loudon was married several times. Amongst others he was married to Kate MacGarrigle, perhaps best known for the monster-hit she scored with her sister (Complainte pour St. Catharine).

His oldest son Rufus is now also steadily on the way of becoming a well-respected artist. He released his first album in 1998 and it was met with great critical acclaim.
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Loudon has written songs about babies, drunks, drugs, airports, sex, Hippies, Golfers, Grammy-winners, etcetera etcetera...

And yes, he can write brilliant serious songs as well :

"Long ago I hit you, we were in the car"
"You went crazy in the backseat, it had gone too far"
"And I pulled the auto over, hit you with all my might"
"And I knew right away that it was too hard, I'd never make it right"

Of course culminating in the final confession :

"These days things are awful between me and you"
"All we do is argue like two people who are through"
"I blame you, your friends, your school, your mother and MTV"
"Last night I almost hit you, that blame belongs to me"

(- Hitting You)


Of course to be really clear : Loudon usually works on the tearducts, mostly because you can't stop laughing...!


"Well it's three a.m., and so I creep"
"Around the house 'cause you're asleep"
"I can't sleep, I gotta smoke"
"I think I left some in my coat"
"No they're not there, but there's a chance"
"I left some in a packet in my pants"

"Bumped down the table, just below the belt"
"If you were a man baby you'd know how that felt"
"Just one thing I don't want to do"
"And that one thing is to wake up you"
"My hands are shaking, my brow it is damp"
"Bumped into the chair, knocked over the lamp"
"Bumped into the chair, knocked over the lamp..."

"Sure I know where some cigarettes are"
"But it's too cold outside to go to the car"
"I know this habit of mine, it's gotta be fed"
"I'm gonna get down I'm gonna scrounge around under the bed"
"Under the bed, down on the floor"
"Up on top baby I can hear you snore"

"Snore baby.....ooooooh"
"Snore baby.....ooooooh"

"Eureka ! I'm in luck"
"I found some matches and a crumpled butt"
"And just to show I love you"
"I'm not gonna look for an ashtray baby, I'm gonna use your shoe!"

"Well it's three a.m., and so I creep"
"Around the house 'cause you're asleep"


(-Nocturnal Stumblebutt)



After years of working the road around the clock Loudon has finally come to be recognized by more than the handfull who bought all of his records and went to every concert. Nowadays he performs at - for instance - The Paradiso in Amsterdam, he is a regular guest on BBC-television. Yes that's right, he is At Least as popular here as he is in the U.S.A. Not all artists have to die to be recognized...

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Recommended listening :

- Album I
- Album II
- A Live One
- Fame and Wealth
- Career Moves (live)
- History
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"And I'd like to thank my producer, and Jesus Christ..."

Very good article TM Those lyrics...remind me of something
shazz

Thank you...

As I have said before I am trying to improve my writingskills here on H2G2 so it is always nice to get response.
As you can imagine this is why i am getting an itsy bitsy teeny weeny impatient after 29 weeks. It would be nice to get a review from 'The Board" for a change... How else can one improve oneself ?

TM.

LOL! You could try having an English girlfriend perhaps
shazz
xxx

Hrmmmm.....might be a nice idea yes....