There are barely enough musical pies for TERRY EDWARDS to have his fingers in. Having initially arrived on the scene in the early ‘80s with Norwich-based Peel favourites The Higsons (alongside ‘The Fast Show’s Charlie Higson), he’s since gone on to become one of THE horn players for hire with a CV involving session work for the likes of Madness, Nick Dave, Tindersticks, Spiritualized, Julian Cope and PJ Harvey.
If that wasn’t enough, Edwards also regularly plays with Gallon Drunk and Lydia Lunch and has made soundtrack-style recordings with Madness bassist Mark Bedford. He has also made something of a name for himself courtesy of his series of bizarrely-arranged cover version EPS. If you’ve not had the pleasure, these include trumpet-led instrumental takes of the Jesus & Mary Chain’s back catalogue and Ska-style readings of some of The Fall’s key moments. Reverent they are not, but they are always recorded with love, skill and invention.
It’s this last category of work which best prepares you for Terry’s new album ‘Clichés’. On the surface, it’s that thorniest adversary of mine, the ‘covers’ album, but you can stop panicking: it’s a ‘covers’ record with a difference and – as you’ll hear – there’s always a method to Terry’s madness here.
For ‘Clichés’ is no ordinary ‘covers’ record. It’s partly a tribute to Big Star’s late frontman Alex Chilton who died suddenly earlier this year AND partly a tribute to legendary Jazzer and hell-raiser Chet Baker. These two singular characters were also inter-linked in that Chilton (himself a huge Baker fan) recorded a version of ‘Let’s Get Lost’ - the title song of the Baker movie biopic – while Baker also recorded a tribute of sorts to Chilton, laying down a version of Chilton-sung Box Tops hit ‘The Letter’ on an obscure LP from the early 1970s.
While this background material is fascinating and slightly spooky, it’s not essential to your enjoyment of ‘Clichés’ itself. What might immediately surprise you is that it’s not the brass-fest you’d expect. The 12 tracks revel predominantly in laid-back, acoustic guitar and vocal settings and in fact you’re at track six (Edwards’ exemplary take of the aforementioned ‘Let’s Get Lost’) before any trumpet enters the mix.
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Instead, we’re treated to an unlikely mixture of tunes old and new, borrowed and renewed in stylish, but unlikely fashion. Proceedings open with a stripped-back, but mighty fine re-vamping of Dr. Feelgood’s Punky R ‘n ‘B hit ‘Down at the Doctors’ with a little jaunty Joanna on hand, while the Jesus & Mary Chain’s ‘I Love Rock’n’Roll’ receives a suitably bright and life-affirming treatment and Tel indulges in an inspired turn at the ivories for an almost unrecognisable Bill Evans-style rehash of (ahem) ‘Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner.’
Edwards’ Chilton homage explains his remarkably straight takes of sentimental standards like ‘My Blue Heaven’ and ‘The Very Thought of You’ (Chilton had covered similar standards like ‘Time After Time’), though it’s his lovely, poised version of Big Star’s ‘Give Me Another Chance’ which really shines.
Elsewhere, the most manic thing here is Edwards’ intense version of James Brown’s ‘I’ll Go Crazy’ (Eugene Chadbourne on super-strength amphetamines, anyone?) but by some way the most sublime is – of all things – his gorgeously melancholic take of The Beatles’ ‘You Won’t See Me.’ There again, ‘Rubber Soul’ has a vein of introspective melody running through it and it’s a seam Terry gloriously taps into here.
Although it has the ability to blindfold you and shove you headlong into a room with no floor, the opportunity to enjoy the strange new settings Terry Edwards thrusts this disparate collection of songs into is usually every bit as enjoyable and heart-warming. You might want to check ‘Clichés’ doesn’t bite if you find it lodged in your Christmas stocking, but you’ll find it’s for life not just the festive season once you’ve become accustomed to each other.
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