Rainsongs and Painsongs - pt.4

Rainsongs and Painsongs is the new edition of YHO which can be downloaded as a pdf here, free for all. It is at heart a celebration of Julie Tippetts' work, very much inspired by her collaboration with Martin Archer on Tales of FiNiN which is undoubtedly the most rewarding record of recent times.

One of the many fascinating things about Julie is the way she has stubbornly stuck to a precarious path when making music. I almost feel guilty for saying this but there is a sense of excitement in piecing together the many things she has been involved in, with a whole host of people. Even putting together this 'celebration' made me feel rather guilty as there is a lot of Julie's work I'm not familiar with. The 1978 LP, Frames, by Keith Tippett's Ark is a great example, although in this case there are posts on YouTube. In many other cases the internet is not so helpful.

On the other hand some of Julie's contributions to other people's recordings and performances are known and loved. She was, for example, one of those involved in the 1999 Soupsongs celebration of Robert Wyatt's music, led by Annie Whitehead. And many years earlier she'd been one of Robert's guests at a special concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1974 which featured a heartbreakingly beautiful rendition of Julie's own Mind of a Child.

My own favourite moment among Julie's collaborations (well, of those I've heard at least) is her singing Caucasian Bird Riffles, the words of Paul Haines and the incredibly beautiful music of Carla Bley from the Tropic Appetites LP.