Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is an indescribable pleasure to be derived from listening to a classic album for the first ever time. Such is the fate for anyone who ventures from their perceived comfort zone and takes in the re-mastered album by B.J. Cole, The New Hovering Dog.
First released over 40 years ago, it is an album that urges the listener to follow the proverbial yellow brick road and go on a journey that at times will open the imagination to its fullest achievable end and at others will have the younger listener, even the music lovers of the era, astounded by the complexity of the tracks on the C.D. and the incredible sound that B.J. Cole produces throughout.
The New Hovering Dog is a crucial album to have in the collection, not only does it enforce the belief that B.J. Cole is arguably one of the finest pedal steel players ever to make his mark on folk music, it also reminds you that you might know a hell of a lot about music but in the end you don’t know what it is that your missing when you crawl too far into the pit of comfort.
The album has never been released on C.D. before, surprising maybe but it is the extra fission that makes listening to it so delightful. Nothing will ever replace the experience and love of putting on a vinyl record, certainly not the cold sterility that comes hand in hand with downloading a track off the internet but at least with a C.D. there is still an attachment of warmth, the grace of real ownership and in the case of this album that grace is magnified a hundred fold. Each track fills the air with a kind of knowledge, of acceptance and of intrigue. The intrigue especially is a route on the Yellow Brick Road to savour, for it proves that whilst not being in Kansas, you are not really in control either, astounding.
The Regal Progression is a track of blistering attitude and conundrum, a real beauty in which to kick start of the album and from there the whole thing never deviates or errs from the musicians chosen path. The outrageously good Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie, the insanity driven You’re Probably Lost and The East Winchley Tango all give the album a type of serendipity overture that it’s hard not to fully immerse yourself in and imagine what life may have been like had this album found its way into your life a little sooner.
The re-mastered edition of The New Hovering Dog is released on November 25th.
Ian D. Hall