The first release of 2020 for Damaged Goods Records out of the U.K. will be another fine album by Billy Childish. This record is entitled, “Kings Of The Medway Delta” and is credited to “Wild Billy Childish and The Chatham Singers”.
For those folks expecting more punked-up garage rock, as can be heard by his band, CTMF, this album will be a bit of a surprise. On this album, Wild Billy Childish hones in on the singular sound that Chess Records presented in the late fifties and early sixties. He very effectively captures that sound, as though this record had in fact been recorded in, say, 1959.
One of the highlights of the album is the cover of the Slim Harpo classic, “I Got Love if You Want It.” One can almost imagine Wild Billy Childish performing such songs at the Crawdaddy Club, where the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds cut their teeth on stage.
In addition to the covers, he revisits a few of his original songs, such as “The Good Times are Killing Me,” “All My Feelings Denied,” and “The Double Axe,” giving them all a happy turn as blues or R ‘n’ B tunes.
Joining the band on this record is Jim Riley, who plays great blues harmonica on all of the tracks, which helps to capture an authentic blues sound that has eluded so many.
Also being released along with this album will be a single version of the song, “All My Feelings Denied,” which will have a cover of the Muddy Waters song, “I’m Ready” on the flip side. That song does not appear on the album.
If you would like to hear a few tracks from this record, as well as some blues songs and some blues-inspired songs, check out this archive of my radio show from January 17th, 2020