The 500 - #406 - Rid of Me - PJ Harvey

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 406

Album Title:  Rid of Me
Artist: PJ Harvey
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Punk-Blues
Recorded: Pachyderm Studios, Minnesota
Released: May, 1993
My age at release: 27
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Man-Size

This week, I am fortunate to have a guest blogger Karen Snell. Interestingly, I have never met Karen. Our mutual friend, James, suggested we follow each other on Facebook because we had common interests, particularly music. Consequently, we have known each other "virtually" for about five years. 

Last May, my blog post for PJ Harvey's 2000 record, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (#431 on The 500 list), was published. Karen reached out and let me know she was a big fan who had seen PJ in concert. Realizing that another PJ Harvey record was imminent, I asked her if she'd be willing to share her memories for this record, 1993's Rid of Me. To my delight and great appreciation, she agreed. Enjoy!

Rid of Me album Cover (1993)

I’ve liked PJ Harvey for a long time, and probably my biggest PJ-related musical memory happened when I went to see her at The Warehouse in Toronto on October 30, 1998. 

For those of you who might have also frequented this venue back in the day, you might remember that there were two adjacent places to see concerts right down by the lake, a few blocks east of the Harbourfront area, right at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street.

Blue dot in the red circle shows the location of The Warehouse and The Guvernment Music Clubs

The first venue in this location opened in the mid-80s as a club called RPM. It was later renamed The Guvernment, and became an intimate location for live shows. The second was a larger concert space, conveniently located right next door. It was dubbed The Warehouse when it opened in 1996 and renamed Kool Haus in the early 2000s.

The Guvernment Music Club 2006

The Warehouse had crazy posts from floor to ceiling at various spots throughout the concert space. This made for pretty poor sight-lines if you stood in certain areas, but, if you could get in front of them, it was a terrific concert-going experience. At capacity, The Warehouse could hold several thousand people.

I saw a lot of great concerts in these adjoining locations through the 90s and early 2000s, including The Heads, Pretty and Twisted in 1995 -- which was the lamentably short-lived side project featuring Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano and Wall Of Voodoo alumni Marc Moreland and Danny Montgomery. I also saw Portishead (fantastic show!), The Chemical Brothers, Moby, The The, The Orb, and Amon Tobin in 2012, not long before the property was sold and the buildings torn down.

Kool Haus (formerly The Warehouse) being demolished in 2015

However, it was PJ Harvey’s concert in 1998, that ranks as one of the best and certainly one of the most memorable. 

Waiting for the concert to begin, as usual, brought on a ripple of anticipation throughout the crowd, as people talked with their friends and jockeyed for the best places to view the stage. When PJ came on stage, there was the typical crowd reaction of cheering, clapping, and whistling, everyone anxious for her to begin.

PJ Harvey Live at the V Festival (2003)

What happened next, though, literally sent chills down my spine. PJ began playing the opening of Catherine, a fantastic song from the album she was touring at the time. As she did, an intense hush fell over the crowd to the point that you could have heard a pin drop. It was amazing! Literally thousands of people went from cheering, clapping and talking to being utterly transfixed within seconds of her starting. Nobody, anywhere, in the whole place, was making a sound. You could hear her voice ringing out across the hall. This was truly one of the most memorable moments I’ve ever had at a live gig in my life! Of course, she went on to rock out the whole evening and the crowd came back to earth to sing along and make noise with her, but that opening is seared in my memory!

PJ Harvey is always great live, and I saw her again in 2004 at the Phoenix in Toronto, which was also a fantastic gig; nothing, however, quite matched this amazing concert opening on that night in 1998.

For this album, Rid of Me, I think you’ll find this performance of PJ singing the title track at Big Day Out Festival in Sydney in 2001 captures a little of that magic of 1998. She can really dominate a massive crowd.

However, if I had to recommend just one song on Rid of Me it would probably be Man-Size. It has great vocals and PJ rocks out in a way only she can -- with her unique voice and raunchy guitar -- all the while exuding extreme confidence in her music, her body and herself. She is even commenting on gender and power while she’s at it, It’s pretty fantastic stuff!

Honourable mention and a particular recommendation for guitar-lovers is the track Ecstasy – great!

Unapologetically unique throughout her career and consistently evolving, Polly Jean Harvey has always been a risk taker. You might really love one or two albums more than the others because they’re all unique. They are well worth the time listening to with care, as she always has something to say.

This week's Guest Blogger - Karen Snell

The 500 - #431 - PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 431

Album Title: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Artist: PJ Harvey
Genre: Alternative Rock
Recorded: March - April, 2000
Released: October, 2000
My age at release: 35
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Big Exit

This is a record and an artist about whom I knew nothing. Consequently, this post will be dedicated to things I learned about her and this record, with a lengthy title: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. 

Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea Album Cover

Thanks, as always, to The 500 Podcast where Josh, his research team and this week's guest, actor and comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub, provided important context and insight.

Mary Lynn Rajskub and Josh Adam Meyers

Things I Learned

This is the fifth release by Dorset, England, native (Polly Jean) PJ Harvey. As a child, she was surrounded by music. Her parents shared their vast music library with her and introduced her to musicians, including family friend Ian Stewart -- the co-founder and keyboardist for The Rolling Stones.

She is a songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, piano, violin, cello, saxophone, harmonica, accordian and drums.

PJ Harvey at The Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago 2008

As a teen, she joined an eight-piece instrumental band called Bologne as a saxophonist. Later, she was a guitarist and singer with the folk duo Polekats, where her songwriting began.

The trio, PJ Harvey, was formed in 1991 when she was 22. The band's debut performance was, according to Harvey, disasterous. The band were playing at a "skittle alley" (aka: a lawn bowling club). In one song, they had nearly cleared the hall and, shortly after, the club owner came up to say:

"Don't you realize, We don't like you. You can stop playing. We'll still pay you...just stop playing."

With the passage of time the story has become a humorous anecdote. As the saying goes, "tragedy + time = comedy". 

Obviously, the band soldiered on and released their debut record Dry in 1992. It received positive critical press including Rolling Stone magazine naming her Songwriter of the Year.

Rid of Me Album Cover

The second album, Rid Of Me, was recorded at Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota with Steve Albini at the helm producing. Those who read my recent post on Nirvana's In Utero album may recall that name and location. Rid Of Me appears on The 500 list at #406. So, more on that at a later date.

Unfortunately, friction during the North American tour led to the band disolution. PJ Harvey went solo, retaining the band name (which only makes sense) and released two more records To Bring You My Love (1995) and Is This Desire? (1998), both to critical and commercial success.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, was released in the autumn of 2000. It won the prestigeous Mercury Prize (a British equivalent to The Grammy). The ceremony was held on September 11, 2001 and Harvey was in Washington while on tour. She witnessed the terrorist attack on The Pentagon from her hotel room window. When accepting the award, by telephone, she said, quite fittingly,

 "It has been a very surreal day. All I can say is thank you very much, I am absolutely stunned."

I listened to the record a half-dozen times this week, either while connecting with my students online or holding a ladder for my wife who is painting the interior of our home. To use an expression I recently learned -- "this record plows". Harvey's voice reminds me of one of my favourite vocalists, Chrissy Hynde of The Pretenders. 

Harvey also includes a number of songs featuring Thom Yorke of Radiohead -- even one where he sings lead. In itself, it is unusual for a singer to choose to choose harmonies rather than lead on their own album. I like this record and look forward to hearing Rid Of Me in a few months.