mp3: Michelle Shocked - The Ballad of Patch-Eye and Meg

Michelle Shocked represents to me the sheer work you had to put in sometimes, pre-pre-internet, to locate music you knew you liked but had never seen; sure, you read a review of it, or saw a poster, but trying to actually get your hands on some records was amazingly frustrating. Years ago, in 1988, in fact, I searched for the album The Texas Campfire Tapes, from which The Ballad of Patch-Eye and Meg is taken, in vain. After many months of searching, nigh on a year, I think, in fact, I eventually I found it at Probe in Liverpool, yelped in delight and shelled out my 9.99 (for the vinyl), took it home all excited, and it didn’t leave my turntable for weeks.

I loved its sound - recorded verbatim, it seemed, with trucks passing and crickets chirping. The songs were sweet and witty, her voice teetering into Minnie Mouse territory occasionally, but that just, to me, made it all the more attractive. I was 15 and this was the first time I’d heard music recorded in this way; instead of beautifully produced, arranged and polished, this was personal, intimate, seemingly just for my ears only - she even messed up endings occasionally (”..you hear girls trying to play barre chords!“), like a real person. The Ballad of Patch-Eye and Meg’s a perfect example of her great storytelling.

Buy - and I’ve just noticed from this site that she’s released a 2CD set of TCT with 23 extra tracks. God, life’s so much easier these days.