The 31 albums Richard Hawley thinks you should hear
I saw a video of Ian McKellen speaking of his fondness for the north, the other day, which triggered a strange sense of pride and joy in me.
Maybe it’s me simply relating to the story as a proud northerner, but McKellen spoke about the feelings he has when arriving back home, and knowing he’s home because of the way people refer to you as “love”. I can’t quote the video, it’s lost in the realm of social media landfill now, but he says something along the lines of, “Doesn’t love include everyone?”
There is something inherently sweet about calling your fellow human “love”, so long as it is used in a loving sense. No doubt many people reading this will resent the word, given how often it’s used in a condescending manner. However, when it is backed with sincerity, there is no escaping the fact that the word has a warmness even total strangers can impose onto you.
It’s this sense of home that Richard Hawley captures in one of his recent albums, In This City They Call You Love. The proud Sheffielder manages to capture the heart of the city wonderfully, in the title of the album, but then throughout the record itself. His lyrics are poetic, but also deeply grounded, you don’t have to dig deep to get to the root of what he’s saying, in fact, you hardly need to disrupt the flowers that those roots help grow at all.
The band he was formerly in, Pulp, have always been celebrated as a band that can capture the hearts of people with lyrics which are a true reflection of those who listen to them. Jarvis Cocker once admitted that he had a revelation when he was hospitalised, realising when being helped into an ambulance that the real heroes, and the real art, was around him the entire time.
“The scales had fallen from my eyes,” said Cocker, “I now realised that I’d been surrounded by inspiration all along. Only I’d been too intent on scaling the distant horizon to actually see it. Now that I was back at ground level and staring life fully in the face, I found myself eyeball to eyeball with what I’d always been searching for: something to write about.”
Pulp certainly captures the magic of the everyday, no doubt about it, but I would argue that Hawley manages to continue to champion those everyday people a lot more effectively in his solo music. Listening to his records feels like a personal affair, as it’s something that’s been written for you and you specifically. Of course, that’s not the case, Hawley has many fans dotted around the country, and that paradox of something feeling personal but shared by many is a deeply moving listen.
There are plenty of influences that play a part in Richard Hawley’s sound, and within those influences are 31 albums that have helped him develop the heartfelt taste he has become a champion of, curated by the brilliant Record Collector magazine. If you’re looking for heartfelt and personal listens, then you needn’t look any further than a Hawley recommendation, and we’ve got 31 of them…
The albums Richard Hawley personally recommends:
- Big Buddy Lucas – I Can’t Go
- Tennesse Ernie Ford & Ella Mae Morse – False-Hearted Girl
- Frankie Lee Sims – Walking With Frankie
- Little Walter – Up The Line
- The Ho-Dads – Honky
- Little Bob – I Got Loaded
- John Lee Hooker – Think Twice Before You Go
- Elmore James – Done Somebody Wrong
- Chuck Berry – Dear Dad
- Johnny Horton – Lover’s Rock
- Vince Taylor & His Playboys – Brand New Cadillac
- Sonny Boy Williamson – Trying To Get Back On My Feet
- John Lee Hooker – Money
- The T-Bones – No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)
- Buddy & Edna – No Change
- BB King – My Baby’s Coming Home
- Dick Dale & His Del-Tones – Jungle Fever
- Billy Lee RIley – Parchman Farm
- The Blue Rondos – Baby I Go For You
- Tim Rose – I Got A Loneliness
- The Shadows – Scotch On The Socks
- The Rumblers – Don’t Need You No More
- Albert King – Oh, Pretty Woman
- Ron Wray Light Show – Speed
- Papa Lightfoot – Mean Old Train
- Smiley Lewis – She’s Got Me Hook, Line & Sinker
- Les Brown Jnr – Swingin’ & Surfing
- Doctor Ross – Cat Squirrel
- Jimmy McCarcklin – Get Together
- Nobody’s Children – Good Times Big Mama Thornton – Wade In The Water
