REST IN PEACE ROCKER

Nick Curran passed away yesterday from mouth cancer, which he'd been fighting since 2009.  That just sucks.  Obviously it does for him and his family, but for music as well. The guy was a true believer, a throwback to when artists cared more about their music than they did to the packaging or marketing, or widespread recognition.  And he played rock 'n' roll, as in the real thing.  Three chord progressions, tasty guitar, honking sax and that voice, that fucking voice.  It was a rock 'n' roll voice, in the tradition of Little Richard, Bunker Hill, Gerry Roslie (Sonics) and Don and Dewey.  A flat out shouter. 

A year or so ago, he had a thing posted on his MySpace page describing the "Official Nick Curran Cocktail Recipe." Amongst others, the ingredients included Little Richard, Glenn Danzig, Gerry Roslie, Johnny Watson, Cliff Gallup, Angus Young, 50's B.B. King, and Johnny Ramone.  You can tell from that, Curran was no head-in-the-sand retro guy. But he did possess whatever it was to keep the music pure, whether it was getting the Little Richards vocal inflections down pat (see "Lucille" video below) or reinterpreting a song so completely, you'd swear the original artist was the one doing the cover (see the "No Fun" video at the bottom).

Curran wasn't one dimensional.  A lot of unlisted ingredients were thrown into that cocktail of his.  He could do bluesy, he could do old school R & B, and he could do Wall of Sound.  (Listen to "Reform School Girl" below, it's Shadow Morton melodrama meets Phil Spector.) But the rockers were his bread and butter, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone else that carried that torch higher.

The mp3s below are all that I could find (a testament to an under appreciation of his output), but as news of his death spreads, I expect I'll be adding more.  There's a ton of videos at YouTube.  As his medical bills were probably up there (there were benefits), I would strongly recommend buying his stuff, starting with Reform School Girl, his last LP from 2010.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Nick Curran and the Lowlifes - Kill My Baby mp3 at KEXP
Nick Curran and the Lowlifes - Reform School Girl mp3 at Austin Town Hall 
Video:
Nick Curran & the Lowlifes - No Fun/Shot Down (live, 2009) at YouTube Stooges inna Fats Domino stylee.
Ronnie Dawson (Curran on Guitar) - Sucker For a Cheap Guitar (live, 1997) video at YouTube
Visit:
Nick Curran - Bio at Eclectro Groove
Nick Curran - Bio at Blind Pig Records
Nick Curran at Wikipedia
Nick Curran at MySpace