Angelo Palladino and the skeleton crew profile picture

Angelo Palladino and the skeleton crew

About Me

Perhaps the blues came up the River Thames before it reached the Mississippi..." - Angelo Palladino.For some people the blues originated somewhere in the area of the winding Mississippi, but for many it came from other places. For some it came from within, for others it rolled up the River Thames to London's East End in the years following WWII.With London's skyline battered beyond all recognition, the people that lived in that always downtrodden, much maligned area of Britain's capital city were more than used to darkness and struggle. Indeed anyone that has read turn-of-the-century American author Jack London's harrowing classic "The People Of The Abyss" will surely recognize where Angelo Palladino's own take on the Blues came from.Angelo was born and raised in Jack The Ripper's former stamping ground in the Red Light district of London in 1949 to an ebullient East End mother and a P.O.W. Italian father.As Angelo got older, the Blues, became his calling. "When I heard this form of music, it became a constant tapping on my shoulder, a constant shadow that I moved through."He turned this "Devil" into a friend, and that friend helped him write 'Blood, Blues & Bad Dreams.'The album is full of bitter experience and failed hope enveloped in wonderful songwriting and intense storytelling. Having worked as a road builder, a dockworker, and a steel mill worker in his lifetime (as well as teaching guitar to delinquent teenagers of which Angelo comments "that was a great experience"), this should be no surprise.

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Member Since: 19/09/2007
Band Members: Angelo palladino- Guitar Bobby T- Guitar Ol Jessop- Bass Gareth Hodgson- Drums
Sounds Like: REVIEWFROM THE MIXING TIN LEEDS SUNDAY 5TH DECEMBER 2004 BY ANNALEE CALL-Angelo is something of a wild card. Cigarette-voiced he launches into a song 'hopefully' written by Keith Richards - 'Play with Fire' - His staccato guitar, a blatant antithesis to Gomm's warm delay and fuzz driven ensemble, is tight, tight, tight; and his slightly twisted delivery - worldly and off-centre, is charismatic.Are all the successful one's bastards? I think so. For all the posturing of lime-lit fair-trade pushing personas, it's that purity of egocentricity that spreads the genes; that touch of complete self-centredness, oft captured in song. And seeing now that social and party politics are dead (well, a little bit unwell), only the personal seems to remain, which is why solo songwriters are so damn important.(Observe, for example (though I believe I could cite many, many, other similar voices), the Kaiser Chiefs' interview in Vibrations - "you have to be careful when you're small not to be too outspoken politically" - really boys, the 'Man' simply wants you to create a return for his investment of capital. Say whatever you want. Sell your product. Tour. Get laid. Then cry when you find no-one cares about your apathy - is not creativity a political act, whether as a reflection and/or representation?).Even The Gang of Four reform for gigs.No. Angelo Does much more than sit with a fencing-post up his arse. His 'Reckless Road' - an harmonica driven workhouse fable, is telling - and 'Two Crows' - with its tale of resurrection and dead carrion birds is grimly poignant. A song for black-clad lovers if ever there was one. (Sadly, I regret that we will probably not, and idiots will. However, I promise to be always polite to them... to a certain degree at least.)Whether he has heard of Depeche Mode or not, (he states he has heard not the original), his cover of Johnny Cash's 'Personal Jesus' is either an idiot savant act of mimetic brilliance, or a proper good song done good. I'm happy with either interpretation; playful polythemic and self-referential/reverential interpretation is one of few head-joys left, considering our oh-so-limited focus options.He relaxes with his honesty and installs a continuing sense of purpose. 'Far Away Town' is touching - 'I'm gonna take my beat-up Fender and my cat, and drive all day to a town called Faraway' - (It's the 'all day' thing that gets me. Anyone can be a romantic in the dark). Otherwise, the couple with the matching tattoo (remember that?) remain, smouldering, in the embers. Chet Baker and 'Midnight', and the Mariachi song about Mexican Heroin, steer us into our brief sojourn to the bar. Rah-rah. Drug of Choice.Knowing that visualising a couplet was always a prime factor - the third set is Jon Gomm and Angelo jamming together; 'Superstition'; 'Mystery Train'; 'Waiting in Vain', and 'I Just Wanna Make Love to You'. All good. Not perfect but a unique synthesis. Angelo ends the night with an homage to Lonnie Donnegan -and why not? Observe Paladino's skiffle influenced strumming - you couldn't fake it in a weekend. Both performers adhere to their own personal techniques. No sell out. No cheap soap-boxing. Or soap-dodging. Or soap opera. A lot of talent. I whet and I dry my eyes. I smile, I laugh and I stay until the end.Don't tell anybody. Let them find out for themselves.
Record Label: Unsigned

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