I Guess That Says It All - The Lives and Times of Brendan Croker

1987, NETHERLANDS... 

John Hiatt has released a fantastic album called ‘Bring The Family’, recorded with Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner.

My friend Hendrik and I bought it around the same time and are playing it regularly.

When we hear that Hiatt is coming to the Netherlands and performing in Haarlem on Oct 15 we buy tickets straightaway.

Upon arrival at the venue in Haarlem we discover that the support act is an unknown (to us at least) outfit called Brendan Croker & the Five O'Clock Shadows.

As soon as we bought our first beer Brendan & Co. start playing and we are pleasantly surprised as support acts can be a very much hit or miss affair.

They play a cool mix of folk, blues, calypso, reggae, South African jive, and country roots to great effect!

After their awesome set comes up Hiatt with his band (which includes Sonny Landreth) and deliver an equally amazing show.

Later outside we agree that this was one of the best double live acts we have ever seen!

A few days later I manage to buy ‘A Close Shave’,  Brendan Croker & the Five O'Clock Shadows’ first album which I tape immediately because I am leaving for Thailand in a few days and that effectively will mean the end of my record collecting hobby…

Over the years in Thailand I find out more about Brendan and manage to download some of his songs…

In 2023 I suddenly read that he passed away due to leukemia, but apparently was active playing music for as long as possible.

Since then I’ve been catching up on his musical heritage and so far it hasn’t disappointed me at all!

Brendan recorded profusely, either with The Five O'Clock Shadows, without, with musical partners (Mark Knopfler, Steve Phillips, Kevin Coyne, Guy Fletcher, a.o), or as a member of (kind of super group) The Notting Hillbillies…

Only one compilation was released in 2000, Castle’s ‘Not Just A Hillbilly...More Like A Best Of’, which is excellent (& has informative liner notes too!), but with only 14 songs seems way too limited.

 

High time to take action and the result is this 21 track sampler which should give you a better idea of why Brendan was so popular in Europe and the UK.

Included are tracks from albums such as A Close Shave, Boat Trips In The Bay, Brendan Croker and The 5 O‘Clock Shadows, The Great Indoors, The Kershaw Sessions, Made in Europe, Time Off, & Three Chord Lovesongs.

But also collaborative tracks with Guy Fletcher (Dire Straits keyboardist), The Notting Hillbillies (with Mark Knopfler, Guy Fletcher, & Steve Phillips), and Kevin Coyne, plus several non album and live tracks!

 

Update: for more info check out: http://www.brendancroker.com/