Before Huey and the New Yorkers were so named, the Fun Lovin Criminals frontman and his veteran New York Blues scene pals would often hook up, jam and record their favourite tunes. As with Huey and the New Yorkers' debut album Say It To My Face, music was always the excuse that brought these old friends together. One such jam, which also included early versions of the songs that made the debut album proper, included some rather tasty interpretations of some well-known and some not so well-known classics, that inspired this special collection, The After Hours EP.
Grammy Award winning recording engineer and producer Tim Latham, whose relationship with Huey dates back to the multi-platinum FLC debut Come Find Yourself, was fortunately on hand to capture these charming ‘after hours' performances of The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Tommy James and the Shondells, a page out of the great American songbook with ‘My Funny Valentine' from Babes In Arms and even Bob Dylan.
Here are a few personal thoughts from Huey, track by track;
'Guns On The Roof'
"A great lesser known Clash tune that I've loved since I first heard it. Chris, King and Chico recorded it and I jumped at the chance to put my vocals on it. Mick Jones told me the story of the song where Joe and I think Paul were on the roof of their studio with BB guns and folks on the train that passed nearby called the cops and they spent the night in the klink. The manager didn't bail them out, which I found the funniest bit. It's the Strummer lyrics that put this song in play today and its relevance resonates prolifically".
'Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)'
"The Stones are the archetypal rock n roll band and this is one of my favourite tracks from these dudes singin' about some of the stuff that can go down in New York City".
'Draggin' The Line'
"This track was one of the first songs I learned as a kid and Pete and I recorded it on a whim one day and it has the flavour of times past. Tommy James and the Shondells were a great band and did 'Crimson and Clover' that Joan Jett recorded and the track has a feel that made us want to explore, and we went done and did just that. Hope y'all dig the positive vibe".
'My Funny Valentine' (from Babes In Arms)
"I recorded this song for my wife on Valentine's day last year. It's a song that has a sweet sentiment about love and I did it in a few hours here in the Mancave, and tried to make it as personal sonic wise as I could, using the effect of a scratchy old LP to make it hauntingly beautiful. The vocal track was a first take and it isn't perfect, but neither is love. And as a producer I wanted to make the music I played support the nature of the lyrics. Play it for someone you love".
'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright'
"This Dylan track was written in '62 and though it's been covered by a lot of other artists I had to cover it myself. It's the best break-up song I've ever heard. To the point, with bitterness and humour side by side".