Clay Pigeons is a new vinyl-only release of Blaze Foley material from Secret Seven Records. The album contains 12 Foley songs recorded from 1976-1988 with liner notes written by Foley’s lover and biographer, Sybil Rosen. It is noteworthy that Rosen has contributed, given that the love songs on the album were likely addressed to her. As noted in on Root Hog Radio’s blog, the album contains songs that span the breadth of Foley’s writing abilities, from the deep inner world, to political views, and love songs. The record comes on the trails of Rosen’s biography on Foley, Living in the Woods in a Tree, and Duct Tape Messiah, a documentary about Foley currently touring the USA and Europe.
The title song, Clay Pigeons, derives its name from the line, “Feed the pigeons some clay, and start talking again, when I know what to say…” While many Foley lines are deeply incisive or playful, this one simply bewilders. One can only speculate it was a play on the trap shooting targets, or that he was being a rascal to some poor birds. Either way, Foley can sing and pick most movingly. Don’t miss this album.
