Before YUI Orta Ronson got interested in working with Ian again and Ill Wind is one of the songs that Hunter was preparing before recording. Hunter at times has written with Robbie Alter and this demo from the YUI Orta sessions was recorded in Ian's bedroom studio in NYC around 1988. In fact, Alter did this in one take. Despite the similarity this is not the Mott The Hoople song Ill Wind Blowing that escaped Hunter's memory but Ill Wind was originally issued on The Journey, Once Bitten Twice Shy, and Tilting the Mirror.
Ian threatened for years to do a gospel blues song and he delivered. The song is considerably different for Ian's musical work and is about an average bloke in the 1920s. He works in the morning cotton fields but he also made a record in the afternoon, while the record continues to sell. Unfortunately, the singer received nothing and he is understandably angry. It is one of the more unusual songs in the Hunter catalog but fairly typical of how musicians are often taken advantage of and do not always profit from their creativity.
There is a live version release from 2000.
Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me
I don't see the song on either of the following as noted in the book Stranded In Reality; however, I see Ill Wind on the Once Bitten Twice Shy release.
Ill Wind | 3:22 | This demo from the YUI Orta sessions was issued on the compilations The Journey, Once Bitten Twice Shy andTilting The Mirror - Rarities (box set only). |
Ill Wind (live 19th May 2000) | 4:52 | This live version (recorded at The Robin 2, Bilston England) can be found on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 1) (box set only). |
Originally issued on Two Miles From Heaven. It can also be found on the Mental Train box set.