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Fans will know that he goes back well beyond that. Some would say he was at his peak in the early to mid 70s when pre-punk Peel shows were enlivened by his sessions of left side folk whimsy often with a comedic eye.

He’s lost none of his sharpness as he views life among the Strange Weirdos. ‘Daughter’ is the standout track as he possibly digs at Martha’s widely publicised perception of Dad. “That’s my daughter in the water,” he proudly proclaims. Surprising to see that this song was actually written by an ex-Slapp Happy/Henry Cow bearing in mind LW3 has form in this area. He wrote probably the best ever instructional swimming song, ‘Swimming Song’ (as performed by ex-wife Kate McGarrigle with Auntie Anna on Kate & Anna McGarrigle).

Wainwright has been a long time friend with the guitarists’ guitarist and folk legend, Richard Thompson (and Dad of Rufus’ mate, Teddy Thompson) who helped out on ‘Grey in L.A.’. Thompson also features on ‘Final Frontier’ as they waltz on the deck of the ‘Good Ship Venus’ to the strings of The Section Quartet.

The first fruit of the Loudon and Joe Henry partnership was ‘You Can’t Fail Me’ which is typical ‘serious’ Wainwright. ‘So Much To Do’ gets us into piano bar blues (a la Randy Newman) and the lyrics to ‘Valley Morning’ seem like a cross between Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa themes.

‘X or Y’, the result of being Knocked Up, is appropriately upbeat gospel and ‘Feel So Good’ is a rockin’ blues for those with a superior intellect.

One for fans of the pedal steel (and Wilco) is the Henry instrumental, ‘Naomi’ which is no doubt the score for the sad bit in the film, probably a goodbye bit; when you know there’s still long enough for the happy ending to happen. The last track, the zydecoesque ‘Passion Play’ is definitely the track to the closing credits.

Sleeve notes by Apatow explain his own introduction to Loudon (via ‘Suicide’ on a David Letterman TV show) and when he had his own TV Show, how he got Loudon on to sing a song about how much he hated is ex-wife. The pairing of LW3 with Joe Henry to do the score for Knocked Up seems to be an evolution of circumstances but the two ‘weirdos’ have put together a strong album even if you don’t see the film.

So on that note, just in case the kids forget, well done and happy Fathers Day Loudon.

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘Grey In L.A.’, ‘Daughter’, ‘Final Frontier’, ‘Naomi’, ‘Passion Play’

Reviewed: Loudon Wainwright III — Strange Weirdos : Music From And Inspired By The Film ‘Knocked Up’ (Concord) Release Date: 11th June 2007 Cat No. 7230301
Co-written and co-produced by Loudon Wainwright and Joe Henry
Tracklisting:
1. Grey in L.A. (3:17)
2. You Can’t Fail Me Now (3:45)
3. Daughter (3:32)
4. Ypsilanti (1:52)
5. So Much to Do (3:27)
6. Valley Morning (3:44)
7. X or Y (2:53)
8. Final Frontier (3:48)
9. Feel So Good (2:02)
10. Lullaby (3:11)
11. Naomi (4:04)
12. Doin’ the Math (5:32)
13. Strange Weirdos (4:07)
14. Passion Play (2:55)

Links:
www.lwiii.com
rufuswainwright.com
www.marthawainwright.com
http://www.myspace.com/marthawainwright
The Guardian They fuck you up, your mum and dad — Singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright’s
Interview by Will Hodgkinson -Friday March 18, 2005
Wilco via www.drum-bass.net
Peter Blegvad en.wikipedia.org