God bless the person who shared today’s artist with me for this has been a stunning musical revelation today! Having only just listened to a handful of tracks I am already smitten and cannot wait any longer to shout (or at least write) as enthusiastically as I can just how everyone really needs a bit of Charlie Megira in their life!! When you listen to him his music sounds familiar and yet you can’t quite place what era or genre it originates from!
I’ve just been searching for more information on what appears to be a rather mysterious artist – having expected more I have struggled to pin down too many details, but with this pleasure of discovering him comes pain, for three years ago and after only 44 short years on this planet, Charlie Megira passed away.
What I can tell you and what I have been able to establish is that from 2001-2014 he put out seven albums. Based in Tel Aviv and Berlin, Megira was an Israeli guitarist who used an Eko guitar, wore a black tuxedo and (his signature) wrap-around shades. Known for being a mold-breaking artist his sound is a fascinating and spellbinding fusion of punk, 50’s, rockabilly, shoe-gaze, honky-tonk and rock ‘n roll…but the mix of these sounds very much changed from album to album and with effortless ease Megira could switch between any genre. There are some interviews with him sprinkled around the web but he mostly offers cryptic answers, not facts. His time in the spotlight was all too brief and as in life a relative mystery.
Over the last few years Numero Group has slowly released Charlie Megira’s albums on their Spotify account, with this collection ending with the release of his collected works pressed on a 2xLP. This record was named after one of his best songs, Tomorrow’s Gone. So, amongst the handful of songs I have only just discovered comes today’s incredible offering, Alligator Man! A lonesome whistle opens the song and into dusty Western realms we are escorted, whilst surf guitar and cool breeze lyrics give this an rock’n’roll edge and when Charlie howls….there goes the shivers!..oh my this is a stunner!! Check it out above and watch Charlie and his band perform this superb track below.
Charlie may be gone, but thanks to Numero Group his music is finding a wider audience and with any luck he will become a name on many a music fans lips as they unlock this hidden treasure!
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