Recent Additions 16 : Jamestown Revival : Utah

I bought this album recently because it popped up in Amazon recommendations and checking out the reviews it seemed to fit in with much of what I am listening to these days.  Especially the Americana Country Stream.

For those who like Ryan Adams,  Ray La Montagne, The Avett Brothers and even the dreaded Mumford and Sons.  The album kicks off strongly with Fur Coat Blues, California and never really gives up steam with excellent tracks Wandering Man and Heavy Heart and that is just side one.

So on my second play through I know I will be playing this one frequently and I am glad the album came with a download - that for once I managed to get despite the slow internet speed here in Fiji.

Are You Ready for the Country : Shaver : Tramp on Your Street and Unshaven

Billy came to prominence as a writer rather than a singer when he almost bullied Waylon Jennings into listening to a bunch of his songs at one of Willie Nelson's 4th of July parties.  When Waylon eventually listened he decided to record almost all the songs and they became the backbone of his breakthrough outlaw country album Honky Tonk Heroes.

Shaver was a band that came together  when Billy Joe Shaver invited his son Eddie to support him on guitar.  This gave Billy's songs a much rockier feel as Eddie's guitar work was dynamic and forceful.


I bought these two albums ( Tramp on Your Steet and Unshaven - Live at Smith's Old Bar) together at a little CD shop in Pasadena, back when MWH's head office was there and I was making regular trips there.  I had been keeping an eye out for them for a while but had not been able to find them in NZ.  They find  Billy injecting renewed energy into his back catalogue and delivering dynamic versions of songs like Georgia on a Fast Train, Honky Tonk Heroes, Old Five and Dimers and the mighty Live Forever (no relation to the Oasis song).




I followed up these purchases with a few more Shaver CDs and was saddened and disappointed when shortly after starting to listen to them Eddie died of a heroin overdose and Shaver were no more.  Billy still plays and records and maybe one day I will get a chance to see him.

Highlights from this morning's Ipod shuffle

I have my bike up on a wind trainer at the moment and do a little riding on our terrace as the sun rises. While it does not always give music that is sympathetic with exercise - it does remind me of forgotten songs that need to be remembered.

This morning's highlights

The Zombies - Time of the Season - from their Odessey and Oracle album (complete with misspelling). Fortunately it was the mono version that came up but it is a great song, Rod Argent's Jimmy Smith infused organ and Blunstone's vocals seem perfectly in sync. 

Neil Young (and Waylon Jennings) : Bound for Glory. A great song from the overlooked country excursion album Old Ways

and a live version of My Beloved Monster by The Eels which was interspersed with I Can't Get No Satisfaction - similar to what they did to Twist and Shout and Mr E's Beautiful Blues when Sam and I saw them in Brisbane a few years ago.

I don't know much about Jazz but I like .................... Billie Holiday's Lady Sings The Blues

I first heard Billie Holiday and Lady Sings The Blues on a late night exploration of Maggie Barry's record collection in early 1982 when she was a DJ at the Radio Lakeland in Taupo.  It was an interesting and eclectic mix and I recall listening to a whole side of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music as well as The Clash.

Recorded towards the end of her career and released simultaneously with her autobiography of the same name - a heart wrenchingly honest account of her life that really gives a good appreciation of what is behind that voice.

Unlike the purity of Ella's voice Billie's voice portrays desperation, frustration and anger in almost every breath. Whether directed at her life (god bless the child),  men (I must have that man), racism (Strange Fruit) or drugs did not seem to matter - you always get what Billie is dealing with in her mind.

Over the years I have picked a few cheap best of lps and cds but last year bought this and Lady in Satin.  Both are magnificent.   

Recent Additions 15 : Willie Nelson - Heroes - (including Willie does Peal Jam)

I need to come clean at the start that I am a Willie Nelson fan.  I enjoy the fact that while he is definitely a country artist he explores its limits, particularly the boundaries between blues and jazz. I know he puts out more albums than he should to maintain any sort of quality control however most albums have at least one or two good tracks and occasionally he strikes pay dirt on a single album.

I really like this one from 2 years ago and recently upgraded from CD to vinyl. Like a lot of his recent albums it has quite a few collaborations on it with Billy Joe Shaver, Merle Haggard, Jamie Johnson and even Snoop Dogg!  However his main partner in crime on this one is his son Lukas who also wrote three of the songs.

It seems that working with his son brought back some of Willie's muse and challenged him to a consistency he has not had for a while.  Starting off with A Horse They Call Music a song he has done before but this time he is joined by Merle Haggard. Then the song where he is joined by new country rebel Jamey Johnson, old compadre Kris Kristofferson and Snoop Dogg - Roll me Up and Smoke When I Die - just seems apt.

Later in the album he does a graceful cover of Tom Waits Come on up to The House, and what should be two country classics written by Lukas, The Sound of Your Memory and No Place to Fly (which has the got the "Well I think the road aint getting shorter and  I think the weed is getting stronger" which sounds pretty confessional.  However, and I never thought I would say this,  the highlight of a Willie Nelson album would be a Pearl Jam song - Just Breathe - he nails it.

It is a great country album and a good place to start listening to latter day Willie.  Just avoid the last track and incongruous cover of Coldplay's The Scientist.

Unsung Heroes 10 : Shelby Lynne : Writing 60's country soul classics in the 21st century

Like a lot of people I first heard of Shelby Lynne through the rave reviews she received for her "Debut" album I am Shelby Lynne.  With that Debut she eventually went on to win the Grammy for best new artist - when she noted in her acceptance speech  "Thirteen years and six albums to get here,"  At the time many and justified comparisons were made with Dusty Springfield's classic Dusty in Memphis album.

However in a sense it was a debut of Shelby as her own artist. Prior to that, at least according to the current legend is that until then she was being manufactured as a typical Nashville type artist with all the false starts and manipulation that that apparently entails.

I am Shelby Lynne contained a series of self written country soul style songs delivered in almost demo form. There were some outstanding songs on that album including  a bunch of what would have been classic sounding songs Leavin', Thought it would be easier, Dreamsome, Lookin' Up, Where I'm From, and Black Light Blue.  If they had been recorded at the end of the 60's they could well have been massive hits and now been considered classics by now.

There were also a number of funkier songs including Life is Bad and the opening double tracked vocals of Your Lies.

All in all a classic album of the 2000s.

The consistent sound and feel to the album certainly had the feel of an artist making a stand and staking a personal claim to her career.   Not something that happens that often six albums into a career.  


The sheer power of the album was such that I quickly chased down copies of earlier albums picking up two or three of them and the difference was stark in terms of authenticity with, to my ears only Temptation giving any indication of the Shelby's potential and capabilities.


Like a lot of people who were so captured by the I am Shelby Lynne I both eagerly awaited and was disappointed in the follow up album.  The songs on I Love Shelby weren't as engaging, the production was glossier, the cover and the movie sountrack tie-in hit single indicated that maybe the big business marketing was taking over again.

The question immediately came to mind - was I am Shelby Lynne to simply be a one off album.  Something that would not be repeated but that we should all be grateful for.  When this happens my reaction is to decide to not pay full price for the next album.  I wait for a cheap or second hand version to appear so I do not invest too much to find out whether the magic has been restored.

Thankfully I did not have to wait too long to pick up a copy of the next album and find out the magic was back.  The title Identity Crisis seemed to acknowledge what the new fans were feeling.  The album itself followed a similar template to that "first" album with sparsely recorded country soul songs that really came out as authentic.   While I enjoyed the rockier songs on the first album it was the slower ones I kept coming back to. This time the funkier sound of songs like 10 Rocks and Gotta Be Better had equal appeal.  However there were still the soulful classics there including Telephone, If I were Smart and One with the Sun.

Since then Shelby has released a slew of excellent albums which show in my opinion an artist confident in the place she has eked out in the industry. Defintely deserving of more plaudits than she gets.  In 2008 the comparisons with Dusty were made a lot more obvious when she recorded of set of Dusty related songs on the excellent Just a Little Loving album.  And while I come back most often to Identity Crisis and I am Shelby Lynne every time I play the later albums Suit Yourself  and Revelation Road I am always impressed by the quality of the songs and singing and left wondering why she does not have more success.

Journey Through The Past 20 : The Birth of Rock'n'roll? Louis Jordan, Ruth Brown, Chuck Wills and Huey Piano Smith and Clarence Frogman Henry

This post gives my alternative history to the birth of rock'n'roll.  Something that predates Bill Haley, Elvis and conventional wisdom.  There is of course so much more to the start of rock'n'roll than what I am going to put forward but my contention is that while Elvis, Bill Haley and others undoubtedly took the new sound to the masses there was much rocking and rolling going on before Elvis sang That's Alright Mama.

My alternative history also comes from the fact that for whatever reason I have not been able to connect with Elvis other than the early Sun Sessions - he always seemed more showbiz than rock'n'roll.  To me Johnny Cash is more rock'n'roll than Elvis.

I do not play this music that often but its nice to have this morning we played Louis Jordan through twice!

Many say the first rock'n'roll hit was Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston. The song as actually written and played by Ike Turner (later of Ike and Tina Turner) and recorded by Sam Philips in Memphis in 1951 (3 years before Elvis).

However before that in the 40's there was Louis Jordan and his Timpany 5.

My introduction to Louis Jordan was through Joe Jackson's tribute to swing jazz "Jumpin' Jive" where he covered quite a few Jordan tracks.  There is a lot of discussion as to whether Louis Jordan's music was late period swing or early rock'n'roll and the truth as always is somewhere in between.

Nevertheless Jordan's contribution to the development of rock'n'roll can not be disputed nor underestimated.   If you listen to a collection of Jordan's music like this one the connection becomes obvious. Songs like Caldonia, Saturday Night Fish Fry, Don't let the Sun Catch You Crying, Is you is or is you ain't my baby and Nobody here but us Chickens all had that rock.n'roll groove.

Ruth Brown started out with Big Bands but was picked up the Atlantic label in the 50's and her hits basically bankrolled the label until Ray Charles got going. She managed to cross R'n'B and Pop markets with tracks like Teardrops from my Heart, Mama He Treats your Daughter Mean.

Then there was the stroll scene in New Orleans with Guitar Slim and The Things That I used to Do (produced by Ray Charles).  Guitar Slim was a hero of Buddy Guy's who admits to copying Slim's most flamboyant moves.





Further west there was Atlanta's Chuck Willis who took Ma Rainey's See See Rider Blues and made it his own as C C Rider - which in turn lead to Elvis and others covering it in the 60s. His Hang Up My Rock'n'roll shoes became a feature of The Band's live set.











Dr John's 1972 Gumbo album introduced me to Huey (Piano) Smith and I eventually picked up a greatest his collection.  Some great songs including High Blood Pressure and Don't you Know Yockomo.  It was only then that I recognised Dinah Lee's cover  which was a big hit in NZ when I was young!

Recent Additions 14 : Old 97s Most Messed Up - A perfectly timed album

I have been a fan (with a small f) of the Old 97s since I picked up Fight Songs in a sale bin about 12 or 13 years ago.  I was a late comer.   They had been around a while by that stage and "True Fans" would no doubt say that they were already past their best. However I really like that album but I will acknowledge that Too Far to Care is probably their best.

The Old 97s deliver catchy, poppy and clever country rock songs, full of clever wordplay, wry observations, humour and the sense of fun/joy/frustration (women, wine and song) of being in a rock'n'roll band.  Since that first album I have picked up a few of their earlier albums and also a great live DVD  and with this week's addition of Most Messed Up I now have a total of 10. I certainly do not buy all their music and keep an eye on reviews both in magazines and what Amazon readers think (always paying attention to negative).  While the return to form cliche has not been used as they were never really out of form many reviews suggested that this might be their best collection of songs for some time.  So I clicked the Buy button and it arrived this week.  

So I am writing this as I have my first play through and this is very much a first impression.  As the album cover proudly shows 12 songs, 39 Minutes 57 seconds (is that the perfect album length or what?) and yes those reviews were right a solid collection of songs from the starter Longer than You've Been Alive, Let's get Drunk and Get it On, and the title track Most Messed Up.

Unsung Heroes 9 : The Handsome Family

About a month ago Jan and I had a marathon sitting of the mini series True Detective (great series and up there with The Wire, Breaking Bad, House of Cards and The Sopranos).

Something nagged about the track on the opening credits.  I eventually recognised it as Far From Any Road, an old track by the Husband and Wife duo The Handsome Family from their album Singing Bones.

I first came across The Handsome Family with their song Weightless Again on the Uncut Compilation "Songs of the New West" which I wrote about earlier. I picked Singing Bones up years ago from a second hand (probably stolen) CD stall in Soho in London.

Like Jim White whom I wrote about here The Handsome Family are frequently labelled as Gothic Americana - which really means that they sing a bit about death and and things that many people would not think of topics for songs.

Anyway I excavated the CD from the collection and it has been on high rotate ever since.  Many do not rank this as one of their best works (for that look for Through The Trees and In the Air) but it is still a solid album - they seem to be a band that is not capable of recording a bad album.

Over the years the band has also contributed to a number of tribute albums and great cover versions of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Sunday Morning Coming Down stand out.

Recent Additions 13 : The War on Drugs : Lost in the Dream

I have a few friends that say that current musicians and bands do not stand up to those megaliths of 60s and 70s.  I think that is bullshit - the difference in marketing and the overall music industry means that while I agree that bands will never be as BIG as they were in the golden days of the 70s it does not mean the bands themselves will not be as good.  In fact with the internet the problem seems to be more bands, more quality players, less money and less time invested by listeners.  Case in Point. The War on Drugs.

I expect that this album will, deservedly, end up on the top of many Best of 2014 lists at year end.  This is their third album and in my opinion easily their best.  I keep playing it.

The War on Drugs hail from Philidelphia and Kurt Vile (whom I wrote about here) was in the band when they released their first album Wagonwheel Blues in 2008.  A CD I imported on the basis of a paragraph review in Uncut.  Never regretted it.

Not unlike Kurt Vile's music in that it does have a dreamy quality but there are more songs on the album.  Certainly sounds at times like Adam Granduciel may have his only personal battle with drugs going on.

There is a Waterboys feel to some of the songs - particularly the terrific In Reverse and the lead off song Under the Pressure.

For those who think that good rock music is not being made anymore - I strongly recommend this.

Are you ready for the country 3 : Bonanza - Is this where my love of Country Music started?

I can not remember ever not having this record!!! It was played a bit when I was growing up. Supposedly set at a party at the Ponderosa with some interesting banter and bonhomie between songs. 

Some interesting song choices (that would not have been written when the show was set). Weirdest of all is Little Joe's take on the New Orleans classic Careless Love   However other songs that were staples of primary school music singing were there as well including Get Along Cindy and Shenandoah (a song that got reinforced in my mind when I worked on the replacement of the Shenandoah Bridge years later). 

I know why Mum and Dad would have ever bought it as I can't remember them ever playing it (but we did). I suspect it may have come with the Radiogram when they bought it.

My sister gave it to me recently when she returned some of my old LPs.  It was in pretty poor condition but after a good clean came up surprisingly well

Favourites 7 : A Camp - what to do with old Cardigans

Unusually while I know where I bought this but I can not remember why.  I bought this from Allen's CDs on Plimmers Steps in Wellington. It may have been playing in the shop, it may have been on special but I am pretty sure it was not because of either the cover or that it was on sale.

At the time I was not a Cardigans fan.  I had heard Love fool of course but had never been impressed or interested enough to pick up a full CD of theirs. Anyway for whatever reason I picked it up and never regretted it.

This was Nina Persson's first solo album after leaving the band and she teamed up with the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse to create a solid album of European tinged Americana.

Some great tracks on the album I Can Buy You, The Bluest Eyes in Texas (which was the theme song in the movie Boys Don't Cry) Algebra and a great cover of The Replacements' Rock'n'roll Ghost.

I had not played the cd in a while but as Nina has just released a new solo album - I put it and remembered how good it was

Connections 6 : The Producers 2 - Nick Lowe, T Bone Burnett, Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake

In 1977 there was an advertising campaign - there's old wave, there's new wave and there's David Bowie. I was definitely moving more and more into what was called New Wave at that time (while of course still listening to Bowie).


A year later I was at my first year in university enjoying the rough and sometimes ham fisted production values that went along with New Wave.


The Go-to man for many of the British Bands at the time was Nick Lowe who helmed the first album by The Damned,  a number of the early Costello Albums,  some Graham Parker and The Rumour John Hiatt and of course his own material.



After working with a few other producers in the early 80's (Nashville's Billy Sherrill (!), Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley and Hugh Padgham - Costello recorded King of America with T Bone Burnett.  I had earlier become aware of T Bone Burnett's production  in 80's for his work on Los Lobos excellent debut - Will the Wolf Survive and was also aware that he was guitarist on Dylan's Rolling Thunder Tour.

I enjoyed the work he did with Los Lobos and Costello so much that I started discovering new artists simply by looking for work he produced.  One of the nice things about T Bone Burnett at that time is that he seemed to produce a lot of new artists and so I was picking picked up  on some great second and third tier artists.  Artists like Peter Case, Sam Phillips (his then wife), Tonio K and Joseph Arthur.  What particularly drew me to his production was that he managed to make music sound fresh, clean and without too many gimmicks.  While I enjoyed his work with but for a while in the late 80's and early 90's his name was enough for me to buy something/anything.  In hindsight his production was another early touchstone to my love of Americana and Country music.

His soundtrack albums to the Coen Brother's movies are superb where he played a mix between producer and curator.  Check out O Brother Where Art Though and The Big Lebowski Sountracks.   Sadly to my ears eventually his production became muddier and to my ears more "affected" and contrived and while some of his latter productions get raves I found myself quickly losing interest in the award winning and mega selling albums he has done with Robert Plant and Alison Krause and Greg Allman.

Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake frequently helped out T Bone and then went on to produce on their own including Los Lobos's masterpiece Kiko, Crowded House, Suzanne Vega, Richard Thompson and the Finn Brothers and the mighty and long forgotten Semi Twang.

They have a close relationship to NZ artists and even produced NZ's own Gin Wigmore - which must have been interesting!

Favourites 6 : Phil Cody : The Sons Of Intemperance Offering

I came across this cd when it was playing in Radar Records in the Cashel Mall in Christchurch.  That second Christchurch Earthquake saw an end to that institution.  A pity as they had an eclectic mix of music and there always seemed to be something interesting playing in store.  So they were playing this and I had

Hard to categorise as it is a mixture of rock, folk and country.  He has a good band behind him and it all starts with a hiss and a roar on the excellent House of Lust.  My favourite track would be Tighten Up (some advice I should follow more often - "Tighten up - don't spread yourself so thin!).

Hard to find many of the tracks on YouTube but here are a couple of links.   Hats off to the Big Queen City  and a great cover of The Clash's Straight to Hell

I have picked up a few copies of it for less that $2 and given them away to a few happy customers.  I managed to search out two other CDs but to me none of them quite matched this beauty.

Now Playing : Love has come for you by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

I first heard that Steve Martin the comedian was a keen banjo player about 5 years ago - but did not find any of his CDs until about a year ago on a trip to Brisbane.  This is his latest studio CD with Mrs Paul Simon Edie Brickell (although last week's police reports indicate that it is a pretty fiery relationship). 

Love Has Come for You   is an accomplished and feted collection of modern americana played with a banjo - as opposed to bluegrass.  I always enjoy it but don't come back to it too often. 

Here a a few clips of Steve Martin the comedian and the banjo player.  Dueling Banjos with Kermit, Sun's Gonna Shine, and Roxanne nose jokes

Connections 5 : The Producers 1 : Visconti, Eno and Lanois

I am still not quite sure what the exact role of the record producer is.  Generally they seem more like movie directors than movie producers (although in Nashville in the 60's and 70s they were like dictators), some are sound architects, some are inspirers, some are partners, some have particular sounds and approaches they bring to everyone they produce.  The best almost have a signature as well so you know their stamp.

Not many of them become household names like George Martin did with his work for the Beatles or Berry Gordy with Motown.  But this blog  is not about producers per se but those producers that have helped shaped my music collection and my taste.

The first one to do that was Tony Visconti and his work first with Bowie in the 70's and then again later in Bowie's career.  A real symbiotic relationship - always seeming to be able to get the most out of each other. Maybe as they started as a team so early - when flatting together and forming an early version of The Spiders from Mars called The Hype.  Visconti was also Marc Bolan's producer through his best work with T Rex.  However he does not always get it right and I believe he helped John Hiatt make Hiatt's worst album 1982's pretty awful All of a Sudden.  In recent years in addition to the Bowie comebacks he has been helming albums by another favourite of mine - Alejandro Escovedo. It is well worth reading Visconti's biography.

The next producer I became interested in also came from the Bowie Connection.  Brian Eno's production work first with Bowie (From Low to Heroes to Lodger), then Devo's Are we not men? and finally an indispensible run of  Talking Heads' Albums.  Eno was a critical part of the late 70's and early 80's sound. The sampling on the essential My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was certainly well ahead of its time.   Of course Eno produced many albums in his own write but to me he always needed someone to spark and spark off to get the best from him.

I won't say too much about Eno's work with U2 other than that it did bring Daniel Lanois' production work into the fore.  Another producer whose work I have also found interesting.  Lanois always seems to bring a certain atmosphere to his recordings - no matter whom he is recording with,


Lanois' credits include two of my favourite Dylan albums Oh Mercy and Time out of Mind, Willie Nelson's Teatro, Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball and Neil Young's solo guitarfest Le Noise (get it?).

So there is my list of producers - connecting music I have bought over the last 40 years and responsible for shaping much more music than that they are directly involved in.

I don't know much about Jazz but I do like ...... Nathan Haines' Vermillion Sky

Its been 23 years since we left Nelson after living there for seven years.  The whole time we lived there we lived in the middle of town and I walked to work.  Most days, as part of my wind down therapy I would stop in at the The Everyman record store on the way home.  Got to know the owners Dave, Wyness and Christine pretty well and even contemplated buying Dave and Wyness's share when they gave it up to travel. Sometimes I still wish I had.  

It is pleasing that it is still there and so every time I go back to Nelson it is always on the agenda.  It helps that it's opposite Kay, my sister in law's award winning cafe - The Morrison Street Cafe so it is easy to create an excuse to pop in and lose an hour or so.  Last time I was there just under a year ago I bought a few records including some Dinosaur Jr, Gene Clarke and Love.  

However there was some nice Jazz playing in the shop and asking what it is was was shown the new release, Vermillion Sky, from Kiwi sax player Nathan Haines.  I particularly like the instrumentals - good tasteful stuff.  He is based in the UK and apparently this record made NZ's top ten last year when it was released - pretty unusual for a NZ Jazz musician.

Unsung heroes 8 : Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon is an unsung hero whose name is known by many.  Best known to most people for the hit Werewolves of London, his career lasted much longer and he released albums right up to his death in 2003.   To me he is one of the greatest songwriters of the last 50 years. I will admit that none of his albums are what I would call classics, however only one is really sub par (the concept album Transverse City) and all contain at least one and frequently 3 or 4 songs that I think deserve to be recognised as classics.  

His writing to me falls into two incongruous camps.  First there are the brutally honest and tender love songs, then the dark humour songs which cover the range from the sadistic killer of Excitable Boy, the Eagles pastiche of Gorilla, You're a Desperado, the clutch of songs that seemed to predict and celebrate his struggle with cancer and premature death (My Ride 's Here, I have to Leave, My Shit's Fucked Up, Keep me in your heart) to the ghost of a mercenary stalking the jungles in Africa.  

I am also not sure whether one of the reasons I like him so much is that in some photos he looks just like Chris.

He was David Letterman's favourite songwriter (occasionally stepping in to the host role) and one whole show was dedicated to Warren shortly before his death. In typical Zevon humour when Letterman asked for any advice to those suffering similar circumstances Zevon offered the sage advice "enjoy every sandwich".   I strongly suggest you go to YouTube and search on Zevon and Letterman. 

I was lucky enough to see him live at The Gluepot in the 90s - a track from that show appeared on his live collection Learning to Flinch.   

Some of his lyrics just blow me away every time

"And when California slides into the Ocean

Like the Mystics and Statistics say it will

I predict this motel will be standing

Until I pay my bill"

"I can saw a women in two but you want to look in the box when I do

I can make love disappear for my next trick I'll need a volunteer"

"Send lawyers guns and money - the shit has hit the fan"

"Grandpa's pissed his pants again but he don't give a damn

Brother Billy's got both guns drawn he ain't been right since Vietnam

Sweet Home Alabama - play that dead band's song

Turn those speakers up full blast - Play it all night long"

and his last song - Keep me in your heart - I am always staggered by his ability to write this only weeks / months before he died

Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile

There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Sometimes when you're doing simple things
around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile

You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on
your blouse
Keep me in your heart for awhile

Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for awhile

These wheels keep turning but they're running out
of steam
Keep me in your heart for awhile

So many great songs by the man but I suggest you check out and the compilation below is a good one - even if it does miss his last 3 albums; 

Carmelita

Desperadoes under the eaves

Searching for a heart

Accidentally like a martyr 

Hasten down the wind

My ride's here

Keep me I your heart 
Desperados under the eaves

Gorilla, you're a desperado

Play it all night long 

Lawyers, Guns and money

For my next trick I will need a volunteer 

Mr Bad Example

McGillicuddy's Reeks 

Things to do in Denver when you're dead 

My shit's fucked up

Don't let us get sick

I have to Leave 

Reconsider Me

The Heartache 

I'll slow you down 

Unsung Heroes 7 : Jon Dee Graham

As I outlined here - sometime in 1998 I stopped in Timaru and bought four CDs that sent me on a new journey of discovery.  Unbeknownst to me when I bought the albums - two of those artists Jon Dee Graham and Alejandro Escovedo had a common heritage in an Austin Band in the early 80s and Alejandro had played guitar on an album that I had already owned for some 15 years.  I still regularly play both the original CDs I bought.  In fact I am listening to this one now.

This album opens with the incredible $100 Bill.  The sense of pride in being a father shines through "I think I will never see  brighter lights than that"   There isn't really a misstep on the album - gentle country-ish tunes, with subtle but forceful guitar and (sorry for the cliche) Tom Waits style vocal. Sadly I also regularly see this CD in sale binds and over the years have bought about 5-6 copies and given them away to introduce this music to people I know will appreciate it. When I do this (as I do with other albums) I always say if you don't like it - I will have it back and find some one who does.  NEVER HAPPENED 

I have since bought many more cds by Jon Dee and loosely follow him via Facebook.    And it's interesting that that Boy on the bus in the first song is now in his own band.  That's time passing I suppose..  

I have overtime built up a bit of a collection of his music and can also recommend Hooray for the Moon, Full and This one by his part time band. 

One day I am sure I will get to Austin and see him play - and maybe have a beer with him

Favourites 5 : Make It Through This World : Greg Trooper

I first heard about Greg Trooper in a 2001 article in the now defunct magazine : No Depression. It was a review of his excellent album Straight Down Rain.   His songs are all country tinged but certainly not pure country.  They have been covered by the likes of Steve Earle and Billy Bragg. I searched out in a small record shop in Pasadena on a business trip soon after as I had never seen any of his music in NZ.

Years later I was rifling though sale bins at JB Hifi in Melbourne (before they appeared in NZ) and found Make It Through This World for less than $10.  I did not hesitate in buying it after I saw on the back cover it was clearly written "Produced by Dan Penn"

The songwriting, arrangements and productions and singing are all sympathetic and in in a country-soul vein as you would expect with Dan at the controls. I really do not think there is a bad track on the album but highlights are the title track, Dream Away the Blues, I love it when She Lies, This I'd do and the great history ballad No Higher Ground.

I was particularly taken with No Higher Ground as at the time coincidentally I had just read Eric Larsen's book Isaac's Storm about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane which until Katrina had been the deadliest to hit the US.  A book I would happily recommend as well.

I have three or four other Trooper CDs but it is this one I keep going back to.

Recent Additions 12 : Drive By Truckers : English Oceans

The Drive By Truckers are certainly one of my favourite bands of the last ten or so years.  They have been going a lot longer that but I did not really become aware of them until I heard them name checked on a Slobberbone LP and I picked up a copy of their record Southern Rock Opera.  This record sees them back to the original core members of Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley after the slow departures of John Neff, Shonna Tucker and Jason Isbell.

I was fortunate to see them three times in a weekend at Byron Bay a few years ago. Once with Booker T and then two completely different sets the second complete with two women fighting rolling around in the mud in front of Jan.  Probably a typical DBT's show -  I have already rated their live DVD  in the blog as one of the best around.

Also very pleased that Sam's band has Where The Devil Don't Stay in their set list. Looking forward to seeing them playing it when they finally get a a gig going in Wellington.

One of the things you always get with a Drive by Truckers album is a complete package. Great Album covers (with artwork provided by Wes Freed) that have days of exploring, good liner notes usually by Patterson Hood, and of course good music with a mixture of solid musicianship, social commentary and country style story telling.  So it is with English Oceans.

It has been a few years since their last album Go Go Boots. Many people did not rate that as highly as earlier albums but I really enjoyed it.  I actually introduced a few friends to the band by recommending it and they consider it their best. It maybe a case that people will always enjoy them most with the album they hear first.

So now I have their new one which has been getting rave reviews. The band even got a write up in the NZ Listener (where their almost perfect Brighter Than Creation's Dark was dismissed with a two sentence review a few years back).

So it is on its second play through at the moment - and the first thing that is noticeable is that Cooley is Back. When he is on top form his songs were always my favourites (even more than Isbell's) but he has not been on top form since Brighter Than Creation's Dark.

Patterson's songs are always interesting - great stories and always with a political or social point to make. Somehow he seems to manage to pack what could make whole series of Justified or True Detective into a single song.  On this album he excels himself on Grand Canyons and When Walter Went Crazy.

However many people (including Jan) are put off because he is not a a great singer in the traditional sense. However on stage his manner is infectious - he is having a great time and loves to tell stories.

I have always felt that one of the reasons the DBTs work is that the balance of singers and songwriters mean that the sound is never limited by any particular singer/writer's strengths and weaknesses.

Hardly any reviews of their music are made without mentioning that Patterson Hood is David Hood's son. So I won't disappoint. David Hood was/is the bass player for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and while it was hardly relevant to mention it on their first releases I think one of the interesting parts of the band's evolution is that they have settled more and more into that groove - probably starting with their backing of Betty Lavette on her Scene of the Crime album but working with Booker T has also rubbed off.

So another solid album by the Drive By Truckers - a good place for new comers to enter before heading back into their catalogue (about which I will post later on).

I don't know much about Jazz but I did like....... The Fiji International Jazz and Blues Festival and Tom Mawi's Band

We have just had the Fiji Jazz and Blues Festival here in Suva.  A great event over four days with bands mainly from NZ and Australia, one US band and a few local bands.  Laid low by the recurring cold/flu I only managed to get to two events.  We went to the opening Gala dinner where  Renee Geyer and  Fiji's own Tom Mawi were the highlights.

Tom is a much feted jazz guitarist who has achieved international recognition.  Check out this clip.  His style not unlike Kenny Burrell but apparently his favoured guitarist is Wes Montgomery.

Last night we went to a second show where we enjoyed a few NZ Blues Bands but the nicest part of the evening was sitting down with Tom's son, Sami and daughter in law, Annie (who also happen to be his keyboard player and singer). We had a great evening talking music, life in Fiji and learning about how Sami grew up with Jazz and how Annie changed from singing Madonna covers to Ella.

They play each Wednesday at the Holiday Inn (less than 100m from work) and while we had seen them there once or twice we had not made the Wednesday connection.  I think we will be making Wednesday Jazz a regular event.

Unsung (and more recent) Heroes 7 : The Hold Steady

I started to write this as a review of The Hold Steady's latest album Teeth Dreams but in the end decided that I had better introduce the band first. The review will appear soon. 

Minneapolis has produced some great music over the years.   In fact while the 1980's were generally a period of crappy music for some reason at that time in Minneapolis there was a wealth of great music. Whether it was the hard melodic thrashing of Husker Du, the shambolic rock of The Replacements, the new americana of The Jayhawks or Prince's funk - somehow it all came together in Minneapolis.  

Pogoing along to Husker Du and The Replacements was Craig Finn who was also a massive Springsteen fan and who went on to form The Hold Steady. A band I first heard when they released their third album  Boys and Girls in America. I had read a review that among other things said that they were a bit like Springsteen on Speed.  I was sold.  I could not find any of their CDs in Singapore but managed to find a copy on a business trip to Australia.  It immediately became a favourite with memorable songs like Massive Nights, Chillout Tent, Stuck Between Stations and Chips Ahoy. 

The Springsteen comparisons were relevant especially to his first three or four albums.  Like early Springsteen the songs are frenetic and occasionally anthemic and populated with interesting characters. However rather than drama through the hope of youth and redemption and liberation through rock'n'roll Craig Finn's drama comes from a more desperate and modern take on youth exposed to drugs, spontaneous parties and casual sex. Over about a year I acquired their earlier albums  Separation Sunday and Almost Killed Me and came to know the characters better and realise that Finn had actually made them grow up through the albums. After listening to all three you felt you knew and (but maybe from my age not quite) understood Gideon, Hallelujah (Halley),Charlemagne.  

The Springsteen comparisons were conformed in 2009 when a series of major artists were asked to nominate new artists to record one of their songs for the War Child charity album Heroes.  Springsteen nominated The Hold Steady to do Atlantic City and I think it was one of the few versions on the album that actually improved on the original.

In some respects the whole Hold Steady Agenda was spelt on on Positive Jam  the first song on the first album

Woke up in the '20s and there were flappers and fruits in white suits
It was right before the crash, we got thrashed throughout the '30s
Queuing up for soup with scabby sores
Then they sent us off to war

We came back in the '40s and there were wheelchairs, guns and tickertape
We poured it on the floor and we made love to the interstates
We got shiftless in the '50s, holding hands and going steady
Twisting into dark parts of the large midwestern cities

Tripped right through the '60s with some blissful little hippie
Some Kennedys got shot while you were screwing San Francisco
And the '70s got heavy, we woke up on bloody carpets
Got tangled up in gaslines, and I guess that's where it started

The '80s almost killed me, let's not recall them quite so fondly
Some Kennedy OD'ed while we watched on MTV
And in the '90s we were wired and well connected
Put it all down on technology and lost everything we invested

We gotta start it off with a positive jam
We gotta start it with a positive jam, man
Gotta start it with a positive jam

All the sniffling indie kids: hold steady
And all you clustered-up clever kids: hold steady
And I got bored when I didn't have a band
And so I started a band, man

                                         We're gonna start it with a positive jam 

In 2008 they released what I consider to be the peak from their career so far.  Yes it lacks some of the exuberance of the earlier albums and the first fans will always say they are better but to me the vision, musicianship and songs come together best on Stay Positive.  The tales of lost urban youth are still there but now have a more positive view as expressed by the title song.  The album is packed with sing along anthems and songs with great lyrics. Sequestered in Memphis, Lord, I'm Discouraged and Constructive Summer all stand out.  The first versions also came with three hidden songs (Ask Her for Adderall, Cheyenne Sunrise and Two Handed Handshake) that are as good if not better than some of the main songs. However the band felt that they did not fit with the main album so hid them at the end.  

I was lucky enough to see them twice in  early 2009 when they toured the album.  The first time with Chris and Sam at the Laneways Festival in Melbourne and with a colleague two nights later for a full show in Sydney. Two great shows with Finn reminding me of a young but nerdier and more manic Elvis Costello.  At each concert I would have raised the average age of the audience by at least a year.  However they put on shows that deserved a wider audience and respect that maybe their songs gritty content deny them.  Anyway here is an entire live show from 2009 so you can make up your own mind. 

An interesting aside is that after seeing them play in Melbourne, Jan the Boys and I drove the Great Ocean Highway - we must have followed or been there at the same time as him as he wrote about almost exactly the same trip in the song Apollo Bay on his solo album a few years later.