This Mornin' I Am Born AgainListen. Get Re-Born

~Part I: #10-#6~

5. The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
3/25/08 ~ Third Man/Warner Bros.

i’ve always been a little wary of Jack White. His first effort with The Raconteurs swayed me a bit, but Consolers of the Lonely has sealed the deal. Much like what Caitlin Cary does for Ryan Adams, i believe Brendan Benson has a calming effect on Jack, keeping his crazy side in check. With each turn taken during the album, i am continually impressed with the musical decisions of this superband. Consolers reached just far enough into the folk realm to get me interested in the first place, and acquiring the album made visible the allure that has surrounded Jack White since the beginning.

Old Enough

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4. The Felice Brothers – The Felice Brothers
3/4/08 ~ Team Love

Although they’ve been releasing music since 2006, i feel like 2008 was the breakout year for The Felice Brothers. i first posted about them back in February and, aside from Ryan Adams, they have been one of the most prevalent bands here at This Mornin’… An apt follow-up to last year’s Tonight At The Arizona, their self-titled album from this year is a raucous ride through backwoods country-side making stops in old-time barrooms and dirty roadside oases. ‘Frankie’s Gun’ took top honors in my Best Songs List without much of a fight. If i didn’t feel the need to spread the accolades around, songs like ‘Wonderful Life’, ‘Greatest Show’, ‘Take This Bread’, and ‘Love Me Tenderly’ could have also made the list. Moreover, i got to see the brothers live a short while back, and it only further instilled my appreciation for this authentic, super-talented band.

Love Me Tenderly

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3. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
6/3/08 ~ Sub Pop

An album sure to be on many top lists, Fleet Foxes self-titled debut deserves every bit of praise coming its way. Sub Pop has proved once again that the sounds coming from the rainy Northwest are well worth paying attention to. The Foxes have self-described themselves as ‘baroque-pop,’ and as much as i’ve tried, i haven’t found a better description. With a lack of desire for conventional song structure and soaring vocals, The Fleet Foxes have managed to come off as classical while retaining what the appeal of the indie sound. Their chamber-music is at once peaceful and deeply inspiring. The fact that a 22-year old Robin Pecknold had the sage vision to put together a band of their caliber gives me tremendous hope for this young generation and their music.

Your Protector

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2. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
8/5/08 ~ Merge Records

Conor and his Mystic Valley Band took refuge in a secluded part of central Mexico to record the first album to bear the name of this Omaha alt-rocker. As you well know, Conor has a slew of releases under the moniker Bright Eyes as well as a ton of side projects. Conor Oberst is the most focused and accessible album that he has recorded. Shedding much of the cult-like stigma that hindered his 2007 Bright Eyes album as well as most of the peculiar and erratic tendencies from his adolescent career, Conor has solidified his place as the Best American Songwriter under 30. ‘Souled Out’ reached #7 on my Best Songs List, which is an obvious injustice to the rest of the album. i truly can’t skip one song on the disc, and that includes the 50 second horn-blowing track from Ruben the Mexican. Conor and band headlined the above-mentioned show i attended in Austin. Read what i said about Conor Oberst back in my September Album Round-up.

Get-Well-Cards

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1. These United States – Crimes
9/23/08 ~ United Interests

These United States’ second album of 2008 was immediately put in the running for the top spot when i first picked it up back in September. Read my original impression. Following A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden (whew…), Jesse Elliot put together a group of musicians and booked some studio time with an obvious vision in mind. What came out of the sessions was the Best Album of 2008. If you refer back to the preamble in Part I of this post, i talk a bit about the concept of an album – it being a complete work and not simply a neat packaging of songs. You’ll notice no cuts from Crimes were on my Best Songs List. Crimes reads like a story, a narrative that wouldn’t be complete without each element intact. The track-breaks flow seamlessly like chapters, with each song relating to the others through the common theme of the innate sinful nature of the human being. Crimes is jangly and loud for the most part, heavy on the background vocals and community instruments. Even the songs that begin at a crawl build and evolve back into an all-inclusive, welcoming sing-along. To have an album feel cohesive but still manage to continually engage the listener, one vital element is necessary: Dynamic. Crimes is unmatched in its layer quantity and progressive feel. And that’s just the sound of the album. Jesse Elliot fills each song with witty phrasing that begs you to listen intently. He’ll take a well-known saying and cleverly alter a word or two so that it will catch your ear no matter what other activity you’re engaged in. His slightly arrogant, but overly friendly delivery has the effect of a beloved author – one that you know is much smarter than you yet is still very relatable. Pick up this one, don’t simply download a track. Play it from beginning to end, and i promise it will leave you wanting more.

Old John Chapman Takes a Good Long Walk

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Be sure to read my Top 10 Songs of 2008.

Just in time, i bring you my list for the Best Albums of 2008. Throughout this year-end list process, i’ve come to realize i don’t like making lists. Maybe next year i won’t order them.

i will offer some limited justification for my picks after naming each album, so i won’t go on too much here in the preamble. But i feel like i should explain some of my decision making processes. Since really getting into good music in the last couple of years, one of the biggest changes i’ve gone though is to deeply respect the concept of an album. An album shouldn’t just be a collection of songs thrown together haphazardly; an album should have an overall theme, a prevailing mood, a focused direction. Like any good story, an album should have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. It should feel like a completed project. In most cases, albums represent what a band/artist has to show for their talent and inspiration for that year. Often though (as for the group that takes the top spot on my list), bands put out multiple albums in a year. In these cases where the artists’ muses are set to overdrive, you get to see a maturity and musical transition from a much closer viewpoint.

Most of my picks – the top 4, for example – were fairly easy decisions. The rest of my list however, required much more deliberation. i made this list about six times, and albums 5-10 changed form as much as Texas weather. With time running out, i forced myself to come to a final count. Some really good albums didn’t make the cut – even some i was subconsciously rooting for. But i will stick by picks (for at least the next week).

10. Bombadil – A Buzz, A Buzz
4/29/08 ~ Ramseur Records

The guys in Bombadil were some of the first folks to reach out to this new blogger back in April. They thought i might be interested in their music and subsequently sent me a promo copy. What i heard was one of the most youthful and unique albums ever. Eight months later, A Buzz, A Buzz remains just as refreshing as day one; and just as unconventional as the first time i heard that Peruvian flute put to use. Read my original Bombadil post.

Julian of Norwich

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9. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
4/14/08 ~ Fat Cat Records

One of the latest additions to this list, The Midnight Organ Fight obviously didn’t require much getting used to. This Scottish band has found a perfect indie-rock sound that doesn’t come out trite or overdone. Immediately impressive guitar licks provide a background for thoughtful lyrics sung with barefaced emotion. Read my New Digs from November 11th with a feature on FR.

Head Rolls Off

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8. Horse Feathers – House With No Home
9/9/08 ~ Kill Rock Stars

Another late applicant for this list (read the same New Digs with a feature on Horse Feathers), House With No Home is a sparse, rustic folk album. The outward simplicity in the songs allows the true musical talents of this trio (sometimes a quintet+) to shine through. Horse Feathers toes the line between Classical and Bluegrass to bring you a sophisticated yet still earthy effort.

A Burden

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7. The Dedringers – Sweetheart of the Neighborhood
7/10/08 ~ Dedcrow Records

My local pick for this year goes to Austin/Houston’s own Dedringers. At first this album didn’t seem like a year’s best, mainly due to the fact the majority of the songs on Sweetheart had been floating around Sean and Jonny’s setlists and Myspace page for the last couple of years. Finally finding a profitable avenue through which to release a full-length disc, The Dedringers grabbed the best of those older songs and combined them with a handful of new tunes (including #6 on my Best Songs List as well as a groovy cover from the side of Townes Van Zandt that is often overlooked). Their strong folk influences are sometimes clouded by other… dirtier, electric ones, but the guys found a perfect balance between the two on Sweetheart of the Neighborhood. If you’ve been a regular here for a while, you know you could have picked up the album FREE a while back.

Institution

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6. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Rattlin’ Bones
9/16/08 ~ Sugar Hill Records

One of my most anticipated 2008 releases did not disappoint. What was said to be Kasey (and husband) returning to their musical roots was just that. Often stripped down, always well-crafted songs center around themes of Heaven and Hell in this AIRA-winning album. The title track received the #2 spot on my Best Songs List. Check out Nelson’s more in-depth review over at A Fifty Cent Lighter… If you don’t know about Kasey, check out my Artist Spotlight.

Jackson Hole

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After unloading some bad news regarding Cardinology – and the extended discussion that followed – i’m glad to move on with my Ryan Adams Spotlight. This edition features what is probably the most underrated Ryan Adams album.

If you’ve been keeping up here, you know that Demolition was the result of numerous studio sessions that took place both before and after the recording of Gold. Lost Highway wasn’t hip to the idea of releasing a 4-disc set, so some decision making was in order. You could say they took a wrecking ball to those collections and what came out of the rubble were the 13 tracks that make up his third solo album.

1. Nuclear ~ Pinkheart 2
2. Hallelujah ~ 48 Hours
3. You Will Always Be The Same
4. Desire ~ 48 Hours
5. Cry On Demand ~ Suicide Handbook
6. Starting To Hurt ~ Pinkheart 1
7. She Wants To Play Hearts ~ Suicide Handbook
8. Tennessee Sucks ~ Pinkheart 1
9. Dear Chicago ~ Suicide Handbook
10. Gimme A Sign ~ Pinkheart 1
11. Tomorrow ~ Pinkheart 2
12. Chin Up, Cheer Up ~ 48 Hours
13. Jesus (Don’t Touch My Baby) ~ Pinkheart 2

For coming from so many different studios, engineers, and session players, the album really does have a cohesive feel. But that doesn’t mean the songs are too similar… actually just the opposite. Demolition offers quite of variety of Ryan’s sounds. It’s one of Ryan’s more low-key, mellow records without being too sappy or introspective. Most of the songs are a jaded look back at failed relationships (i know, what else is new?). But compared to much of his recent work on the subject, the songs from Demolition offer a fresh, unique outlook on love-gone. In an interview with Uncut Magazine, Ryan described many of the stories behind the tunes. Check out some snippets on AnsweringBell.com.

A majority of the tracks lack a definite chorus, helping to give the album its cohesiveness. Rather than a collection of singles – which is probably what Lost Highway thought they were getting – Demolition reads like a snapshot of the things Ryan was going through at this point in his life. He was living in Hollywood during the time he wrote most of these songs, and the women in his life at that time inspired a lot of them.

Nuclear, the album’s single, leads off on somewhat of a weak note. The first verse could be thought to encapsulate Ryan’s feelings on the processes that produced the album – “In a flash of pure destruction, no one wins,” but it was written months prior and, according to Ryan, the song is about meeting someone for the first time. With wailing harmonicas, Hallelujah and Desire are highlights, carrying over a style present on Gold.

Along with Nuclear, Gimme a Sign and Starting To Hurt are the liveliest songs in the collection. Elecritc guitars, reverb, and spiteful lyrics show Ryan’s transition into the sound that would characterize his next venture. Ryan learned of a woman jumping off a building and upon seeing said building, wrote Starting To Hurt. It’s an interesting, slightly optimistic, interpretation of the events of that day.

You Will Always Be The Same, Cry On Demand, She Wants to Play Hearts, and Tomorrow exhibit Ryan’s ever-present singer/songwriter style with sparse arrangements allowing his words to ring out. An expansion on Saturday Night, Tennessee Sucks is a bluesy little tune about “Tennessee really sucking,” and he and his band finding the most accessible ways to deal with it.

Chin Up, Cheer Up is the least meshing song on the record, but interestingly, it’s one of my favorites. A mildly bluegrass feel with up-tempo picking, the song is a rare occurance of a hopeful Ryan Adams writing lyrics to fit the music. Ryan says “it’s about covering elephants in tin-foil for no good reason,” but is evidence of him simply enjoying what he’s doing.

Jesus… again shows Ryan’s habit of finishing an album with a slow ballad. Another tune about learning his ‘friend’ is sick, Ryan says he kicked The Pinkhearts out of the studio to reflect. What resulted was a boring song filled with synthesizers and a drum machine. Young Winds would have worked much better.

——————

The Japanese/UK releases of Demolition came with a bonus side of 4 songs. New York, New York and To Be Young were recorded live in Amsterdam, while the other 2 tracks are highlights from the aforesaid sessions. Each of these two tracks was also released on the singles for Nuclear – one with the CD and one with the 7 inch.

Blue
Song For Keith

Buy Demolition

Check out the rest of my Ryan Adams Spotlight

Around here, the general consensus has been substandard, and that’s been echoed plenty. But the most surprising thing is that the people that like it… really like it.

Rolling Stone gave it a 4 out of 5 and said “it’s one of the best things he’s ever done,” and that he “defines a genre here.”

i asked myself how they could actually think that, and I came up with this: the first thing people do when convincing themselves they like something is forget about lyrics. i will say this can be an important part of the listening process at times, but not when reviewing –and reviews are what Rolling Stone does. Maybe Ryan is suffering from the same ailment. He says “the stuff we do communally is 10 times greater than the stuff I come up with.”

So sure – sonically - Cardinology is pleasing, even really good (thanks Tom Schick), but Ryan has lost his previously razor sharp edge. i’ve mentioned how Easy Tiger was pretty disappointing as well. But one mediocre record (plus an EP) isn’t enough to get me worried. With the onset of this one, however, i’m beginning to think that maybe The Cardinals have worn out their welcome. They obviously have a large influence on Ryan, and that has worked great in the past (2005), but i feel like their general direction has been skewed. People say it’s the sound of a band working well together, finding their groove, confident in their sound, blah, blah. This is just a veiled way to say it’s predictable.

He’s just as self-deprecating as ever before – he actually says “if I fall will you pity me?” But with sobriety comes self-awareness. It’s like Ryan is completely cognizant to the fact that he’s a sad-bastard and has come to terms with it. We do find out Ryan isn’t habitless – “The trees outside are still. I take a sleeping pill… and feel a little less pain.” Thphhphphphh (fart noise with thumb up).

The first two tracks, minus the initial 3 second guitar riff, are just boring. “Fix It” has absolutely nothing new to offer – we know you’ve been left and hurt, Ryan. “Magick” begins well enough with a ferocity reminiscent of something like “Shallow” and as spiteful as “What Sin”. But then they blow it under in the chorus with what sounds like a song heard at a junior high dance on Lifetime – “let your body move, let your body sway, listen to the music play.”

“Let Us Down…” may have been a better fit on ET, but it’s not bad. Unfortunately, “Crossed Out Name” sits on the top of the heap, beginning what you hope will be a rebound on Side B… not even close. “Natural Ghost“ is basically easy listening. “Sink Ships” starts with an inviting acoustic lead, but wanders off-course.

And what kind of metaphors are these? “This position is not open now… the application forms got shredded, there was faulty wording in the documents.” Come on. Where’s the guy that said “you ain’t but a fire on my sad estate, burnin’ my house to the ground” or “i felt the news through the floorboards. Like a long sufferin’ moan. Like a wreck on the road. Like a joining of hands?”

Where’s the guy that said “the trains run like snakes through the Pentecostal pines?” Oh, that’s right… Jacksonville. But that was only 3 years ago. He’d been city-jaded for years by then. There’s the ubiquitous, NYC reference in “Cobwebs” that becomes cliché mentioning 5th Ave… ooh, Ryan’s big time – what happened to Chelsea?

A breezy interlude recalling “Rosebud”, “Evergreen” is a bit of a relief, but not enough to turn me around. For the first time, i’ve become completely disinterested in the middle of a Ryan Adams album.

As i said, i waited until i got the vinyl to do this. The collector’s package has completely new artwork by Leah Hayes, including a comic book/set of liner notes. In presenting the lyrics, she forms a frame-by-frame story with children’s book-style drawings. This interestingly works well for this album. Although she’s definitely talented, it couldn’t have been very hard to work the names of the songs into the page. Ryan broke the record for repeating the song titles on Cardinology (go ahead, count ‘em). i’m just not so sure that’s a desirable feat.

Some more pathetic lines: “Keep the faith, keep moving to the music rolling in your mind.” & “Be your own best friend, have confidence and keep the faith.” Oh, and those aren’t from the same song.

i guess you can say that he’s maturing with this ’suicide hotline’ advice, which is somewhat true, but his youthful defiance is what has defined much of Ryan up to ‘06. At some point he has to make another statement. It doesn’t have to be berating fans/critics, tapes and tapes of studio sessions, or speedballs for breakfast, but SOMETHING.

Bottom Line: The Cardinals let us down, but at least they let us down easy… whatever that means.

i know i’ve focused on the faults of the album, but there are pieces to enjoy. Just not enough. i don’t have to express what i like about Ryan, i’ve done plenty of that, and hopefully i will get to again someday.

Crossed Out Name (live 9-30-2008 – Palace Theatre)

Max Stalling may be a one trick pony on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find he’s got a whole herd of talent.

A songwriter first and foremost, Max is one of the best composers to have been associated with the Texas Music scene (alongside Mike McClure and Slaid Cleaves – both of whom have been spotlighted here). Max didn’t take up music seriously until after college (he’s a fellow alumnus of Texas A&M). Just as his songs seem to have one foot in the past, Max himself would’ve been perfectly content sharing his music with only those around the campfire on the trail in the 1800’s. But after his talent for songwriting became too obvious to cast aside, Max quit his job with Frito-Lay and took on music full-time, and got right down to business.

Finding the bar-scene in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area welcoming, it wasn’t long before Max had an album’s worth of recording material.

Comfort In The Curves (1997)

Max’s debut remains one of his strongest efforts to date. He introduces himself with an ode to the road, roll-calling a myriad of Texas towns. Songs like Time’s Hand In Your Pocket and Sparks demonstrate his uncanny ability to write from the worn perspective of old wrangler, while Look In My Past and Mockingbird show Max longing for anything except the here-and-now. Heavy on the steel guitar and rural references, Comfort In The Curves is unmistakably country, but retains a cordial sincerity sadly missing in most modern country music.

I-35
Bath Water Baby

“I didn’t even pick up a guitar until graduate school. I had no expectation of even being in the music business. I just liked to write songs.”

Wide Afternoon (2000)

Max followed his debut with another solid effort. Runnin’ Buddy can be considered his most popular tune, and Scars and Souvenirs seems like the inverse of Karen Poston/Slaid Cleaves’s Lydia. On Wide Afternoon, he solidifies his reputation for a stellar relationship-song writer with tunes like Blue Eyes, Dime Box TX, and These Reminders. Check out a SMM post i wrote on Simple Girl.

Bass Run
These Reminders

Max has a certain knack for creating great driving music. Maybe this is because the majority of my roadtrips happen to take me across, through, and around Texas, so it seems Max is right there with me narrating the trip with vivid imagery of West Texas scenery and plaintive cowboy songs. i can’t tell you what it is that makes a song fit the open road, but if it makes your destination arrive faster, it’s done its job. Read my post on The Road.

One of the Ways (2002)

If you take one thing away from this artist spotlight, make it the purchase of this album. It was frustrating to narrow it down to only two songs to feature from One of the Ways, and honestly, i left out some of the best. It’s 11 tracks of clever wordplay – all performed with the ease of a seasoned veteran and in a such a style that evokes a Sunday conversation along a fenceline with Max himself. The Pila Song is a compelling story of love-torn rancher that meets his fate at the hands of his own impulsiveness. Max can uniquely turn a simple conversation into a poetic, rhetorical exchange with the listener, evidenced in Probably Corsicana. This album will definitely make my Toolbox List, and when i feature it, you can get a taste of the remainder of gems on this release.

The Pila Song
Probably Corsicana

By none of today’s standards is Max a prolific writer – 5 albums in 10 years – but admittedly, he didn’t plan on making a career out of it. Shortly after the release of One of the Ways, Max’s distributor went out of business, curbing the sale of the album as well as his desire to begin another project.

“On a personal front, there were a whole slew of things that hit me pretty hard…girl problems, the extended illness and passing away of my father, topped off by an audit by our friendly IRS sure kept me from focusing on songwriting. That was a tough stretch of years.”

Sell Out: Live at Dan’s Silver Leaf (2005)

To assuage his fans, Stalling decided to record and release a live album amidst a five year musical recession. Sell Out captures the ardent, hospitable feeling of his shows. Tall, lanky, and bald, Max looks like the least likely guy to take the stage at showtime, but as soon as his does, your reservations wash away. The album only features two new tunes – one of which is an upbeat look back at yesteryear and the music that brought him through it.

6×9 Speakers

“I chalk [my loyal fan base] up to the strength of the songs and the strength of my band”

Topaz City (2007)

Produced by R.S. ‘Bobby’ Field, Topaz City takes on a different ambiance compared to his prior releases. His tight-knit backing band is far more prominent here than before, allowing Max to release more emotion into the songs. But like many of the most recent releases from Texas bands, i’ve found it difficult to get into this one. i blame this on the idea that my tastes have changed considerably since discovering a world of great music outside the confines of the Lone Star State.

Lank & Lonesome & Low & Loose At Both Ends
How Blue Can You Go

Max Stalling is one more notch on the wall of hidden talent that thrives down here in Texas. After finding so much great music through blogs from everywhere under the sun, i felt it was my civic duty to try to expose as many people as i could to the sounds that first made me appreciate the beauty of real music, from real people.

Click on the album covers for direct purchase links.

i started This Mornin’ I Am Born Again early this year after discovering the music blogosphere and the various ‘Best Albums of 2007′ posts that flooded it. My first posts consisted of my own lists of Top 10 Albums as well as Top 10 Songs. It seems only fitting to review your previous year’s ‘best of’ list prior to making the next year’s. Aside from improving the writing and aesthetic quality of the posts, i can’t say i would make many adjustments. But a year’s worth of additional listening is almost certain to change one’s opinions of the music ingested.

One album from my ‘07 list that has remained very near my CD player at all times is my #3 pick, War Elephant. Deer Tick (John McCauley III and band) has recently been signed to Partisan Records and they are re-releasing his superb debut. By the time i first became aware of Deer Tick, the label that originally released the album, Feow Records, was already sold out of the original (on only) pressing. But i picked it up on iTunes and was immediately impressed.

The overall sound of War Elephant can be described as grunge-country with its topped out electric guitars and rough drum beats providing a backdrop for honest, earthy lyrics. John McCauley’s growl is surprisingly welcoming in a modern John Prine sort-of way. He occasionally reaches for notes out of his range, but the authenticity in his emotion remains.

The songs that make up the disc are well written, especially for such a young musician (he was 20 at recording), but the most impressive part of the effort are the arrangements. The lead off track Ashamed, for example, begins with a simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure; an upbeat drum enters making the listener believe the song is beginning anew – only to come to an abrupt end after another short verse. Following, Art Isn’t Real uses a climbing melody mixed with flamenco-style picking and a conservative fiddle riff to create a deceptively hopeful song. John sings “there’s gotta be some old recipe. I gotta get drunk, I gotta forget about some things.”

Dirty Dishes is an plodding look back at a failed relationship: “And you cried all night/ ’til you created a stream and it flows forever/ and it’s made of dreams that didn’t come true/ and I’m sorry there’s nothing more /that I can do.” John seems hopeless, noting that he killed all the flowers, until he finishes “things could be so much worse.” Another look back at love-gone, Diamond Rings 2007, incidentally took the #7 spot on my ‘best of’ list. Baltimore Blues No. 1 exhibits an expertly picked acoustic intro, augmented with simple electric accompaniments.

On the surface, Townes and Dylan-esque qualities are evident, but somewhere deeper, you’ll find a hint of Hank Williams influence, most obvious in the barn-stomping Spend The Night. To round out John’s varied sound, the final track has a cabaret-ballad feel a la Frank Sinatra. The organic, meshing sound of the album on the whole is explained by one simple fact: John McCauley played every instrument on it.

Ashamed
Dirty Dishes

The reissue is available for pre-order now and will be shipped for receipt by November 11th.

Pre-order the Limited Edition Vinyl ~ $26.99
“very limited edition of 300 double LP pressings on 140G RED vinyl with expanded LP jacket printing on 20pt board stock. Fourth side laser etching and insert w/ full lyrics.”

Pre-order the Basic Vinyl ~ $19.99

Pre-order the Re-issued CD ~ $11.99

Although i’m very excited for War Elephant to receive vinyl immortality, i was hoping the next Deer Tick news on the wire would be that of a follow-up album. We’re not completely out of luck, however. Partisan Records says they plan on releasing another disc of “early original Deer Tick songs” in the near future.

Often, the greatest measure of an artist’s wealth is how their peers speak of them. Strangely enough, those that are most admired by others in the music community tend not be be widely popular. For songwriters in particular, having their work covered by those in the business who are ‘bigger names’ may be the the extent of the fame they’ll receive. Guy Clark has had his songs re-interpreted by the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Jimmy Buffett, Brad Paisley, and Emmylou Harris. But the general public – even those that claim to be country music fans – couldn’t tell you who Guy is.

Guy spent much of his young life runnin’ around with Townes Van Zandt and various Texas music-makers (Check out To Live’s To Fly – a Townes Van Zandt biography with plenty of first hand anecdotes from Guy). He says he obtained much of his songwriting inspiration from Townes, watching how he imagined and formulated songs. Guy released his debut Old No. 1 in 1975 on RCA. The album contained a couple tunes that would become veritable anthems in the 70’s Texas Music scene. Desperados Waiting For a Train is a wrenching tale of an old oil-man who’s seen “seventy years of livin.” On the other side of the emotional spectrum lies L.A. Freeway, whose climbing melodies evoke a nervous anticipation to change one’s surroundings.

i’ll admit, there’s a lot of Guy’s work from the 70’s and 80’s i know nothing about. But in my opinion, you only need one disc to size up Guy Clark:

Guy Clark – Dublin Blues
Asylum (1995)

He couldn’t have picked a better title-track and lead song if it had come to him in a dream. The album starts with one of the most elegant pieces of music Clark has written and includes what “might be the coolest lick [he] ever learned.” Guy is so rich with emotion he doesn’t even have to form words to get his feelings across. The simple “mmm-mmm” that codas the first line in each verse tells you all you need to know.
Dublin Blues

In an homage to one of his proteges Rodney Crowell, Stuff That Works speaks of the simple pleasures in life and is a perfect portayal of Guy’s durability through both his resistance to change and his sage wisdom.
Stuff That Works

In Hank Williams Said It Best, Guy is simply showing off. Eight verses full of inventive turns of the cliche One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Hank Williams Said It Best

Clark enlisted the help of songwriter/guitarist/friend Darrell Scott for much of the guitar work on the album. But Guy is no slouch on the instrument. The acoustic work on Dublin Blues, Stuff That Works, and Baby Took a Limo to Memphis is something to marvel at. Clark dabbles in carpentry and often plays self-made guitars. In nearly every interview i’ve seen of him, Guy is in his workshop – with tequila and smokes never out of reach. Many of his stories of the shenanigans he and Townes got into sound like jokes long passed around. Guy Clark is the storyteller variety of a songwriter. He’s got that voice that stops all other conversations in the room. In The Randall Knife Guy bares his worn soul like never before – and he simply speaks the words. Imagine hearing this song on a quiet night in Luckenbach.
The Randall Knife

Buy Dublin Blues

Here’s the second of the two Pinkheart Sessions.

This time The Pinkhearts were: Ryan Adams, Billy Mercer, Brad Rice, & Brad Pemberton. The session took place in July of 2001 at Javelina Studios in Nashville and was produced by Dave Domanich. The tracks here that also appeared on the first session are slightly more produced – with things like saxes added. This session saw the completion of the tracks that would make up Demolition. But like the first, much of it is wild and very unfocused – it seems Ryan and Brad Rice may have had a few solo battles.

Highlights: A narrative of any given Saturday on the town with the Pinkhearts – Saturday Night, and a very groovy tribute to a man who simply cannot be killed by conventional weapons – Song For Keith.

1. Blowin’ The Coup (instrumental)
2. Blue and Shy
3. Candy Doll
4. Down At The Movies
5. Fuck It … I Broke Your Cat
6. Gimme A Sign
7. Interstellar Collider
8. Jesus (Don’t Touch My Baby)
9. Mega-Superior Gold
10. My Baby’s Going Home (aka Tomorrow)
11. Nuclear
12. On My Way (instrumental)
13. I Took Your Puppies To A Race Car Track
14. Saturday Night
15. Song For Keith
16. Starting To Hurt
17. Tennessee Sucks

“It’s hard to have a fight in a tent. How do you show your anger?
You can’t slap the flap…
What do you do, zipper it up really quick?”

Check out more Ryan Adams:

• Took Me Long Enough: Whiskeytown
• Heartbreaker
• Gold
• Exile on Franklin Street
• The Destroyer Sessions
• Whiskeytown: The Missing Bridge
• The Pinkheart Sessions (1)
• Panning For Gold
• Evolution: These Girls
• The Suicide Handbook
• 48 Hours
  

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With the help of said Ethan Johns, as well as Chris Stills, Julianna Raye, Greg Leitz, and Sheldon Gomberg, this session is a veritable greatest-hits of his post-Gold solo work. Walls sounds like an early precursor to the sound of Jacksonville City Nights. A live staple of his solo shows, Like The Twilight (aka Drunk and Fucked Up) makes its unofficial appearance on this collection – simply gorgeous. The painful Blue was released as the b-side on the Nuclear single in September of 2002.

48 Hours was the second step in creating the songs that would become Demolition. Hallelujah, Desire, and Chin Up, Cheer Up – arguably the best few tracks from that release – were recorded during this session in Hollywood, CA. i will do some sort of review for that album after i post the last of the unreleased sessions – The Second Pinkheart – very soon.

48 Hours
1. Hallelujah
2. Walls
3. Desire
4. Angelina
5. Like The Twilight
6. Chin Up, Cheer Up
7. Born Yesterday
8. Blue
9. One For The Rose
10. Karina (false start)
11. Karina
12. Little Moon

zip-file

Check out more Ryan Adams:

• Took Me Long Enough: Whiskeytown
• Heartbreaker
• Gold
• Exile on Franklin Street
• The Destroyer Sessions
• Whiskeytown: The Missing Bridge
• The Pinkheart Sessions (1)
• Panning For Gold
• Evolution: These Girls
• The Suicide Handbook

show all

Well, Nelson’s three-for-three for his Essential Albums over at A Fifty Cent Lighter…, so i figured i better get a move on. My second installment of In The Toolbox comes from a 1971 debut disc from one the most respected songwriters alive.

John Prine’s self-titled album is a collection of songs, all of which – every artist that plays music even vaguely resembling ‘folk’ or ‘country’ is secretly jealous of. A perfect example of this is shown in my first experience with John Prine. In 2001, Pat Green & Cory Morrow paid tribute to some of their heroes (and a few contemporaries) with Songs We Wish We’d Written. They included John’s Paradise on the disc – along with their versions of some classic tunes from people like Darrell Scott, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon, Merle, and Townes. So many artists today that value songwriting list John as a major influence: Deer Tick, The Roadside Graves, Todd Snider, Hayes Carll, Kasey Chambers, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Randy Newman, Johnny Cash – just to name a few.

John Prine – John Prine
Atlantic (1971)

This introduction to John Prine continually reminds us of the simple elegance of lightheartedness and brevity in music. He begins with an acoustic-driven tune about that glorious “escape from reality” that’s just a puff away. Halfway through, John gives us a political number poking fun at those obsessed with puttin’ the American Flag anywhere it’ll stick – and even admits that he’s guilty of it. Scattered throughout the disc are perfectly written lines (“i knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve”) that make us wish we could all look at life with the same loving flippancy as John.