These country and Americana music classics go out to all you moms out there!
Johnny Paycheck (with Merle Haggard)- “Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised”
Carter sisters & Johnny Cash – “Dear Mama”
Tammy Wynette - “(You Make Me Want To Be) A Mother”
Willie Nelson – “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”
Justin Townes Earle “Mama’s Eyes”
Merle Haggard – “Mama Tried”
It’s been a while but here’s Twang Nation Podcast #5 and it’s a beaut.
This episode features cuts from upcoming albums by Ray Wylie Hubbard, Chelle Rose and Joe Pug and great cuts from The Damn Quails, The Steel Wheels , Hiss Golden Messenger and Jim White.Mr J.R. Cash concludes the episode to commemorate the year of his 80th birthday and the upcoming gospel-themed Bootleg Vol. IV: The Soul of Truth.
I hope you all enjoy the great Americana and roots music featured in this and all the podcasts and hope you seek out the musicians and buy their music, merch and , most importantly, take all your friends and see them live. Remember you can leave requests or feedback below or email me at baron(at)twangnation(dot)com.
1. Ray Wylie Hubbard – song: Coricidin Bottle album: The Grifter’s Hymnal (Bordello Records)
2. The Damn Quails – song: Fool’s Gold - album: Down The Hatch ( 598 Recordings)
3. Chelle Rose – song: Browder Holler Boy (Feat. Ray Wylie Hubbard) album: Ghost of Bowder Holler (Lil’ Damsel Records)
4. The Steel Wheels – song: Spider Wings album: Lay Down , Lay Low (independent release)
5. The Memphis Strange – song: 5 Miles or Less album: Birth of the Strange (independent release)
6. Hiss Golden Messenger - song: Jesus Shot Me In The head album: Poor Moon (Tompkins Square records)
7. Screen Door Porch – song: Devil’s Honey album: The Fate & The Fruit (Independent release)
8. Jim White - song: The Way of Alone album: Where It Hits You (Yep Roc Records)
9. Joe Pug – song: Hymn #76 album: The Great Despiser ( Lightning Rod Records)
10. Brown Bird – song: Bilgewater album: Salt For Salt (Supply and Demand Music)
11. Johnny Cash - song: Walk the Line Album: Bootleg 3: Live Around The World (Sony Legacy)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Athens GA-based Americana songstress Lera Lynn follows up her debut full length (Have You Met Lera Lynn?) with a seven inch, which includes a cover of June Carter Cash penned and Johnny Cash renowned Ring of Fire.
Lynn says of the cover “I always thought June Carter’s “Ring of Fire” was written as a dark song, maybe it’s just where I was when I heard it one dark day. It’s been a lot of fun to rearrange it, almost making it my own. I hope we’ve done it justice. I hope they [the Cash Family] would be proud.”
I never understand when people do cover songs, especially of iconic songs, and then don’t interpret them personally. Lynn does exactly that with her take smolders (heh) punctuated with discordant peaks in the chorus. Look for Lera Lynn on tour in Texas and up the East coast this March and April.
In this day in 1932 John R. Cash was born in Kingland, Arkansas. In 1954 Cash, and his and his then wife Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He took time between selling appliances door-to-door and studying to be a radio announcer to audition for Sam Phillips at his Sun Records studios (ground central for the culture shift of mid-Twentieth century American. ) The rest is history.
Later in his career Cash , like many other was seen too old to be worthy of Nashville’s Music City’s attention, never mind his legendary status. These were the days of Garth and Shania. Never mind some old dude with an imposing figure who dresses like a grave digger and sings of old testament doom. No market for that.
Then Rick Rubin helped Cash proved the lie in it. People from all generations still hungered for authenticity. For truth. For dignity and adherence to the roots of music. Rubin and Cash’s American recordings led to a new career high for the Man in Black with millions of albums sold, a GRAMMY win, and a new generation of fans looking for something real.
In 2002 Cash on the “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech Award from the Americana Music Association. In 2003 he snagged AMA Album of the Year for “American IV: The Man Comes Around” and won Artist of the Year. This transition of country music legends into Americana icons is a large part of the reason the genre garnered my interest. The new genre was partly born as a reflex of Music City’s inability to celebrate it’s history. Attention to history and reverence to the old-guard, and great music, in spite of some marketers prognostication of viability for a fickle mass market, allowed a new home for those not having their phone-calls returned by Nashville.
Cash was a man that understood reverence to musical history and the crossing of boundaries to capture the beauty and strength of those old songs. When Cash collaborated with Dylan, Kristofferson, Willie, Waylon and Rick Rubin it wasn’t to chase other demographics. It was to confer with like-minded journeymen and follow his heart and make great music. Here’s to those with the courage to be great.Here’s to John R. Cash and his lasting legacy.
Here’s a little something to stuff your sock, warm your chestnuts and spike your nog. There’s some traditional (Gene Autry – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) and the less-so (Drive-By Truckers – Mrs. Claus’ Kimono.) But, I’m sure there’s something here for everyone, except your Uncle Jack, that ass hates everything. Enjoy and Happy Holidays, y’all!
Twang Nation – Holidays at the Ranch Mix -2011
Gene Autry – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Willie Nelson – Pretty Paper
John Prine – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Emmylou Harris – O Little Town of Bethlehem
Drive-By Truckers – Mrs. Claus’ Kimono
Steve Earle – Nothing But A Child
Johnny Cash – Silent Night
Commander Cody – Daddy’s Drinking Up Our Christmas
George Jones – Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus
Dolly Parton – Hard Candy Christmas
Michael Martin Murphey – Two-Step ‘Round The Christmas Tree/Two-Step Medley
Waylon Jennings – Away In A Manger
Dwight Yoakam – Run Run Rudolph
Merle Haggard – If We Make It Through December
The Mavericks – Santa Claus Is Back In Town
Alan Jackson with Alison Krauss – The Angels Cried
Clay Walker – Blue Christmas
Chris LeDoux – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Suzy Bogguss – Two-Step ‘Round The Christmas Tree
Deana Carter – Carol Of The Bells
George Strait – White Christmas
Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys – Christmas Time’s A-Coming
Dwight Yoakam – Here Comes Santa Claus
Neko Case – Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
Asylum Street Spankers – Zat You, Santa Claus?
Jim Lauderdale – Holly & Her Mistletoe
Otis Gibbs – Jesus On The Couch
Robert Earl Keen – Merry Christmas From The Family
Lyle Lovett – Christmas Morning
James McMurtry – Holiday
Aesthetics aren’t the only think that separates mainstream Music City country from it’s rustic yet urbane cousin Americana , there are political themes that differentiate as well. Music City doesn’t have a lock on patriotism any more than it does mom and apple pie. Here’s some Americana/classic country greats on this day for remembrance for those that serve.
Jason Isbell – Dress Blues
Johnny Cash – The Ballad Of Ira Hayes
Bruce Robison – Travelin’ Soldier
John Prine – Sam Stone
Tom Russell – Veteran’s Day
Drive-By Truckers – Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
Jamey Johnson – In Color
Hank Williams – Searching For A Soldier’s Grave
Radney Foster – Angel Flight
Steve Earle – Johnny Come Lately
On his new release Texas country music traditionalist Dale Watson goes back to the roots of by recording in the historic Sun Studios of Memphis, TN. It was here that owner and chief producer Sam Phillips changed the face of 20th century music by manning the board for the likes Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, B.B. King, Joe Hill Louis, Rufus Thomas, and Howlin’ Wolf, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis among many others.
Dale scales down his band for the sessions to drummer Mike Bernal and Chris Crepps on upright bass, or as they have been christened the “Texas Two.” This band title is not the only testimonial to Johnny Cash’s 1954 to1958 sessions with his Tennessee Two.” The spirit of Cash is also evoked on nearly every song with the use of his trademark boom-chicka-boom sound as well as the class atmospheric “slap-back” production that helped make the Sun Studios famous.
This is not the first time Dale has gone to hallowed ground to summon the spirit of Cash. His 2007 album, from the Cradle to the Grave was recorded in a cabin near Nashville formally owned by Cash and graciously loaned to him by his friend and current owner Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame.
Wason and his Texas Two peer from the cover with the iconic beaming sun set above them. These days Watson is looking less like Paulie Walnuts from the Sopranos and more like an older Unknown Hinson.
Also in line with Cash’s Sun Studio sessions is each songs brief duration. The 14 songs here clock in at less than a half-hour overall with the longest song, an ode to love and Southern cooking My Baby Makes Me Gravy, at 2:45. A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach but apparently it doesn’t take long to get there.
The songs are mostly all new with the exception of Johnny at the Door from Watson’s album People I’ve Known, Places I’ve Been (1999) and Elbow Grease, Spackle And Pine- Sol, which is a renamed version of Holes in the Wall from the Watson’s first album Cheatin’ Heart Attack (1995)
The genesis of the album began on Watson’s 16-ton Eagle tour bus bus after learning that the gig they were headed to in Memphis had fallen through. He then called up Sun Studios to see if they had an opening and they said “Come on in.” Watson then used his iPhone to record his voice as he worked out some songs while sitting behind the wheel.
Down, Down, Down, Down sets the pace with a boom-chicka-boom fright-train-like opening as Watson’s baritone breaks down a song of a life misspent on woe, sorrow and hell-raising ultimately asking for redemption. The Cash vibe is strong on Johnny at the Door, a tribute to a “good ol boy” Austin-area bar doorman and Drive, Drive, Drive that often echos Cash’s own Cry, Cry, Cry. Elbow Grease, Spackle And Pine- Sol is a guide to man’s reaction to being served divorce papers by his wife through aggression, he apologizes but sound like he does it with a smirk and doesn’t sound like he’s sorry at all for the “holes in the wall.” Her Love has Watson conjuring one of the other ghosts of Sun Studio. The sentimental , heartfelt ballad has the mark of Elvis Presley running all through it.
Watson continues to be the cure for the contagion of Music City pop-country.
Be sure to check out the Facebook campaign to get Dale Watson on the legendary Austin City limits show.
Dale Watson & The Texas Two- My Baby Makes Me Gravy
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnyYwdFQJgk[/youtube]
There are a coupe of new releases upcoming that I am really anticipating…
Legendary country stalwart Merle Haggard will release ‘Working in Tennessee,’ on October 4, his second on the Vanguard Records label.
The Hag penned nine of the 11 tracks on the on the album and jsut as on 2010′s I Am What I Am he invites his wife Theresa to provide vocals on the Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash classic hit, Jackson. Merle’s son Ben Haggard also joins his father by providing his adroit tele work and Willie Nelson joins on an updated version of Merle’s ‘Workin’ Man Blues.’
Despite his 2008 lung cancer diagnosis, with part of his lung being removed, the 74-year-old hasn’t lost his voice. “I’m swinging back in full throttle right now,” he insists. “Music keeps me alive. It makes me breathe better … It’s funny, but I feel better when I come off a tour than when I start out.”
Merle has been confirmed to perform at the legendary Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park on October 1st. Check Merle’s other tour dates:
‘Working in Tennessee’ Track Listing:
1. ‘Working in Tennessee’ (Merle Haggard)
2. ‘Down on the Houseboat’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard, Doug Colosio)
3. ‘Cocaine Blues’ (TJ Arnall)
4. ‘What I Hate’ (Merle Haggard)
5. ‘Sometimes I Dream’ (Merle Haggard, Jenessa Haggard)
6. ‘Under the Bridge’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard)
7. ‘Too Much Boogie Woogie’ (Merle Haggard)
8. ‘Truck Driver’s Blues’ (Merle Haggard, Tim Howard)
9. ‘Laugh It Off’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard, Doug Colosio)
10. ‘Working Man Blues’ (Merle Haggard)
11. ‘Jackson’ (Billy Edd Wheeler, Gaby Rodgers)
And that Dirty Ol’ One Man Band from Texas, Scott H. Biram, will release his fourth full-length for Bloodshot Records, Bad Ingredients on October 11th on CD, vinyl LP, and digital download. Bad Ingredients was recorded at Biram’s home studio in Austin, Texas and mastered by Jerry Tubb of Terra Nova Mastering (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam), Bad Ingredients delivers SHB’s classic throat-stomping style (“Dontcha Lie To Me Baby” and “Victory Song”), but showcases a more mature songwriter-both lyrically and musically. It’s Biram at his quietest, but don’t worry, Hiram Biram still raises plenty a ruckus on his ’59 hollowbody Gibson and stomp board. But the best way to experience Biram is live, go check his schedule and see him if you can.
Sad news received here at Casa Twang - the Nashville home studio, of famed musician and producer Cowboy Jack Clement (80) was consumed in a fire on Saturday 6/26th. The source of the fire is currently unknown but many reel-to-reel master tapes of rare recordings by Johnny Cash, John Prine, Louis Armstrong and dozens of others, many of which were unreleased. Also lost were many priceless mementos such as photos taken by and autographed by Clement’s friend Johnny Cash, files on music productions and movie scripts. (The Tennessean)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrHEmaxqDuo[/youtube]
