5 Cool Kris Kristofferson Covers

One of the things about being one of the best songwriters in the world, loads of folks want to cover your work. The other night over at the Twang Nation Jamboree at turntable.fm the DJs holding forth ran with a Kris Kristofferson covers theme and it sounded pretty great. I thought I would try and track some down and post them here.

Bobby Bare croons a smooth version of Come Sundown. Nothing says heartbreak like a huge white tie.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8JJ3ZYdwQA[/youtube]

Try and look over the full-on Nashville Sound and syrupy strings and try and concentrate on the awesomeness that is Mr. Ray Price covering For The Good Times.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ZKIX0ICZo[/youtube]

Sammi Smith made it a hit, bit Johnny and June makes Help Me Make It Through The Night spectacular.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df9lIfWSqTE&feature=related[/youtube]

Most people think Janis Joplin was the first to cover Me And Bobby McGee. Those people are wrong. Roger Miller was the first artist to have a hit with the song, hitting No. 12 on the US country chart in 1969.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ko_bzuODTI[/youtube]

Yeah it’s not technically covers but the himself is being backed by the Foo Fighters on Sunday Morning Coming Down and doing The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 being backed by Elvis Costello And The Sugarcanes.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNYOgEbK80[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3fkbRq8O0[/youtube]

 

News Round-Up: Merle Haggard and Scott H. Biram Prepare Fall Releases

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.

News Round Up – Cowboy Jack Clement Home Studio Destroyed in Fire

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]

 

 

The Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa

Music Review: Sunday Valley – To the Wind and On To Heaven [self-released]

Here is a record that has been on heavy rotation at Casa Twang for the past two weeks.

For the past decade or so Music City has fumbled like a mad scientist to piece together sure-fire radio hits from the worst parts of rock and country music , though there have been major financial success, the lifespan of the work is questionable. The musical limbs seem to reject each other. And we’re not talking about rap and country music here (shut it Colt Ford!) It’s country music and rock music. They share the same DNA for tap-dancing  jeebus sakes!

These hacks should take a page from South-Eastern Kentucky’s Sunday Valley. The trio’s name ,the title of their debut album (recorded at Shangri-la Productions in Lexington, Ky with producer Duane Lundy) and sizzling cuts like Jesus Boogie might lead you to believe they are a Christan band, and they might very-well be. But they travel the road straddling the spiritual and the secular blazed by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ralph Stanley, Johnny Cash and Elvis. The borderlands of gospel, country and country music become a blur out the window of a pedal-to-the-metal 18-wheeler fueled on whiskey, a electrified Telecaster the holy Pentecost.

Case in point, the souped-up gospel of All The Pretty Colors and Sometimes Wine whips up a rightous ruckus as Sturgill Simpson sings with full-on abandon and treats his guitar like it spoke ill of his mama. Gerald Evans’ chugging bass and drummer Edgar Purdom’s tight , heated keep a heated, steady pace. There is also a nice uncredited fiddle and barrel-house piano to round things out.

Never Go To Town Again is Southern rock with the brake off. Simpson sets himself up in a John Henry-like man vs machine duet with his Telecaster. He wails and calls while the machine snarls and snaps with a fury that would  make Cerberus whimper.

Things throttle down a bit for some Allman Bros-esque Blue-Eyed soul. Oh, Sarah yearns dreamily toward a road-as-mistress theme and I Wonder and I Don’t Mind are great barroom weepers that burns with longing and regret, the latter tales off like a great, lost Marshall Tucker Band song.  Cut The Sails is straight-up acoustic fireside country ballad tracing back country music nautical roots in the spirit of George Strait  or John Anderson. These all really showcase the nuance and range of Simpson’s voice.

Simpson reportedly left a steady job with the railroad to pursue his dream of making music like they couldn’t dream of doing anything else. This is music that is as good-hearted as it is raucous,  full of piss and vinegar as well as good will, and and as ready to love as itchin’ to fight.

My Space | Buy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Vfx4OvpXE[/youtube]

Six Rounds Spent – El Corazón

Passion, jealousy, betrayal, lying, cheating, drinking, drugging, violence,, reconciliation, repeat…ah love. Here are 6 of my favorites. What are yours?

Ridley Bent – Nine Inch Nails

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU5jxFwEA6U[/youtube]

Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRnoh86FD2A&feature=related[/youtube]

Jason Isbell/Drive By Truckers – Goddamn Lonely Love

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEMpKJtbokQ&feature=related[/youtube]

Guy Clark – Dublin Blues

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sx8lqm2Lw0[/youtube]

Blaze Foley – If I Could Only Fly (at a wedding, no less!)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69YCXgVdyR4[/youtube]

Steve Earle – Valentines Day

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVeKSJzezMg[/youtube]

Johnny Cash – I Walk the Line  (BONUS)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEV58ztuihs[/youtube]

GRAMMYs Night One – T. Bone Burnett

Of all the events I am covering for the GRAMMYS, this is the one I most looked forward to. Great time at the Producers & Engineer’s Wing 10th Anniversary Honoring T. Bone Burnett took place at the historic Village Recording Studio which since opening in the late 60’s has worked with The Allman Brothers, The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton,Elvis Costello, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, George Harrison, Elton John, Tom Jones, B.B. King, John Lennon, Little Richard, Ringo Starr, and many others. Built by the Freemasons in the 1920s, the building was originally a Masonic temple, then in the early 60s the building was used by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

This was , for an entertainment industry event, a relaxed one. The focus of the guests wasn’t on image or attitude, these were people focused on the sound. the board geeks that make the good sound great, the great sound timeless and the lame…well…there’s little hope even for these wizards. Making my way through the crowd I ran into Robbie Robertson (The Band), Ray LaMontagne (nominated for 3 GRAMMYS – Song Of The Year – “Beg Steal Or Borrow”, Best Contemporary Folk Album – God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical)

The event to celebrate Burnett was christened “Shaken Rattled & Rolled” and the slide shows around the event showed how extensive his career has been as a producer, engineer and a musician. After brief comments by Senior Executive Director Maureen Droney and Co-Chair James McKinney there was a film celebrating the Producers & Engineer’s Wing of the GRAMMYS and their commitment to documenting and preserving historic and contemporary recorded media.

Then after a recording introduction by Elton John (“greatest producer working today, run away with me!”) and Leon Russell (“I’m not sure what this award is for be this man deserves it!”) Burnett hit the stage to loving applause. The gist of his speech was that the sound he’s famous for championing, warm analog, has a a place in current recording as well as a future. And  that “the recording industry made a mistake when they started making music for people that don’t like music. ” Burnett then introduced his latest proteges, The Secret Sisters and they serenaded the happy crowd late into the night. Thanks to my companion GRAMMYs Country Music blogger Meesa from 365 Days of Country Music.

Hank Williams – 15 Covers in Tribute [VIDEO]


“I ain’t gonna worry wrinkles in my brow, cuz nothin’s never gonna be alright nohow. No matter how I struggle and strive, I’ll never get out of this world alive.”
— Hank Williams

Sometime in the early morning hours of January 1st 1953, somewhere on the roads of Kentucky on-route to a News Years Eve show in Canton, Ohio, The King of Country Music,  Hank Williams succumbed to a life of drugs, booze and sorrow in the back seat of his powder blue Cadillac. He was 29.

In his brief professional life Williams forged a sound and lasting legacy that runs throughout country and rock music , and really most all American music, to this day. On this New Years Eve I want to celebrate his life and demonstrate the broadness of his influence with some of the best covers of Hank Williams that I could uncover. Leave your own in the comments and at the stroke of midnight take a moment to remember the greatness of Hank Williams.

Tom Waits – Ramblin’ Man

Wayne Hancock – Lost Highway

Hunter Hayes / Hank Williams Jr. – Jambalaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57sfRo26fAc

Townes Van Zandt – Alone & Forsaken

Jerry Lee Lewis – Cold Cold Heart

Patsy Cline – Lovesick Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rBtNVmUvPw

Chris Scruggs – I’m A Long Gone Daddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W6dA67kTJc

Ray Charles – Your Cheatin’ Heart

The The – I Saw The Light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYVXuauvZLA&feature=related

Neko Case – Alone and Forsaken

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant  -  My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ramblin Man

Johnny Cash and Nick Cave – I Am So Lonesome I Could Cry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovaGrcOEI-M

Hank Williams III – I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive

Hank Williams Jr and Tammy Wynette – Hank Sr Medley

Six Rounds Spent – Outlaws

We all know about the Outlaw Country movement, that stylistic and attitude splintering of Waylon, Willie and the others that took their sound out of Nashville and into Texas where some of the most vibrant, and most enduring, country music was created. That’s not what this is.

I wanted to do a list of songs actually about outlaws. The blood shedding type.  Whether as a concept or a literal fugitive it seemed like a rich and natural source for inspiration. Include your own in the comments if you would like.

6. Joe Ely’s Me and Billy the Kid – What does Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and Joe Ely have in common? A song about Bill the Kid. I went with what I think was the best.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzClIWElrco[/youtube]

5. Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska. A song inspired by the 19 year-old Charles Starkweather who, along with his 14 year-old girlfriend Caril Fugate, went on a murder spree killing 11 people in Nebraska in 1958. Springsteen even considered “Starkweather” as the title.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwcOhOv4fho&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

4. Terry Allen – New Delhi Freight Train – Terry Allen’s song begins “Some people think that I must be crazy / But my real name is just Jesse James”, and goea on to be narrated by the outlaw. Originally recorded on Allen’s 1979 album Lubbock (On Everything), the song has been covered by Rick Nelson, and by Little Feat.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsN1AcllQ4I[/youtube]

3. Willie Nelson – Red Headed Stranger -  In true Outlaw Country fashion Willie Nelson wrote a concept album in 1975 about murder. You can imagine how well that went over on Music Row. Red Headed Stranger follows a  fugitive on the run from the law after killing his wife.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G9wXWr40WA&feature=related[/youtube]

2. Townes Van Zandt – Pancho and Lefty – This song may or may not be about the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa. It is however about betrayal, a manhunt and death. The song has been covered by
Emmylou Harris on her 1977 album, Luxury Liner and was a number one country hit in 1983 for Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtzgwNDZAs4[/youtube]

1. Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues – The best of a pretty great set. A man sits in prison lamenting his lost freedom and recalling his past crime when he “Shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1xSt7iganA[/youtube]

No More Kings

The other day I     saw a tweet from  the American Songwriter site a story title that caught my eye, like many of the tweets from excellent @AmerSongwriter. Writer Austin L. Ray story on Robert Plant and his new musical venture Band of Joy “The Unlikely King Of Americana.” It’s an excellent take on how a once rock-god followed his muse from the amped-up Blues side of the tracks to where the American genre flourishes wild.

Though it is a great story of a learned musical journeyman I take exception to the title of the piece. Please allow be to indulge the petty grievance of a genre blogger.

My first quibble is with the method of Americana regal ascendancy. Plant was not born into a legacy of Americana lineage, like say Rosanne Cash or Justin Townes Earle, that would align him in a place in whatever a genre monarchy we might imagine. So his crown must be earned.  Putting aside the concept of a violent coup I will focus on the work to goal.

Granted Plant has released two excellent Americana albums, Raising Sand and the current Band of Joy, and Led Zeppelin sometimes infused their sound with an Americana  spice (Black Country Woman and Bron-Y-Aur Stomp are great examples of this) his body of original Americana material is scant. Aside from the few Zeppelin pieces, Raising Sand and Band of Joy are comprised primarily of covers. Though excellently interpreted; these covers do not mount an argument toward an Americana crown
.
If we weigh personal legacy and quality, original material a list to regal ascendancy would be long – Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Marty Stuart, John Mellencamp, Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt etc. And why not a queen? Emmylou and Lucinda come to mind. And it’s not a Nativism issue. I believe Plant’s fellow English countrymen Elvis Costello and Richard Thompson have more of a right to any imagined throne.

Like America itself the Americana genre is a work in progress. And like America many of the settlers in this new land are from another land – rock, country, folk, hip-hop – and the borders are porous and the genre is stronger for it. Not all of these emigres are going to be in simpatico.  Guy Clark fans may have very little in common with Hank Williams III fans, but the bloodline that ties them are there for those who take the time to look.

Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, when asked about Plant’s possible crowning is quoted as saying “Without question.” I have no argument with Hilly’s opinion on this. Hilly heads up a trade group who’s primary objective is to raise awareness. Plant, along with his well-chosen guides, Allison Krauss, T Bone Burnett and Buddy Miller and others as well as the excellent songwriters chosen to be included on his albums, has led to the addition of a an Americana GRAMMY (which I am fortunate to be covering this year) and brought significant awareness to the genre.

But as a blogger for the cause I take exception to this coronation, or in fact any coronation. Like America we serve under no crown but for the exceptional beauty of the music itself. But I do nominate Gram Parsons as it’s patron saint.

Nominations for the 53rd GRAMMY Awards

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) announced the nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards (to be held February 13th, 2011.) Here listed are the nominees in the Americana, Roots categories as well as similar artists in other categories (for a full list of nominees ho the Grammy.com)  Any surprises? Who’s missing?

BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
Rosanne Cash – The List
Los Lobos – Tin Can Trust
Willie Nelson – Country Music
Robert Plant – Band of Joy
Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM
Sam Bush – Circles Around Me
Patty Loveless – Mountain Soul II
The Del McCoury Band – Family Circle
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band – Legacy
The Steeldrivers – Reckless

BEST TRADITIONAL FOLK ALBUM
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig
Luther Dickinson & the Sons of Mudboy – Onward and Upward
The John Hartford Stringband – Memories of John
Maria Muldaur – Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy
Ricky Skaggs – Ricky Skaggs Solo: Songs My Dad Loved

BEST CONTEMPORARY FOLK ALBUM
Jackson Browne & David Lindley – Love Is Strange – En Vivo Con Tino
Mary Chapin Carpenter – The Age of Miracles
Guy Clark – Somedays the Song Writes You
Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs – God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise
Richard Thompson – Dream Attic

BEST COUNTRY INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Cherryholmes – “Tattoo of a Smudge”
The Infamous Stringdusters – “Magic #9”
Punch Brothers – “New Chance Blues”
Darrell Scott – “Willow Creek”
Marty Stuart – “Hummingbyrd”

Other Americana/roots/indie/alt/whatever artists nominated in assorted other categories:

  • Dailey & Vincent – “Elizabeth” (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)
  • Dierks Bentley – Up on the Ridge (Best Country Album)
  • Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson – “Bad Angel” (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & the Punch Brothers – “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Ryan Bingham & T. Bone Burnett – “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Johnny Cash – “Ain’t No Grave”/ The Johnny Cash Project (Best Short Form Music Video)
  • Crazy Heart (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Steve Earle – “I See You” from Treme (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Patty Griffin – Downtown Church (Best Traditional Gospel Album)
  • Buddy Holly – Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More (Best Historical Album)
  • Elton John & Leon Russell – “If It Wasn’t for Bad” (Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Jamey Johnson – “Macon” (Best Male Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Album for The Guitar Song)
  • Miranda Lambert – “The House That Built Me” (Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album for Revolution)
  • Ray LaMontagne – “Beg, Steal, or Borrow” (Song of the Year)
  • Los Lobos – “Do the Murray” (Best Rock Instrumental Performance)
  • Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man” (Best Rock Song, Best New Artist)
  • Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Mojo (Best Rock Album)*The Steeldrivers – “Where Rainbows Never Die” (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)
  • Robert Plant – “Silver Rider” (Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance)
  • Pete Seeger with the Rivertown Kids and Friends – Tomorrow’s Children (Best Musical Album for Children)
  • Ricky Skaggs – Mosaic (Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album)
  • George Strait – “The Breath You Take” (Best Country Song)
  • Marty Stuart & Connie Smith – “I Run to You” (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Treme (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Hank Williams – The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus! (Best Historical Album)
  • Lucinda Williams & Elvis Costello – “Kiss Like Your Kiss” from True Blood (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Neil Young – “Angry World” (Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Album for Le Noise)