Cat Power: American Flag Doris Day: That Jane From Maine Matt Pond PA: New Hampshire Scud Mountain Boys: Massachusetts Blossom Dearie: Rhode Island is Famous For You Simon & Garfunkel: The Only Living Boy In New York The Mountain Goats: Going To Maryland Nation of Ulysses: You're My Miss Washington, D.C. Ryan Adams: Oh My Sweet Carolina [...]
Gene Clark: Elevator Operator
Remembering Vern Gosdin by David Rothblatt Sadly, once in a while one of my favorite musical artists dies. It doesn't happen often, let alone one of the most important figures in Rock 'n' Roll history. It affects me in different ways each time, ranging from "Oh, that's too bad" to the way I feel right now, which is really, really sad. News that Vern Gosdin had passed away from a stroke on April 28 at age 74 - peacefully as I understand it [...]
As Setting The Woods On Fire and Groover's Paradise have already noted, country singer, Vern "The Voice" Gosdin ( pictured left below brother, Rex ) passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74. I wrote about The Gosdin Brothers last summer as part of the Clarence White Chronicles. The songs listed below are all on the playlist, so check it out. Here's a teaser, 'cause I'm good like that. Gosdin Brothers - Bowling Green Read The Gosdin Brothers: Bakersfield 1966 - Includes [...]
Very sad to learn today that Vern "the Voice" Gosdin passed last night. A member of the Hillmen , the Gosdin Brothers, and a successful solo artist in his own right, his deep, brooding voice will be missed. While I'm less familiar with Vern's impressive stream of mainstream country hits from the 80s, I'm completely smitten with 1968's Sounds of Goodbye , an unheralded country rock classic. "There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)" was written by Gosdin brothers Rex and Vern and a Gosdin sister, Cathy. [...]
"To have been a Renaissance Hillbilly in Hollywood in the 1960s would have been great for me. I could have hung out with Leo Fender, Buck Owens and Don Rich, Moon (Ralph Mooney), Merle and Roy Nichols. Gone to check out Wynn Stewart recording at Capitol or witnessed Johnny Cash, Joe Maphis, and Merle Travis terrorizing Tex Ritter. Cruised up Lankershim Boulevard to the Palomino with Nudie (Cohn) to catch James Burton burning it up with Ricky Nelson while anticipating the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, or Lester (Flatt) and Earl (Scruggs) bringing some bluegrass to the West. [...]
Apologies for not getting this post out sooner. I came down with a Category 4 head cold and was unable to communicate in English for about a week. Anyway, today's post is Part 3 in the Clarence White Chronicles, so if you'd like to read Part 1 and/or Part 2 , please click the links. Obviously, you can also check the archives or methodically scroll down the page, your call. Anyway, I apologize for the truancy, but I'm back, baby! So let's get to it. "HOLY MACKEREL! CAN [...]
1965 had to be bittersweet for Clarence White ( pictured far right ) and The Kentucky Colonels. In February of that year, fiddler Scotty Stoneman ( pictured far left ) joined the band for a half-year stint, transforming the Colonels into perhaps the greatest bluegrass group of all-time. If Clarence and Scotty weren't the Bird and Diz of bluegrass ... which is what I contend ... they were at least its Moon and Entwhistle . Unfortunately, the downside to that musical brilliance were diminishing paying gigs. By 1965, bands like The Beatles, Stones, [...]
Last week's theme at Star Maker Machine was the fifty states. Going through my "state" songs, I wasn't surprised to see that Texas, California, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee inspired more than their fair share of good songs. Another top tier state, with a deep roster of quality tunes, was Kentucky --the focus of tonight's post. The Bluegrass State has a great musical tradition. Notable Kentuckians include Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, and Tom T. Hall . In [...]
This post is inspired by an e-mail from reader Tom who took issue with my off-the-cuff comment in an earlier post that Gram Parsons "wrote the book" on country rock . I had been referring to Parsons' work with The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, & as a solo act, and wrongly implied that Parsons invented country rock. Tom, who knows his stuff, rightly pointed out that several country rock songs were released before The Byrds put country-rock on the map in the Summer of 1968 with Sweetheart of the Rodeo . [...]
The Gosdin's were no strangers to country-rock in 1968. The prior year the two contributed harmony vocals and guitar to Gene Clark's exquisite masterpiece, Gene Clark and the Gosdin Brothers. They had also released some great singles that were caught between the earlier Byrdsian folk-rock sound and a new, emerging country-rock scene (Check out There Must Be Someone or I'll Live Today). Sounds of Goodbye, released in 1968, would be the duo's only album together. It was a groundbreaking effort that somehow slipped through the cracks. The originals, For Us To Find and The [...]
Pretty Goes with Pretty
Groover's Paradise
The Tripwire
The Adios Lounge
Setting The Woods On Fire
The Rising Storm
The Bee Gees – Tragedy (Equateur Remix)
Djavan
The Ruskettes - Tell Me Why Review
Knickers - My Baby's Just A Baby EP review
