As I sit to type this, I'm watching American Idol contestant Kristy Lee Cook absolutely BUTCHER the Beatles song "8 Days a Week". An uptempo, countrified version. Buhhh-leck. "Dolly Parton on helium", says Simon. Lucky for me I don't watch American Idol. Oh sh - -, caught! So anyway, here's Alabama 3 with a version of John Prine's "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" - one of my favorites in his catalog. A3, as the popular country group Alabama insists they call themselves stateside, is a British acid house [...]
I dug way back to 1973's Sweet Revenge for this song. MP3 File
Jerry Williams Jr. AKA Swamp Dogg is one of the great weirdos of American music. I'll get more into his records as an artist and producer in another post. In the meantime, here's his take on John Prine's composition "Sam Stone," the tale of a dope addicted Vietnam Vet. It's a great record, one that blurs the lines between Country/Folk and Soul music. It's about the song and the performance which are perfect. [...]
Today's the Countdown to Xmas day when I let my inner Grinch out. I'm actually in a much better mood about the holidays than I was last year. That's still not saying it seems like Christmas here. I think the Ramones lyric goes something like, "It ain't Christmas if there ain't no snow." Growing up in Southern (more or less) California, I can say I've never had a white Christmas. A few days before or a few days after, maybe, but I've never lived anywhere there has been [...]
The Christmas season brings thoughts of friends and family but not everyone is able to spend the season with loved ones. Today the Bus will be traveling far from home and down some lonely back roads. Christmas can be a lonely time for those far from friends and family. We all remember our first Christmas away from home as a young adult leaving the family home to begin our own journey. For some, including a few of my very good friends, this Christmas will be spent without a loved one for the first time in many years. [...]
I usually don't just throw a bunch of songs up at random, but Christmas mixes are the one good reason to do such a thing. So here's my Songs:Illinois Christmas Mix. The two newer songs are both slow burners; one by perenial S:I fave Chris Garneau and the other by S:I overlooked Benji Cossa. P.S. If you have any of the Christmas songs I've posted in the past from Antsy McClain can you please send them to cbonnell@gmail.com so I can add it to this mix. Sorry for lack of a .zip, I'm surprisingly inept [...]
This months Lucero message board compilation has hit the internets! Coming in at 44 tracks this is a virtual music feast but what the heck, November is the month of gluttony....may as well toe the line. I advise you to sit back with a ridiculously large and strong whiskey beverage or two while giveing this a spin. Pay attention to those Joshua Black Wilkins tracks. I just placed an order for his latest two albums...posts to follow. You can head over to the Lucero Message board to see who submitted each track and a brief description [...]
From 1980's Storm Windows, Baby Ruth slides into that hazy folk-rock genre. I just think the song's fun. This album was Prine's last on a major label as he was dropped by Asylum Records after its release. Prine then founded Oh Boy, his own label which would release Aimless Love in 1864 and all subsequent Prine albums. MP3 File
I'm in the John Prine state of mind. I guess I was a year ago about this time when I professed my love for The Missing Years album . Another track popped up tonight while I was holding my youngest daughter, getting ready to give her a bath. I immediately stopped in my tracks, and we spent the next four and a half minutes dancing and spinning. What a look of joy on her face. Goosebump moments. Non-parents have already moved on to the next web site, but you parents know [...]
This is from Fair and Square, John Prine's latest solo album released in 2005. It was his first album in almost ten years and I love it. I think it one of his best, but I guess being a Prine fan means I tend to exude superlatives. MP3 File
"Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County down by the Green River where Paradise lay. I'm sorry my son But you're too late in asking Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away." These lyrics and the tune that accompanies them are familiar to nearly everyone. I have met a few younger people who thought that the song was an old traditional song from the Appalachians. As much as it has been adopted by many traditional artists, "Paradise", of course, was written by John Prine. I suspect that all of [...]
Here's a little bit of what I'm missing today by not going to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. Guy Clark - Desperadoes Waiting on a Train Fionn Regan - Be Good or Be Gone Chris Smither - Leave the Light On John Prine - Killing the Blues Jeff Tweedy - New Madrid Neko Case - Star Witness [...]
i haven't seen sean penn's new film, into the wild , which is based on jon krauker's 1996 biography of chris mcandless, a young man who gave up his cushy suburban life to brave it on his own in the wilderness, but according to an aquarium drunkard , it features an on screen duet of one of my absolute favorite songs, "angel from montgomery"...written by chicago native john prine in 1971, i actually prefer bonnie raitt's incredible take from her 1974 album, streetlights , which also features great version's of joni mitchell's "that [...]
This is one of those boy-girl sort of days. I listened to a few before I settled on John Prine, as if Prine were ever settling. This is from 1995's Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings. MP3 File
I was driving home from work last week, listening to Sirius Disorder while Howard was on commercial (sorry, I'm addicted), and was thrilled to hear a great song that I'd only previously heard coming from the raspy voice of John Prine. But this time it was emanating softly and sweetly from the mouths of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. It turns out that Plant and Nashville bluegrass cutie Krauss holed up with producer T-Bone Burnett for an album of covers. They take on a broad sampling of some of their favorite tunes, ranging from the Everly [...]
Two weeks ago I was driving through Beverly Hills on the way to...somewhere. I don't remember exactly, but I know there was purpose for my being there. Oh, now I remember, I had to find a Wachovia to withdraw some money, and it turned out the location listed on their website was a new location which was still under construction. So actually, there was no purpose to my being in Beverly Hills. If my wasted afternoon had one positive aspect I could glean from it, it was the fact that I saw a large banner announcing the annual Beverly Hills [...]
When I woke up this morning, things were lookin' bad Seem like total silence was the only friend I had Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won And it was twelve o'clock before I realized That I was havin' .. no fun But fortunately I have the key to escape reality And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while Won't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyone No I'm just tryin' to [...]
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I’ll Just Leave This Here #161
BAND OF HORSES – The Funeral (Sound Remedy Remix)
K-Holes - "Frozen Stiff"
Angger Dimas – Ribon Dooh (Preview)
