One of the most unfortunate injustices of life is how the things that offer the most pleasure, if only fleetingly, often do so much damage. No wonder the words "guilty" and "pleasure" get along so well. That goes double (preferably of vodka, or tequila) for drinking, a seemingly endless fountain of pleasure the night of and torturous hell the morning after. Thankfully, the simple pleasures of drinking songs are healthier, and they can continue indefinitely, as long as you want to press "repeat." Country music would dominate any list of the best ones (and where else could [...]
While many people's knowledge about Peter Frampton starts and ends with his 1976 double-live album Frampton Comes Alive , the guitar-player has been impressing audiences since the age of 18, when he was a founding member of the blues-rock act Humble Pie. This summer Frampton will put his guitar playing on display as he's lined up an impressive package toured dubbed Frampton's Guitar Circus. Joining Frampton at various stops in the support slot on the lengthy summer run is a meaty [...]
To fully understand the greatness of George Jones, you must first grasp the profound effect he had on his fellow artists -- his country antecedents, his peers and his Nashville descendants. No other singer in the history of country music was as inspirational as Jones, who died on April 26 in Nashville at age 81. I arrived at his altar relatively late, at age 10, when he was cresting Billboard's country singles chart with his signature song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a No. 1 comeback hit in 1980 that was my mother's favorite song at the [...]
T'was the Thursday before Coachella and all through the city ... ► U.K. quartet Savages quickened our pulse at SXSW ; now the band has an album titled "Silence Yourself" coming May 7 on Matador records, and the quartet brings its primal post-punk to the Echo tonight. No Bra opens. ► Passion Pit and Tanlines [the latter was impressed at last fall's FYF Fest ] do a Coachella warm-up at Club Nokia. ► Another prelude to the desert features Yeasayer , Wild Nothing [...]
Incoming: Coachella, Rihanna, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Angel Olsen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Broadheds, the Bad Things, Heloise & the Savoir Faire, How to Destroy Angels, Sky Ferreira, Local H, Beach House, Passion Pit, Dave Stewart, yeasayer, Merle Haggard, Savages, the Wanted, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Dianna Reeves, Los Tigres del Norte, Lucero, Mudhoney, Drop the Lime Above: That's Passion Pit's video for "Carried Away," which will be easy to do this weekend, so be careful. Passion Pit plays Club Nokia on Thursday and Day 1 [...]
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I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole // Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.
Merle Haggard is a man who needs no introduction. His music, however, is best served by a thoughtful entry-point that reflects his emergence as one of country music’s truly singular figures, so the fact that his amazing third LP Swinging Doors has been given a fresh 180gm pressing is stupendous news. As the first LP he recorded with his estimable backing band the Strangers, it’s not the only Haggard record you’ll need, but it does establish the beginnings of a very fruitful period and essays with precision the attributes that make him such a valuable artist. [...]
Merle Haggard Stafford Centre March 21, 2013 Thursday night at the Stafford Centre, I watched Merle Haggard play some of the greatest songs from arguably country music's greatest period while si... Continue reading "Last Night: Merle Haggard at Stafford Centre" >
Haggard’s original 1960s Capitol singles – A’s and B’s As with their collections of singles on Wanda Jackson and George Jones , Ominvore’s anthology of twenty-eight Merle Haggard sides – fourteen A’s and their respective B’s – shows off a perspective not covered by greatest hits collections or original album reissues. In addition to Haggard’s thirteen charting 1960s Capitol A-sides (eight of which topped the charts), the set includes the non-charting “Shade Tree Fix-it-Man.” Haggard wrote all but one of the A-sides (“The Fugitive,” penned by Liz Anderson), and most of [...]
Filed under: Exclusive , New Music , New Releases Rounder Records Rejoice, lovers of cow punk! Son Volt has returned to put a bit of country-fried rock 'n' roll in your life. The band's upcoming album Honky Tonk is coming to record stores on March 6, and you can hear their new single "Bakersfield" right here. "I wanted to acknowledge and pay homage to the country music that came out [...]
Omnivore Recordings will release definitive compilations by three giants of country and rockabilly music - Wanda Jackson, Merle Haggard and George Jones - on February 12, 2013. Having released musical appetizers in the form of ten-inch vinyl EPs on Record Store Day's Back to Black Friday, Omnivore will serve the main course on compact disc in the form of Merle Haggard's The Complete '60s Capitol Singles, George Jones' The Complete United Artists Solo Singles, and Wanda Jackson's The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles. All three compilations feature A & B sides from the artists' most influential years. The [...]
The 71's, The Rocketboys: Fri., Dec. 14, 8 p.m., $10/$14. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Authority Zero: Fri., Nov. 23, 8 p.m., $12/$14. Scout Bar Clear Lake, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Hou... Continue reading "Upcoming: Cypress Hill, Merle Haggard, The Wallflowers, Roberta Flack, Etc. " >
Photos by Erik Hess See also: Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson at Mystic Lake Casino, 2/27/11 Merle Haggard and the Strangers With Kris Kristofferson State Theatre, Minneapolis Wednesday, July
Sadly, the latest from Hank Jr. is pretty much everything that I hoped it wouldn’t be. There’s a lot of grousing about the government, a lot of trying to convince us he’s just a good ole boy like us, and at least three songs that reference his being fired from Monday Night Football over comments about the president. In the [...]
"I feel every artist is inherently granted one shot at singing about having a good time in his or her life, and six months ago, I realized I hadn't cashed in my chips yet," Adam Young (aka Owl City) recently told MTV News . A blind man could see that's just Young's way of rationalizing the chasing of an easy hit by hooking up with pop's It Girl of the moment. (And indeed, "Good Time" by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 this week at No. 18.) But [...]
I was fortunate enough to speak with legend Merle Haggard for this week's print edition of the Observer. Aside from being in awe each time he mentioned Willie Nelson, Lake Shasta (his home for man... Continue reading "How Merle Haggard Turned Me On To Bedhead" >
Merle Haggard : Okie from Muskogee [ purchase ] No compilation of hippie music is complete without acknowledging its counterpart, the anti-hippie song. And no song better embodies the counter-counter-culture than Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee." Haggard released the song twice in 1969 (as a studio recording and again as a live record), at the height of the anti-war protests. Its lyrics take a broad swipe at the hippie ethos. "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee," Haggard boasts in the song's opening salvo. "We don't let our hair grow long [...]
THEME FOR GREAT CITIES
Hidden Track
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owl and bear
The Vinyl District
Houstoned Rocks
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PlugInMusic.com
Heycoolkid!
City Pages - Gimme Noise
Something Else! Reviews
DC9 At Night
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Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead
L D R U – The Tropics
Ace by @thebigsleepnyc #nowplaying
HAERTS: “All The Days”
