![An Idolator Follow-Up: The Aaron Tippin Trucking Album Is Pretty Good [Your Trucking Music Hq, Good Buddy]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1595216_lg.jpg)
A tip of the cap to Idolator commenter Chris N. who mentioned the new Aaron Tippin disc full of trucking songs to me a month ago. Finally, I got my hands on In Overdrive this weekend, and if you can manage to ignore the fact that the last track is both non-trucker themed and entitled "Drill Here, Drill Now", it's a enjoyable album. Sure, the production has a touch of mid-90's gloss at times, but in general, the playing is solid and Tippin pulls off the covers well. It's not quite [...]
Mike Love mentions the Beach Boys having jammed with the Grateful Dead on this Merle Haggard tune before going into it... Click here to view the embedded video. The Beach Boys - Okie From Muskogee
For those of you who thought we left rock operas behind in the '70s, literary-folk-prog act The Decemberists will revive the bloated tradition with their latest release The Hazards of Love which hits stores on March 24. The Portland-based band will debut the 17-song suite - which tells the story of two star-crossed lovers and their interactions with a variety of fairy tale creatures - next month at SXSW and then will hit the road performing it at each stop on their upcoming tour [...]
This is my weekly reminder to tune in to the Sinking Radio show on LittleRadio.com . The show airs Friday from Noon to 2:00 PM. I believe Todd's back in town after running up the coast with Le Switch. Each week on the show, the DJs kindly play an official You Set the Scene pick. My pick for tomorrow's show is Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried." To the uninitiated, the Hag is probably looked at as that redneck who wrote "Okie From Muskogee." In reality, Merle Haggard's one of the all time best [...]
Young aspiring musicians typically won't narrow their eyes on a guitar amp and dream of one day becoming a rock star. Inspiration will strike first from the gleaming make of some classic guitar or keyboard, unfortunately not the big ugly box they're leaning on. But without a proper tribute to the beastly speaker boxes that made the sound of rock come alive, our classic gear...
1969 might be the best year for music...ever. The albums that didn't make the list are better than most albums that top the list for other years. Debuts from Crosby Stills Nash, Blood Sweat & Tears, Mott The Hoople, Santana, and Moby Grape all didn't make the list. Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline is sitting on the sideline. Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left is left out. Stevie Wonder's My Cheri
(Elvis's own Long Black Limousine, a 1960 Lincoln Mark V) One of the once common but now largely forgotten motifs of early 20th century American music is the journey to the graveyard, accompanying a family member/loved one on their "final" journey. The most famous of these songs is the Carter Family's "Can the Circle Be Unbroken," which Mark Zwonitzer (in his excellent Carter Family bio Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone ) te [...]
2. "If We Make It Through December," Merle Haggard In another year, this one might not have been so close to Number One. But Haggard's recession lament sounds more enduring all the time: Got laid ... Continue reading "The 10 Greatest Sad Christmas Songs, No. 2 : Merle Haggard" >
Here it is, folks, the first of two CD-length mixes from me this holiday season. I had a hard time whittling this down to fit onto one CD, but the primary reason for making these two mixes in the first place was to give my friends CDs at our Christmas party. I hope this album doesn't bum you out too much -- if you're worried about it, don't listen to any of it till Tuesday, when I'll post the antidote, entitled "Have Yourself A Magical Little Christmas." Tracklist: 01 - Judy Garland - Have Yourself A [...]
Christmas is coming and kids are having fun (so said the chorus of my fifth grade play " Shaping Up Santa ," for which I still know all the words and thankfully no longer have to wear the green elf costume). I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year because of the overabundance of really bad, synthy, jingly, repetitive Christmas music that bombards me at every pass. But tonight I was listening to my friend Dainon 's superb radio show out of Salt Lake City and he filled two and a half [...]
Here at the mighty University of Wisconsin, it's finals time, and for the lowly graduate teaching assistants of the world, this means two things: 1) Grading and 2) Reduced Blogging. I have about 120 blue book essays to grade by Friday morning, which means I'm rather unlikely to post between now and then. After that, the semester is over, and [...]
The thing I love most about Shout Factory! is that the company seems to have just as eclectic taste as I do. They release indie CDs and DVD sets of cult tv shows like My So-Called Life and Freaks & Geeks , then they hook up with the Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum Archive Series to release a DVD of Legendary Performances by classic country singer Merle Haggard. The Merle Haggard: Legendary Performances DVD collection features vintage [...]
The thing I love most about Shout Factory! is that the company seems to have just as eclectic taste as I do. They release indie CDs and DVD sets of cult tv shows like My So-Called Life and Freaks & Geeks , then they hook up with the Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum Archive Series to release a DVD of Legendary Performances by classic country singer Merle Haggard. The Merle Haggard: Legendary Performances DVD collection features vintage [...]
What a difference 492 miles makes. I've traveled to my former stomping ground of Chico for some pre-Thanksgiving festivities. The crystal-blue sky and sun-glazed trees in California always makes me think of backyard get-togethers with friends and road trips-windows down, stereo up. The soundtrack? The Mother Hips . The band got its start here in the dorms of Chico State University, flirted with commercial success in the '90s, relocated to San Francisco, battled the dreaded (and lazy and erroneous) jam-band label, battled personal demons, took an indefinite hiatus, and made some of the finest rock albums of [...]
Despite being in his 70s, country music legend Merle Haggard has always seemed to make his way to Dallas a couple of times a year. And hopefully that trend will continue after Haggard recovers from ... Continue reading "Merle Haggard Back Home After Lung Surgery" >
MUSIC NEWS - Country music legend Merle Haggard , one of the major hardcore-country singers, has returned to his home following lung cancer surgery last week at a hospital in Bakersfield, CA., his publicist said today. Haggard , known world-wide from hits like "Okie from Muskogee," "Mama Tried" and "Workin' Man Blues", had surgery on Monday after a discovery that he had non-small cell lung cancer. That type of cancer has a better cure rate than the small (oat) cell cancer, Haggard's publicist said in a press release. Surgeons removed the affected tissue by removing the upper lobe [...]
![Get Well Soon, Merle Haggard [Videodrone]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1341613_lg.jpg)
Country legend—hell, music legend—Merle Haggard is recovering from a Monday trip under the knife to remove a cancerous growth from his lung. Haggard is one of the few left from country's outlaw era and he's still making pretty good records today, so let's enjoy a few of his best tracks while wishing him a swift return to health. "Mama Tried": "Working Man's Blues": "White Line Fever": "Swinging Doors": [...]
So given that the songs this month are so rich in narrative detail, I think I'll spend more time telling you about where the songs are from and less about their content - let the storytellers do their job, no? Stars, "One More Night" Easily the most arresting thing on 2005's Set Yourself on Fire , this tale sex amidst a crumbling relationship is given weight thanks to a jaw-droppingly gorgeous melody and the subdued back-and-forth vocals of Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell. The Hold Steady, [...]
When you're looking at listener Greg G , you're lookin' at Country . Grab a six pack and tune in this Thursday evening when he drops by our Jersey City studios with more whacked out country 45's than you can shake a stick at. Here are some of my favorites from the long lamented mix tape days. Atlanta My Hometown (mp3) Bonnie Owens - My Hi-Fi To [...]
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TheNext2Shine.com present #Discovery Part 2: R&B Sampler Mixtape
REMIX SUNDAYS- May 27th, 2012
