Chest Rockwell is releasing a couple of singles on Third Man . Considering that Third Man label boss had a quick cameo as Elvis in Walk Hard , it's not too huge of a surprise that the Walk Hard star, longtime Hollywood character actor, and general funny motherfucker John C. Reilly has linked with him to release some music. But it's still pretty notable how seriously everybody's taking this thing. Read More...
On this day in country music history - July 14, 1973 - Phil Everly threw a dang old fit, smashing his guitar after performing the song, "('Till) I Kissed You" and walking off the stage, effecti
by Jesse Jarnow "The record business is not a freak business. It is the same as being in the coffin business, or a funeral parlor..." - Syd Nathan At an industry dinner, Goddard Lieberson--the president of Columbia Records for nearly 20 years--once introduced an associate as "that rare combination, a practically unknown combination, I would say--a charming, cultured witty man, an astute businessmen... and a gentile ." Lieberson was clearly not referring to Syd Nathan, founder and "Chief" of King Records. [...]
By the early 1940s the crooners had begun to make their mark, with Jimmie Davies — future Democrat governor of Louisiana — having led the way. Many of them had toiled and crooned in the 1930s. But with a world war slowly engulfing the globe, the market wanted, and got, romance. More than that, men took their country songs with them to the army and disseminated the music among their fellow soldiers. Country music thus found new fans, and its leading singers — Roy Acuff, Gene Autry, Red Foley, Tex Ritter, Eddy Arnold — gained a national audience. In 1945, [...]
The second article in the history of country music covered the trends and artists of the depression and pre-war years, 1930-41. Here we'll look at some of the songs of the era. The photo on the cover comes from a superb series of colour photos from the US in the 1930s and '40s . * * * Rock 'n' roll grew out of R&B and various shades of country, especially rockabilly, a sub-genre [...]
The titles of posts in this series may be a bit confusing. They will refer to the timespan covered in the mixes. But this post looks at the era from about 1930 to about 1941. The next post will include the 1937-41 mix, but the text will be a sidebar to this article, also referring to 1930-41. I hope that nakes sense... Record sales collapsed dramatically with the Depression, with sales dropping from 104 million in 1927 to just 6 million in 1932. Some records still sold prodigiously, [...]
The bloody World Cup is here again so I am in need of (much) distraction, although not having a television helps to a certain extent... But, despite the fact that football bores the bejasus out of me, it would be churlish not to wish for the best in South Africa – a big moment for them. And I am off to Devon tomorrow for a few days r and r and some biz. So: The curse of the blogger of course, is to make rash statements: 'Apologies for being away but now I'm back etc' [...]
Was pleasantly struck by the following passage in Peter Matthiessen´s fenomenal travel-meets-Zen book The Snow Leopard today. "It is related that Sakyamuni once dismissed as of small consequence a feat of levitation on the part of a disciple, and cried out in pity for a yogin by the river who had wasted twenty years of his human existence in learning how to walk on water, when the ferryman might have taken him across for a small coin..." Neil Young - Cripple Creek Ferry MP3 Delmore Brothers [...]
Delmore Brothers : I´ve Got The Big River Blues Monroe Brothers : Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy Blue Sky Boys : Are You From Dixie? [ purchase ] With Christmas approaching fast, it´s high time for [...]
Get ready for round three of Whacked Out Hillbilly Night on Music To Spazz By. Listener Greg G will be stopping by our Jersey City studios this Thursday to bring you more of the hillbilly hangovers, rubber room wig outs, hippies from Mississippi, fuzzed out instros, and head scratching cover versions and answer songs that you silly Citybillies (Jefferson County) have been missing. As if that wasn't enough, see Greg live and in person at the Lakeside Lounge this Saturday, December 5th at the Ichiban Launch Party [...]
I have to admit this tenpack formula is a rather lazy affair, but heck, it´s summer, right? Let´s milk it some more then. Today we´re going completely country, with a varied selection of originators, outlaws and outsiders of the genre. So take that rocking chair outside, pour yourself a tall cool one (may I suggest the Lone Star brand?) and "sing a little bit of these working man blues..." Merle Haggard - Workin´ Man Blues MP3 Louvin Brothers - Let Her Go, God Bless Her MP3 [...]
This one's a traditional tune, whose origin is not very clear. Is it from Britain, Ireland, or is it an American creation ? Nobody knows for sure. It was first published by WC Handy as "Loveless Love", and it is more common in blues and jazz than in country music. My favourite version is by New Orleans guitar player Lonnie Johnson. I love his almost introspective singing. Lonnie Johnson – Careless Love ( buy ) (New York, nov 1928) There's also a great country version by The Delmore Brothers, one of [...]
The view in the photo above greeted me for the past five mornings as I stepped out onto the deck, mug of hot coffee in hand. We just returned from a relaxing five day getaway to Huddleston, Virginia and the cabin we rented on the beautiful Smith Mountain Lake . I have lived on the rolling hills of the Piedmont plateau for most of my life, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. I learned to paddle along the Piedmont Breaks, the geographic fall line from Washington, [...]
STOMP DOWN SOUL (SON OF A SON OF A SLAVE) Larry Darnell Instant : 1968 Available on: The Instant & Minit Story Charly : 2005 [Buy It] The kick-ass "Stomp Down Soul," by Larry Darnell, is one of the very, very few songs, sung by an African American, which references "the peculiar institution" directly (rap's a different story, which I'm not going into today.) Lately, I've been hitting the history books, trying to figure out why.... Visiting a Georgia plantation in 1839, the British actress Fanny Kemble [...]
ALABAMA BOOGIE John Lee Federal : 1951 Available on: Rural Blues vol. 1 1934-1956 Document : 1995 [Buy It] ALABAMA MAN Earl Scott Chascamp c. 1960 (?) Available on: Nashville Rockabilly Stomper Time : 2004 [Buy It] THE STORY OF ALABAMA BOUND Jelly Roll Morton c. 1938 Available on: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings Rounder : 2005 [Buy It] The great state [...]
The jazzy, upbeat sounds of swing made its way to the mountains and the combination of old-time rural rhythm and infectious swing tempo make it nearly impossible to keep from dancing! Trains have been the subject of old-time music since the first rails were laid through the mountains to the coal mines and rural communities. The tradition continued with the addition of an appropriate boogie rhythm. The Delmore Brothers - Midnight Train.mp3 Tommy Scott - Rockin' And Rollin'.mp3 Shorty Long - [...]
7 Means of Movement: Sailing Fairport Convention, A Sailor's Life (alternate take). Clifford Jenkins, The Sailor's Alphabet. World Party, Ship of Fools. As dark night drew on, the sea roughened: larger waves swayed strong against the vessel's side. It was strange to reflect that blackness and water were round us, and to feel the ship ploughing straight on her pathless way, despite noise,
I'M STANDING IN THE SHADOWS The 5 Royals Todd 7" : 1963 [Criminally Out of Print] THAT'S HOW IT FEELS The Soul Clan (Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Joe Tex, Ben E. King, Don Covay) Soul Meeting Atlantic : c. 1968 Available on: Atlantic Unearthed: Soul Brothers Atlantic : 2006 [Buy It] WHEN YOU TOUCH ME The [...]
Stereogum
City Pages - Gimme Noise
Boogie Woogie Flu
Any Major Dude With Half A Heart
wordsandmusic
For The Sake Of The Song
Star Maker Machine
WFMU's Beware of the Blog
River's Invitation
Old Blue Bus
Moistworks
Locust St.
Pictures Of Andre 3000 As Jimi Hendrix
Video: Chromatics - "These Streets Will Never Look The Same"
Bobby Womack & Lana Del Rey
The Corner Laughers “Poppy Seeds”
