Here's something to cheer you up as you're suffering post-Turkey indigestion... William Burroughs' state-of-the-nation address, Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1986, was published in his 1989 book Tornado Alley . A year later this retitled version appeared on Dead City Radio , a Hal Willner -produced album of Burroughs' recitals set against music by the likes of John Cale and Donald Fagen . MP3: William Burroughs - A Thanksgiving Prayer Buy Dead City Radio at Amazon [...]
If you've seen Terry Zwigoff's brilliant documentary about cartoonist Robert Crumb you'll know that the comics pioneeer loves old American music in almost equal measure to drawing large-breasted women. Over the years Crumb has married his passion for music with his talents as an artist to illustrate dozens of record covers (most famously Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills ). These sleeves alongside other music-related epheremea are now gathered in a terrific book, accurately titled, The Complete Record Cover Collection (Norton). It's [...]
Ninety of my most enjoyable minutes each week are spent listening to a podcast called Filmspotting . Between the reviews and top five lists the programme uses musical interludes to break up the segments of movie geekery. As a fan of both Wilco and the classic soul sound I was blown away when this came through my headphones yesterday after a discussion of Kevin Smith's Red State . MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - I Am [...]
An admission - I've never heard Famous Blue Raincoat , Jennifer Warnes' highly regarded album of Leonard Cohen covers. Because I only know her from belting out Up Where We Belong and The Time of My Life I'm afraid she's always had a strong whiff of cheese to me. That set of Cohen covers evidently increased Jennifer's muso cred and as the All Music Guide notes , "suddenly a singer who had seemed like a second-rate Linda Ronstadt now appeared to be a first-class interpretive artist." [...]
I will happily resort to stereotype and say that the Irish need no excuse for festivities so should we really be surprised that Belfast celebrated the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated launch of the Titanic today? While they're raising their Guinness glasses in Northern Ireland, I'll use the centenary as an excuse to share one of the four songs about the Titanic's fatal plunge from Trikont's wonderful Doom & Gloom compilation , subtitled Early Songs of Angst and Disaster 1927-1945. MP3: Richard 'Rabbit' Brown - Sinking of the [...]
Bob Dylan is 70 today. Rather than explain why I find the rasping septuagenarian so endlessly fascinating and add to the screeds being written to mark the occasion I thought I'd simply showcase some of my previous posts about the birthday boy. An Alternative Blood on the Tracks This is the all-time most popular Carnival Saloon post - a compilation of cover versions of every song on Blood on the Tracks by the likes of Robyn Hitchcock, Lloyd Cole, Elvis Costello and Tom Russell. [...]
By now you'll be well aware that California televangelist Harold Camping predicted that over the din of earthquakes we'd all be hearing trumpets today as Jesus returns to take believers up to Heaven. There must be hundreds of country songs about preparing to meet the Maker. It really is the perfect soundtrack to the End Times. If you're not sure what to expect if Rev Camping's prophecy pans out, Hank Williams can explain all. MP3: Hank Williams - I Dreamed That [...]
Last week I posted my interview with Tony Tost about his book on Johnny Cash's American Recordings album. One of the things I like about the book is that it shares my view that some of the covers JC tackled on his later albums with Rick Rubin , quite frankly, sucked. With this in mind I asked Tony to come up with a list for Carnival Saloon of the Worst of American Recordings. Being a creative chap Tony suggested something much better. What songs should Johnny Cash have covered in [...]
I've enthused about the Tony Tost's America podcast before on Carnival Saloon . So I was delighted to learn some months ago that Tony was writing a book in Continuum's 33 ⅓ series about Johnny Cash's incredible 1994 comeback album American Recordings. It's a terrific, illuminating read that I'd recommend to anyone who loves Johnny Cash, and that record in particular. Earlier in the week I asked Tony about his book and Johnny Cash's late career resurgence. Tony will also contribute to a future post with his suggestions of songs he thinks [...]
In my survey of chicken songs over the years I've ignored one of the rummest - Johnny Cash's allegedly comic song from 1984 Chicken in Black. If your preferred image of Cash is the killer who shot a man in Reno just to watch him die or the mythic figure who emerged on the American Recordings LPs look away now. Rather than describe it, I invite you to bear witness to its horrors. And for those masochists who want to keep this abomination, here's the [...]
Carnival Saloon patrons who are in London next weekend could do a lot worse than heading to the Moustache Bar in Dalston on Saturday for Rock 'n' Rolio , a great night of old-school R&B and rockabilly. The extra draw will be special set by slide guitar bluesman JD Smith . Here's a track from JD's first album A Jukebox Riot that also features Imelda May . MP3: JD Smith w/ Imelda May - Moonlight/Starlight [...]
If you're a listener to the Word Magazine's podcast you'll have heard an excellent recent episode featuring Nick Lowe . One of the highlights was Nick recalling his former Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds' animosity towards Keith Richards when the Stones' axeman joined them on stage in New York in 1978 . This reminded me that I have a solitary track in my collection featuring Dave Edmunds and it's an absolute corker. MP3: Carlene Carter w/ Dave Edmunds - Baby Ride Easy [...]
You probably know that Bob Dylan played his first ever gig in China last night in front of 5,000 fans at the Worker's Gymnasium in Beijing. You also probably know that the Chinese government only granted Bob permission to play if he stuck to an approved set list (The Times They Are A-Changin' seems to have been vetoed). In my experience Bob puts some thought into what song he starts a gig with so I was particularly intrigued to see what he played first in Beijing. He kicked off with Gonna Change [...]
A few weeks ago I posted a couple of Kitty Wells' answer songs . I've since found another. (I'll Always Be Your) Fraulein is a reply to Bobby Helms' massive 1957 hit Fraulein and simply tells the story from the girlfriend's perspective. Here's the pair. MP3: Bobby Helms - Fraulein Buy Behind The Legend Of The Original Radio Stars at Amazon [...]
A few weeks ago I posted a couple of Kitty Wells' answer songs . I've since found another. (I'll Always Be Your) Fraulein is a reply to Bobby Helms' massive 1957 hit Fraulein and simply tells the story from the girlfriend's perspective. Here's the pair. MP3: Bobby Helms - Fraulein Buy Behind The Legend Of The Original Radio Stars at Amazon [...]
I love songs about chickens. For evidence of that statement I refer you to the 'More Chicken Songs at Carnival Saloon' links at the bottom of this post. Why am I so fond of chicken songs? Partly because they're unusual creatures to immortalise in song and partly because there are such a surprising number of them that there's a real thrill in tracking them down. So you can imagine both my delight and disappointment when I discovered a 20-track compilation on Viper Records called Ain't Nobody Here But These Chickens: American [...]
Carnival Saloon regulars with long memories will know that I love 'answer songs'. In my recent post about Wanda Jackson's My Big Iron Skillet I mentioned Kitty Wells' 1952 single It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels , which was an answer song to Hank Thompson's The Wild Side of Life. What I didn't know until someone commented about that post on Facebook was that Kitty's second big hit Paying For That Back Street Affair was an answer song to the Webb Pierce track Back Street Affair. [...]
You thought I'd given up? I'm making no promises as to when this journey will end but, at last, I'm back on my musical journey around the United States . Before the tunes, one great piece of trivia about the Great Lake State. Did you know that Michigan is home to the self-proclaimed "magic capital of the world"? That's Colon, Michigan , the world's largest manufacturer of magic supplies. Me neither. Right, let's get to it. MP3: Sufjan Stevens - Say Yes! to M!ch!gan! [...]
Until this morning I thought my favourite song to mention a skillet was definitely by Woody Guthrie but listening to a Wanda Jackson compilation on my way to work reminded me that perhaps this is the greatest frying pan song ever written. MP3 Wanda Jackson - My Big Iron Skillet Buy Wanda Jackson - Rockin the Country at Amazon Whatever Tammy Wynette's intention, songs like Stand By Your Man don't help the argument that country [...]
The ever-reliable All Music Guide calls Jim & Jesse "one of the greatest bluegrass bands in history" and the McReynolds brothers enjoyed a remarkably long and successful career from 1947, when they performed daily on a Virginia radio show, until Jim's death in 2002. As well as traditional music the virtuoso pair were never shy of turning their talents to contemporary sounds. One of their finest excursions beyond mountain music was the 1965 album Berry Pickin' in the Country, a cracking collection of Chuck Berry covers. What I love about it [...]
Carnival Saloon
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Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Hardwell Bootleg Pack 2012
James Blake – Live Album
