Obituaries reporting the death of Dobie Gray this week focused on his big hit “Drift Away” and his ’60s breakthrough “The In Crowd.” The casual observer might be left with the impression that Gray was a one-hit wonder in two successive decades.
The truth is that Dobie Gray was something of a pioneer, an
African-American coming to Nashville and working with country session players like Reggie Young, David Briggs and Troy Seals on some outstanding albums that bridged genres. His work with Mentor Williams was the best of his career, and the Drift Away and Loving Arms albums – still available as imports – were full of soulful adult pop, with country underpinnings.
Gray joined us a few years ago for one of the Freedom Sings concerts held annually in Nashville at the Bluebird Cafe. He was in great voice, sang “Drift Away” and was a warm and gracious performer.
His body of work – from the early “go-go” recordings to his ’70s resurgence to his country recordings in later years – is well worth exploring.
Author: Ken Paulson
Suzy Bogguss interview: Revisiting classic songs
Suzy Bogguss is appearing this afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame, performing Christmas music, songs she recorded with Chet Atkins and presumably material from her latest album, American Folk Songbook.
Songbook is an ambitious collection of traditional songs that have resonated with several generations. Boggus keeps it simple, singing warmly and with obvious affection for songs like “Shenandoah,” “Sweet Betsy From Pike” and “Red River Valley.” A companion book tells the stories behind the songs.
In this interview, Bogguss explains how the project came about:
Eric Brace interview: “I Love” is nominated for a Grammy
I Love: Tom T. Hall’ Songs of Fox Hollow is one of those rare kids’ albums that will enchant children and adults in equal measure. We reviewed it enthusiastically in April and it’s great to see this salute to Tom T. and the original Fox Hollow album nominated for a Grammy for best children’s album..
Eric Brace of Last Train Home and Peter Cooper co-produced the album.
Here Brace talks about the Grammy nomination and the people who made it possible:
Jim Lauderdale interview: Robert Hunter, Americana
Jim Lauderdale joined Suzy Bogguss, Will Kimbrough and Eric Brace in an in-the-round show at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville last night. It was as engaging and entertaining an evening as that line-up suggests.
Lauderdale has been Americana music’s best friend, hosting the annual awards show at the Ryman auditorium, while also releasing some of the genre’s best music. His new album Reason and Rhyme just received a Grammy nomination for best bluegrass album.
We spoke with him after the show last night, while the room was still buzzing and folks were still loud, as evidenced by the background noise on this interview. Here Lauderdale talks about working with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and his great respect for Americana music.
Concert review: Glen Campbell at the Ryman in Nashville
It was a sad and exhilarating evening at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville tonight.
It’s wasn’t sad because Glen Campbell is suffering from Alzheimer’s or that his performance was part of his “Goodbye Tour.” He’s 75 and ailments strike us all.
It was sad because this is the last tour of one of America’s great pop singers, interpreters and guitarists, and it’s not realistic to expect anyone else to ever perform the work of Jimmy Webb with as much passion and joy.
Campbell had some challenges tonight, forgetting the lyrics to set opener “Gentle on My Mind” when a prompter malfunctioned and stumbling through some stage patter. But his guitar
playing was solid, and his solo on “Wichita Lineman” was stirring.
In full stride, singing the songs that dominated America’s pop and country charts from 1967 through 1977,he was impressive. He played his biggest hits, including “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Galveston,” but also lesser and still memorable hits, notably “Where’s The Playground Susie?” and “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife.” Haunting and beautiful stuff.
It was inspiring to see Campbell pepper the show with tracks from his outstanding final album Ghost on the Canvas. He’s been an artist all his life and he’s going to leave the stage playing new songs. That’s what artists – as opposed to oldies acts – do.
The Moody Blues and Nashville
Tickets for the Moody Blues’ March 21 date at the Ryman Auditorium
in Nashville go on sale this Friday, Dec. 2.
The band that got its start with the 1964 hit “Go Now” still has
three long-time members, Graeme Edge, John Lodge and Justin Hayward, and puts on a good live show that spans more than four decades of music
What’s most surprising, though, is the band’s clear affinity for
Nashville and its music, and vice-versa. That’s clear on Moody Bluegrass Two… Much Love, the second album of Moody Blues songs recorded by some of bluegrass music’s biggest names. And a bonus for long-time Moody Blues fans is the participation of Hayward, Lodge, Edge and former band members Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas.
The material is not quite as familiar as on the first record, but it’s a nice mix of later hits and favorite album tracks. Highlights include Vince Gill on “ I Know You’re Out There,” Ricky Skaggs’ “You and Me,” Jan Harvey’s “Say It With Love” and Sam Bush, John Cowan and Russell Smith’s take on “Nice to Be Here.”
This was a terrific concept the first time and it’s nice to see it revisited in such a compelling way. It’s also a reminder of just how pastoral and softly melodic the Moody Blues could be.
Review: John Prine’s ‘The Singing Mailman Delivers’
Musical prequels rarely work.
Older material – released after an artist has become a big name –almost always disappoints. After all, there’s usually a reason why the hits came later.
Some albums – like the Beatles’ Hamburg tapes and Decca Sessions – have historical value. Most just stink.
That’s why John Prine’s The Singing Mailman Delivers is such a pleasant surprise. The tapes, rescued from his garage, document the birth of his extraordinary career. The audio is a ittle thin, but acceptable, and the contents are impressive.
These are recordings from 1970, one a live studio set without an audience at WFMT radio, and the other a club show at the Fifth Peg
in Chicago.
The studio recordings, made to secure copyright protection,
are essentially the roots of his first two albums. They show Prine working through his now-classic songs, including “Great Society Veteran’s Blues,” later re-titled “Sam Stone.”
The revelatory material is on the performance disc. Although
Prine has only the sparest of stage patter, he already knew how to establish rapport with the audience, joking that future listeners to the recording will talk about how much time this young man spent tuning. They would also marvel at how good he was right from the beginning.
If you see Prine in concert today, you’re likely to hear “Paradise,”
“Angel From Montgomery,” “Sam Stone” and “Illegal Smile.” They’re all here, already set highlights 41 years ago. There’s also the compassionate “Hello In There,” which Prine decribes as being written about people older than 80. That should come as a relief to Prine fans who have been listening to that song for four decades and figured they might be becoming the subject matter.
Although playing to an audience that shouldn’t be encouraged to clap or sing along, Prine is clearly having a good time at the Fifth Peg.
He jokes about a co-write with Francis Scott Key (“The Great Compromise”) and “an old spiritual” (“Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore”), and even offers up a ragged Hank Williams medley.
The Singing Mailman Delivers is taken from a headline on a Roger Ebert column about Prine, just as he was making the transition from the U.S. Postal Service to a career in music. Neither profession looks very secure these days, but Prine clearly made the right choice. Singing Mailman is a must for any true Prine fan.
Lisa Oliver-Gray’s solo debut: Dedicated to Love
Tommy Womack wrote an enthusiastic ode to Lisa Oliver-Gray and her first solo album Dedicated to Love on Sun209.com earlier this month.
He didn’t oversell it.
You can tell this was a liberating project for all involved. Lisa steps up front with a fresh and powerful voice and her DADDY bandmates and co-writers deliver songs that are largely buoyant and reassuring.
The album opens and closes with the joyous and melodic “Everybody Wants to Be Loved,” written by Womack and Tom Littlefield, celebrates a relationship that works on “I Can Count On You,” written by Lisa, Tommy Womack and Michael Webb, and honors a beloved grandmother on Lisa’s self-penned “Lucille.”
In other words, this is an album about real people and relationships, but with a decidedly positive perspective. The songwriting and the band, which includes Womack, Kimbrough, album producer Michael Webb, Tim Marks and Paul Griffith – are first-rate.
Here’s Lisa talking about her first solo album:
(Photo by Paul Needham)
Reviews: Chris Altmann, Mary Johnson Rockers, Jill Jack
Over four days at the Americana Music Festival, review copies of albums can be as ubiquitous as business cards. A sampling of some of the most intriguing artists we came across:
Australian artists were well-represented at the Americana Music Festival. Chris Pickering’s “Work of Fiction,” produced by Don Nix, was a dazzling collection of jangly pop and his fellow countryman Chris Altmann mines similar, if even more derivative territory, on “Que Paso.” You can play “spot the influence” all over this album. The first five seconds of “Other Side of the Mountain” brings to mind both “Dear Prudence” and “The Weight.” “Mucho Grande” recalls the best of Doug Sahm; “Love Like This” channels the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers and “Zig Zag Rag” smacks of Bob Seger. “Hard Tac” and “Bad News” rock with abandon and a bit of Elton John. Yes, it all sounds familiar, but it’s also a lot of fun. Altmann is inspired by the best and does his heroes justice on this energetic and entertaining album.
From North Carolina, Mary Johnson Rockers and the Spark have teamed up for “Hummingbird Heart,” an impressive eight-song collection that moves from lost sailor saga “Lucio” to the bluesy “Eyes on the Road” to the sweet and goofy love song “Ten Things.” But the title track eclipses all. It’s a stunning song about the premature birth of Rockers’ son Ty, and the challenges he faced. “Life is hard from the start with a hummingbird heart,” Rockers sings. Very touching.
Jill Jack’s “Songwriter Sessions” is an ambitious CD/DVD project, a live recording of all new material with a fine band and appreciative audience. The soaring love song “It’s You” is a highlight, as is the unlikely cover of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” The project – and notably the bonus track “Northern Michigan” – remind us that there are vibrant music communities all over America, with talent to match.
Her new “Sunflower Girl” album is due in February.
Review: Jason Boland & the Stragglers
Rancho Alto, the new album from Jason Boland and the Stragglers, offers up traditional country music with a contemporary perspective.
Although comparisons to George Strait and Merle Haggard are inevitable and appropriate, Boland also brings to mind a young Gordon Lightfoot, combining traditional sounds with a resonant voice and a strong sense of narrative.
There are stories laced throughout Rancho Alto, from the trapped miner in “Down Here in the Hole” to the sweet sentiments of “Mary Ellen’s Greenhouse.”
The songs are strong throughout, particularly the final two tracks.
“Forever Together Again” should be the last dance at the roadhouse, a “Tennessee Waltz” for a new generation: “Singers and dancers, late night romancers, good-timin’cowboys and girls are looking for trouble through tiny beer bubbles that burst when they hit the real world.”
The closer is Greg Jacobs’ “Farmer’s Luck, a song about a man who is about to lose his farm to a recreational lake project. It’s a stirring work, somehow melding heartbreak and eminent domain.
Jonell Mosser breaks into Americana music chart
Jonell Mosser, one of our favorites, breaks into the Americana Music Association chart at #38 this week with “Fortunes Lost, Fortunes Told,” As we noted in our review of the album, Jonell is a stirring and soulful singer who has never had the break she deserves. Maybe that’s changing.
With the Jayhawks still at #1 with “Mocking Bird Time,” the only new entry in the top ten is Will Hoge’s “Number Seven” at #9.
Also new to the chart: The self-titled album from Whitehorse at #36 and Lera Lynn’s “Have You Met Lera Lynn?” at #39.
Americana party: Chuck Mead, Garland Jeffreys, Nikki Lane, Amy Speace
Thirty Tigers threw a closing night party at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, showcasing a remarkable line-up.
After a strong opening set by Amy Speace, Nikki Lane, a retro country singer with a rock edge, followed, previewing songs from her new “Walk of Shame” album. You just know Lee Hazelwood would have loved to produce her.
Then came the highlight for the record geeks in the audience (and I am one.) In the mid-’70s, Garland Jeffreys was a fresh new voice, and his “Wild in the Streets” was as big a radio hit as you could get without actually having a hit. Over the years, he’s released smart and topical records, but the commerical breakthrough never came. I’ve been waiting 30 years to hear him play “Wild in the Streets” and 35 Millimeter Dreams.” I was not disappointed. His new album is “King of In Between.”
Raul Malo was up next, but cut his set to two songs because of loud conversations in the bar. Shelby Lynne is the only other performer I’ve ever seen do that.The Malo fans were not happy.
Chuck Mead then closed the show with an entergetic and entertaining set, including his salute to engagments, “She Got the Ring, I Got the Finger.” The show was just three blocks from where Mead and BR5-49 first rocked lower Broadway, and a reminder of just how dynamic a performer he has always been.
Americana Mojo: Bottle Rockets, Kenny Vaughan, Luther Dickinson
Brian Henneman of the Bottle Rockets (Ken Paulson photo)
One of the least heralded Americana Music Festival events was also one of the coolest.
This afternoon, SiriusXM recorded a Mojo Nixon show in Nashville, with live performances from the Bottle Rockets, Kenny Vaughan and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi All-Stars.
Mojo was his usual crude self, and the performers delivered impeccable mini-sets, dialed down to a studio seating just a few dozen people.
It was an inspirational setting with a picture window view of the Ryman Auditorium appearing just over the performers’ shoulders.
Americana Music Awards: Buddy Miller’s big night (again)
Buddy Miller at Americana Music Awards
Tonight’s Americana Music Awards show sent two clear messages about the Americana Music Association:
1. The genre is inclusive, embracing young and old, rock, folk and country.
2. Forget all that. We love Buddy Miller.
Miller, an extraordinary guitar player and tonight’s awards show bandleader, won both the artist of the year and instrumentalist awards, and is a member of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, which had the album of the year.
This continues Miller’s domination of the awards over a span of years, so much so that Emmylou Harris has joked that the Americana award should be called the “Buddy.”
The awards:
Album of the Year: Band Of Joy, Robert Plant
Artist of the Year: Buddy Miller
Instrumentalist: Buddy Miller
New/Emerging Artist: Mumford and Sons
Song of the Year: “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle
Duo/Group of the Year: The Avett Brothers
Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriter: Lucinda Williams
Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance: Gregg Allman
Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist: Jerry Douglas
Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive: Rick Hall
Trailblazer Award: Bob Harris
(More coverage and photos to come.)
Celebrating the music of Muscle Shoals
The 2011 Americana Music Festival began last night with an event that illustrates the genre’s greatest strengths: outstanding performances and a respect for what has come before.
The 90-minute concert celebrating the Muscle Shoals sound was equal parts energy and nostalgia, with legendary figures like Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson and David Briggs sharing the stage with some of Nashville’s most soulful vocalists.
With Webb Wilder on hand as MC, the evening walked through the history of FAME Studio and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, from soul to pop and rock.
Highlights were plentiful. From Jonell Mosser’s take on “Dark End of the Street” to Mike Farris’ “I’d Rather Go Blind” to Jimmy Hall’s “Land of a Thousand Dances,” singers delivered faithful, but moving performances. Special treats: Candi Staton’s “He Called Me Baby” and Dan Penn’s “I’m Your Puppet.”
Billy Burnette performed “The Letter,” which was recorded in 1967 by a young Alex Chilton and the Box Tops at FAME. Oddly, he did the live Joe Cocker arrangement that came three years later.
The show closed with Burnette kicking off an all hands-on-deck performance of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The song belongs in the “Played Badly at Weddings Receptions Hall of Fame,” but proved to be a vibrant and fitting close.
(Pictured: A scarce Muscle Shoals anthology.)
Americana Music Festival opening night: Spanning the decades
The reunited Foster and Lloyd
There’s plenty of time-tripping to be done tonight as the Americana Music Festival opens in Nashville.
It’s a measure of the genre’s wide embrace that performers who first hit their stride in every decade since the ’60s – and songs that were written years before that – are in the mix of showcase performances.
At the Rutledge at 9 p.m., country music legend Connie Smith will perform. She had her first number one record in 1963 with “Once A Day” and just released a new album, “Long Line of Heartaches.”
Marshall Chapman, playing at 8 p.m. at the Station Inn, began her recording career in 1977, and has long been one of Nashville’s most respected and irreverent songwriters and storytellers. Some of her performances include readings from her very entertaining books. The latest is “They Came To Nashville.”
The reunited Foster and Lloyd (pictured) emerged in the mid-’80s, when they brought a fresh sound to country music with songs like “Crazy Over You” and “What Do You Want From Me This Time?” Their new album “It’s Already Tomorrow” may be their best.
You get the idea. Just look at the line-up at the Cannery Ballroom tonight. From the Muscle Shoals tribute to The Blind Boys of Alabama (founded in 1939), to the very contemporary breakout duo The Civil Wars, the bill and the festival cut a wide swath across American music.
Review: Chip Taylor and the Grandkids
Chip Taylor’s new album is a family effort, teaming him with his grandchildren for a refreshing and engaging kids’ record. Golden Kids Rules (Smithsonain Folkways Recordings) features songs they wrote and performed together.
The title song sets the positive and loving tone: “5-6-7-8 who do we appreciate? Kids, even if they’re breaking some rules.”
“Big Ideas” is sweet and melodic, but also a confident statement from a 10-year-old: “Take a good look at me I’m not just a kid I’ve got big ideas. I don’t tell them to everyone. What about you?”
Not that the album is free of tension. “Daddy is a Red Sox Fan/Mommy Is a Yankees Fan” asks “What’s a little girl to do?”
You get the idea. It’s a fun and smart album that will entertain you and your kids (or grandkids.)
It’s a bit of a surprise to see the man who wrote “Wild Thing” record a song called “Magical Horse,” but this album, like his recent collaborative effort Rock and Roll Joe, makes one thing very clear.
Chip Taylor plays well with others.
Saluting Buck Owens and the Bakersfield Sound
Fans of the Bakersfield Sound have plenty to celebrate. First there’s the just-released Buck Owens collection “Bound for Bakersfield 1953-1956: The Complete Pre-Capitol Collection.” The Rockbeat album collects songs that Owens recorded for the Pep, Chesterfield and La Brea labels before a much more successful run on Capitol.
It’s a mixed bag of honky tonk and early rock ‘n’ roll, but even the 1953 “Down on the Corner of Love” hints at what’s to come. It’s by definition a collector’s album packed with alternate takes, but a casual fan of the era will also enjoy much of “Bound for Bakersfield.”
Buck Owens’ later hit years will be featured at a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame March 24, 2012 in Nashville.
“The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California Country,” is scheduled for an almost a two-year stay.
“From its earliest chapters on through to today, California has played a significant role in country music history,” said Museum Director Kyle Young in a statement. “Long before the outlaws or alternative country, the Bakersfield Sound evolved specifically to suit a time and a place, made an indelible mark on popular music, and spawned two of the most charismatic stars in the firmament.”
Concert review: Elvis Costello at the Ryman Auditorium
Roy Acuff wouldn’t have approved.
There on the stage of the legendary Ryman Auditorium tonight was a go-go dancer moving to the music of Elvis Costello and the Imposters. The dancer’s cage – and the multi-colored “Spectacular Spinning Songbook” that drove the setlist- contributed to a carnival-like atmosphere and an entertaining and outlandish show.
This was in sharp contrast to Costello’s performance on the same stage in 2008. That was a lethargic show, top-heavy with tracks from the then-current “Momofoku” album.
Tonight the Ryman’s karma must have taken over. Every time the wheel was spun, it turned to classics like “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea,” “Everyday I Write the Book” and “Clubland.”
Audience members were invited onstage to spin the wheel, dance and lounge. One woman bent the rules and requested a song that wasn’t on the wheel. She was rewarded with a striking version of “Almost Blue.”
The show began and ended with high points, book-ended by Nick Lowe songs. Costello opened with two songs from “Get Happy” – “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down” and “High Fidelity, and then played a driving cover of Lowe’s “Heart of the City.”
The show closed with Lowe’s “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding” and a cover of the Who’s “Substitute.”
Indoor fireworks indeed.
Nick Lowe’s “The Old Magic”
Someone somewhere once told Nick Lowe to act his age and he took the advice seriously.
His new “The Old Magic” is a masterful album, impeccably performed and produced, but it’s also sad and subdued, a quiet declaration that “the Basher” has abandoned any thought of actually rocking ever again.
You can’t knock that. Lowe has decided to croon through the rest of his career, and the album’s subjects are fitting for a 62-year-old. Maybe too fitting.
“Checkout Time” is representative, a song about Lowe’s reputation after death: “Though I know this road is still some way to go, I can’t help thinking on will I be beloved and celebrated for my masterly climb, or just another bum when it comes to checkout time?”
Then there’s “I Read a Lot,” a devasting ballad about a lost romance. It’s a riveting story, and more MOR than Chuck Berry. The slightly more uptempo “House for Sale” is more of the same, with a little edge: “Take a look inside/this is where love once did reside.”
It’s an impeccable album. Lowe’s voice is still in great shape and his songwriting may be at an emotional high point.
Still, I’ll have to admit I miss the Nick Lowe of “Raging Eyes” and “Half A Boy and Half a Man.” At his peak, Lowe played full-throttle, melodic and irreverent songs that no one could match. Surely there’s still a “So It Goes” in there somewhere.