Veterans’ Day: Thank You

Today is Veterans’ Day in the United States – a day we set aside each year to honor and give thanks to the men and women who have defended our many freedoms.   Veterans’  Day is close to the holiday season that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that helps us to remember that many of these brave people in uniform will not be home with family and friends over that celebratory time.

Thank you for your sacrifice, and your patriotism.

MP3: “Sam Stone” by John Prine

MP3: “Born In The U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

MP3: “The Ballad Of Ira Hayes” by Johnny Cash

MP3: “Johnny Come Lately” by Steve Earle

MP3: “Red, White and Blue” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

MP3: “Soldier’s Last Letter” by Merle Haggard

MP3: “MIA” by Avenged Sevenfold

MP3: “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” by the Pogues

MP3: “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” by Pete Seeger

Prison Closing Blues

The Central Unit in Sugar Land is now closed. (Photo by Justin Dehn/Texas Tribune)

Here’s a new one: in Texas, we’re shutting down a prison. Not because there aren’t enough inmates – no, they have shut down one of the state’s oldest prisons because they want to turn the property into a shopping center.

Texas is looking for ways to save money and shutting the Central Unit in Sugar Land will save about $12 million a year. Texas bought the prison property in 1908 from Imperial Sugar, the company for which Sugar Land was named. The current prison, built in 1932, housed more than 1,000 inmates at times.

It was originally called the Imperial State Prison Farm, and one of its most famous occupants was Huddie Ledbetter, who was imprisoned there in 1918 or so. That’s where the singer known as Leadbelly most likely learned the traditional song “Midnight Special.” Leadbelly added some lyrics and it’s a classic today.

So today let’s spin some jail songs.

MP3: “Midnight Special” by Leadbelly

MP3: “Life In Prison” by the Byrds

MP3: “I Fought The Law” by the Bobby Fuller Four

MP3: “San Quentin” (live) by Johnny Cash

MP3: “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard

MP3: “Prison Song” by Graham Nash

MP3: “Christmas In Prison” by John Prine

MP3: “County Jail” by Muddy Waters

MP3: “Ellis Unit One” by Steve Earle

MP3: “Penetentiary Blues” by Lightnin’ Hopkins w/Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee

MP3: “Jailhouse Rock” by ZZ Top

MP3: “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash

Review: Three Day Weekend CD Reviews!

I can’t remember a Memorial Day when there have been so many good albums out – or at least, albums that I like.  OK then: albums that are fairly universally acclaimed.  How’s that?  Anyway, let’s go through a handful of new ones then at the end of this post I’ll recap the best albums released so far this year.

Anders Osborne is a transplant from Sweden who settled in New Orleans in 1985 and since then has released albums of increasing quality.  American Patchwork, his first record for venerated blues label Alligator Records, is a sensational collection of tuneful blues/rock with heaping helpings of Osborne’s sizzling guitar work.  Osborne has a soulful voice and it’s showcased to perfection on “Echoes Of My Sins” and “Acapulco.”  You get some rockin’ guitar on “On The Road To Charlie Parker” and so on – this album is a powerful statement of purpose that can be a great starting point for Anders Osborne.  His backing band is sharp – Galactic’s Stanton Moore is the drummer and producer – and Osborne’s songs are an apt metaphor for his reborn adopted home city.  I love this album, and upon first listen I think you will too.

MP3: “Echoes Of My Sins” by Anders Osborne

YouTube: Anders Osborne doing a live in-store at New Orleans’ Louisiana Music Factory

Review Roundup!

Lots of new records out now … and so little time to listen.  Even less time to review, so here are some capsule critiques of albums by a few of our favorite savvy veterans.

Merle Haggard has been making music for more than 50 years and the simple declarative title of I Am What I Am means that listeners will get what Merle does best.  And that’s deliver a bunch of hand-crafted tunes that reflect on a long life, lost love, a lost life, or long love.  In fine voice at age 73, Haggard doesn’t need the gimmick of big-name guest stars (his only duet is on “Live and Love Always,” with his wife Theresa) or cover versions.

MP3: “Live And Love Always” by Merle Haggard

One of the oldest singers goin’ today is also one of the busiest – Willie Nelson has Country Music, which should be the first of three or four albums he releases this year, if the past few years are any indication.  Willie enlists Oscar-winning musician T-Bone Burnett as a producer and T-Bone’s house musicians surround Nelson’s idiosyncratic vocals with a swirl of music that’s mysterious when it needs to be, and playful when it wants to be.  It may seem like a no-brainer to turn Willie loose on a handful of country standards, and even if this album seems a little flimsy it’s also a fine experience.

MP3: “Gotta Walk Alone” by Willie Nelson

Review: “The List,” Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is one of those rare artists that sounds like she’s sitting in your living room playing just for you. Her voice is confident, sexy, and one you can count on to make you feel better when times are tough. On her latest collection, The List, she honors her father Johnny Cash by performing 12 songs (13 if you get it off iTunes) from a list he gave her when she was 18 years old. It contained what he called the “100 essential country songs.” Everything from folk to protest songs to delta blues to gospel to Appalachian music was on that list. I am so glad that she decided to share this piece of her history with us because this disc is nothing short of outstanding.

30 Days Out (From Christmas): Country

 

Day 19 – Nothing goes better with Christmas than sadness.  And nothing goes better with a sad Christmas than cheap beer and country music.  The “classic” country music artists knew this, and they cranked out some of the hoariest tearjerkers of all time.

A word here about country music – we’re going to avoid the current so-called country music artists.  For one thing, I don’t know what the hell these people are doin’!  It sure doesn’t sound like country music.  And of course we’ll steer clear of Grandma and Reindeer crossings, so pull up a box of Kleenex and shed a few tears for Christmas.

MP3: “Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus” by George Jones & Tammy Wynette

MP3: “If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard

MP3: “Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy” by Buck Owens

MP3: “Hard Candy Christmas” by Dolly Parton

MP3: “Christmas Time’s A-Coming” by Jerry Reed

MP3: “Pretty Paper” by Willie Nelson

MP3: “Mommy, Look Santa Is Crying” by Stonewall Jackson

MP3: “Christmas Without Daddy” by Loretta Lynn

MP3: “Shut In At Christmas” by Charlie Louvin

MP3: “Truckin’ Trees For Christmas” by Red Simpson

MP3: “Light Of The Stable” by Emmylou Harris (with Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Neil Young)

MP3: “The Little Drummer Boy” by Johnny Cash

MP3: Johnny Cash Holiday Message

MP3: “O Come All Ye Faithful” by George Jones

MP3: “Silent Night” by Jim Reeves

MP3: “White Christmas” by Tammy Wynette

MP3: “Jingle Bells” by Chet Atkins

A Dozen Country Classics

So I’m sitting here thinking, “what kind of post would be good to follow a review of Madonna’s concert?”  Of course – country music!  One dozen of the best, coming right up. 

MP3: “It’s Been So Long Darling” by Ernest Tubb

MP3: “Walkin’ After Midnight” by Patsy Cline

MP3: “Cold, Cold Heart” by Hank Williams

MP3: “Swinging Doors” by Merle Haggard

MP3: “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart” by Patsy Montana

MP3: “Tennessee Flat Top Box” by Johnny Cash

MP3: “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn

MP3: “Long Black Veil” by Lefty Frizzell

MP3: “Act Naturally” by Buck Owens

MP3: “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones

MP3: “Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette

MP3: “New San Antonio Rose” by Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys