A couple of years ago I discovered I could find better songs watching television than I could listening to the radio. Songs I would never have come across otherwise are now in power rotation in the car and on the iPod. Songs like “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down” by Robert Plant and Band of Joy from the ill-fated, but incredible Starz drama Boss, the gruff “This Life” and the poignant “John the Revelator” from the excellent Sons of Anarchy, performed by 90s “Sunny 99.1” artist Curtis Stigers and the Forest Rangers. SOA also introduced me to other gems such as “Alesund” by Sun Kil Moon, “Our Last Flight” by Scala & Kolacny Brothers, the incredible “Mary” by Patty Griffin, “This Charming Life” by Joan Armatrading, “Into Thy Hands” by The Celtic Rangers Family Singers, “Big Fella” by Black 47 and “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” by the incomparable Richard Thompson.
Before it went off the air, One Tree Hill, contributed “The Sun” by the Naked and the Famous and “Secret Crowds” by Angels and Airwaves. The great Friday Night Lights left us with “Skull and Bones” by A.A. Bondy and “When the Night Comes” by Dan Auerbach among many others. NBC’s Parenthood is a great resource for new music. The Lennings do an outstanding cover of “You’re the One that I Want” from Grease. James Blake covers the Joni Mitchell tune “A Case of You,” and thank you for Donovan’s excellent “Catch the Wind.” The canceled Damages contributed Greg Laswell’s great solo piano version of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” while HBO’s Big Love introduced me to “Home” by Engineers.
Who says watching too much TV is a bad thing?
“Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down” (From the Starz drama “Boss”) by Robert Plant and Band of Joy
“This Life” (From “Sons of Anarchy”) by Curtis Stigers and the Forest Rangers
“Alesund” (From “Sons of Anarchy”) by Sun Kil Moon
“Skull & Bones” (From “Friday Night Lights”) by A.A. Bondy
“The Sun” (From “One Tree Hill”) by The Naked and the Famous
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (From “Damages”) by Greg Laswell
Verbiage taken straight off the site of KUTX-FM, the coolest radio station in Austin, Texas:
Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin has become known for her stripped-down folk sound and her heartfelt and emotional lyrics. It’s those factors that brought her the fan following she has now, including some bigger name fans such as Emmylou Harris and the Dixie Chicks, who have taken Griffin’s songs and recorded some fantastic covers.
Patty Griffin started writing songs when she was 16. She went out, bought a $50 guitar, and set out to singing and playing with absolutely no intention of becoming a professional musician. It wasn’t until later in life, after ending a short marriage, that she took a crack at playing professionally. And now, she’s a Grammy award-winning artist.
On May 7th, Patty Griffin will release her latest album, American Kid. Patty recently stopped by Studio 1A and brought a couple of talented friends with her (spoiler alert: it’s Robert Plant). Listen to the entire set right here, and make sure to stick around for the last song!
When we talked to the nice folks at New West Records a few weeks ago, they were excited about the recent signing of Austin-based singer/songwriter Patty Griffin. Her new American Kid album is coming out May 7.
The first single from it, “Ohio,” is about the Underground Railroad, and how slaves used the network to escape to freedom. Griffin’s husband and “driver,” Robert Plant, sings harmony and came up with the tempo and mood for the song.
This was a pretty good year for recorded music, in the form of albums and in digital form. Rock artists came back with a vengeance, producing strong music and worthy albums. Any number of indie bands offered up career-defining work, which makes the future look pretty healthy indeed.
The big news on the digital front was, uh, the Beatles on iTunes, and in just their first week on the download service they sold about 2 million songs. Paul McCartney, now the keeper of the Beatles’ flame, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend and performed five songs including “A Day In The Life/Give Peace A Chance” in tribute to his fallen bandmate John Lennon.
McCartney’s peers and inheritors in classic rock also rebounded a bit in 2010, putting out strong new material or making a splash with box-set showcases of earlier work. Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix went the box-set route, while people like Joe Cocker, Ray Davies, John Mellencamp, Robert Plant, Heart and a few others released new albums that showed they all have a little gas left in the tank. So let’s flip through some of our favorite albums of the year’s new material:
Street Songs of Love – Austin’s Alejandro Escovedo produced yet another album of straightforward guitar rock and this one may be his best yet. With veteran producer Tony Visconti at the dials and with guests like Bruce Springsteen and Ian Hunter, Escovedo shows he isn’t afraid to stand toe-to-toe with America’s greatest rockers.
American VI: Ain’t No Grave – Seven years after his death, Johnny Cash shows more life than most rock artists who are still able to step up to the mic. Recorded in the final months of his life, the album dispenses with the rock covers from previous Rick Rubin-helmed albums and deals with such classic material as Kris Kristofferson’s “For The Good Times” and the traditional spiritual that serves as the bone-chilling title track. This, my friends, is the heart of rock and roll.
Brothers – The indie duo Black Keys, featuring guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, went to the famous Muscle Shoals recording studio and tapped into some dark, muddy soul for songs like “Howlin’ For You” and “Everlasting Light.” The album, as well as single “Tighten Up,” have been nominated for Grammy Awards but why the hell isn’t it in the running for Album of the Year????
American Patchwork – Anders Osborne is a transplanted Swede, gone to seed in New Orleans as a bluesman with a fierce talent on guitar. The opening salvo of “On The Road To Charlie Parker” and “Echoes Of My Sins” and gems like “Standing With Angels” show that he is also an excellent songwriter.
Emotion & Commotion – Jeff Beck is a 1960s-era guitar god who doesn’t get nearly the love that peers Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page receive. But on this album he does what he does best – he turns in some rockin’ instrumentals and welcomes guest singers Imelda May, Olivia Safe and Joss Stone to either put a new spin on an old song (“I Put A Spell On You” with Stone, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”) or freak out Hendrix-style (“Hammerhead”).
True Love Cast Out All Evil – The godfather of psychedelia, Roky Erickson, is backed by indie-rockers Okkervil River on this definitive late-career effort. It’s a spooky exploration of Erickson’s shattered psyche, done to the tune of old hymnals, country music, folk rock and punk fury. A great piece of work from a truly original American artist.
Now we’re doing a dozen more favorite new releases:
1. Band of Joy – Robert Plant
2. Midnight Souvenirs – Peter Wolf
3. Tears, Lies and Alibis – Shelby Lynne
4. To The Sea – Jack Johnson
5. American Slang – The Gaslight Anthem
6. Raising The Bar – Magic Slim & the Teardrops
7. Flags – Brooke Fraser
8. Infinite Arms – Band of Horses
9. Le Noise – Neil Young
10. Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys – My Chemical Romance
11. The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
12. Wake Up! – John Legend & the Roots
Our favorite albums from Texas (beside Alejandro Escovedo):
1. A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) – Ray Wylie Hubbard
2. Plays Blues, Ballads and Favorites – Jimmie Vaughan
Slash by Slash (with Lemmy, Ozzy, Fergie and Kid … Rock)
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time by Santana (with Chris Cornell, Daughtry, Rob Thomas, etc.)
No Better Than This by John Mellencamp
Scream by Ozzy Osbourne
Vintage Vinos by Keith Richards
Keep checking back during the week, as this list magically grows with daily updates:
Annual Bitching About The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Thanks for FINALLY allowing the Stooges in there, and thanks for considering Neil Diamond this year. Now: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Doug Sahm, KISS, Little Feat, The Meters, The Neville Brothers … and for God’s sake, THE FACES!
Box sets marketed to beneficiaries of the Obama tax cut plan:
Exile On Main Street – The Rolling Stones cut a new versions of old songs to add to their 1972 classic, which makes a compact two-CD package.
The Promise – Bruce Springsteen went back and “enhanced” some tracks on a 21-song collection of outtakes from Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The big three-CD, three-DVD box set includes a remastered version of Darkness and a DVD of a rousing 1978 live set from Houston.
Band On The Run – Paul McCartney’s third reissue of this album, augmented with three CDs and a DVD of live cuts, B-sides and outtakes.
The Complete Mono Recordings – Eight discs of Bob Dylan’s 1960s classics, as they would have sounded on AM radio.
West Coast Seattle Boy – How much Jimi Hendrix material can conceivably remain in the vault after this set’s four discs?
John Lennon Signature Box – All of Lennon’s albums, remastered, a 10th disc of his singles and an 11th CD of his “home tapes.”
Also: Live At Leeds (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) by the Who (4 CDs), and Damn The Torpedoes (Deluxe Edition) by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (2 CDs). This category alone has 41 discs – put ’em all under your Christmas tree!
Robert Plant is touring with his Band of Joy, which also happens to be the name of his new album coming out Sept. 14. “Angel Dance” is a Los Lobos tune that appeared on their 1990 album The Neighborhood. Here’s Robert, cruising through Chicago’s Southwest side Little Village with the song’s writers David Hidalgo and Louie Perez:
We’re taking a trip from Texas to New Orleans and plan to get there in time for Mardi Gras. Along the way, we’re revisiting some of the interesting characters we’ve met in past years. Today we stop in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
It’s a long way from crawfish Louisiana to a sun-drenched Caribbean island, but Phil Phillips made that trip in 1984 – or rather, his song did. “Sea Of Love,” written and sung by Phil Phillips, soared (almost) to the top of the pop charts in 1959 and in 1984 it nearly accomplished the same feat.
“Sea Of Love,” which sold more than 2 million records upon its initial release, is one of the biggest hits ever to come out of South Louisiana. In 1984, when the song went back to the top 20 thanks to a cover by the Honeydrippers (Robert Plant and Jimmy Page), Phillips was basking in the spotlight once again. “The song never seemed to die out,” he said at the time. The Honeydrippers’ rock-star version played out in a popular music video as a sunny lament on an island somewhere.
The original “Sea Of Love” was recorded in Lake Charles by entrepreneur George Khoury (listed as a co-writer with Phillips) and producer Eddie Shuler. Backed by a bizarrely crooning background chorus, the song reached No. 2 on the pop charts five decades ago.
“John the Revelator” from the excellent Sons of Anarchy, performed by 90s “Sunny 99.1” artist Curtis Stigers and the Forest Rangers. SOA also introduced me to other gems such as “Alesund” by Sun Kil Moon, “Our Last Flight” by Scala & Kolacny Brothers, the incredible “Mary” by Patty Griffin, “This Charming Life” by Joan Armatrading, “Into Thy Hands” by The Celtic Rangers Family Singers, “Big Fella” by Black 47 and “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” by the incomparable Richard Thompson.
30 Days Out 