Meet The Wilsons

Hurray once more for the mighty Tompkins Square label, as the wise people in charge there just re-released Bill Wilson's fine fine Ever Changing Minstrel album, originally recorded in 1973 with the same bunch of pickers you hear on Dylan's Blonde On Blonde. In honour of that, here's a ten pack of boss tunes by guys called Wilson. Brian was off somewhere alas, but brother Dennis showed up instead. Better get ready!

Bill Wilson - The Good Ship Society
Dennis Wilson - Love Surround Me
Larry Jon Wilson - Sapelo
Jonathan Wilson - The Way I Feel
J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers - Last Kiss
Elder Roma Wilson - Better Get Ready
Delroy Wilson - A Place in Africa (aka Addis Ababa)
Ernest Wilson - I Know Myself
Flick Wilson - Don't Give Up Your Culture
Wilson Pickett - Toe Hold

Long Live Longnecks

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 and soulful 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 workin´ man blues..."

Merle Haggard - Workin´ Man Blues MP3

Louvin Brothers - Let Her Go, God Bless Her MP3

Steve Young - One Car Funeral Procession MP3

Tom T. Hall - I Hope It Rains At My Funeral MP3

Delmore Brothers - I´m Lonesome Without You MP3

Tony Joe White - High Sheriff Of Calhoun Parish MP3

Red Sovine - Phantom 309 MP3

Larry Jon Wilson - Let Me Sing My Song For You MP3

Jim Ford - Harlan Country MP3

Johnny Dowd - Ballad Of Frank And Jesse James MP3

Cannon Ball

Or: the triumphant return of an obscure outlaw. Larry Jon Williams (born 1940 in Swainsboro, Georgia) was one of those musicians who couldn´t stomach the slick and conservative country establishment that ruled Nashville in the late sixties and early seventies. So he fought back and tried to do it his own way, together with pals like Townes Van Zandt, Mickey Newbury, Tony Joe White and Kris Kristofferson. The latter is on record stating about Larry Jon that ´he can break your heart with a voice like a cannon ball.´ Spot on.

Larry Jon Wilson recorded four albums in the seventies, of which I cherish his soulful ´75 debut New Beginnings most of all. Remarkably funky country rock coupled with exquisite songwriting: this is an album that should have been huge... but wasn´t. Do yourself a favour and check out the exemplary Ohoopee River Bottomland and New Beginnings (Russian River Rainbow) from that album, and Sheldon Churchyard from ´76 follow-up Let Me Sing My Song For You.

Larry Jon Wilson - Ohoopee River Bottomland MP3

Larry Jon Wilson - New Beginnings (Russian River Rainbow) MP3

Larry Jon Wilson - Sheldon Churchyard MP3

Since ´79 it was awfully quiet on the Larry Jon front. His albums hadn´t sold very well, as record company executives didn´t quite know how to put his rather eclectic music on the market. Wilson was too country to be called a singer/songwriter, and to soulful to appeal to a straight country audience. And since Larry Jon wasn´t the type to compromise, he simply dropped out and kept a low profile, doing only the occasional gig, playing when he felt like it. But now, 28 (!) years since he last recorded an album, Larry Jon Wilson´s back. The tiny British label 1965 Records managed to locate the legend last year and persuaded him to have another go at it.

Larry Jon Wilson was recorded more or less live in a 15th floor condo in Florida over a ten day period. Gone are the drums, the funky basses and the electric guitars, and Wilson of course sounds older, sadder and wiser. That mighty baritone still has it though. With just a sparse acoustic guitar and sometimes a melancholy violin for company, Wilson tells his stories in a stark setting, which brings Johnny Cash on his first American Recordings outing to mind a bit. A mix of covers - Willie Nelson´s Heartland amongst others - and originals, of which Throw My Hands Up just might be the story of his life: ´Music city´s trying to break me, they never knew how to take me, never thought it would make me wanna come home...´

Larry Jon Wilson - Losers Trilogy MP3

Larry Jon Wilson - Throw My Hands Up MP3

That Inevitable List

And where would we be without that inevitable end-of-year round up, dear readers? I bet you´d like to know which albums were loved the most at For The Sake Of The Song headquarters this year. So without further ado, here goes... in no particular order.

Bob Dylan´s latest Bootleg Series installment, Tell Tale Signs, has been in heavy rotation since the day it came out. The exorbitant price tag on the 3-disc set was definitely a minus, but that´s about the only beef I have with it. A treasury.

Bob Dylan - Marchin´ To The City MP3

To me, Bonnie Prince Billy is the finest living singer/songwriter of the last fifteen years. You can´t go wrong with the remarkably lighthearted Lie Down In The Light.

Bonnie Prince Billy - For Every Field There´s A Mole MP3

Tunng side-project The Accidental released a nice batch of intriguing songs in freak folk territory on There Were Wolves. Dark, haunting and utterly beautiful.

The Accidental - Time And Space MP3

Scoring high in almost every end of year list, and with good reason, Bon Iver´s emotional For Emma, Forever Ago is a surprisingly original debut. Bonus points for being written and recorded in a remote Wisconsin hunting lodge.

Bon Iver - Flume MP3

Worthy successors to the Creedence throne, the Drive-By Truckers simply rock on. And on. Without ever sounding shallow. Brighter Than Creation´s Dark is another winner by a great band.

Drive-By Truckers - The Righteous Path MP3

Mark Kozelek´s Sun Kil Moon was one of my biggest discoveries this year. Late, I know. April is a desolate, yet uplifting masterpiece. Hurry and buy the edition that contains a 4 song bonus disc.

Sun Kil Moon - Moorestown MP3

Band Of Horses guitarist Tyler Ramsey proved with A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea that he´s a singer/songwriter in his own right. I guess Neil fans will love this. I know I do.

Tyler Ramsey - Ships MP3

It´s been 28 years since obscure outlaw Larry Jon Wilson´s last made an album, so let´s call it an understatement that this delightful selftitled comeback was way overdue... More on Larry Jon soon, I promise.

Larry Jon Wilson - Whore Trilogy MP3

Honorable mentions - because their albums were good but not great, or simply because I didn´t get a chance to play them much yet - go to Fleet Foxes, Silver Jews, Sumner Brothers, Le Loup, Woodpigeon and Port O´Brien. I haven´t heard Sugar Mountain yet either, but I´m pretty sure that ´68 Neil Young concert registration will prove to win the long-overdue-album of the year award. Or will that honour go to Hank Williams´ Unreleased Recordings box set? Come on Santa, rock me.

There were quite a few excellent music books as well that kept me busy this year. The Townes Van Zandt bio To Live´s To Fly by John Kruth, Jim Walsh´s oral history of the Replacements All Over But The Shouting and Julian Cope´s Japrocksampler all got write-ups in these pages already. I also enjoyed Hand Me My Travellin´ Shoes a lot, Michael Gray´s in-depth search for Blind Willie McTell, and dug the rock ´n´ roll fables and sonic storytelling of Mitch Myers in The Boy Who Cried Freebird. Check ´em out, y´all.