Just A Seeker

Let's stay in Louisville a while longer to visit  Will 'Bonnie Prince Billy' Oldham, who has just cooked up a fresh batch of Merle Haggard covers. No surprise there, as he regards the late country legend as one of his 'forever heroes'. Sadly, for the second time in a row here's a Bonnie Billy album that doesn't really do it for me. It's not bad mind, and the arrangements - with saxes and flutes no less - are quite adventurous, but in the end it just made me want to give my trusted Hag records another spin.

Bonnie Prince Billy - I Am What I Am

On My Mind

Bonnie Billy and the Bells go country in an uplifting live medley, recorded in ye olde Oxford town. Hiya, Merle...

Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy - Bottom/No God/Bottle

Turn It All On Once More

Time to sing him back home I guess. Just got the sad news that country giant Merle Haggard died yesterday, on the day of his birth. He was 79. Along with Buck Owens, the Hag originated that golden Bakersfield sound, and later was an important part of the much-lauded outlaw movement. He was one of the true greats, and wrote a ton of great songs. Miss him.

Merle Haggard - Things Aren't Funny Anymore

Roaring Engines

The Knitters were basically a sidetrip of X, with Blaster Dave Alvin in tow. Here they cover the Hag classic Silver Wings, making a surprisingly rootsy job of it. Just so you don't expect any cowpunk, y'all.

The Knitters - Silver Wings

Seen The Tail End

Hey, it's Monday once again... "But the fact is now cut clear, I'm fit and working, dear..."

Merle Haggard - A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today
Palace Music - Work Hard/Play Hard
The Fall - Fit And Working Again
Magazine - Model Worker
Chelsea - Right To Work
Queers - I Don't Wanna Work

...And Today

You knew you had it coming, right? Yesterday's gone... And forever came today.

Hüsker Dü - Something I Learned Today
The Only Ones - Lovers Of Today
Eric Ambel - Forever Came Today
Merle Haggard - A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today
Mel Street - I Met A Friend Of Yours Today
Blind John Davis - No Mail Today

Merle And Strings

"It's hard to believe anyone could still believe that good string arrangements and good country music don't mix. But if you should chance upon someone still arguing this nonsense, all you need to offer in rebuttal is a single word: Carolyn." So say authors David Cantwell and Bill Friskics-Warren in their enthusiastic book Heartaches By The Number, which tries to chronicle country music's 500 greatest singles. And they're right of course, as the sometimes sad, sometimes soaring strings really add to the atmosphere of Merle's 1971 hit single. Take it away, Strangers.

Merle Haggard & The Strangers - Carolyn MP3

Summer Wine

Some Japanese wiseguy named Hokekyo Sho once proclaimed that ´at the third cup, wine drinks the man´. He got pretty famous with that one, and he just may have been right, too. Which hardly ever stops me from pouring said cup, but that´s another story... Here´s a grand cru, slightly country-flavoured tenpack with a velvety aftertaste about a mighty fine drink. "Strawberries, cherries and an angel´s kiss in spring, my summer wine is really made from all these things..." Salud!

Charlie Walker - Who Will Buy The Wine MP3

The Stanley Brothers - The Little Glass Of Wine MP3

James Luther Dickinson - Wine MP3

Gene Simmons - Drinkin´ Wine MP3

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Summer Wine MP3

George Jones - Yesterday´s Wine MP3

Michael Hurley - I Like My Wine MP3

Merle Haggard - Little Ole Wine Drinker Me MP3

The Band - Strawberry Wine MP3

Jerry Lee Lewis - Wine Me Up MP3

Ramblin´ Bonny

"My hat don't hang on the same nail too long,
My ears can't stand to hear the same old song..."

Now we´re talking. After the somewhat lackluster crooning of Beware, Will Oldham returns to form in the dying days of 2009 with a mighty fine live registration. Funtown Comedown (vinyl and download only for some reason) is credited to Bonny - with an y this time around - Billy & The Picket Line, and features the lovely Cheyenne Mize on shared vocals. The Picket Line is a bluegrass band from Oldham´s hometown, whose loose and ramshackle sound brings out the best in the Louisville Lion.

Funtown Comedown features delightful new takes of some old Palace and Bonnie Prince Billy classics like Ohio River Boat Song and a wonderful The Glory Goes/Wolf Among Wolves medley, plus fun covers of songs by Ralph Stanley and Merle Haggard. Now I don´t know what attracted Oldham to Haggard´s Ramblin´ Fever in the first place, as the original is pretty much Hag by numbers, and features a rather corny sax to boot. But when the Picket Line gets a groove going and Billy starts whoopin´ it up, it suddenly makes sense.

"Ramblin' fever, the kind that can't be measured by degrees,
Ramblin' fever, there ain't no kind of cure for my disease..."

Bonny Billy & The Picket Line - Rambling Fever MP3

Merle Haggard - Ramblin´ Fever MP3

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

Behind bars

Read an amazing news article yesterday. A recent study said that one in every 100 Americans are currently in jail. There are 230 million adults living in the Land of the Free, and 2.32 million of them are behind bars. For some groups this percentage is even higher: every one in 36 adults with a Hispanic background is doing time, and one in 15 black adults. Even worse: one in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are locked up as we speak. Staggering figures, right? Makes you think. But don´t worry, as a European I´m not going to judge. I´ll just play you some songs about life in prison...

Picking a Johnny Cash song wasn´t easy, as the man in black did quite a few jail songs in his time (and performed some legendary gigs in the slammer as well). I finally chose Doin´My Time, a Sun recording from the Walking The Line-box (Union Square). "They call me by a number not a name". Gregory Isaacs, the Jamaican nightingale, knows what it is to do time. Jailer Jailer Bring Me Water is from Extra Classic (´78). I have to do a post dedicated to The Mississippi Sheiks soon, as they never cease to amaze me. Jail Bird Love Song is to be found on the excellent Stop And Listen compilation (Yazoo). Choosing between Merle Haggard´s Mama Tried and Sing Me Back Home simply proved too hard. So you´ll get both; find them on The Lonesome Fugitive Anthology (Razor & Tie). I Fought The Law was made famous by the Bobby Fuller Four, but The Clash made it their own in ´78 on their The Cost Of Living ep. It was also added to the U.S. version of their classic debut album. The Blue Sky Boys are one of those classic country brother teams you often find me raving about in these pages. "I will scrub all your floors, I will wash all your clothes, if that will get my baby out of jail..." Hunt down the out of print Are You From Dixie? Great Country Brother Teams Of The 1930´s (RCA) for this gem.

Johnny Cash - Doin´ My Time MP3

Gregory Isaacs - Jailer Jailer Bring Me Water MP3

Mississippi Sheiks - Jail Bird Love Song MP3

Merle Haggard - Sing Me Back Home MP3

Merle Haggard - Mama Tried MP3

The Clash - I Fought The Law MP3

Blue Sky Boys - I´m Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail MP3