The Mosby Show

Over at the excellent Setting The Woods On Fire blog, Paul recently drew my attention to a hot honky tonk duo I hadn´t heard of before: Carl and Pearl Butler. They recorded the original of We´ll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning, that great song later made famous by Gram and Emmylou. Paul´s got two tracks up (check them out here) and I´ll add one more: Don´t Let Me Cross Over, their first release as a duo and a big hit in ´62. A real discovery.

But then we move on to the other twosome on the cd I just bought, Best Of Butler & Mosby - A Family Affair, which is Johnny and Jonie Mosby. They´re not as sharp as the Butlers, but it´s clear they weren´t called Mr. and Mrs. Country Music in their heyday for nothing. Jonie met Johnny when she auditioned for his band in Los Angeles back in ´56, and before she knew it she had landed both a job and a husband. 

They enjoyed many a hit - the Harlan Howard-penned Don´t Call Me From A Honky Tonk was the first in ´63 - until they split up in ´73. We can only hope their divorce proceedings went just a little bit smoother than the ones pictured in their wonderful courtroom drama Who´s Been Cheatin´ Who... "The custody of the family will go to me or you, but in the end it´ll all depend, on who´s been cheatin´ who..."

A nice piece of country trivia for last: in ´92, Jonie Mosby became famous once again as the oldest woman in the US known to have given birth to an in vitro-fertilized baby. She was 52 at the time.

 

Carl and Pearl Butler - Don´t Let Me Cross Over MP3

Johnny and Jonie Mosby - Who´s Been Cheatin´ Who MP3

Johnny and Jonie Mosby - Don´t Call Me From A Honky Tonk MP3

Johnny and Jonie Mosby - How The Other Half Lives MP3

My Summer Live Adventures pt. 2: Dylan (Of Course)

It was a long and hot, but very scenic drive from my home town to the fair city of Cuenca, where Dylan would perform yet another concert in the umpteenth leg of his Never Ending Tour on the first of July. In Estadio La Fuensanta to be precise, the pretty ramshackle but funky local football stadium. Dylan was in a good mood and in fine form throughout, with the songs from his last studio album Modern Times as stand-outs by far. And that´s probably because he recorded these with exactly the same group of musicians he´s touring with. Not a bad bunch btw, but I have to say they don´t really do it for me on the whole. Bass player Tony Garnier is always ok in my book (hey, he´s played with Dylan without interruption since ´89, the guy´s practically a legend), but I miss the fluid creativity of - for instance - the Charlie Sexton/Larry Campbell line-up. Compared to them, the current trinity of Denny Freeman, Stu Kimball (both on guitar) and Donny Herron (pedal steel, banjo and violin) sounds just a little too bland.

Halfway through the concert the beer ran out. In most European countries this would cause a full-blown riot, but the Cuenca crowd just shrugged and hit the harder stuff. Way cool. They served enormous whiskeys for two beer tokens only... Around that time, Dylan performed a majestic version of the old warhorse Masters Of War, a song that will never lose its relevance I´m afraid. "You play with my world like it's your little toy, you put a gun in my hand and you hide from my eyes, and you turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly."

I saw Dylan lots of times (and in six different countries, a tally that surprised me too) and this wasn´t the most memorable one artistically, but a grand time was had by all. And let´s face it: to be in the presence of the ´poet laureate of rock ´n´ roll´ is always something special. Next time he plays within reach I´ll see him again of course.

Bob Dylan - The Levee´s Gonna Break (live Cuenca 1-7-´08) MP3

Bob Dylan - Rollin´ And Tumblin´ (live Cuenca 1-7-´08) MP3

Bob Dylan - Masters Of War (live Cuenca 1-7-´08) MP3

Food Is Good

Had a delicious lunch today in what´s probably my favorite eatery in all of Barcelona: La Freiduria de Pauli, a mere five minute walk from my home. Started out with my Catalan dish of choice, fideua, which is basically noodles in a paella stylee, eaten with that great garlic sauce called allioli. Main course was grilled merluza, which translates as hake, a lovely fish indeed. Wash that down with some dry white wine and... did I mention I was sitting outside? 24 degrees centigrade and plenty sun today, not too shabby... The accompanying song by that great California punkband the Descendents is shorter than the time it took me to finish my café solo, but just as strong.

Descendents - I Like Food MP3

My Summer Live Adventures Pt. 1: Waits

Got a little catching up to do after my blogging hiatus, so here goes. Saw two great gigs this summer. First one was Tom Waits in L´ Auditori Del Forum, a rather plush concert hall with pretty good acoustics in the northern outskirts of town. Barcelona had been waiting for Waits for ages, and it showed. People were already visibly excited standing in line... Lots of beatnik hats and goatees around too.

With a minimum of stage props, a very simple lightshow and a great band which included his son Casey on drums, Waits had everybody eating out of his hands from the get-go. The ridiculous ticket prices were soon forgotten by all when Waits worked his magic in a good mix of old and new material. One of the best shows I´ve ever seen, and that´s saying something, believe me.

Many thanks to the taper of course, but the audience recording of this show doesn´t even remotely do it justice. I´ll Shoot The Moon (with Waits giving his telephone number in Spanish and a wonderful sax solo towards the end) and a particularly impressive Hold On still sound pretty cool though. Check ´em out. Great souvenirs of a night I won´t soon forget. Stay tuned for pt. 2 in this series: Dylan in Cuenca.

Tom Waits - I´ll Shoot The Moon (live Barcelona 15-7-´08) MP3

Tom Waits - Hold On (live Barcelona 15-7-´08) MP3

32-20 Blues vs. 22-20 Blues

I´m all immersed in the new installment of Dylan´s Bootleg Series at the moment. Another treasure trove from the archives, with quite a few songs even hardcore Dylan collectors hadn´t heard before. Dreamin´Of You, Marchin´To The City, Mary And The Soldier, Red River Shore, Can´t Escape From You... Very very nice. By the way: as so many other Bobcats I know I bought the 2 disc version and downloaded the - ridiculously priced - third disc somewhere. If Sony might ever decide to release the third disc on its own with a more or less normal pricetag, I´ll be the first to pick up a copy.

Anyway, one of the tracks on Tell Tale Signs that immediately caught my fancy was 32-20 Blues, an interesting leftover from the ´93 World Gone Wrong album. Heavy lyrics, sung with conviction: "If I send for my baby, 
man, and she don't come... all the doctors in Hot Springs 
sure can't help her none... If she gets unruly, thinks she don't wan´ do... take my 32-20 now and 
cut her half in two."

Writes Larry ´Ratso´ Sloman in the booklet accompanying Tell Tale Signs: "In Dylan´s memoir Chronicles - Volume One, he describes the staggering impact Robert Johnson had on him when he began to write songs. Here, for the first time, we have an official release of Dylan singing Johnson. The track reminds us of what a great white blues singer Dylan remains. ´Ah baby, where you stayed last night?´ cuts to the bone and makes the imminent use of his 32-20 all the more believable."

Ok, I´m with you, Ratso, but... 32-20 Blues is of course Robert Johnson's version (from ´36) of the song Skip James wrote and recorded in ´31 as 22-20 Blues. Johnson changed the reference to Wisconsin throughout the song to Hot Springs, Arkansas, except in the third from last verse, where he forgot to do so and used Skip's original lyric instead. A good example of an early case of ´Love & Theft´... Why not mention this fact? Sloman should know. And I´m pretty sure Bob knows... His publishing company isn´t called Special Rider Music without reason. Yup, that´s after Special Rider Blues, by the same Skip James.

Skip James - 22-20 Blues MP3

Robert Johnson - 32-20 Blues MP3

Bob Dylan - 32-20 Blues MP3

Skip James - Special Rider Blues MP3

Bonnie Does Bob

Over at Star Maker Machine, a music blog to which I´m a proud contributor, the theme of the week is Dylan covers. Now we all know nobody sings Dylan like Dylan, as the old slogan from his record label famously proclaimed, but that sure doesn´t mean all Dylan covers are superfluous. Jimi´s All Along The Watchtower is the most fitting example of this theory of course, but let´s not forget the Byrds, Fairport Convention or all the indie acts who contributed to last year´s impressive She´s Not There soundtrack.

Dylan´s influence on the music of Bonnie Prince Billy has always seemed obvious to me, but so far he only covered His Bobness two times in the studio, both for last years Lay & Love single. Somehow I´ve got the feeling that these were originally recorded for the soundtrack of the aforementioned She´s Not There movie, but then again I haven´t got a clue why they weren´t used eventually, as they´re both top notch.

Señor (the original is found on the underrated Street Legal album from ´78) gets a very serious, intimate treatment, which fits the song very well. Dark, stark and way different from Dylan´s own gospelly version, which is exactly what I like in a good cover. Going To Acapulco (from The Basement Tapes) is a way over the top interpretation of what is a rather wacky song in the first place. Featuring trombone, tuba, sax and clarinet, no less. ´Well it´s a wicked life but what the hell... everybody´s got to eat and I´m just the same oh! as everybody else, when it´s comes to scratching for my meal.´ Great fun.

I also checked the database over at the ubercool BPB Royal Stable fansite and found that the Louisville bard played a grand total of three Dylan songs in concert so far: Minstrel Boy, Is Your Love In Vain? and New Pony. Haven´t got the first ones alas, but I can provide a fittingly ramshackle version of the bluesy New Pony (also from Street Legal incidentally, Oldham must love that album), recorded live on September 2, ´94 in Het Patronaat in Haarlem, Holland. A show I was lucky enough to see btw. ´I got a new pony, she knows how to foxtrot, lope and pace...´ Oh yes. Good memories.

Bonnie Prince Billy - Señor MP3

Bonnie Prince Billy - Going To Acapulco MP3

Palace Brothers - New Pony (live in Haarlem ´94) MP3

Stop press: thanks to reader Marius writing in, we now have a fine live version of Will doing Is Your Love In Vain? The original can also be found on Street Legal. The completist in me is wide awake now: has anyone got a version of Minstrel Boy?

Will Oldham - Is Your Love In Vain? (live unknown location ´00) MP3

Back In Your Life...

A.k.a. the boy is back in town. Yup, I´ve finally returned from my summer hibernation... Sorry I´m a little late, had a great time thank you very much. Now it´s back to the grindstone of the blogosphere to bring you loads of musical goodies I just know you´ve been craving. Stay tuned, many a great tune in the pipeline.

Let´s start off with the first song from the Mega City Four´s excellent Tranzophobia debut (´89). Short but sweet, as punkpop should be. Start!

Mega City Four - Start MP3

Next up is good old Jojo, with that great title song from his Back In Your Life album (´79). ´What once was a puppy is now a dog, what once was a piglet is now a hog´. The man´s a genius, ain´t no denying.

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Back In Your Life mp3

The best rockband ever to come out of the Emerald Isle was of course Phil Lynott´s Thin Lizzy. Boys Are Back In Town just can´t be beat, no matter how many times you hear it. Find it on the Live And Dangerous album (´78).

Thin Lizzy - Boys Are Back In Town MP3

Summer closure

As I won´t have much time to post here on a regular basis in the next couple of months, I´ve decided to close up shop for the time being. Please check back some time in September, dear readers. Here´s to a long hot summer... Cheers! 

Fever pitch Grab Bag

Welcome to Grab Bag, that weekly roundup of songs that got a lot of airplay here over the past week. And what have we got for you this fine Friday night? Tom Waits of course, as I´ve got my tix for his July concert in Barcelona, plus a great Waits cover by the one and only Lydia Lunch. Ole Hank gets some airplay again, just because he´s the undisputed number one in my all time top ten of country artists. Saint Nick makes an appearance with a ship song, while those brilliant freakfolkers called Tunng sing a song of the sea. For all you blues lovers out there we take a look at the magnificent Skip James Today! album. And good news for the footy haters among you: the Speedtwins provide a fitting soundtrack to the upcoming European Championships madness... I probably won´t be posting here as much as I´d like to in the coming week, as we´ve got friends coming over and there´s loads and loads of football matches to be watched. Fever pitch! Bring it on.

They may have been way expensive, but I´m still very excited that I´ve got tickets to see Tom Waits here this July. So let´s celebrate with a great Waits cover by no wave godmother Lydia Lunch. She makes the song her own almost effortlessly, like Tom wrote it especially for her. And those trademark semi-bored vocals crack me up every time. Find it on the tribute album New Coat Of Paint - The Songs Of Tom Waits (Manifesto ´01). "Well this stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line, what you say you meet me down on Heartattack and Vine..." And here´s the goateed master himself, live in Stockholm back in ´99. "See that little Jersey girl in the see-through top, with the peddle pushers sucking on a soda pop, well I bet she's still a virgin but it's only twenty-five 'til nine, you can see a million of 'em on Heartattack and Vine."

Lydia Lunch (featuring Nels Cline) - Heartattack And Vine MP3

Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine (live in Stockholm 14-7-´99) MP3

Over at the very interesting Star Maker Machine blog, this week´s theme is ´boats´. Check it out, as the ever growing army of contributors has posted a lot of interesting songs with a nautical flavour there. And here´s one more, with a solemn Nick Cave advising you to burn your bridges and let your hair hang down on this impressive single (Mute ´90). Next week´s theme on Starmaker is ´advice´ by the way, featuring songs that tell you what to do, or what not to. Can´t wait what everybody will come up with...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Ship Song MP3

"Bring me a song of the sea, sing me a song of the sea." Let´s stay in the briny for a bit longer with Tunng, purveyors of fine freakfolk since 2005. A gorgeous melody, with just enough electronica and samples to keep things interesting. Everybody even remotely attracted to the genre should buy their debut album This Is... Tunng (Static Caravan ´05) immediately. And as a bonus track, here´s the equally impressive Wolves by Tunng side project The Accidental. Find it on the recently released There Were Wolves (Full Time Hobby ´08).

Tunng - Song Of The Sea MP3

The Accidental - Wolves MP3

Bluestime now. Skip James made his most legendary recordings back in the early thirties. Amazing stuff, but the sound quality is hard to handle for some. That´s no problem with the best album James recorded after his rediscovery by blues scholars in the sixties. Skip James Today! (Vanguard ´65) is one of these records I can listen to almost every day. What a voice! Most tracks find Skip on guitar, like the exquisite Cypress Grove. "I will drink muddy water, I'll sleep in a hollow log, before I stay up here, honey, treated like a dog." But seated behind the piano - as on How Long for instance - the results are just as fine.

Skip James - Cypress Grove MP3

Skip James - How Long MP3

If you haven´t done so already, please submit your votes over at the Setting The Woods On Fire blog. The Motor City cowboy who runs the place is on a blogging hiatus at the moment, but in the meantime he´s desperate to know your favorite country artists. Johnny Cash is currently in the lead, with Hank Williams hot on his heels. Now I love the man in black of course, but I maintain that the title should go the the father of them all: ole Hank. Here´s my all time favorite Hank Williams song, Weary Blues From Waitin´. "Oh sweet mama, please come home..." Sadness incarnate. Find it on 40 Greatest Hits (PolyGram).

Hank Williams - Weary Blues From Waitin´ MP3

Tension mounts here as it´s only three days until Holland takes on Italy, the current champion of the world, in the European Championships. Its´gonna be a tough one, but I´ve got plenty confidence in the lads. Forza Olanda! For those of you who are not into the beautiful game - hey, nobody´s perfect - here´s an anti-footy song for you. All together now: "We... hate... football!" The Speedtwins were one of the first Dutch punk bands around, and this song is actually directed at the Argentinian junta that organised the ´78 World Cup. Find it on the exemplary compilation I´m Sure We´re Gonna Make It (Epitaph ´96, sadly out of print).

Speedtwins - Football Song MP3

In The Light

Will Oldham a.k.a. Bonnie Prince Billy is undoubtedly Louisville, Kentucky´s finest export product since Cassius Clay. Bonnie pulls no punches either, and that´s probably why he´s an acquired taste for some. Me, I´ve been hooked on the gospel according to Oldham ever since I bought that great Palace Brothers´ debut single Ohio River Boat Song back in ´93. Bonnie does his own thing, stays independent and honest to himself, and accepts no compromise. As for the eloquence and feeling in his songs, I´d nearly call him the the Townes Van Zandt of his (lo-fi) generation. But man, I´m happy just to nominate Bonnie Prince Billy as the finest living singer/songwriter working today.

Hot on the heals of last year´s intense cover album Ask Forgiveness the prolific Billy has just now added yet another goodie to his already huge oeuvre. Compared to, say, the stark and gloomy The Letting Go (´06), Lie Down In The Light is a remarkably laid back and even sunny record. Hence the title I guess. If albums can be seen as reflections of a musician´s state of mind on a given moment in time, Oldham must be quite the happy camper nowadays. To quote You Remind Me Of Something (The Glory Goes): "I like the places where the night does not mean an end, where smiles break free and surprise is your friend, and dancing goes on in the kitchen at dawn to my favorite song."

The production on Lay Down In The Light - by Mark Nevers - is remarkably clear and the music´s beautifully arranged, with lots of tiny details buried just under the surface. And new singer Ashley Webber, who replaces Dawn McCarthy on female vocals, sure is a find. Just check out You Want That Picture to sample her qualities. Nearly made me think George Jones and Tammy Wynette for a minute there...

Bonnie Prince Billy - You Remind Me Of Something (The Glory Goes) MP3

Bonnie Prince Billy - (Keep Eye On) Other´s Gain MP3

Bonnie Prince Billy - You Want That Picture MP3

Bo (dead) and Tom (expensive)

I just learned that Bo Diddley died today of heart failure. Diddley was a groundbreaking genius of rock & roll who had that exciting jungle beat down pat... I´ll miss him. "Tombstone hand and a graveyard mind, just 22 and I don´t mind dying..." Bo was 79. Find Who Do You Love, definitely my favorite Bo Diddley song, on the definitive Bo Diddley: The Chess Box (Chess records).

Unaware of Bo´s fate, I spent hours and hours on the phone earlier today trying to buy 2 tickets for Tom Waits´ Glitter And Doom tour. No online ticket sale here in the fair city of Barcelona, and the ticketing agency didn´t provide any pricing or floor plan details on their site either. Waits´ European tour will be subject to new anti-scalper plans, thus attempting to ensure that every fan will pay only face value (plus normal service and handling fees) for the tickets. Tickets are limited to two per person with the purchaser’s name – and name of their plus one – printed on the ticket. Ticket-holders need photo ID corresponding to the names on the tickets to gain access to the venues.

Good to see such an initiative Tom, but with prices being this high, who needs scalpers? When I finally got through to an employee I asked for the best available seats, as you don´t want to be up in the nosebleeds. I guess our seats are fine now, but we had to pay a whopping 276 Euro ($428) for the pair. To my knowledge, champagne, caviar and other delights are not included. Hey, I know nobody forced me, but still... Dude, that´s a lot of money. You better be good Tom my man...

The live MP3´s below were recorded in The Hague on July 21, 1999, the last time me and the missus saw Mr. Waits in concert. It was a truly great show. The price? 120 Euro for two tix. Got the inflation blues...

Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love MP3

Tom Waits - Cemetery Polka (live in The Hague 21-7-´99) MP3

Tom Waits - Invitation To The Blues (live in The Hague 21-7-´99) MP3