Back Roads

Johnny Darrell was one of the first ones to take on Willin', Lowell George's immortal ode to the truck drivin' way of life. Did a good job, too. That silvery guitar? The great Clarence White of course.

Johnny Darrell - Willin'

Down That Road

Another straggler from last year, and a pleasant one it is, too. Scott Hirsch, like Phil Cook before him, is another member of His Golden Messenger with his own album to do. Blue Rider Songs has got that laid back Tulsa sound written all over it, and that's not a bad thing of course. And is that a Feat homage we hear in the cool Sundown Highway? Bonus points earned for the weed, whites, and wine.

Scott Hirsch - Sundown Highway

Every Day

Presenting a six pack for troubled times. Oh, lawdy... Indeed. Fine fine art once again by Tinca. Do stay tuned for part 2 if you please.

Vera Hall - Trouble So Hard
Otis Rush - Double Trouble
Nina Simone - Trouble In Mind
The Mothers Of Invention - Trouble Every Day
Little Feat - Trouble

Dr. Alimantado - One Trouble

Fat Man Connection

What do these two mellow-sounding songstresses from the seventies have in common? They both got a little help from the one and only Lowell George.

Barbara Keith - Detroit Or Buffalo
Valerie Carter - Face Of Appalachia

Throw Me A Line

"Well... I've got a line, and you've got a pole, now I'll meet you at the fishin' hole..." Back from my hols and back in your life, with a fine piece of prime live Feat.

Little Feat - Sailing Shoes (live Denver '73)

Voodoo Working?

"You wanna hear my long snake moan..." A hissing, slithering six pack for your listening pleasure. "Is my voodoo working?" Buy my snake oil please.

PJ Harvey - Long Snake Moan MP3

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Black Snake Moan II MP3

Townes Van Zandt - Snake Song MP3

The Walkabouts - Snake Mountain Blues MP3

Little Feat - Snakes On Everything MP3

R.L. Burnside - Snake Drive MP3

Colour Me White

"White honey, get it from the candyman..." Or: one more exclusive hand picked six pack. In this week's Colour Me installment, GP and the mighty Rumour talk sweet, punkpop pioneers the Dickies speed up a moody blues, while Dublin's finest the Virgin Prunes look for the promised land of milk and honey. Next up, Little Feat finds inspiration in the East, furious Frisco punks the Avengers end up on the dole, and sixties unknowns the Painted Ship tell fuzzy lies in the garage. If you like what you hear, please buy a featured album or two.

Graham Parker & The Rumour - White Honey MP3

The Dickies - Nights In White Satin MP3

Virgin Prunes - Sweethome Under White Clouds MP3

Little Feat - China White MP3

Avengers - White Nigger MP3

Painted Ship - Little White Lies MP3

Four-letter Word

Not even X-mas yet and I´m thoroughly sick of the white stuff already. As Jesse Winchester sings: "I was tuning in the six o'clock newscast, and the weather man mentioned snow, as soon as I heard that four-letter word, I was making my plans to go..." Snow, be gone. A cold cold six pack.

Jesse Winchester - Snow (demo version) MP3

Little Feat - Six Feet Of Snow MP3

Galaxie 500 - Snowstorm MP3

Simon Joyner - Out Into The Snow MP3

Bill Monroe - Footprints In The Snow MP3

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Abominable Snowman In The Market MP3

Inside My Heart, Inside My Dreams

Time to remember two of my musical heroes today. On June 29 back in 1975, the great Tim Buckley passed away. If someone would ask me to describe the voice of an angel, I´d simply play him some Buckley. The majestic The River perhaps. "If you come to love me, you'll stay forever..."

And also on this day, in 1979, singer, songwriter and slide player extraordinaire Lowell George breathed his last. Hardly a week goes by without me groovin´ to the sounds of Little Feat. To paraphrase one of his lines from Spanish Moon: "I´d pawn my watch, and sell my ring, just to hear these guys sing..."

Tim Buckley - The River MP3

Little Feat - Spanish Moon MP3

Cat Power

Our dear cat has had a rough time of it lately. Ole fatso always was the undisputed king of the neighbourhood, but recently he lost a fight and had deep wounds to show for it. Thanks to the vet, who shot him up with multivitamins and even antibiotics, all is well again however.

In tribute, here´s a phenomenal feline six pack. Featuring the Kinks at their typically British best, and a swampy contribution from good old Little Feat. "Livin' in strange dreams, taking prescribed medication..." There´s some sharp jazz by the tenor tandem of John Coltrane and Paul Quinichette, while New York noisemakers the Godz are clearly in heat. Meow! And last but not least, we´ve got a nursery tale of sorts by his Bobness, plus some gorgeous New Zealand pop by Look Blue Go Purple. "And our love will never end..."

The Kinks - Phenomenal Cat MP3

Little Feat - Cat Fever MP3

John Coltrane & Paul Quinichette - Cattin´ MP3

The Godz - White Cat Heat MP3

Bob Dylan - Cat´s In The Well MP3

Look Blue Go Purple - Cactus Cat MP3

Down On The Farm

"The cows bawl, the pigs bawl, the horses bawl, too..." Over lunch yesterday, my 8 year old daughter told me that she wanted to live on a farm when she would finally be all grown up. Far from the madding crowd, surrounded by nature and with all kinds of animals to tend to. For some reason, this totally made my day.

Little Feat - Down On The Farm MP3

The Kinks - Animal Farm MP3

The Bently Boys - Down On Penny´s Farm MP3

The Carolina Tar Heels - Got The Farm Land Blues MP3

Gary Higgins - Down On The Farm MP3