Cars & Dogs

Looking for a nice read? Try Jay Farrar's Falling Cars And Junkyard Dogs, a cool collection of short and sweet trips down memory lane by the man of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt fame. Thanks to Lance over at the always mighty Adios Lounge for tipping me off. Soundtrack: a couple of fine live tracks with Mark Spencer, recorded at Lee's Palace in Toronto.

Jay Farrar with Mark Spencer - Barstow (live Toronto '04)
Jay Farrar with Mark Spencer - Cahokian (live Toronto '04)

Dew On The Vine

"Two dollars when I'm hard up, religion when I die ..." A delicious take on a thirsty ole folk traditional.

Uncle Tupelo - Moonshiner

And speaking of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt's finally got a new album out. Entitled Honky Tonk, it looks like Jay Farrar travelled all the way up to Bakersfield this time around. Taste!

Son Volt - Brick Walls

From D. To The Duke

Here´s a little collection of odes from one musician to another, with just the name of the artist making up the title of the song. Which means Song To Woody, I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives and the like are out for now. I´ve omitted Debbie Harry by Family Fodder as I posted that one a few weeks ago already, and there´s no Alex Chilton by the Mats either as almost everybody and their dog had a sad reason to feature that beauty recently. Know any others? Leave a comment purleeze...

Uncle Tupelo - D. Boon MP3

The Posies - Grant Hart MP3

Memphis Minnie - Ma Rainey MP3

R.E.M. - Lightnin´ Hopkins MP3

Gutterball - Lester Young MP3

Teenage Fanclub - Gene Clark MP3

Half Japanese - Patti Smith MP3

Mountain Goats - Duke Ellington MP3

Uncle T´s Last Stand

Have been playing this blistering boot a lot lately, and I keep wondering why on earth it hasn´t gotten an official release just yet. The time sure seems right as the Uncle Tupelo legend lives on. They may not exactly have gotten the popularity they deserved during their existence (´87-´94), but nowadays almost everybody knows they more or less single-handedly defined the alt country genre, while the trio´s legacy keeps influencing loads of young gunslingers with loud guitars and crazy honky tonk hearts everywhere.

Their back catalogue has been milked pretty thoroughly by now - the first 3 albums were re-released with bonus tracks, while a best-of collection saw the light as well a few years back - and their offshoots are doing just fine. As you all know, Jeff Tweedy´s Wilco is one of the biggest bands around, and while Jay Farrar´s Son Volt may not be that famous, it´s still a well-respected combo that has released some pretty great music over the past few years.

So I guess it´s high time the registration of their last ever concert, which has been doing the rounds in collector´s circles for years now as the excellent sounding Not Forever, Just For Now, was made available to everybody. Because as strained as the relationship between Tweedy and Farrar may have been during their farewell tour, that final show - Mississippi Nights, St. Louis on May first, ´94 - was full of fire. Not just worth preserving for historical reasons, although there´s something to be said for that as well, but worthy in its own right.

Here´s some proof. Two powerful performances of their own compositions, complemented with two great covers. Atomic Power is a Louvin Brothers original (with great fiddle!), while Give Back The Key To My Heart was penned by Doug Sahm. Yup, them boys from Belleville had mighty good taste...

Uncle Tupelo - Watch Me Fall (live St. Louis 1-5-´94) MP3

Uncle Tupelo - Atomic Power (live St. Louis 1-5-´94) MP3

Uncle Tupelo - Give Back The Key To My Heart (live St. Louis 1-5-´94) MP3

Uncle Tupelo - Whiskey Bottle (live St. Louis 1-5-´94) MP3