Rich Man’s War
Here’s the video of Steve Earle‘s “Rich Man’s War,” a song from his latest album ‘The Revolution Starts Now”. It was directed by Jonathan Demme.
Steve on Amazon.
[2024 – Link no longer available, and I can’t find the video any where!]
Love and Mercy to you and your friends tonight
If you saw the tsunami celebrity extravaganza the other night, you may have seen Brian Wilson performing “Love & Mercy”, a simple and poignant tune from his 1988 solo debut. Before I ever found out that the tune was Brian’s, I heard the tune coming from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, which I guess was in pre-Wilco times (maybe while he was in Uncle Tupelo). He was part of a side project called Golden Smog, which also contained members of Soul Asylum, the Replacements, the Jayhawks, and more. Sort of a supergroup that got together in the Minneapolis area in the late 80’s – early 90’s.
Well, I was quite taken by the song for it’s simplicity, beauty, and important message. Take a listen.
{Amazon}There’s a ghost that haunts this town – Steve Earle
Steve Earle. Still a hidden gem. He’s managed to fly just enough below the radar that when I’m asked who I listen to, and one of my replies is Steve Earle, it always elicits a “hmm, haven’t heard of him”, or “what kind of music does he play?”. I can’t say country. I can’t say alt-country. Roots rocker? Singer songwriter? No, too tame. Blues, rock, country, bluegrass, just plain old American is Mr. Earle. All wrapped up tight into one opinionated, fiery sonuvabitch.
Well, after a brief prison vacation in the early 90’s, Steve has released some of the best albums I will ever own. ‘I Feel Alright’, ‘Train a Comin’, ‘El Corazon’, ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Transcendental Blues’, last year’s ‘The Revolution Starts Now’. He keeps churnin’ em out.
Anyhow, I came across this acoustic live version of “Halo ‘Round the Moon” a few years ago. It’s probably my most frequently played tune in my Steve Earle collection. It’s short, sweet, intense, sad, and beautiful. I remember seeing somewhere that this was recorded live in Sweden, but I’m not sure. If anyone knows, please let me know. He starts out with an intro about Galway Bay, the River Carrib , and the Wolfe Tone Bridge. The studio version appears on ‘Transcendental Blues’, which Steve wrote during a months-long stay in Galway. I hope someone out there enjoys it as much as I do (and the guy at the 2:06 mark who lets out a primal “EAAGGH”.
See Steve’s Official Web Site
Steve Earle Original Unofficial Site
Check out Steve’s albums on Amazon
Find out more about Steve on All Music Guide.From the Swamps of N’awlins
Our next quality tune comes to you from Chris Whitley’s debut album, “Living with the Law”, released back in 1991 (where the $^#& does the time go?! crap, I’m getting old). This tune is one of the shining moments on the album. This album was produced by Malcolm Burn in Daniel Lanois’ New Orleans mansion.
Mr. Burn has put his stamp on several projects through the years: the Neville Brothers’ “Yellow Moon” album, Midnight Oil, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris’ “Red Dirt Girl”, John Mellencamp’s “Human Wheels”, not to mention a photography credit on Bruce Cockburn’s “Charity of Night” album. So for some swampy, dirty, rootsy blues-rock, here’s a killer tune from Mr. Whitley: