Prine Time – Long Monday
I don’t mean to bring everyone down with a song called “Long Monday” at the very end of the weekend, but since I’m experiencing a Springsteen hangover from last night’s great show, and I’ve been wanting to showcase a tune off of John Prine’s brand new release, ‘Fair & Square’ [Buy it Here], well, it’s just right.
Though nothing in John Prine’s catalog has ever matched ‘The Missing Years‘ for me, this is a great CD, full of John’s witty & and often hilarious lyrics (e.g. “I felt about as welcome as a Wal-Mart superstore”), and laid back acoustic tunes.
“Long Monday” includes harmonies from Mindy Smith, who I know little about, but I’m about to jump into her web site. In a nutshell, she’s a country-folk songstress from Nashville whose debut album came out last year. Anyhow, yep, another week begins, take it away, John.
John Prine: Long Monday
Hitting you in The Shins
My musical discovery and evolution continues as I recently discovered this gem from the Shins, which was released in 2003. The fact is I never paid much attention to the Indie scene until last year (when I stumbled into the world of MP3 Blogs…. coincidence? Nnno). And I’ve been unearthing some great songs ever since. Like this one. “Gone for Good” [Buy the CD]. A perfectly crafted pop song with brilliant lyrics; a breakup song. Just check out the first line:
Untie me, I’ve said no vows
The train is getting way too loud
I gotta leave here my girl
Get on with my lonely life
Just leave the ring on the rail
For the wheels to nullifyAwesome! Wise! Biting! I love it. This is a 3-4 times in a row type song. Unique. Fresh. OK, I’ll stop. Take a listen.
The Shins: Gone for Good
Boss Bloggin’: Are you Loose??
I’m just a little bit geeked about the upcoming week. Tomorrow I’ll go buy the new Bruce Springsteen CD/DVD, Devils & Dust. Then Saturday, my wife and I will see him at the Glendale Arena – live, solo, and acoustic – from the 10th row, front and center (my wife’s first Bruce experience). Yep, just a tad excited.
So, to complement my upcoming Adventures with the Boss, here’s a classic moment from a famous Bruce bootleg, “Milwaukee Bomb Scare”. The story goes: a bomb threat was called in to the venue where Bruce and the E St. Band were to perform. The theater was cleared. Bruce and band went to the Pfister Hotel bar and proceeded to get quite liquored up. A few hours later, they returned to the arena, and kicked off the show with this:
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Little Queenie (mp3) – live, October 2nd, 1975 – The Uptown Theater, Milwaukee, WisconsinMo’ Madhouse w/ Prince, Eric Leeds and Vanity
This tune starts with a young lady’s moans of erotic pleasure. Did I get your attention? Good.
It’s an outtake of a song called “Vibrator” featuring the desire of my teen years (and beyond) – Vanity. The vocals were, uh – laid down in the summer of 1983 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio – his purple house in the early 80’s. Prince would take those vocals and insert them into “Orgasm” on the Come album in 1994.
So after Vanity suitably consecrates the beginning of “Seven,” the drums kick in and we’re off on a Princely funky jazz adventure. The song showcases Eric Leeds on sax, and Prince on pretty much everything else. I posted from this album before, and if you want to purchase the CD, it’ll cost you a few tanks of gas (for a used one).
Madhouse: Seven
Matthew Ryan’s Chrome Heart
I absolutely have to throw a little more Matthew Ryan out there for those fans of the gravelly voiced genre. This song’ll rip you apart, brother (or sister). Matt’s gotta heart made of chrome, and he ain’t about to rest until you damn sure know it:
Well in case you didn’t know I’ve got a heart made of chrome
It’s been bent ’til it was twisted
And in case you didn’t know I’ve got a heart made of chrome
It’s been burned, but it’s still willing to try
And shineMatthew Ryan – Chrome
Buy May Day
Photo credit: “GOOF-BALLING” by Kris Lattimore (from https://www.matthewryanonline.com/photos)
That Detroit Hillbilly
All that fancy actin’ in Cold Mountain must’ve done something to Jack White, ’cause next thing you know, he’s holed up in a studio with country queen Loretta Lynn, producing her entire album, ‘Van Lear Rose’ [buy it here].
Yeah, it’s been a while since this one’s been out. I’m sort of the anti-mp3-blogger. I’m really late to the party on a lot of stuff. I just heard the album for the first time last week, and let me tell ya, 70 year old Ms. Lynn is as vibrant and fresh as ever, and that has a lot to do with Jack White, in my opinion. The production is great; it’s 21st century Detroit meets Nashville hillbilly rock n’ roll. Great album. This is the one duet on the CD.
Loretta Lynn & Jack White: Portland Oregon
It’s a Burnside Snake Drive
Recommended Instructions:
- Listen to Snake Drive, by R.L. Burnside.
- Enjoy it.
- Purchase the CD.
- Put into car CD player.
- Drive.
- Thank you.
Photo credit: Bubba73 (Jud McCranie), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I Miss Joe Strummer II
I had to offer up a Clash classic to complement Joe’s later work with the Mescaleros which I posted yesterday. The song is “Safe European Home”, which is about a trip to Jamaica taken by Joe and Mick Jones. Apparently, their experience that inspired this song was less than pleasant and hospitable. Check out the lyrics link below.
For you younger folks out there who may not be familiar with the Clash’s work, and you enjoy the Green Days of today’s music world, please do yourself a favor and explore the Clash. Find out where it all came from. Mick Jones – Guitar. Joe Strummer – Guitar. Paul Simonon – Bass. Topper Headon – drums.
The Clash: Safe European Home
- Buy Give ‘Em Enough Rope
- Clash Bio on All Music
I Miss Joe Strummer
Right. So over 3 years after his untimely passing at the age of 50, I still get bummed out that the world is without Joe Strummer. Luckily for all of us, he left behind a wealth of music from his time with the Clash, and with the Mescaleros in later years. The last Mescaleros album came out the year after his death (2003), and, as the reviewer on all music puts it,
Like Muddy Waters, whose final albums were among the best in his catalog, Streetcore by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros (Martin Slattery, Tymon Dogg, Simon Stanford, and Scott Shields) sends Strummer into rock & roll heaven a roaring, laughing, snarling lion.
Listen to this opener of the album. I remember inserting this into my CD player in the parking lot of Zia Records, and I sat there there transfixed for the entire song. From Joe’s powerful pipes, to the reggae, rock, and punk stylings going on in this tune, I was (and am) blown away.
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Coma Girl
Do yourself a favor, buy Streetcore (and the entire Clash and Mescaleros catalog while you’re at it!).
Manu Manu
Manu Chao was born in Paris to Spanish parents in 1961. In his earlier years, he was in a rockabilly band that went by the name of Les Hot Pants (great name!). He also fronted a popular French rock band called Mano Negra. His music is hard to pin down, but you hear some reggae, pop, and lots of latin rhythms. It’s a grab bag of styles, very interesting stuff…
He’s a very politically active guy, and his bio is pretty interesting. In 92, he toured Latin America with a circus and actors, “aided and abetted by various political guerilla groups.” Anyone who can make the jump from Les Hot Pants to a circus tour funded by guerillas has to be interesting. His web site is an eyeful too.
Manu Chao: Bongo Bong
You can listen to an entire live show (over 2 hrs long) on the Multimedia section of his site.
Buy the music of Manu Chao
