Ick’s Pick (Week XIX): Steve Earle – ‘Townes’
I’m sitting down to write this after the improbable occurrence of just seeing Steve Earle in the 30 Rock season finale. Oh my, what an ending! It’s a kidney benefit for Jack’s dad, and a We Are the World-esque gathering of talent comes together – Steve Earle, Elvis Costello, the Beastie Boys, Rhett Miller, Sheryl Crow, Moby, Michael McDonald, Wyclef Jean, Clay Aiken, Mary J. Blige, Adam Levine, and on and on… hilarious! And to see ol’ bearded Steve standing there between Wyclef and McDonald. Priceless…
So on to Steve’s new record, which dropped this week. There’s really no shock factor involved in listening to ‘Townes’, Steve Earle’s new album of Townes Van Zandt covers. I mean, it’s not like Steve is interpreting the Cole Porter songbook, or releasing an all-mandolin record of Devo songs. So much of Townes’s sound has been prevalent in Steve’s music since the beginning, and therefore the album just sounds – right. Townes was a mentor to Steve, his outlaw father figure. Nary a show goes by without Steve talking about him. So it just seemed inevitable that a record like this would come along.
Steve takes on 15 Townes songs on the album – some of them familiar to me as a casual TVD listener: “Pancho and Lefty”, “White Freightliner Blues”, “Don’t Take It Too Bad”… and then some not so familiar to me – songs like “Where I Lead Me”, “Loretta”, “Brand New Companion”…
With help from Tim O’Brien, Tom Morello (electric on “Lungs”), Steve lovely wife Allison Moorer, among others, Steve injects new life into these songs. Steve brings along the drum machine on a few tracks – something he picked up on his last album, Washington Square Serenade. But it works (on songs like “Lungs” and “Loretta”). We get some bluegrass on “White Freightliner” that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on The Mountain (his bluegrass album with the Del McCoury Band). There’s the slow and churning blues of “Brand New Companion”, and the beautiful poem that is “(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria”.
With Townes, Steve Earle pays great tribute to an old friend and mentor. It’s been over a dozen years since Townes Van Zandt passed on at the young age of 52. With this album, Steve keeps his buddy’s memory alive and makes people like me want to seek out more his mentor’s work. I have a couple of Townes albums, but I don’t have 1971’s Delta Momma Blues. Based on “Where I Lead Me”, it’s next on my list…
Buy Townes.
After Townes Van Zandt’s death on January 1st, 1997, Steve wrote this song for Townes in Galway, Ireland. It’s been my favorite Steve Earle song since the first time I heard El Corazon that year. Some of the most beautiful words put to song…
“There’s a full moon over Galway Bay tonight / Silver light over green and blue / And every place I travel through, I find / Some kinda sign that you’ve been through”
Ft. Worth Blues from El Corazón
The Truth About Funk
Behind the scenes, I have quite a cool little network of like-minded folks when it comes to the music of Prince. We have a soft spot for that golden era in Prince music – the 80’s – when he was as prolific as ever. We also have fond memories of his side projects and off-shoots from that era – the Time (of course), The Family, Madhouse… So how cool is it to see that some members of these groups – St. Paul Peterson, Jellybean Johnson, Jerry Hubbard, and the great Eric Leeds – have come together to form The Truth.
Their mission? Keep the Minneapolis Sound alive! And throw in some old school funk from the likes of Funkadelic, Cameo, and the Ohio Players while they’re at it. The guys are tight and funky as hell live, very true to the originals, and boy can they play the sheeet out of some Prince jams… “Erotic City”, “DMSR”, and even “America”.
The kicker? A new live album recorded at Minneapolis’s Fine Line that showcases their conglomerate of Prince-inspired talent. Who knows how they feel personally about their old boss, but make no mistake that they’re paying tribute to him, and to an era very important to a lot of us – an era that will never be matched.
This live album comes highly recommended… here’s a taste:
The Truth – High Fashion (mp3)
Visit the band on MySpace.
The Truth is:
- St. Paul Peterson (The Time, The Family) on bass, vocals, guitar and keyboards
- Jellybean Johnson (The Time, The Family) on guitar
- Odell (Mint Condition) on guitar and vocals
- Jerry Hubbard (The Time, Jesse Johnson) on bass, keyboards, guitar and vocals
- Chance Howard (Prince, The Time) on bass guitar, bass synth and vocals
- Kip Blackshire (Prince) on vocals, keyboards and guitar
- Kirk Johnson (Prince) on drums and vocals
- Eric Leeds (Prince) on saxophones, keyboards and vocals
- Donnie Lamarca (Johny Lang, Mick Sterling) on keyboards.
Ticket to Heaven
Nestled deep into the last album that Dire Straits ever made – 1991’s On Every Street – is a song that I consider as close to perfection as there is. The cornerstone of the song is the calm and gentle demeanor of Mark Knopfler in his vocal and instrumental delivery… I mean, who can pick a Fender Stratocaster with more beauty and eloquence?
In his work with Dire Straits and in his solo work since, Mark just has an innate ability to craft together beautiful & sublime melodies: “Romeo & Juliet”, “Water of Love”, “Love Over Gold”, “Why Worry”, “Brothers in Arms”, “All That Matters”, “Shangri-La”, “Love and Happiness”, “If This Is Goodbye”… and the list goes on.
I’m a fan.
And then there’s “Ticket to Heaven”. On the surface, a gorgeously crafted song about faith in eternal life. But digging in a little deeper, if you pay attention to the verses, it’s a scathing, tongue-in-cheek slam on tele-evangelism…
Now there’s nothing left for luxuries
Nothing left to pay my heating bill.
But the good lord will provide
I know he will.
So send what you can
To the man with the diamond ring.
They’re tuning in across the land
To hear him sing.Still as true in 2009 as it was in the early part of the 90’s. They fan out across the country every Sunday, and every night on television I’m sure – preying on anyone with a doubt and a pocketbook.
If you search on Youtube for a video of Dire Straits performing this song, you won’t find Knopfler and the Boys. What you will find however… is Popeye. Whoa whoaaa there… don’t disparage Popeye. Don’t write him off at first glance. This tattooed, spirited Dutchman will put a smile on your face. Feel the essence – the essence of POPEYE!
What the Kids Are Listening to: Boom Boom Pow!
It’s weird. Will.i.am as a solo artist doesn’t really do it for me. And Fergie’s stuff – successful as she is – doesn’t hit me in the right place. But the Black Eyed Peas as a collective unit – the grooves that they lay down, even in their most mainstream form, always seem to appeal to me. I like the funky bloops, beeps and blips, what can I say? And I like the interaction between Will, Fergie, the tall one and the other guy (how’s that for lazy research?). Okay okay: apl.de.ap and Taboo (glad I looked!).
It goes back to their 1998 debut album, Behind the Front, for me. There is one track I loved from the start: “Be Free”. Listen to it here.
The #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 right now is “Boom Boom Pow” – from their forthcoming CD, The E.N.D., due June 9th. It’s nothing groundbreaking, of course, and is instantly identifiable as B.E.P. – but it bumps. And I like to bump.
I lean toward the Kids side on this one.
Steve Earle reads for the Poetry Project
Steve Earle reads a short piece of poetry about the passing of his father:
Recommended Interviews: Prince and Wendy & Lisa
May I recommend a couple of cool interviews? I may? Awesome.
Check out Tavis Smiley‘s rather excellent interview of Prince on his PBS show earlier in the week. It’s the most in-depth TV interview I’ve seen with Prince in – well – ever, I think.
A few notes:
- Tavis is not shy with the compliments – over the top at times. But I can’t blame him. I’d do the same thing if I got a one-on-one with Prince.
- Prince opens up about his father for really the first time. Interesting how many qualities his movie dad shared with his read dad in ‘Purple Rain’.
- Funny part where he talks about the misinterpretation of his lyrics – how a friend of his thought the beginning of “When Doves Cry” went: “Dig if u will the picture, of me, Marvin Gaye and the kids.”
- Prince talks about his respect for Dick Gregory, brings up the chemtrails conspiracy, and how there were “eight presidents before George Washington”. I’ve got some Googlin’ to do.
After I watched the Tavis interview last night, I stumbled on this interview of Wendy & Lisa by Out magazine. They speak very candidly about their relationship (lovers since 1980), and about Prince – which is rare for anyone who leaves his circle.
A short excerpt:
How conscious was Prince of assembling for the Revolution that racial and sexuality rainbow you described?
Wendy: He was incredibly conscious of it. Look at the way he looked during Dirty Mind and Controversy and 1999. He was so androgynous. He didn’t care if you were [paraphrasing Prince’s “Uptown” lyric] “black, white, straight, gay, Puerto Rican, just a freakin’.” That guy wanted fans. So anyway he could get them — and a more interesting way he could do it — appealed to him. The Sly and the Family Stone mentality, that whole black/white/freaky thing on stage appealed to him.
Lisa: I’ll give you an example. We had a photo shoot for the Purple Rain poster. We were all in our different positions and he at one point walked over to me and Wendy and lifted my arm up and put my hand around Wendy’s waist and said, “There.” And that is the poster. That’s how precise he was about how he wanted the image of the band to be. He wanted it to be way more obvious. We weren’t just the two girls in the band.
Wendy: We were the couple.
Lisa: We were the gay girls in the band. It was very calculated. – Read On –
I had the poster they’re talking about hanging in my room from 1984 to 1988 (when I left for college). Man, some of those Prince, Apollonia and Vanity posters in my room. My folks really must have wondered who was sitting at the dinner table with them sometimes…
Read: Out interview of Wendy & Lisa
Listen: Wendy & Lisa – Niagara Falls
He’s the Izza Kizza
The inbox has been blasted with emails about Izza Kizza. Now, I never took the time to listen to Izza Kizza, or watch Izza Kizza in action.
But based on this track, “I’m the Izza Kizza”, Ickmuzic like-a the Izza Kizza.Within my hip-hop appreciating being, this is the beat of choice. The preferred dope groove. And anyone who weaves “Bahama Mama Punani” and “Unabomber Punani” into their rhymes is okay with me.
Yesterday morning, I whined on Twitter about the Izza Kizza emails hyping his new mix tape.
Tonight, I’m posting this badass video and guiding you to IzzaKizza.com to download his brand new mix tape for free.
Funny how things work out sometimes.The Boss Rolls on…
Did you know that, over the past week, Bruce and the Band have covered the Ramones and the Clash? Keep up to date on all the tour premieres over at my Springsteen Tour Debut Tracker.
Photo: courtesy of Backstreets.
Recap: 2009 McDowell Mountain Music Festival
(or why I came home with a gnome)
Early Friday afternoon, a rented CruiseAmerica 25′ recreational vehicle rolled into the WestWorld complex in Scottsdale, Arizona. In the back, my two little girls, ages 3 and 5. In the passenger seat, my wife. And rollin’ gangsta-style in the driver’s seat? Suge Knight!! WTF?! Heh, kidding of course. ‘Twas me.
The RV: that’s how we rolled this weekend for the McDowell Mountain Music Festival. We cruised into the RV area, hooked up our casa on wheels to power and water, and it was time for my favorite local festival….To Know Your Love
Where did this come from? I’m not sure how I got this album, maybe out of an eMusic recommendation? But it’s getting repeat plays over the last week. Check out “On the Other Side”, and this one right here..
Brian Lee & His Orchestra – To Know Your Love (mp3)
Then Download the whole album for free on their web site.
