“It is my favourite record of the last ten years and possibly my life” – John Peel
This is a good album, a very good debut!
It’s a mix of Cantrell’s own compositions and songs from other very gifted songwriters. THey are performed in a sincere and fresh style. It sounds traditional and fresh at the same time, just what the country scene needed. Laura Cantrell is a great interpreter, she has an expressive voice and she knows how to get a story across.
Laura Cantrell – Not the tremblin’ kind, St Andrews in The Square in Glasgow, October 2013 – part of the Glasgow Americana festival:
“Cantrell reclaims the essence of country songwriting, but she also puts subtle twists on familiar slice-of-life songs about whiskey drinkin’, relationships gone sour, livin’ on the road, and simple girl-wants-boy longing. Her music, whether inherently sad or jubilant, is always delivered with convincing sincerity. She’s also not afraid to explore uncomfortable psychological truths in intimate and eloquent detail.”
– Michael Sandlin (Pitchfork)
I bought this album on the strength of hearing just one track on Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour, When the roses bloom. I bought everything I could find of hers, she is a great country singer and songwriter. I play her albums a lot, she reminds me of Kitty Wells in her singing and Dolly Parton in her songwriting, yes, she is that good!
I didn’t want to stay in the Stones, and be stuck in a position having to play a music I didn’t like anymore and that restricted me from doing all the others things I’m interested in because of time.
~Bill Wyman
I wanted a variety in my life but after a couple of years I thought that music is what I do so maybe I should start doing it again.
~Bill Wyman
From Wikipedia:
Birth name
William George Perks
Also known as
Lee Wyman
Born
24 October 1936 (age 76)
Lewisham, London EnglandUnited Kingdom
Genres
Rock, rock and roll, swing,rhythm and blues, jazz, blues,skiffle
Occupations
Musician, composer, author,record producer, film producer,bandleader, photographer,inventor
Bill Wyman (born William George Perks; 24 October 1936) is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. He has worked producing both records and film, and has scored music for film in movies and television.
Wyman has kept a journal since he was a child after World War II. It has been useful to him as an author who has written seven books, selling two million copies. Wyman’s love of art has additionally led to his proficiency in photography and his photographs have hung in galleries around the world. Wyman’s lack of funds in his early years led him to create and build his own fretless bass guitar. He became an amateur archaeologist and enjoys relic hunting; The Times published a letter about his hobby (Friday 2 March 2007). He designed and markets a patented Bill Wyman signature metal detector, which he has used to find relics in the English countryside dating back to the era of the Roman Empire.
As a businessman, he owns several establishments including the famous Sticky Fingers Café, a rock & roll-themed bistro serving American cuisine first opened in 1989 in the Kensington area of London and later, two additional locations in Cambridge and Manchester, England.
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, Albert Lee & Peter Frampton – Green River:
From allmusic – Jason Ankeny:
As a member of the Rolling Stones for three decades, Bill Wyman established himself among the greatest bassists in rock & roll history; in tandem with drummer Charlie Watts, he belonged to one of the most stalwart rhythm sections in popular music, perfectly complementing the theatrics of Mick Jagger and the gritty guitar leads of Keith Richards. …. read more @ allmusic.com
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Album of the day – Bill Wyman – Compendium Complete Solo Recordings:
Seen the arrow on the doorpost Saying, “This land is condemned All the way from New Orleans To Jerusalem” I traveled through East Texas Where many martyrs fell And I know no one can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell
Let’s start this party by reminding ourselves what a fantastic song this is. Here are the official released Bob Dylan version from The Bootleg Series Volume 1-3:
“One of Bob Dylan’s absolute masterpieces, “Blind Willie McTell” is the jewel of The Bootleg Series and arguably one of the finest songs ever written. Recorded in 1983 for the album Infidels, it was deemed superfluous to requirements, and all that remains is one take of the song with a full band (yet to be officially released) and this haunting demo, with Dylan playing piano with accompaniment from Mark Knopfler.”
– Thomas Ward (allmusic)
And the outtake, the electric version from the Infidels sessions (audio), my favorite:
Ok, so here are those wonderful cover versions.
The magnificent Mick Taylor did this great version in Germany in 2009 (Rockpalast):
This cover version by Dream Syndicate from a free single given away with Bucketfull of Brains. No dates of the recording are listed. Apologies as it cuts just before the end of the song (audio):
“I started playing it live because I heard the Band doing it. Most likely it was a demo, probably showing the musicians how it should go. It was never developed fully, I never got around to completing it. There wouldn’t have been any other reason for leaving it off the record. It’s like taking a painting by Monet or Picasso – goin’ to his house and lookin’ at a half-finished painting and grabbing it and selling it to people who are ‘Picasso fans.'”
– Bob Dylan
Levon Helm Band “Blind Willie” Live at Pompano Beach Amphitheater, Pompano Beach, FL 11-4-2010:
I want to include a very fine interpretation in Swedish by Mikael Wiehe (Spotify):
Finally a jazz/blues instrumental, wonderfully done by Jef Lee Johnson (Audio):
The primary purpose in [performing] is to receive that pure inspiration that I derived from it when I was a kid the first time I saw one of those guitar slingers on television cock his leg and throw that guitar down and start doing a song and became completely infatuated with that and the moment that I was able to transport myself to another place, another plane of existence, by doing it alone in a room, you know, and realizing the enormous satisfaction from doing that … I don’t ever want to risk losing that as the primary catalyst for what I do musically.~
~Dwight Yoakam
From Wikipedia:
Birth name
Dwight David Yoakam
Born
October 23, 1956 (age 57)
Pikeville, Kentucky,United States
Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music. Popular since the early 1980s, he has recorded more than twenty-one albums and compilations, charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and sold more than 25 million records.
Guitars, Cadillacs:
From allmusic.com – Stephen Thomas Erlewine:
With his stripped-down approach to traditional honky tonk and Bakersfield country, Dwight Yoakamhelped return country music to its roots in the late ’80s. Like his idols Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, andHank Williams, Yoakam never played by Nashville’s rules; consequently, he never dominated the charts like his contemporary Randy Travis. Then again, Travis never played around with the sound and style of country music like Yoakam. On each of his records, he twists around the form enough to make it seem like he doesn’t respect all of country’s traditions. Appropriately, his core audience was composed mainly of roots rock and rock & roll fans, not the mainstream country audience. Nevertheless, he was frequently able to chart in the country Top Ten, and he remained one of the most respected and adventurous recording country artists well into the ’90s. …read more over @ allmusic.com
a medley performed @ The Grand Ole Opry:
Album of the day – Guitars, Cadillacs, etc etc (1986):
From allmusic.com – Thom Jurek:
Dwight Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. began as an EP issued on the California Oak label. When Reprise signed him, they added four more tracks to the mix to round it out as an album. Yoakam, a Kentuckian, brought country music back into its own medium by reviving the classic Bakersfield sound with the help of his producer and lead guitarist, former Detroiter Pete Anderson. As a result, the “new traditionalist” movement was born, but Yoakam was always a cut or three above the rest, as this album displays in spades. Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. kicks off with a smoking cover of Johnny Horton’s “Honky Tonk Man,” a song now so closely associated with Yoakam, the original has all but been forgotten. But this is only the beginning. Yoakam’s own songs such as “Bury Me,” a duet with Maria McKee, and “South of Cincinnati” reference both the pastoral and dark sides of his native state. “South of Cincinnati” is a paean to those who left Kentucky for Ohio in search of jobs, and “Bury Me” celebrates the land itself. In addition, the title track, with Anderson’s Don Rich-influenced guitar style, walks the Buck Owens line until the line extends to Yoakam. With fiddles and backing vocals, Yoakam’s street poetry is both poignant and profound, built into a barroom anthem. In addition to this there is the gorgeous “Miner’s Prayer,” an acoustic number powered by dobro (courtesy of David Mansfield), flat-picked guitar, and Yoakam’s singing of his grandfather and generations like him who lived and died in the mines of Kentucky. Here Bill Monroe meets Ralph Stanley meets Bob Dylan. .. read more @ allmusic.com
James “Jimmy” Miller (23 March 1942 – 22 October 1994) was a Brooklyn, New York-born record producer and musician who produced dozens of albums between the mid-1960s and early 1990s, including landmark recordings for Blind Faith, Traffic, the Plasmatics, Motorhead, The World Bank and Primal Scream. He was perhaps best known for his lengthy association with the Rolling Stones, for whom he produced a string of singles and albums that all rank among the most critically and financially successful works of the band’s career: Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972) and Goats Head Soup (1973).
Prior to working with the Rolling Stones, Miller rose to fame by producing successful releases for The Spencer Davis Group including their breakthrough hit “Gimme Some Lovin'” and the follow-up smash “I’m A Man,” which Miller co-wrote with the band’s singer-keyboardist, Steve Winwood. In addition to his production work for yet another Winwood band, Traffic, Miller also contributed the lyrics to the Traffic song “Medicated Goo.” Miller produced the only album by the Clapton/Winwood supergroup Blind Faith.
The Spencer Davis Group – Gimme Some Lovin’:
Traffic – Dear Mr. Fantasy:
Blind Faith – Can’t Find My Way Home:
Following his work with Blind Faith, Miller co-produced (with Delaney Bramlett) the hit Delaney & Bonnie album On Tour with Eric Clapton, recorded live at Croydon, United Kingdom, on 7 December 1969. He went on to produce Delaney & Bonnie keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, Kracker, the Plasmatics, Motörhead and the UK band Nirvana.
A drummer himself, Miller was known for the distinctive drum sound that characterized his productions, especially his work with the Rolling Stones, on whose recordings he occasionally played percussion parts such as the famous opening cowbell on “Honky Tonk Women” and the full drum kit on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Happy,” “Tumbling Dice” and “Shine a Light.”
The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet (1968) [full album]:
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed (1969, Remastered) Full Album:
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (1971) (Full Album):
The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street (1972) (Full album):
Miller went on to work with Primal Scream on their breakthrough album Screamadelica and William Topley’s band The Blessing (Miller appears on their DVD Sugar Train during the song “Soul Love”). In the 1980s, Miller produced some acts including Johnny Thunders, Matrix and Jo Jo Laine (wife of Denny Lane, on “Moody Blues & Wings”). In 1990 he Co-Produced (along with Phil Greene) “What’s in A Name” for Florida band Walk the Chalk.
Among Miller’s last productions were three tracks on the 1992 Wedding Present project, Hit Parade 2. Jimmy also produced four tracks on The World Banks “In Debt Interview” which featured artists such as Billy Preston and Bobby Keys, a rare musical sideline from author Hunter S. Thompson. Jimmy traveled to Woody Creek, Colorado in 1994 to meet with Hunter S. Thompson for a memorable weekend in May shortly before he passed on. He died in October 1994.
Album of the day – Exile on Main St. (1972):
Greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its original release, Exile on Main St. has become generally regarded as the Rolling Stones’ finest album. Part of the reason why the record was initially greeted with hesitant reviews is that it takes a while to assimilate. A sprawling, weary double album encompassing rock & roll, blues, soul, and country, Exile doesn’t try anything new on the surface, but the substance is new. Taking the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme, Exile is a weary record, and not just lyrically. Jagger’s vocals are buried in the mix, and the music is a series of dark, dense jams, with Keith Richards and Mick Taylor spinning off incredible riffs and solos. And the songs continue the breakthroughs of their three previous albums. No longer does their country sound forced or kitschy — it’s lived-in and complex, just like the group’s forays into soul and gospel. While the songs, including the masterpieces “Rocks Off,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Torn and Frayed,” “Happy,” “Let It Loose,” and “Shine a Light,” are all terrific, they blend together, with only certain lyrics and guitar lines emerging from the murk. It’s the kind of record that’s gripping on the very first listen, but each subsequent listen reveals something new. Few other albums, let alone double albums, have been so rich and masterful as Exile on Main St., and it stands not only as one of the Stones’ best records, but sets a remarkably high standard for all of hard rock.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)
