Detour to Fist City

    Back in the late 1970s, Carlene Carter famously (or infamously) introduced a song off her debut album with the claim that it would put the cu-- back in country.   (According to wikipedia, her mom and stepdad were, unbeknownst to Carlene, in the audience and she spent a decade trying to live the quote down.)   I invoke this story only because I put together a compilation which features a bunch of cuts from Ms. Carter and other female country artists with a similar style and because I couldn't think of good way of characterizing the music - brassy, spunky, scrappy, etc. just don't work.  But since this is a family blog, I thought I'd just go with the only slightly banal Detour to Fist City since I kinda see Loretta Lynn as the godmother/high priestess to this kind of music.  Oh well, it's about the music, right? :)

Volume Two comes next week.

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I Fell in Love	Carlene Carter
Girl Haggard	Rosie Flores
Fist City	Loretta Lynn
Lies	Nikki Lane
That's Where I'm Going	Eilen Jewell
Rock-A-Bye Boogie	Rosie Flores
Cry	Carlene Carter
Too Bad About Sandy	Carlene Carter
Who Says God Is Dead	Eilen Jewell
Let's Elope Baby	Janis Martin
Drink Myself Single	Sunny Sweeney
Jesus Was A Wino	Lydia Loveless
Daniel Lee	Sarah Borges
The Bitter End	Carlene Carter
Blue Side Of Town	Rosie Flores
Next Big Nothing	Sunny Sweeney

Tales of the Drummer - A Tony Allen Sampler

      I was really glad to see Fela Kuti get a little more recognition a couple of years ago when the play Fela made it to Broadway.  Now, I don't expect to see a play about his life, but Tony Allen also deserves more a lot more appreciation.  Not only was he Fela's drummer and musical director, but he put out  a number of great solo albums in the 1970s.  He didn't record much in the 1980s or 1990s, but he's been very prolific over the last 15 years as both a solo artist and as a collaborator with various acts.  The Wrasse record label did put out a greatest hits collection (Eager Hands and Restless Feet) in 2002, but it's only available as an import for us North Americans and I also thought a broader career retrospective was necessary.  (Most of his great 1970s albums have been reissued are easily available as both cds and mp3 downloads.)  

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The Same Blood	Tony Allen
Crazy Afrobeat	Tony Allen
Secret Agent	Tony Allen
Against The Wall	Jimi Tenor / Tony Allen
Nepa	Tony Allen
Ako	Fela Kuti
Don't Fight	Tony Allen
Afropusherman	Psyco On Da Bus
Gbedu	Tony Allen
Nature Springs	The Good, The Bad and The Queen
Sankofa	Hypnotic Brass Ensemble featuring Tony Allen
Progress	Tony Allen

Sucking in the 70's - Volume 4

   Yes, it's time again for another volume of 70's music.  This one's heavier on the popular soul music of the 70's.  There's still a few of them durn guilty pleasures, but I defy you to say anything bad about The Jackson 5's take on Clifton Davis' (who, of course, was on the short lived 70s sitcom That's My Mama) Never Can Say Goodbye.  (The first three volumes are still available, btw.)

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Livin' Thing ELO Strawberry Letter 23 The Brothers Johnson Everlasting Love Carl Carlton #9 Dream John Lennon You're Only Lonely J.D. Souther If You Don't Know Me By Now Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes Never Can Say Goodbye The Jackson 5 You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go Bob Dylan Dueling Banjos Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell American Girl Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Jeepster T.Rex I Can't Stand the Rain Ann Peebles Band of Gold Freda Payne Suavecito Malo Without You Nilsson Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong B.J. Thomas Show and Tell Al Wilson Grandma's Hands Bill Withers The Air That I Breathe The Hollies Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) The Delfonics

Tabu Ley and Franco - Volume Two

    I know it's several days later than I usually post my comps, so I hope the total awesomeness of Tabu Ley Rochereau and Franco overcomes any disappointment resulting from the delay.  I should also note that the first Tabu Ley-Franco comp is still up.

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Na Likuanga Na Seli	Franco
Makfe	Tabu Ley Rochereau
Chérie Bondowe 2	Franco
Tabalissimo	Tabu Ley Rochereau
Mama Ida	Tabu Ley Rochereau
Monzo	Franco
Omona Wapi	Franco And Rochereau
Majolina	Tabu Ley Rochereau
Marceline	Franco
Ekeseni	Tabu Ley Rochereau
Kamikaze	Franco
Tokoma ba camarade pamba	Franco
Londende	Tabu Ley Rochereau

More Jim Lauderdale

      Here's Disc Two of my Jim Lauderdale compilation.  As I mentioned last week, Disc Two features more of his bluegrass material.   I like this stuff quite a bit, but I must confess I like his honky-tonk stuff just a little more (ymmv).  Unfortunately, most of his earlier albums are out of print - though some of them are available cheaply as used cds (like Whisper, Every Second Counts, and Pretty Close to the Truth).  However, you can get his dynamite debut Planet of Love new (though not as an mp3 download).

Download both discs

I Feel Like Singing Today

I'm Kind Of Learning As I Go

I Like to Feel Pretty Inside

Paint And Glass

Wowowo

Diesel, Diesel, Diesel

Life By Numbers

We're Gone

Tiger & The Monkey

Quit That

If I Lose

Can We Find Forgiveness

Mighty Lonesome

I'm On Your Side

Why Do I Love You?

Jim Lauderdale - Country Strongman

    When I was younger, I never understood why it took some artists/bands so long between records.  I'm a little (I said little :) wiser now and recognize some of the things that can get in their way.  Still, I maintain my admiration for the artists who consistently put out quality albums.  Case in point - the prolific Mr. Jim Lauderdale, who has put out 19 albums since 1991.  And if that wasn't enough, he's a highly respected Nashville songwriter who also tours pretty frequently.  Disc one is mostly his honky-tonk stuff while next week's disc two focuses more on his bluegrass recordings.

Download both discs 

What Am I Waiting For

Don't Build Your World Around It

Please Pardon Me

Calico

Sweet Rosie Jones

She Used To Say That To Me

I Want You To Know

Honky Tonk Haze

My Lips are Sealed

Playing On My Heart Strings

Glass House

Run Like You

It's Worth Looking Up

Hittin' It Hard

Where The Sidewalk Ends

Give More Power Pop to the People - Volume Two

        So is it just me or is Bill Lloyd's Set to Pop the perfect song to start a power pop comp (it's off the album of the same name, btw)? Volume Two of Give More Power Pop to the People is now available, so I'll let you decide.

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I Went Electric	Bill Lloyd
You Were So Warm	Dwight Twilley Band
She Loves You Too	The Patriots
Underwater	The Three O'Clock
Before You Were Born	Richard Barone
Congratulations My Darling	Eugene Edwards
I Found A Love	Phil Seymour
Cynical Girl	Marshall Crenshaw
Bad Indication	Off Broadway
What I Know	The Sneetches
Stacy's Mom	Fountains Of Wayne
Goodbye Princess	Cheepskates
Every Night Is A Holiday	The Spongetones
Discolite	Teenage Fanclub
Farewell Song	Flying Color
The Mayor Of Simpleton	XTC

Give More Power Pop to the People

       The really warm spell we had here in the northeast is over, but spring will be back soon so I thought it was time for some power pop.  I've mostly resisted power pop mixtapes on this blog (with the exception of this 90s power pop compilation) in part because there's so many other great power pop blogs on the web.  One of the most prominent one is http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/ and about 4-5 years ago, they put together a huge, 8-9 part compilation from the best 200 power pop albums of all time.  Now, I don't know if this violates some ethical boundary, but I took 32 of my faves from that 200 and created a much smaller 2 volume compilation (I'll post volume 2 next week).

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Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)	Raspberries
The Company of Light	Chris Stamey
The One	Cloud Eleven
Gold Town	Tommy Keene
Sally Works Nights	Liverpool Echo
Couldn't Help Myself	Bobby Sutliff
I Want You To Want Me	Cheap Trick
With My Face On The Floor	Emitt Rhodes
We Love Girls	Buster
Remember The Lightning	20-20
Tiger Nights	The Bongos
The Popular	Splitsville
A Girl (La La La)	Artful Dodger
Faith	Sex Clark Five
A Different Sunday	Beagle
You've Got No Time	The Cowsills

All Hail the New Traditionalists - Sharon Jones and the Detroit Cobras

           I thought of putting together a Sharon Jones and Detroit Cobras compilation a while back, but I was waiting for a new Cobras release.  That was about 18 months ago, and since there doesn't seem to be one forthcoming in the near future.... well, now's as good time as any (especially with summer on its way - if, I may be so bold, I think it would make a nice bbq soundtrack).   And I know traditionalist is kind of a silly term, but, hey, it seemed a bit better than revivalist. :)

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100 Days, 100 Nights	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Hey Sailor	The Detroit Cobras
Ain't Hittin' on Nothin'	The Detroit Cobras
My Man Is A Mean Man	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
(I Wanna Know) What's Going on	The Detroit Cobras
Give It Back	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Wild About That Thing	Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges
I'll Be Home Someday	Detroit Cobras
I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Is In	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
I'll Keep Holding On	The Detroit Cobras
Pick It Up, Lay It In The Cut	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Ya Ya Ya (looking For My Baby)	The Detroit Cobras
Heartbeat	The Detroit Cobras
She Ain't a Child No More	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Last Nite	The Detroit Cobras
What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
The Dap Dip	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
As Long As I Have You	The Detroit Cobras

The Damnations - Where it lands

   I know I posted some Texas country two weeks ago, but since SXSW is going on as I type, I figured I'd post the second album, 2002's Where it lands, from the great Austin band The Damnations.  Their 1998 self-titled first album (which they had to release under the name Damnations, TX for legal reasons) is still available as an mp3 album.  It's a little better, imho, but Where it lands  is still an alternative country gem, too.

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All Night Special

Quarter in the Couch

Root On

Steeple Full of Swallows

Wanna Be Your Mama

Animal Children

Bloodhound

New Hope Cemetery

Corona

Tora Tora Tora

Time To Go Home

I'm Living in the 80's! (Disc Four)

     It's really no use try to defend/rationalize/excuse one's musical nostalgia especially since (imho) it's the rare person who doesn't indulge their music nostalgia jones at least occasionally.  In that spirit, here's another 80s (mostly postpunk) mixtape (You can also still download Discs 1-3.

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Dissidents	Thomas Dolby
Appetite	Prefab Sprout
Death at One's Elbow	The Smiths
Landslide	Cabaret Voltaire
Producer	Gang of Four
Motorcrash	Sugarcubes
88 Seconds In Greensboro	OMD
Saint Julian	Julian Cope
The Sinking Feeling	The The
Mandinka	Sinead O'Connor
Clay	Echo & The Bunnymen
Under The Milky Way	The Church
Head Over Heels / Broken	Tears For Fears
Boss Toyota Trouble	Biting Tongues
The Telephone Always Rings	Fun Boy Three
Swirling	Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
Sugar Hiccup	Cocteau Twins
The Three Sunrises	U2

3 Legends of Texas Country: James Hand, Justin Trevino, and Don Walser

     The annual South by Southwest music conference is fast approaching and even though it's been ten years since I attended one, I thought a little homage to Texas artists was in store for this week.  Don Walser passed away back in 2006, but Justin Trevino and James Hand are still going strong and I would hope they're both playing at SXSW this year (even if it's unofficial events).

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In The Corner, At The Table, By the Jukebox	James Hand
Texas Honky Tonk	Justin Trevino
One More Drink	Don Walser
Cowpoke	Don Walser
I Heard Mama Callin	James Hand
Leavin' And Sayin' Goodbye	Justin Trevino
Don't Want Me Too	James Hand
(The Party Don't Start) 'Til The Playboys Get Here	Don Walser
Brand New Sister Me	Justin Trevino
She Knows My Weaknesses	Justin Trevino
Chime Bells	Don Walser
When You Stopped Loving Me, So Did I	James Hand
Leave The Lonely Alone	James Hand
Chalk One Up for You	Justin Trevino
A String Boogie	Don Walser
Little Bitty Slip	James Hand
Cattle Call	Don Walser
Don't Leave the Leaving Up to Me	Justin Trevino

More Gillian!!

     Tonight, I'm posting the second volume of my Gillian Welch compilation.  First, I'd like to thank the site spontaneous wednesday for their comprehensive collection of Gillian Welch live shows. Indeed, there are so many good live Gillian tracks that I probably could have made a 3 volume collection.  But for now, you'll just have to make do with two discs of Gillian's genius.  (I was actually going to call the compilation The Genius of Gillian or Gillian's Genius, but it seemed, I dunno, a tad obvious.)

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Appalachacola Bound

Billy

Unfinished Business

Company Grave Blues

Wichita

In Tall Buildings

My Morphine

Everything Is Free

Miners Prayer

Jesus on the Mainline

Why He Needs Me

Dark As A Dungeon

Leaving Train

Hickory Wind

Only One And Only

The Only One and Only Gillian Welch

      Well, it's that time of year when I tend to feature a a female alt-country star (Neko Case), Kelly Willis, Lucinda Williams, Iris DeMent), so this year I thought it was high time for a Gillian Welch compilation.  There's one cut from each of her formal releases and the rest is contributions to tribute albums and soundtracks, duets, and a lot of live tracks.  Disc Two  arrives next week.

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Beulah Land

Pocahontas

Pretty Flowers

Summer Evening

Lua

Silver Dagger

I've Been Down Before

Gold Watch And Chain

I'll Fly Away

Wind And Rain

Barstow

One Monkey

Black Star

Tonight I'll Be Stayin' Here with You

White Rabbit

I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself - Volume 4

     Yes, it's time again for my annual anti-Valentine's day compilation.  However, this year, I decided to make the compiling a little harder by restricting it only to duets.  Actually, it was a lot harder than I thought which is why I had to include some artists I'd already featured in the series and why there's more country music than usual (there just don't seem to be that many truly sad soul duets).   Btw, I've also re-upped Vol 1, Vol 2, and Vol 3 in case folks are really in need of more sad stuff.


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You Wrecked Up My Heart Buddy Miller Portland Oregan feat. Jack White Loretta Lynn Burning House of Love X Stop Draggin' My Heart Around Stevie Nicks w/ Tom Petty  No Memories Hangin' 'round Rosanne Cash Let's Invite Them Over John Prine Those Lonely, Lonely Nights Katie Webster We'll Burn Together Robbie Fulks Sad Wedding Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell Two Different Things Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell We Get Along Just Fine (When We're Apart) Crazy Heart The Last Thing On My Mind Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner No Longer A Sweetheart Of Mine Suzanne Cox and Ronnie Reno We'll Never Love Again (With Jan Howard) Wynn Stewart Waltzing On The Titanic Lonesome Bob Love Hurts Gram Parsons Crying (With K.D. Lang) Roy Orbison Two Story House George Jones and Tammy Wynette You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart) Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong What Do You Do / The Glory Of Love Lyle Lovett and Francine Reed

Return of the 90s Indie Goddesses

    Since Mazzy Star just put out a couple of singles (one of them leads off the compilation), I decided that I needed to do another 90s Indie Goddess mix, albeit one with more emphasis on the mellow stuff (and with some of the bands folks recommended in the comments section when I posted Volumes 1&2 - which I'm re-upping as I type.)  And once again, feel free to indulge in as much cultural nostalgia for the 90s as you wish. :)

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Lay Myself Down	Mazzy Star
Tuesday Night	Kristin Hersh
Untogether	Belly
Full Moon, Empty Heart	Belly
For No One Else	The Spinanes
Uncle June And Aunt Kiyoti	Kristin Hersh
Divorce Song	Liz Phair
The Lights	Juliana Hatfield
Shining Road	Cranes
When I Die	Lush
Into Dust	Mazzy Star
Screaming Angels Dancing In Your Garden	Lisa Germano
Judas My Heart	Belly
Dylan	Throwing Muses
Give You My Lovin'	Mazzy Star
Chopsticks	Liz Phair

Gene Clark: The High Priest of Alternative Country

     Awright, I feel silly for not having anything even remotely interesting to say about Gene Clark, so I'll just say that if you're a newbie to Gene Clark and this compilation inspires you to check out more of his music, I'd recommend the live album Flowers on My Grave, his Dillard and Clark album, The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark, and his last formal cd, So Rebellious a Lover (with Carla Olson).

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Tried So Hard

100 Years From Now

Keep On Pushin'

No Longer a Sweetheart of Mine

Hear The Wind

Lover's Turnaround

Silver Raven

Day For Night

In The Pines

Lyin' Down The Middle

Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe

Dark Hollow

One In A Hundred

I Really Don't Want To Know

Young Love

Because Of You

Dark Of My Moon

Don't It Make You Want To Go Home

The Gift Soundtrack

     I've never seen the movie (but I've heard it's very good), but I'm posting the out of print 2001 soundtrack to The Gift anyway tonight.    It's a really nice mixture of 1960s country acts such as George Jones and Lee Hazelwood and newer (for 2001) alt-country acts like The Souvenirs, Neko Case, and Amy Nelson.  Just the thing for those long winter nights. :)

p.s. If you're having trouble downloading previous mixes, it's because megaupload.com has been shut down.  I'll try to post them, albeit gradually, to another site over the next couple of weeks.

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The Gift	Christopher Young
Furnace Room Lullaby	Neko Case
Great Divide	Willie Nelson
Wastin' Time	Waylon Jennings
Mama Why	Loretta Lynn
Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven	Loretta Lynn
All Alone	Christopher Young
Beautiful Hills	Hasil Adkins
Trouble Is A Lonesome Town	Lee Hazelwood
Heart On A Chain	The Souvenirs
In Case We Die	Amy Nelson
I'm Alright	The Souvenirs
If I Could Only Fly	Merle Haggard
Pretty Girls	Neko Case
A Picture Of Me (Without You)	George Jones

Crazy Baby: Bobby Hebb and Alex Chilton

      For at least the last couple of years, the New York Times has devoted the second to last magazine section of the year to all different individuals who have passed away during the year.  In the 2010 edition, the music writer Rob Hoerburger did a nice tribute to Bobby Hebb and Alex Chilton - since they were both Tennessee songwriters who briefly hit it big in the mid 1960s.  I was only familiar with Hebb because he wrote Sunny, so I decided to check out more of his stuff and was not disappointed - especially his early 60s stuff, a lot of which can be found on the Rich Records story compilation.  (He also co-wrote A Natural Man with, of all people, the comic Sandy Baron - best known now for playing Jack Klompus on Seinfeld).  So the more I listened to Hebb's music, the more I thought he and Chilton would make for a nice mixtape.  See what you think.

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Thank You John	Alex Chilton
I Love Mary	Bobby Hebb
Make a Little Love	Alex Chilton
Crazy Baby	Bobby Hebb
Atlanta, GA	Bobby Hebb
Bangkok	Alex Chilton
We're Gonna Make It	Bobby Hebb
Hook Me Up	Alex Chilton
Let's get lost	Alex Chilton
For You	Bobby Hebb
I Must Be The Devil	Box Tops
Got You On My Mind	Bobby Hebb
You Don't Know What You Got Until You Lose It	Bobby Hebb
Stuff	Alex Chilton
This Bird Has Flown	Bobby Hebb
Funky National	Alex Chilton
Tee Ne Mee Ni Noo / Tip On In	Alex Chilton
I Feel So Good	Bobby Hebb

Bedazzled by Dexter Romweber

     I really don't like to harp on how underappreciated certain musicians are, but....., well, it does seem unfair that Dex Romweber has never achieved greater fame - whether it be with the Flat Duo Jets, as a solo act, or now with his sister Sara in the Dex Romweber Duo (who have put out two really good albums on Bloodshot, btw).  So what better way to start the new year than with an homage to dear Dex?

p.s. He's still got it live, too. :)

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Theme	Flat Duo Jets
Outta Sight	Dexter Romweber
Tura Satana	Flat Duo Jets
Cobra (Theme 2 Revisited)	Flat Duo Jets
Lover's Gold	Dexter Romweber & The New Romans
Midnight	Dexter Romweber
Crow's Feet	Flat Duo Jets
Tombstone Boogie	Dexter Romweber
Wild Wild Lover	Flat Duo Jets
People, Places, and Things	Dex Romweber Duo
Homicide	Dex Romweber Duo
Mexicali Baby	Flat Duo Jets
Caravan	Flat Duo Jets
Brazil	Dex Romweber Duo
It Doesn't Matter Anymore	Flat Duo Jets
Blues That Defy My Soul	Dexter Romweber
Harlem Nocturne	Flat Duo Jets
Love Letters	Dex Romweber Duo
Tidalwave	Flat Duo Jets
Lucky Eye	Flat Duo Jets
Last Kind Word Blues	Dex Romweber Duo

On the Right Side of 2011

        As usual, I don't have too much to say about the year that's passed.  I do think that there were a lot of good albums, but there weren't too many that thrilled me from beginning to end.  Perhaps I'm just a harder boy to thrill these days. :) Still, there was no dearth of songs to put on my year end mixtape - in fact, I had to leave off some cuts that would have made it in previous years.  (And as in 2009 and 2010, all the mp3s are tagged with the album they came from.)

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Video Games	Lana Del Rey
Escape	Richard Buckner
Montezuma	Fleet Foxes
The Reason Why	Ron Sexsmith
Gone, Gone, Gone	Nikki Lane
Always Looking	Dum Dum Girls
Get Some	Lykke Li
Relax	Das Racist
Tropical Affair	Money Mark/Thalma de Freitas/Joao Parahyba
Paraty	Mia Doi Todd
Progress	Booker T Jones
Stone Rollin'	Raphael Saadiq
Checkout Time	Nick Lowe
Between The Cheats	Amy Winehouse
A Commotion	Feist
She Stole The Blush	Tom Waits
Born To Be Loved	Lucinda Williams
Calgary	Bon Iver
Heartaches and Pain	Charles Bradley
The Way The Whole Thing Ends	Gillian Welch

More Selections from the Harlan Howard Songbook

It's been a real long time (probably about 15 years ago), but I remember reading an interview with Harlan Howard where he said that when he first started writing country songs, he didn't know anything about love (or maybe he said women). I thought of that quote a couple of weeks back when I listened to Charley Pride's version of "Image of Me". While the psychological realism is a tad lacking, the male melodrama in the song is undeniably appealing. I'd try to find a quote to give a better description of Harlan Howard's songwriting genius, but I have some other stuff I have to get to, so the second volume of my tribute to HH will have to do.

Download (both volumes)

Heartaches By The Number	Dwight Yoakam
I've Got A Tiger By The Tail	Ray Charles
Busted	Duane Eddy
Sally Was a Good Old Girl	Waylon Jennings
Why Not Me ?	The Judds
Don't Call Me From A Honky Tonk	Johnny & Jonie Mosby
The Sound Of Laughter	Johnny Cash
The One You Slip Around With	Skeeter Davis
Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was on the Right)	George Jones
The Keys In the Mailbox	Tony Booth
Odds and Ends	Justin Trevino
Heartbreak U.S.A.	Kitty Wells
The Image Of Me	Charley Pride
I Fall To Pieces	Carla Thomas
A Thief in the Night	Jean Shepard
He Called Me Baby	Ella Washington
I'll Catch You When You Fall	Buck Owens
Above & Beyond (The Call Of Love)	Wynn Stewart

The Heartache Headmaster - A Harlan Howard Tribute

Just to be clear, I'm not a proponent of "great man" theories of history. Still.....it's kind of hard to imagine what country music would be like without the songs of Harlan Howard. His own recordings may leave a little something be to desired (though they're not terrible), but damn, the guy was a gifted and prolific songwriter. As with Townes Van Zandt last year and Tom Waits in 2009, I've put together a two volume compilation of Harlan Howard covers (with Volume 2 to follow next week).

Download (both volumes)

Streets of Baltimore Gram Parsons

The Hurtin's All Over Connie Smith

Pick Me Up On Your Way Down Charlie Walker

Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heartache Cake

The Chokin' Kind Joe Simon

Evil on Your Mind Jan Howard

I Don't Believe I'll Fall In Love Today Derailers

It Takes One to Know One Skip Heller

You Took Him off My Hands Patsy Cline

Too Many Rivers Brenda Lee

It's All Over The Everly Brothers

Life Turned Her That Way James Carr

Ain't Found Nobody The Mavericks

I've Seen That Look On Me (A Thousand Times) Willie Nelson

I'm Down to My Last Cigarette k.d. lang

Baby Me Baby Gene Watson

Don't Our Love Look Natural Keith Whitley

She's Gone, Gone, Gone Lefty Frizzell

More Billie Holiday and Elis Regina

I was listening to the Billie Holiday - Elis Regina comp I made last year (which you can still download) a while ago and, well, I thought it'd be nice to have another volume. Score one for niceness. :)

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20 Anos Blue Elis Regina

I Love My Man Billie Holiday

I Don't Want To Cry Anymore Billie Holiday

O Que Foi Feito De Vera with Milton Nascimento Elis Regina

All Of Me Billie Holiday

Madalena Elis Regina

Bicho Do Mato Elis Regina

Swing, Brother, Swing Billie Holiday

Canto de Ossanha Elis Regina & Toots Thielemans

Jeepers Creepers Billie Holiday

Alo Saudade Elis Regina

Who Wants Love? Billie Holiday

East Of The Sun Billie Holiday

O Que Tinha De Ser Elis Regina

These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) Billie Holiday

Gracias a la Vida Elis Regina

Them There Eyes Billie Holiday

E Com Esse Que Eu Vou Elis Regina

Confissao Elis Regina

What A Little Moonlight Can Do Billie Holiday

Baby, I'm A Charlie Rich Fan

In addition to his eclecticism (and his rather unique career arc), one of the things I find most intriguing about Charlie Rich is that his wife Margaret Rich wrote (or co-wrote) some of his material. Offhand, I can't really think of another male singer (or even that many female singers) with that dynamic. One of her compositions, in fact, leads off this compilation - Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs. I tried to stay away from any songs on his great 2 two cd best of collection: Feel Like Going Home, but Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs was just too perfect as the opening track. I did however, have enough willpower not to put his great demo version of Feel Like Going Home from that collection as the closer. :)

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Life Has It's Little Ups And Downs

Down On The River

Philadelphia Baby

You Win Again

Just Like Old Times

Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast

Blowin' Town

A Sunday Kind Of Woman

Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

Am I Blue?

Almost Persuaded

Now Everybody Knows

That's How Much I Love You

You Can Have Her

Don't Come Knocking On My Door

Just a Little Bit Sweet

Very Much Alone

I Take It On Home