August 26th, 2007

(Short) Chronology: Luxury Liner

Not everyone likes Gram Parsons. I’m not a huge fan, but I was fortunate enough have this song introduced to be by my brother. Yes, the same brother than contributed to the Denver Mix, for my roadtrip out in Colorado earlier this summer. I originally had a CD that he made called “Joe’s Truckin’ Mix,” on which was the Emmylou Harris version of this song. The CD wasn’t labeled, and I had no idea who had written most of the songs. I heard her version and immediately called him – I thought he had slipped some Dolly Parton on the mix, and would be really amused to hear that I liked one of her songs. Needless to say, he knew exactly which song I was talking about. It’s unmistakable.

I’ve always wanted to do this too, just because I love this song. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t been covered all that much. Perhaps the most notable cover is by Whiskeytown in 2006. It’s unreleased, and frankly, it could be a lot better. It just doesn’t have the same desperate drive that Emmylou Harris has. Also, the “Folsom Prison” quote toward the end is just plain cheesy. Check it out:

1968 – Gram Parsons (and the International Submarine Band) – Luxury Liner
1977 – Emmylou Harris – Luxury Liner
2006 – Whiskeytown (with Ryan Adams) – Luxury Liner
2006 – Railroad Earth – Luxury Liner

I don’t have the disc this one is on, but as luck would have it, YouTube does.
2003 – Albert Lee – Luxury Liner

August 15th, 2007

Swordfishtrombone: TomWaitsCoversChronology

First of all. Apologies for leaving you for a week. I have been extremely busy, as has Rob. He has already apologized, and hopefully we will have some great updates coming this week. Please, please forgive us.

Also, if you’re in the Boston area, be sure to check out Bishop Allen, Page France, and The Teeth at the Middle east Downstairs on Friday, Aug. 17th. $10 advance, $12 door.

This is one of the best CDs I own. I bought it at the Winnipeg Folk Fest in 2000 for $8 Canadian. This also makes it one of the cheapest CDs I own. $8 would be a steal in US dollars, but $8 Canadian? I didn’t really have to think twice about it.

Swordfishtromebone has a special place in my heart. Not only is it the first Tom Waits song I ever heard, but that bass line still gives me shivers. There’s something mysterious about the way it’s played – the bass line carries the melody during certain parts of the progression, only to be countered by a very static comping pattern on the marimba. Everything in this song compliments the lyrics, which are very coherent and a little scary. I’ve always assumed the song was about Frank’s Wild Life, but I’m not really sure… Waits does seem to follow themes and specific subject matter on his albums, but he never really mentions anyone by name in the song. It could just as easily be a tall tale he dreamed up.

Anyway, it’s been covered a fair amount, and not just on tribute albums. I won’t say all of them are good, but there are some unique ones. For a song that’s only 20 years old, it has a pretty decent amount of covers under it’s belt.

1983 – Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombone
2001 – Claudia Bettinaglio – Swordfishtrombone
2003 – Kazik Staszewski – Swordfishtrombone
2003 – Hell Blues Choir – Swordfishtrombone
???? – The Tremors – Swordfishtrombone (from their website)

2005 – Clara Bellino – Swordfishtrombone (All I could find for now was a video of her singing this “On the San Francisco Bay.” I’m still looking for the album.

While on YouTube, I found another video from a German band called Hunde Im Regen. I could be wrong about the band name. Please let me know. Hunde Im Regen – Goidfischviolin

Please help me find these. I am extremely curious about the “Mrs. Bubble and Bones” recording. She is a Scandinavian folk musician who plays accordion. It would be a very interesting version, I’m sure.

1997 – Jan Nohansen, the Brazz Brothers – Swordfishtrombone
2001 – Mrs. Bubble and Bones – Swordfishtrombone
The Koter – Swordfishtrombone
Tom Gabel (Against Me!) – Swordfishtrombone
Kare Nordseth – Swordfishtrombone
The Spektors – Swordfishtrombone

June 29th, 2007

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean: Blind Lemon Jefferson

I know that music blogs are mostly geared to new and unsigned music. Well, not as much "unsigned" as "not signed to a major label" bands. Anyway, when I search Hype Machine for a song as OLD and as WELL KNOWN as "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," I should come up with something. Shame on every music blog in the world for not doing this before me.

Blind Lemon Jefferson was around to influence a whole new generation of bluesmen, who in turned influenced a new generation, who influenced a new generation, and so on. By my count, there are at least 3 generations of blues/folk musicians represented here, and if I could have found the Thelonious Monster recording, we would have had a punk band represented too.  Also, if you’re really into this, you should check YouTube – there are a ton of people playing/trying to play this song the way Blind Lemon Jefferson would have.

1926 – Blind Lemon Jefferson – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1928 – Blind Lemon Jefferson – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1959 – Lightnin’ Hopkins – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
*EDIT removed due to hotlinking. Mixtape Metropolis has completely disregarded my well-intentioned and informative message about mp3 blogging ethics, so this mp3 has been removed.
1962 – Bob Dylan – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (Bob Dylan)
1966 – Grateful Dead – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (entitled "One Kind Favor" on record)
1967 – Bob Dylan – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (Genuine Basement Tapes)
1968 – Canned Heat – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (entitled "One Kind Favor" on record)
1969 – Furry Lewis – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1970s – Mike Bloomfield – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1983 – John Hammond – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (entitled "One Kind Favor" on record – couldn’t find the 1963 recording)
1987 – Dream Syndicate – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1992 – Diamanda Galas – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1995 – James Solberg – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
2004 – Mavis Staples – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (from "Lightning in a Bottle")
2006 – Lou Reed – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (from the Harry Smith Project)
2006 – Meindert Talma & The Negroes – Hou alsjeblieft mijn graf schoon (See That My Grave Is Kept Clean)

These are the ones I absolutely couldn’t find.  If you have links to them, please let me know!

Chrome Cranks – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
2001 – The Deviants – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
2004 – Keiji Haino – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
2005 – Los Super Seven – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

I was under the assumption that the Staple Sisters also recorded See That My Grave Is Kept Clean but I can’t seem to find any record of that.  The only version I could find was the Mavis Staples version from "Lightning in a Bottle" but that is well past the time of the Staple Sisters.  Can anyone confirm this?

EDIT – I will have the Thelonious Monster and Kelly Joe Phelps sometime this evening.  Check back!
1989 – Thelonious Monster – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
1997 – Kelly Joe Phelps – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

May 28th, 2007

The Long Black Chronology of the Long Black Veil

I should probably keep a few of these in reserve for a weeks when I’m really doing bad with posts, but I just couldn’t keep this one from ya. Sorry for doing so many of these in a row – I got a little carried away. For a change of pace I’ll have the next “Six Degrees of Separation” ready by the middle of the week, hopefully with another CD review. Also, stay tuned in another week for “50 screamin’ years of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.”

I first became perplexed with this song in college. I knew it had been covered by Johnny Cash, but I had probably first heard it on and old “The Band” record of my parents’. In college a bunch of my friends were obsessed with Dave Matthews – which is recorded on “Listener Supported.” I remember one of them sending me a mp3 of it, and the ID3 tag saying it was “Traditional.” That was back in the day without Gracenote, Napster I, and mistaken ID3s. However, Long Black Veil was written by Danny Dill with Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell in 1959.

“Traditional” seems like a terrible choice of genre to me. It’s much too personal. It is used to give a genre to folk songs that have been passed down for years and year, and no one really knows who wrote them. Hymns usually fall in this category. Dark romantic ballads of unfaithfulness and murder probably shouldn’t occupy the same genre.

Of course, as songs are covered and covered, I’m sure there will be a point where it is possible to lose track of the original source, at which point it would become “Traditional.” Even certain songs where the origin is absolutely certain could eventually become “Traditional” in the sense that they are used for certain events – “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” “Star- Spangled Banner,” “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”… all could have a certain traditional place.

Here it is – “Long Black Veil” has been covered by other bands from the Country Gentlemen to Jerry Garcia…

1959 – Lefty Frizzell – Long Black Veil
1962 – The Kingston Trio – Long Black Veil (could be ‘63, not sure)
1963 – Joan Baez – Long Black Veil
1965 – Johnny Cash – Long Black Veil
1968 – The Band – Long Black Veil
1969 – Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash (The Johnny Cash Show) – Long Black Veil
1970 – Bill Monroe – Long Black Veil
1972 – New Riders of the Purple Sage – Long Black Veil
1986 – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Long Black Veil
1993 – Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Tony Rice – Long Black Veil (released in 2000)
1995 – The Chieftains (with Mick Jagger) – Long Black Veil
1999 – Mike Ness (of Social Distortion) – Long Black Veil (the slayaaaaa [pause] who raaaaan) not recommended
1999 – Dave Matthews and Emmylou Harris @ Johhny Cash’s Birthday – Long Black Veil

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