This week I finally purchased master songwriter Guy Clark's latest CD, My Favorite Picture Of You, for a mere $5 through Amazon. It had been four years since his last release of new material and that period has been difficult for the 72 year old. Just check out the cover. That's a photo of his late wife, Susanna, after she found her husband drunk with Townes Van Zandt.The love of his life passed away in 2012 and My Favorite Picture Of You displays the heartache Clark must feel: A curse on your lips but all I can see / Is beautiful. All the songs were either written or co-written by Clark, except for Lyle Lovett's "The Waltzing Fool". You will also hear some wonder harmonies supplied by Morgane Stapleton - listen to "Cornmeal Waltz", "Good Advice", and the title track. But don't get distracted by the simple beauty of these songs - they have meaning. For instance maybe that Good Advice isn't your place to give; or how dangerous illegal immigration can be for immigrants in “El Coyote”. My favorite track is the last, the blues infused “I’ll Show Me" co-written with Rodney Crowell. The song showcases Clark's talents as a guitarist in addition to his songwriting abilities -> plus more harmonies from Stapleton. Pair with Big Bend Brewing Co, located not far from Clark's birthplace of Monahans, Texas.
Joog: The term juke, as in Juke Joint or Juke Box, is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly. This is the blog for MyJoog.com - a listing of live music that anyone can update. Here we will focus on artists, venues, and shows that we experience through our travels. Visit MyJoog.com to find live music in your area. You can contact us at info (at) myjoog.com.
Showing posts with label Townes Van Zandt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Townes Van Zandt. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture Of You
This week I finally purchased master songwriter Guy Clark's latest CD, My Favorite Picture Of You, for a mere $5 through Amazon. It had been four years since his last release of new material and that period has been difficult for the 72 year old. Just check out the cover. That's a photo of his late wife, Susanna, after she found her husband drunk with Townes Van Zandt.The love of his life passed away in 2012 and My Favorite Picture Of You displays the heartache Clark must feel: A curse on your lips but all I can see / Is beautiful. All the songs were either written or co-written by Clark, except for Lyle Lovett's "The Waltzing Fool". You will also hear some wonder harmonies supplied by Morgane Stapleton - listen to "Cornmeal Waltz", "Good Advice", and the title track. But don't get distracted by the simple beauty of these songs - they have meaning. For instance maybe that Good Advice isn't your place to give; or how dangerous illegal immigration can be for immigrants in “El Coyote”. My favorite track is the last, the blues infused “I’ll Show Me" co-written with Rodney Crowell. The song showcases Clark's talents as a guitarist in addition to his songwriting abilities -> plus more harmonies from Stapleton. Pair with Big Bend Brewing Co, located not far from Clark's birthplace of Monahans, Texas.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
New Music
We've received a lot of new music recently and there are a few we'd like to share. First, we finally got our hands on Steve Earle's latest CD, Townes
, songs by Townes Van Zandt. The first two tracks (Pancho And Lefty and White Freightliner Blues) are worth the price of the CD by themselves, let alone our other two favorites: Delta Momma Blues and No Place To Fall. The second CD, is Stockholm Syndrome from singer-songwriter Derek Webb. This CD is the first we've heard from the artist, although he gave 80,000 free downloads of his previous CD Mockingbird in 2006. Initially his music was a little too electronic for my tastes - but I found myself listening to the CD over and over again. Its a nice CD to have playing around the house or with the head phones at work. I particularly liked the latter tracks, Heaven and American Flag Umbrella, where I think he more strongly weaves story lines into the lyrics. I look forward to seeing him in one of two shows at Jammin' Java in late September.
We were very fortunate to receive a copy of Not That Lucky, the latest release form one of our favorite Texan bands: Two Tons of Steel. And this CD did not disappoint; not surprising since it was produced by legendary Lloyd Maines, who also contributes background vocals on a couple tracks. The best part of the CD is that that no two songs are quite the same. "Hold Over Me" has a punk flavor; "Long Road to Heaven" more rock-ish. The title track has a great guitar solo as does "Wanna Dance". I really liked their version of "Run To You", but I'm a little fatigued listening to "Alcohol and Pills" - considering it was recorded in a recent release by Todd Snider and arecent live performance by Fred Eaglesmith. Farther down the line, "Bad Attitude" may be my favorite song: "Trouble knows all about me". The CD ends with a western swing - "Bottom of the Bottle" - a nice bookend with the rockabilly Cry'n Eyes. I really love this band and would like to finally see them live - in a more raw setting, Texas style.
The biggest surprise came from listening to Colin Hay and American Sunshine. Since his days fronting Men at Work, Hay has lived in this country for the past 20 years in this CD contains some aspects from his adopted California as well as some influences from Nashville. The first track, "Oh, California" really sets the tone. It has a reggae - surf flavor - nice maracas and the vocals have a Randy Newman quality. Actually most of the vocals reminded me of Mr. Newman. The reggae beat continues for the next two tracks - but I really liked "Broken Love" - with its more rootsy feel. The same holds for "I Can't Get Up out of this Bed". Make sure you listen to the end. The last three are really good, particularly "Baby, Can I see You Tonight?". For us, this was a surprisingly good CD - basically because Colin Hay has been absent from our record collection for the past two decades. This won't happen again during the next two.
, songs by Townes Van Zandt. The first two tracks (Pancho And Lefty and White Freightliner Blues) are worth the price of the CD by themselves, let alone our other two favorites: Delta Momma Blues and No Place To Fall. The second CD, is Stockholm Syndrome from singer-songwriter Derek Webb. This CD is the first we've heard from the artist, although he gave 80,000 free downloads of his previous CD Mockingbird in 2006. Initially his music was a little too electronic for my tastes - but I found myself listening to the CD over and over again. Its a nice CD to have playing around the house or with the head phones at work. I particularly liked the latter tracks, Heaven and American Flag Umbrella, where I think he more strongly weaves story lines into the lyrics. I look forward to seeing him in one of two shows at Jammin' Java in late September.We were very fortunate to receive a copy of Not That Lucky, the latest release form one of our favorite Texan bands: Two Tons of Steel. And this CD did not disappoint; not surprising since it was produced by legendary Lloyd Maines, who also contributes background vocals on a couple tracks. The best part of the CD is that that no two songs are quite the same. "Hold Over Me" has a punk flavor; "Long Road to Heaven" more rock-ish. The title track has a great guitar solo as does "Wanna Dance". I really liked their version of "Run To You", but I'm a little fatigued listening to "Alcohol and Pills" - considering it was recorded in a recent release by Todd Snider and arecent live performance by Fred Eaglesmith. Farther down the line, "Bad Attitude" may be my favorite song: "Trouble knows all about me". The CD ends with a western swing - "Bottom of the Bottle" - a nice bookend with the rockabilly Cry'n Eyes. I really love this band and would like to finally see them live - in a more raw setting, Texas style.
The biggest surprise came from listening to Colin Hay and American Sunshine. Since his days fronting Men at Work, Hay has lived in this country for the past 20 years in this CD contains some aspects from his adopted California as well as some influences from Nashville. The first track, "Oh, California" really sets the tone. It has a reggae - surf flavor - nice maracas and the vocals have a Randy Newman quality. Actually most of the vocals reminded me of Mr. Newman. The reggae beat continues for the next two tracks - but I really liked "Broken Love" - with its more rootsy feel. The same holds for "I Can't Get Up out of this Bed". Make sure you listen to the end. The last three are really good, particularly "Baby, Can I see You Tonight?". For us, this was a surprisingly good CD - basically because Colin Hay has been absent from our record collection for the past two decades. This won't happen again during the next two.
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