Merle Haggard - The Land Of Many Churches
Merle Haggard's tributes to Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills are well-known to contemporary fans, but few know that in 1971 Haggard recorded another one, an album he called "a sort of tribute to an old friend of mine, who is truly #1. Of course," he went
Ray Charles - Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection
When Willie Nelson celebrated his 60th birthday with a televised bash in Austin a few years ago, his musical guests ranged from B.B. King to Bob Dylan to Lyle Lovett. All had come to pay homage to Nelson, but there was one other artist to whom both host and
Karen Dalton - It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best
"Karen always seemed like a Gothic cathedral in ruins, and I always felt that I needed to restore her."
-- Peter Stampfel,
from the liner notes
Karen Dalton's voice bends and breaks, trembles with tension and curls itself round her banjo and guitar much like a
X - Beyond & Back: The X Anthology / The Blasters - American Music
If you were to hear the Blasters' "Marie Marie" and X's "Hungry Wolf" back-to-back, you might not think much connected them. One sounds as if it's coming from the neighborhood bar, the other from the garage of a broken home. But
Oblivians - ...Play 9 Songs With Mr. Quintron
Ive never been much of a churchgoer. I grew up with a dearth of Christian spirituals in my household, having been raised in an ultra-reform Jewish family. Except for the annual family reunion in a teeny town outside of Montgomery, where my uncle owned the local Piggly Wiggly, I never
Barbara Manning - 1212
Barbara Manning's music is difficult to pigeonhole; it's more indie-pop than folk, but her breezy, matter-of-fact phrasings send you searching outside the rock canon for comparison. Over a 13-year career, solo and with bands such as World Of Pooh and SF Seals, she has developed a