From The Archives: Sam Baker - Live At The Anchor Inn 12/4/07

Thought I would repost some Sam Baker in honor of his new album Cotton coming out Sept. 1st. Cotton will be the final disc of the Mercy Trilogy, and includes the excellent Mercy and Pretty World (which I'm sure some of my longtime readers are already familiar with). If you're not familiar with the mesmerizing and dare I say it life changing music of Sam Baker, then this will be an excellent intro.

If Mercy and Pretty World are any indication of what Cotton will sound like.....it will likely be one of the best albums of the year. You can pre-order Cotton through Amazon (currently not available through his webstore). If you do pre-order it through Amazon be sure to let songs:Illinois know about it so he can get back to blogging ;)

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In case the other one wasn't enough for you, here's more Sam Baker. With more songs, more stories, same low levels. What that means is that while there is no disputing the awesomeness of this show (and it is indeed awesome), just like the other one you will need to crank the volume to fully appreciate it. I love that this one has more songs and more banter though. You can tell he is a lot more comfortable in front of an english speaking audience. I bet he's even more comfortable in front of a texas speaking audience :P. Love the fact that Psychic is on here too. Probably my favorite song off his new one.

Also am I the only one who thinks he looks like a cross between a beardless Willie Nelson and a muscleless Triple H?

http://www.sambakermusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/sambakermusic
Buy his stuff here


MP3 @ 128
Sam Baker - Live At The Anchor Inn

James McMurtry - Choctaw Bingo (Acoustic) (Vid)

killer acoustic version of possibly the greatest song ever!

Truesounds - Summer '09

Ok, so this quarter you guys get a double dose. There's was just too much new music I wanted you guys to hear and it was impossible to whittle down to one disc.

Disc 1

1. Tim Easton - Northbound

Reworking of the Doc Watson classic "Southbond", off his latest Porcupine

2. Son Volt - Jukebox of Steel

Off Jay and the gangs latest offering American Central Dust. Check out their awesome Tour Blog

3. Charlie Robison - Reconsider

One of the brothers Robison releases one of the finest country albums of the year, the excellent Beautiful Day

4. The Only Sons - We Will Get By

Formerly known as Ribbonpigeon, these guys are still offering their album Steel Hearts free via download off their site

5. Justin Townes Earle - Can't Hardly Wait

JT figures out just what one of the greatest college rock songs of all time needed....MANDOLIN! Off his latest Midnight At The Movies

6. Drive By Truckers - Play It All Night Long

Warren Zevon cover off the upcoming B-Sides collection The Fine Print reminds me why I fell in love with this band in the first place

7. Sons of Bill - Never Saw It Coming

One of my new favorites, this song is off their excellent latest album One Town Away

8. The Devil Makes Three - Aces and Twos

Another new favorite, these guys make it sound so easy. Off their latest album Do Wrong Right

9. Scott Miller - Feel So Fair To Midland

10. Scott Miller - Double Indemnity

Okay, so I had to put these songs together...I mean it would be like playing Zep's Heartbreaker without Living Loving Maid....it's just not right. Off Scott's latest For Crying Out Loud

11. Ha Ha Tonka - Hold My Feet In The Fire

Off these guy's latest album Novel Sounds from The Nouveau South

12. Jason Isbell - However Long

Jason is keeping the soul alive with another soulful cut off his latest self titled album

13. Chuck Ragan & Austin Lucas - Bloody Shells

This one is actually off the album Bristle Ridge from last year...but hey, I just discovered it and thought you guys should too

14. Those Darlins - Wild One

Off the debut album from these three women who somehow sound like a mix of The Runaways and Anita Carter

15. Wayne Hancock - Moving On #3

Off honky tonk revivalist Wayne Hancock's latest Viper of Melody

16. Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - Marie Marie

Dave Alvin revives an old Blasters song with a little help from his friends. Off his latest Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women

17. Owen Temple - I Don't Want To Do What I Do

From his new album Dollars and Dimes...which is a big hit in Europe apparently

18. Chuck Mead - A Long Time Ago

Former member of BR5-49 releases his first solo album Journeyman's Wager....this song is from it

19. Mark Jungers & The Whistling Mules - Remorse Waltz

Off his latest live album called Whistle This

20. Houston Marchman - Long Gone

Bluesy title track from Houston Marchman's latest

21. Buddy & Julie Miller - Smooth

Just a song off Americana's reigning King & Queen's album Written In Chalk

Disc 2

1. Scott H. Biram - Sinkin' Down

Off Scott's latest Something's Wrong/Lost Forever

2. Gurf Morlix - One More Second

Buffalo native and producer extroidanaire Gurf Morlix returns with the easy on the ears Last Exit To Happy Land

3. The Dexateens - Grandaddy's Mouth

Grandaddy's say the darnedest things, off their latest (and maybe their best) Singlewide

4. Magnolia Electric Co. - Whip-Poor-Will

Jason Molina and company are back with one of the most refined albums of the year, the epic and soulful Josephine

5. Steve Earle - Rake

Steve Earle's take on one of Townes Van Zandt's most haunting songs. Off the aptly titles Townes

6. Cody Canada - Shades Of Gray

Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman's take on one of Robert Earle Keen's most haunting songs. Off the Undone Tribute to REK

7. Todd Snider - Money, Compliments, Publicity

Todd pulls a Terry Allen impression with this one off his latest The Excitement Plan. Go buy it to help Todd achieve more of the title of this song

8. Patterson Hood - Graddaddy

Drive By Trucker co-frontman is ready for the good life of the elderly with this song off his latest solo album Murdering Oscar

9. Steppin' In It - The Long Haul

Maybe Michigan's best kept secret, off their excellent album from last year Simple Tunes For Troubled Times

10. Jessica Lea Mayfield - I Can't Lie To You

Off last years Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) produced album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt

11. Sarah Jarosz - Song Up In Her Head

Title track of Bluegrass prodigy and phenom Sarah Jarosz's first album

12. The Fox Hunt - Train On The Island

Off their latest tribute to old time appalachian music America's Working Hard So We Don't Have To

13. William Elliot Whitmore - Johnny Law

Old blues man in a young mans body doesn't like getting arrested. Off his latest Animals In The Dark

14. The Felice Brothers - Run Chicken Run

Rousing number off their latest Yonder Is The Clock

15. Levon Helm - Growing Trade

Off the living legend's latest album Electric Dirt

16. Ryan Bingham - Wishing Well

Off the former rodeo rider's second major album, this year's Roadhouse Sun

17. Slaid Cleaves - Green Mountains and Me

Off Slaid's latest masterpiece Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away

18. Deano Waco - Maid Of The Mist

Going over Niagra Falls in a barrel is always a great idea. Off the Deano Waco/Meat Purveyors collaboration album Deano Meats The Purveyors (available for free download)

19. Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware Your Only Friend

Prolific Will Oldham gets in touch with his countrier side, off this years Beware

whew...that was a lot of typin' and linkin'. Hope you guys enjoy.

MP3 @ 128

Truesounds - Summer '09 (Disc 1)

Truesounds - Summer '09 (Disc 2)

Todd Snider & The Nervous Wrecks - Devil You Know (Vid)

just watch the damn thing!

Random news: Ransom Pride Trailer, Todd Snider Book, Chris Knight Pre-Order, etc...

Just some random tidbits here:

• Last Rites of Ransom Pride (outdated and non-representative of the real movie) trailer is now online and viewable, this is the movie that stars Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam, and script by Ray Wylie Hubbard (more info on the site) EDIT: According to Judy Hubbard this is not the trailer for the movie, rather a scene that was shot last year to drum up support for the movie. The real movie is set to debut at this year's Toronto Film Festival in September. More info here. Here's to hoping an official trailer comes out soon.

• Todd Snider divulged in a recent interview with Paste that he is working on a book based on his infamous stories. Said he gave the writer Dennis Cook a copy of the Moondawg's Tavern boot, a few phone numbers, and told him to find the "real story". Book is going to be called "Almost Everything I Say Is True"

• Chris Knight announced The Trailer Tapes II will be released this September, but....BUT!...you can pre-order now and get an immediate download & get the physical CD in the mail (some have already gotten their's, and early reviews are that this thing is as good as the first Trailer Tapes)

• Good news for you Backsliders fans out there. Chip Robinson (lead singer of The Backsliders) has a new one coming out in November on Red River Records called Mylow, which can also be pre-ordered and they will feature custom packaging, signature, and early shipment

• Speaking of, Red River Records is run by Kasey Anderson, who has announced an EP of four additional songs taken from the session for his Way Out West album released earlier this year. EP will be available on August 25th, and pre-orders get access to an exclusive bonus track

Tim Easton - The Berkely Cafe - Raleigh, NC 5/12/09

Some of you may already be familiar with Tim Easton. Some of you like me may have been introduced to Easton with the excellent Easton Stagger Phillips album from last year, or maybe his new album Porcupine (really great album BTW). For those who don't know Tim Easton at all, let me try to describe what to expect. To me he reminds me a lot of Joe Ely....that country soul with rock and roll swagger.

If you like bluesy riffs, great guitar playing, music that shifts effortlessly from straight rockin' out (such as Burgundy Red) to introspective folk (such as the excellent Stones Throw Away), excellent finger picking, crying in your beer, and lyrics that have a knack for sticking to your brain....all rooted soundly in traditional folk, country, & blues....chances are high you may like this. Damn, that description sounds like it could be for Blue Mountain, The Bottle Rockets, or possibly DBT....certainly fans of those bands would find something to enjoy with Tim Easton. He's a little more folk oriented than those bands though. I'm thinking Scott Miller fans may want to give this a listen too.

Sound on this is a little rough at first with the guitar way up in the mix, luckily that is quickly fixed and until the unplugged songs at the end you got some great sound on this one....like a B+ overall. Standout tracks are the aforementioned Stones Throw Away, the rocking Porcupine, Black Dog, Not Today, Carry Me, All The Pretty Girls Leave Town, Festival Song....well alot of these songs are making me want to explore Tim's back catalog. Highlight for me though is the reworking of Doc Watson's "Southbound" into the rollicking twangfest "Northbound", and then the cover of "Southbound" later in the set played in the same fashion.

MP3 @ VBR (High Quality)

Tim Easton - The Berkely Cafe

The Fox Hunt - We Know This Town/Crackshot (Video)

Another band I'll be talking about later but you folks can enjoy now

Sons Of Bill - Broken Bottles (Video)

Been thoroughly enjoying the new Sons Of Bill album One Town Away. More on that later, right now you can enjoy this song off of that album. Features the killer line "Hank Williams might have been a lovesick drinker, but being a lovesick drunk don't make you hank"

From The Archives: Murder Ballads & Song's About Killin'

Just another request. This was the first comp I ever made for the site, way back in April & May of 2007.
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Per request, here is a collection of murder ballads and other songs about killin'. I was surprised at how many I actually found in my collection, but I narrowed the scope down to more traditional sounding songs which meant I had to cut alot of good stuff like Steve Earle's "Billy Austin" & "The Devil's Right Hand", DBT's "Nine Bullets", "Decoration Day", & "Cottonseed", Old 97's "The Other Shoe", Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues" & "Sound of Laughter", Hendrix's "Hey Joe".....lots of good stuff, but I think what I came up with has a much more consistent flow.
I'm gonna give a brief description of each song Harry Smith style, so here goes:

1. Knoxville Girl by The Louvin Brothers
'Willy' (he seems to be the protagonist in alot of these songs) beats his 'Knoxville girl' to death with a stick then drags her by her hair and throws her into the Tennessee river.

2. Pretty Polly by Ralph Stanley & Patty Loveless
This is my favorite version of this song. 'Willy' lures 'Pretty Polly' into the woods and stabs her in the heart because she won't marry him, he then burys her in the grave he dug "the biggest part of last night".

3. Little Sadie by Doc Watson
You may know the more familiar "Cocaine Blues", this is the song it is derived from. Man kills 'Little Sadie' with a .44, he is then hunted down, arrested, and tried.

4. Little Glass of Wine by The Stanley Brothers
'Willy' wants to marry 'Molly', but she wants to wait a year. He then finds her dancing with another man and poisons her and himself.

5. Omie Wise by Doc Watson
True story of the murder of Naomi Wise by John Lewis in North Carolina circa 1808. John Lewis drowns Omie Wise whose body is found days later by 2 fisherman.

6. Pretty Daughter by The Bad Livers
A man who doesn't want his daughter to marry and leave him alone finds her in the woods with 'a boy from town' and kills him with a pick-axe.

7. Delia's Gone by Johnny Cash
An old traditional song that Johnny Cash brought to the mainstream. A man ties Delia to a chair in her parlor and shoots her for being low down and triflin'.

8. The Lawson Family Murder by Doc Watson
Probably the most twisted song in this collection. Charlie Lawson kills his wife and 6 children then shoots himself in the heart on a Christmas evening.

9. Caleb Meyer by Gillian Welch
My favorite song off this collection. Caleb Meyer attempts to rape Nellie Cane whose husband has went to town. He pins her down but she reaches the neck of the whiskey bottle he threw down and uses it to slit his throat and kill him.

10. Westfall by Okkervil River
This one is a contemporary murder ballad. Tells the story of a young man who goes over to his friend Colin Kincaid's house in Westfall where they meet up with 2 girls from Kenwood Christian and he ends up murdering one of them.

11. Country Death Song by Violent Femmes
A man kills his youngest daughter by throwing her in the well then hangs himself in the barn.

12. Polly Vaughn by The Dillards
A hunter accidentally shoots his true love mistaking her for a swan in the darkness.

13. Tom Dooley by Doc Watson
Probably the most famous murder ballad. Tom Dooley kills Laura Foster then burys her in a shallow grave on the hillside. Based on the real life murder of Laura Foster by Tom Dula.

14. John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man by Anita Carter
This is an old Carter Family song. John Hardy kills a man on the West Virginia line, he is caught and hanged.

15. Henry Lee by Dick Justice
A woman kills Henry Lee with a pen knife and hides his body in a well because he loves another more than her.

16. Philadelphia Lawyer by Maddox Brothers & Rose
A cowboy kills the 'Philadelphia Lawyer' who lured his 'Hollywood Maid' away from him.

17. The Fate of Dewey Lee by The Carter Family
True story of the murder of Dewey Lee in Virginia circa 1931 who was killed by Joe Jenkins during a night of drinking for an unknown reason.

18. Otto Wood the Bandit by Doc Watson
Otto Wood gets in an argument with a pawnshop clerk and shoots him dead. He is then arrested, escapes, shot and arrested again, escapes and finally killed by two sheriffs in a southern town.

19. Stagger Lee by Taj Mahal
An old traditional blues song. Stagger Lee kills Billy during a game of craps.

20. Banks of the Ohio by Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs & Allison Krauss
An old traditional song, some people think this is a retelling of the same murder sung about in "Pretty Polly". A man proposes marriage to a young woman on the banks of the ohio river, when she refuses he drowns her.

21. Frankie and Johnny by Merle Haggard
An old Jimmie Rodgers tune, but I like this Haggard version off his Rodgers tribute album. Frankie shoots Johnny 3 times with a .44 when she finds him making love to Nelly Bly.

22. Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On by Tom T. Hall
Johnny goes on a shooting spree in 1944 killing all the people who called him a coward for not being able to enlist during WWII.

23. Cedartown Georgia by Waylon Jennings
A man kills his wife with a .22 when he catches her cheating on him.

24. Blue Rock Montana by Willie Nelson
A man kills his wife and the man she was cheating on him with in a tavern in Blue Rock Montana.

Murder Ballads & Songs About Killin'

Murder Ballads Alt Link

From The Archives: Jerry Jeff Walker & Joe Ely - Live At Antone's 1983

Just filling requests here, and trying to take care of all my dead links. If you haven't heard the new Flatlanders album Hills & Valleys, you should check that out too.

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Here's some honky tonk for ya. You can almost smell the beer while listening to this one. This thing is cool. Mostly a Jerry Jeff affair but what Joe lacks in quantity, he more than makes up for with quality. The last few tracks feature a few familiar names coming up on stage singing as well.

MP3 @ 192
Jerry Jeff & Joe Ely - Live At Antones

Jerry Jeff & Joe - Antone's Alt Link