Mike Cooley - Live at The 40 Watt (2/25/2005)

So, here we have the third main songwriter of the Drive By Truckers, and the only one who doesn't have any kind of solo album. Listening to this makes you wonder why. Here Cooley is alone with his acoustic guitar playing whatever the crowd wants to hear. He runs through many Truckers' favorites, old and new, and even a few unreleased tracks. A couple of the songs like "Little Pony and The Great Big Horse" and an alternate version of "Uncle Frank" can be heard on the excellent new odds and ends album The Fine Print (have I said that enough across these last three posts?). This is a real treasure, and getting almost all of Cooley's songs together only cements the fact that he is an amazing songwriter and singer. My favorite tracks on here are of course the new ones I had never heard before, the drunk driving ballad "Three On The Tree", "Pulaski Tennessee", and my favorite unreleased one "Weakest Man". Also of interest is an early version of "Bob". The show ends with a killer one-two-three acoustic punch of "Marry Me", "Where The Devil Don't Stay" and "Daddy's Cup". Sound is a solid A-, not to be missed.

And a bonus for you Cooley fans, here is an interesting and insightful interview (because we rarely get to hear from the man) from when his song was featured in Rock Band. Check out this interesting quote: "I make more money off t-shirts. If you rip it, burn it, give it to somebody, and they come to a show and buy a ticket and a t-shirt, I profit more that way anyway, and then I've got a fan. Records are promotional items these days anyway"

MP3

Mike Cooley - Live At The 40 Watt