Kansas City?

Oh yeah -of course I forgot the whole point of the post above. Just wanted to make it clear, Stoger, that Lu is not espousing devil worship. The lyrics that you quoted are:

Don’t let the devil ride
Don’t let him ride with you
Don’t let him take your hand

A rather subtle difference I think 😮

I,too, love the backstory on the book and the song as well as your response to the unhappy fan. I hope he read it and walked away with a better understanding of the night’s events and less of a chip on his shoulder.

“Where Is My Love” made the setlist?? Very cool, even if it was scratched. That song was on my wish list of seldom heard songs.

Is Gilford outdooors Tim? I think I have an umbrella somewhere.

Review of stormy KC from the Kansas City Star.
Here is the link.
http://backtorockville.typepad.com/back_to_rockville/2011/05/review-lucinda-williams.html

Review: Lucinda Williams

Photos by Fred Blocher/The Star

The show mustn’t always go on, but this one did, despite the stormy weather and the inclement mood of the headliner.

Lucinda Williams performed Wednesday night at Crossroads KC, the outdoor venue behind Grinders. Bad weather had been forecast for days, and sure enough it arrived right around show time, with a vengeance: heavy rain, burly winds and some spectacular lightning.

Just before 9:30 p.m. , a light rain was still falling as Williams took the stage to play to what was left of the crowd — 500 or so, I’d say. It was hard to tell. She opened with three from “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” album — “Can’t Let Go,” “Right in Time” and “2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten” – then “Convince Me,” one from her latest album, “Blessed.”
All seemed copacetic at that point. She was in good voice and her band – David Sutton on bass, Butch Norton on drums and Blake Mills on guitar — sounded fine. She said she wouldn’t be saying much so she could get all her songs in before the weather got worse.

A few songs later, she thanked fans for sticking it out through the bad weather, and then complained about the venue not having places for people to take shelter during a storm. It was a strange rant, especially coming from someone who is part of the Woodstock generation. Extreme weather is always a threat to outdoor shows. Dealing with it, whether it’s heat or rain, is part of the experience. . (Coincidently, the weather was heavy during her July 2007 show at Crossroads KC, delaying the start and cutting short the opening set by Charlie Louvin.)

That mild diatribe was just a foreshadowing of what would come later. So would the title of her next song, “I Lost It,” another from the “Car Wheels,” her preferred album this evening. She was right about keeping the show moving, but the pace didn’t affect the performance. But it was raining harder, and blowing. Before “Buttercup” there was a false start, then a short consult with the band.

When that was done, they had barely started the next song when Williams detonated. She reads her lyrics from a notebook, through glasses, and the wind and rain were misting them. I was a little too far away, under shelter, to hear exactly what she was saying – something about “(bleeping) sprinkles” — but she threw a salty tantrum, and for a good eight to 10 seconds it seemed very likely that she would storm off stage.

But she gathered herself, recalibrated and then launched into “Out of Touch.” If the incident gave her any distemper, she poured it into her songs, especially the furious renditions of “Changed the Locks” and “Honey Bee.” As she left the stage when her set was done, she said she’d come back for encores if she were allowed to return, whatever that meant. She did return and threw down some more gutbucket blues, including a great version of “Don’t Let the Devil Take Your Mind.”

Overall it was an interesting and rewarding night for those who stuck around. I’d wish for Lucinda to get her joy back, but she took out some of that anger and frustration on her songs. For once, someone who grumbled about the weather did something about it.

Setlist: Can’t Let Go; Right In Time; 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten; Convince Me; I Lost It; Well Well Well; You Were Born To Be Loved; Lake Charles; Buttercup; Out of Touch; Bleeding Fingers; Essence; Changed the Locks; Honey Bee; Joy; Don’t Let the Devil Take Your Mind; Get Right With God.

| Timothy Finn, The Star.

lwj

@TOverby wrote:

The song Don’t Let The Devil Ride is one of those songs from gospel/blues history that has many many different versions that are variations on a basic theme and as a result many different writers take credit for it’s origin. The one that Lucinda heard is written by Ike Gordon and is on disc 3 of a 3 cd gospel/blues compilation called Fire in My Bones: Raw Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007). In fact there two versions on this record–on disc 1 the Mississippi NIghtingales do a song called Don’t Let Him Ride.

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/12-10-09-the-true-gospel/

A writeup about this very record. You can hear Ike’s version on embedded player following article.

@Lafayette wrote:

I’ve been updating Lu’s setlists on setlist.com and am having trouble deciding the artist to give credit to the song since there are purported mulitple artists taking credit. Suggestions, anyone?

I’d go with Ike Gordon.

lwj

I have seen Lucinda before at the Crossroads and this show was a disappointment. I was standing on a table under a table umbrella and still got soaked. Part of the charm of her shows is the conversation she has with her audience. She said she was cutting conversation out and she did with the exception of one long rant. She was mad and verbally upset with the circumstances, making a comment ‘you won’t see me touch the microphone’ along with several ‘F’ bombs. I love her music, but that was not a show I want to remember. You could tell her heart was not in it.

As I recall, Lu was really interested in becoming a character on Squidbillies. I think she would be perfect on that show with her drawal. Not sure on time commitments involved but it would be cool.