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Wow, I haven’t been on this forum in a long, long time and am overwhelmed by all of the great news and information.
Sorry if these have been mentioned before, but what about these songs from Folkscene1985, which includes “All I want”
In my girlish days
Lover of the Hour
This is not my townAnd from 1981:
Song for a Jewelry Maker
I also got a 3 cd “set” off ebay a long time ago that compiled most of the songs Lucinda had done with other artists, and for releases other than her own albums. It has about 60 tracks on it. I don’t know if that would be any help, some of it is listed on her wikipedia page or Lucinda fan sites on the web.
I would love for her to bust out these real oldies:
1.) This is not my town
2.) Song for a Jewerly Maker
3.) All I wantOut of those 3 I really think she should record “This is not my town” on an upcoming record, it’s that good.
From stuff she didn’t write, I agree with those that have been mentioned already.
1.) Lately
2.) Nothin’
3.) Pyramid of Tears
4.) You Don’t Have Very Far To Go
plenty of othersFactory Blues, Am I too Blue, Memphis Pearl, Hot Blood, Sharp Cutting Wings would all be great as well.
Having trouble thinking off the top of my head right now….
Way to make a list Ripley! Hopefully this will spark some great intellectual discussion, lists are just lists but a great way to start digging deeper into everything. I’m double checking mine now before I post. I have a list of every Lucinda song ranked top to bottom but it changes so often I don’t know if I feel comfortable posting it just yet, but will post my album for album like you did. Just a few comments on yours for now –
Sweet Side very far down – I take it you don’t dig the talking blues or “hip-billy” style as she said in an interview haha
I think Passionate Kisses is one of the greatest pop songs ever written, right up there with some of my other go-to songs like Prince “When u were mine”.
On my list of all Lucinda songs 2 Kool 2 be forgotten is at the very top. I think it has the best lines she has ever written:
Leaning against the railing of a Lake Charles bridge
Overlooking the river leaning over the edge
He asked me baby would you jump into the water with me
I told him no way baby that’s your own death you seeI think “Minneapolis” might be the most underrated song she has
I saw you mentioned Transamerica/Like a Rose in another post. I think it is an amazing use of music in a very powerful scene and the song sounded absolutely incredible in full surround sound in the theater. I thought the film was pretty standard “road movie” structure for the first half, but a GREAT second half.
It’s amazing to think about songs that seem relatively simple in the grand scheme of things, like Price to Pay, Lines Around Your Eyes, Over Time, to name a few, and to see the depths which she takes them to which almost any other artist can’t do.
Why no Happy Woman Blues and Little Honey?
Wow, I thought this thread was going to inspire a great number of replies and we could have some long, intelligent Lucinda discussions like the ones that used to take place on the Offical Fan Club board (could it be that I actually miss being ripped off for $30?) Anyway, good effort Ripley, and everyone else who has posted. I was thinking about putting up a Survivor type thread I’ve seen on other boards, where you go album by album and vote for the best/worst songs on each album until you have 1 song for each album, and then all the best songs face off against each other as a way of determining what the board’s best Lucinda songs are. But I don’t know if there would be enough responses to do something like that.
Ripley – I don’t really understand the “transitional” comment about SOW, I feel like the production stands on its own separate and different from her other albums. It might sound more similar to Self-titled, but I don’t see much hinting at Car Wheels unless you are referring to Gurf’s version of Car Wheels(a version I think pales in comparison to the released version), and then I would def. agree with you. By transitional do you mean kind of stuck in space, unsure of itself and its direction? I do agree it is one of her more overt albums thematically, in fact I would say it is definitely her most overt, something I think works in its favor. In terms of artistic point of view I feel the expression of overwhelming compassion/empathy in the face of tragedy/sadness is clear enough for me (obv there is much more to the album but just off the top of my head without having much time to think it out now I offer that simplistic POV haha) I think the production is even throughout, and overall is one of her most cohesive. How do you compare SOW to the versions that are on the CBS demos? I was listening to those the other day and the production sounded better than I remember, and I forgot about the many lyrical changes i.e. He Never Got Enough Love.
World Without Tears was the first new album for me after becoming a fanatic, and while I didn’t feel anger, I did get a strong sense of “this just isn’t as good” which kicked in about halfway through the album (long after Fruits of my Labor of course :)), but that subsided fairly quickly as well as I was proven wrong. I guess West is self-indulgent, and instead of transcending pain, one could interpret it as asking the listener to identify and feel only with HER pain and not the collective pain. I don’t know if that is what she is asking though, as I initially found the album to be the most withholding thing I had ever listened to, an album that had intentionally put barriers up at every turn. I guess that could also be classified as self-indulgent.
Steve – Here in CA is a great song indeed. I feel like most of Lucinda’s non-album songs and covers almost always wind up being A material. I have a 3 disc set of her non-album stuff and I wound up losing one of them ( still holding out hope) but sooooo much great material there.
And you are right about West. Most of the songs, taken on their own, are great or near great (although I don’t agree on What If and Learning How to Live). The problem I continue to have with the album is the track order and the way it flows into and within the second half. I listened to it all the way through the other day and for the most part it seemed OK, better than before so I guess it depends on my mood, location, and time of the day. Adding to your list I think West, Unsuffer Me are bot very good, Words is pretty good and I think could benefit from a different style production, and Everything Has Changed is a revelation, one of her best as ripley mentioned before.
I’ll keep my own comments short and simple, once you get started talking/writing about Lucinda you don’t stop.
Ripley – I’m interested in hearing further about your problems with SOW. I think almost every track is a near-masterpiece to masterpiece and it remains my favorite Lucinda album to this day. I’m also interested in your further thoughts on West, I’ve seen you ripping it to shreds in some other threads and have been preparing a post about it for awhile now as it’s the most divisive album in her catalogue and am interested in how people view it now after so much time to let it sink in and getting over the dissolution of the luv band. (going to give it a few more listens before I post my final thoughts)
Ray – It also took me awhile to appreciate West. It was the most disastrous first listen (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th) to an album I’ve ever had, but I’ve come to almost love it now. It takes a lot of time, patience, and understanding to really get what Lucinda was trying to do with that record, and once you do you can begin to appreciate all the beauty in it. There were a lot of keys to unlocking that record for me, I’ll post more on those in my upcoming treatise on West 🙂
1.) Car Wheels (5/5) – Masterpiece. Top 10 albums all time. Every track is great, her most cohesive.
2.) Lucinda Williams (5/5) – Masterpiece. Top 50 albums all time. Every track is great.
3.) Sweet Old World (5/5) – Masterpiece. Top 100 albums all time. One of the most compassionate albums ever made. Every track is great
4.) Essence (4.5/5) My favorite vocal album from Lucinda (I think Car Wheels bridged the gap in Lucinda going from being a good singer to a great singer) and I love the production sound -one of the best mood albums I’ve heard. I Envy the Wind, Blue, Essence, Reason to Cry are some of her best. I have mild issues with the songwriting on Broken Butterflies(verbose) and Bus to Baton Rouge even though I enjoy listening to them.
5.) World Without Tears (4.5/5). Some of her best songs (Fruits of my Labor, Sweet Side, Those Three Days) and possibly her worst (American Dream). I’d say Essence and WWT are about even in terms of song quality, but Essence is far more cohesive.
6.) West (4/5) – Some of her best lyrics (Are you Alright, Wrap My Head Around That, Rescue, Everything Has Changed), many great songs, an amazing studio band, some stuff bogged down by overlong/oppressive production, and possibly her worst song (What If). One of the most challenging albums I’ve heard.
7.) Little Honey(3.5-3.75/5) Probably will post a longer review of this like a lot of other people have once I have time, for now – good collection of songs with a natural flow and a great band. There isn’t a track on here that I would classify as a masterpiece (a first for a Lucinda album IMO) but most of the songs are good-great, some real good ones in Circles and X’s, If Wishes Were Horses, Knowing, Honey Bee, Well Well Well, Heaven Blues), a few missteps (Rarity, even though I think a few of the verses are beautiful, and It’s a Long Way to the Top) I also prefer the live version of Little Rock Star, the 2005 stark and lonely version of Tears of Joy I heard in Minneapolis which took me to another place, and a version of Jailhouse Tears that has a duet partner more suited to the song (and yes, I am a fan of a lot of Costello’s work). I think the version of Real Love turned out really nice from what it began as in 2005, Honey Bee sounds far better than I expected, and Knowing grows richer each time I listen to it after initially not liking it as much as the live versions from 2005. Dougy P continues to be one of the best guitarists working today.
8.) Happy Woman Blues (3.5/5) Great songwriting, great collection of tunes, terrible production. This is one of my favorite driving albums, and while the production tries to kill many of the songs, the songwriting is just too good to die throughout the whole thing. One masterpiece in Sharp Cutting Wings.
9.) Ramblin’ (3/5) It is what it is, nothing more, nothing less. One of those albums I bring out from time to time and am always surprised by how listenable it is. Great version of Satisfied Mind.
Awesome, awesome band. I saw them last month at the Bowery Ballroom for the 4th time and each show has been spectacular (except for opening for Lucinda at Radio City, a venue that doesn’t suit them at all, when the volume was so low you could barely hear them). The loss of Mike/Kevin hurts, they were 2/3 of one of the tightest and best live bands I’ve seen, great musicians and great guys who would stay for hours after a show talking to fans, but the new lineup is still very good and put on a great show. I know they have added some more people and instruments for the record, at the show they had a violin player on 4-5 tracks. I’m happy to report that all the new tracks they played sound great and I’m really excited for the new record. If you don’t have their two albums go buy them today on CD and vinyl and go to all the shows you can! There was also a great moment during the show when Erika started playing a new song solo on acoustic guitar and only made it through the first verse before saying (paraphrasing) “i’m not going to continue playing until you all shut up”, standing there until everyone was quiet, slyly smiling, and then starting the song over.
a little bird just told me that both sets of the Minneapolis First Avenue show are on dimeadozen now.
Np Lefty
Tom – If you like Don’t Fall in Love I think you’ll really like their first full length album “Down the river of golden dreams”. I don’t listen to their two early EPs (Stars too small to use and Don’t fall in love) too much but on your recommendation I’ll be checking out all of Don’t Fall in Love again. I usually just listen to Kansas City, Westfall, and Okkervil River Song. If you like Westfall you will def LOVE the live version on their Overboard and Down EP. It is chilling, and that line “but get this, evil don’t look like anything” mmmmmmmmm, lines that good don’t come around often.
Here’s a link to their covers from the road “Golden Opportunities” EP they put out last year. It was released as a free download. I really enjoy “April Anne”, “Do what you gotta do”, and “I came here to say i’m going away”
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/47584-okkervil-river-golden-opportunities-mixtape-mp3I haven’t gotten fully into their latest album, The Stand Ins, yet. But “Pop Lie” and “Lost Coastlines”(the single) are both great I think.
Enjoy the Okkervil River immersion!, if you take the trip 🙂
Peace
I’m a fan, particularly of Black Sheep Boy (and Appendix), Overboard and Down EP, and The Stage Names, but all their albums are good, Golden Opportunities has some great covers on it. Really good, sometimes great band with a few problems such as ocassional lyrics that border on misogyny, and them sometimes turning into a awkwardly minimalist or almost non-existent backing band for Will Sheff mopey poetry slam. When the band is amped up and firing on all cylinders, or creating lush sonic landscapes a la Black Sheep Boy, is when I think they are at their best. Although some of the slow, acoustic, overly wordy songs work well too 🙂
Lefty – I recommend starting with Black Sheep Boy once you get around to it.
I’ve never been able to figure out why Masters of War wasn’t included on Live at the Fillmore. The two versions she did at the very end of the 2004 tour might be the best covers I’ve ever heard. Her voice was almost completely gone and she was screaming with such hate, her voice cracking as the Luv band slowly builds and builds creating an apocalyptic rage that feels like its raining fire down on everyone over the course of nine minutes……..it had a momentum and intensity that this version lacks. I was hoping this ep would include the 2004 version, although listening to the different arrangement is cool.
The version of Hate Machines is good as always, and I like the version of For What It’s Worth more than others I’ve heard, and Bone of Contention has also gotten better, more intense.
Overall well worth the purchase as always 🙂
Oh c’mon. Neither Elvis Costello or Doug fit with this song at all. Doug is one of my favorite guitar players and I think he does an amazing job on backing vocals but he can’t sing Jailhouse Tears. I will always love Elvis for The Pogues Rum,Sodomy and The Lash and his own Imperial Bedroom which remain two of my favorite albums ever, and I will always love Dougy P, but Jailhouse Tears screamed for a gritty serious vocal with perhaps a tongue in cheek humor. Lucinda should have gotten Keith Richards or Hank 3, or someone that could do the song justice or just not recorded it at all.
I also don’t see what the big fuss is with the CMT Elvis and Lucinda show, yea Lucinda is amazing on her own songs and provides amazing vocals to Elvis’s songs (especially indoor fireworks), but Elvis can’t sing with her. The only person I have ever been satisfied with singing along with Lucinda in a great fashion is Jim Lauderdale. Not saying that he should have done the duet on Jailhouse Tears, but it really takes a special talent to augment Lucinda’s voice like she has done to so many other countless artists throughout the years.
I love Elvis, but I hated their duet when they did it live, and I can’t imagine I will like it anymore on the album.
Doug’s CD is quite good, but don’t go into it thinking it is going to be a guitar heavy album, quite the opposite. The two Doug/Lucinda covers are both great, I think Lucinda recorded both of them when her vocal chords were shredded but I love the interpretations. Doug’s cover of “Into the Mystic” is great and “Little Man” sounds like early 1970’s Rod Stewart which is a high compliment.
That is really odd that the link on Doug’s website doesn’t work though. I know when I ordered it a few years ago there was a problem and I had to e-mail them about it, but I did wind up receiving it.
