Lafayette

@tntracy wrote:

Well, the “Rooster” poster showed up again in eBay today (from the same seller), but a certain someone from this forum has already snapped it up… 😆

Tom

…going, going, gone!

This was a blog I found (he used “BTBL” I filmed at Stuart’s). Wisconsin based author.

http://www.wingsforwheels.net/

My initial exposure to Lucinda Williams was when Mary-Chapin Carpenter had a massive crossover hit in 1993 with WIlliams’ “Passionate Kisses.” Over the next few years, I heard songs by her on albums by Emmylou Harris (“Sweet Old World“) and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (“Change The Locks”), so I bought her 1998 breakthrough Car Wheels On A Gravel Road when it came out, fully expecting her to live up to my expectations.

At the time I wasn’t too familiar with Americana and didn’t fully trust my instincts. But someone I knew, who was much more well-versed in the genre, didn’t see what the fuss was all about, and, although I thought was pretty good, I let him make up my mind for me. I put the CD on the back shelf and, except for the occasional appearance on a compilation, didn’t really follow her career too much over the next decade.

But when I heard that she was coming out with a new album, Blessed, I dug up my copy of Car Wheels and decided to give it a new listen with fresh ears. I never should have listened to my friend, because it’s pretty damn amazing. And with many trusted critics saying that Blessed was her best album since Car Wheels, I was really looking forward to its release. Boy, does it live up to the hype.

Blessed kicks off in righteous fashion with “Buttercup,” a gloriously bitchy kiss-off. In a Jagger-esque drawl, she runs through a litany of an ex’s transgressions. But in the last verse, she turns the song around, blaming herself for having been repeatedly drawn back in by his looks and charm. It’s a trick only the best songwriters can pull off (notably Bruce Springsteen on “Brilliant Disguise”) and she knocks it out of the park.

For most of the album, Williams mines her familiar territory of adult love – good and bad – to great effect, notably on the title track, the closer, “Kiss Like Your Kiss,” and the slow, sensual, “Born To Be Loved.” But the middle of the disc features two songs where she beautifully explores new themes. “Seeing Black” is a probing look at the final days of singer-songwriter Vic Chestnutt, who killed himself on Christmas 2009, and “Soldier’s Song” finds Williams inhabiting the character of a soldier thinking about his wife and child back home as he surveys the carnage around him.

Blessed was produced by Don Was, Eric Liljestrand, and her new husband Tom Overby, who assembled a solid band of studio pros, including Greg Leisz on guitar and Rami Jaffee on keyboards. Matthew Sweet and Elvis Costello show up on background vocals without overpowering Williams. A Deluxe Edition is available with a second disc comprised of the demos Williams made of these same songs at her kitchen table with just her voice and acoustic guitar. But the demos are redundant because they don’t offer a different glimpse into the songs. Williams has already put everything into the studio versions. 

LOVE LOVE the bonus tracks. Add “Convince Me” (album version, extended version) to my list of favorites from “Blessed.”

TO, thanks for the added info on the “Ugly Truth” with Kris Kristofferson on background vocals. I love “behind the scenes embellishments” about songs.

This Chuck Prophet song, as we listened on tnt’s ipod while navigating the roads of Ohio, was one of my favorites. 😉 😀

Ooh Wee

http://new.music.yahoo.com/chuck-prophet/tracks/ooh-wee–1276875

I love road reports! Thanks, all!

Thank you!

@dr winston oboogie wrote:

Just a reminder of the Lucinda special with Bob Harris tonight folks.

Thanks for the reminder! Could you provide a link? AND is that UK time?