TS: Lone Justice or Cruzados or Drivin' & Cryin' or Green On Red or Del Fuegos or Jason & The Scorchers or Long Ryders or Bodeans?

This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes 1983--blasting their club set in a good li'l studio. No stereo-typical 80s glitz; like the booklet says, "quick and dirty," never blurry, though a few of the originals could use more well-thought-out trad lifts/folk process, a la "Soap Soup And Salvation," which makes well-timed use of "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder" without getting mawkish; good speedy, confident cover of "Jackson" too. "This Is World Is Not My Home" goes from Carter Family/Woody G. rumination to poignant-with-a-beat "Soap"-style convocation to whooo, ready to meet them angels with sum white line fever (this would be the punkabilly or cowpunk, I take it).

Oh yeah, and Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy turns out to be surprisingly lively-- not because of Phil's health probs, but mine: I was bored dead by a box of BBB several years ago. Phil's in fine voice, Dave sings okay, and of course plays his ass off, but only to enhance the material, as well he might. Gene Taylor tickles the ivories, and---although guests like LJ's Don Heffington also keep the rhythm section reet---can't help wishing they'd gotten Bazz and Bateman (who have often been live Blasters with Phil) back in there. But making it a full-fledged Blasters album---suggested title: Broonzy--- might bring back a lot of bad blood, which even seemed like it might bubble up in a couple moments of P&D's recent and v. brotherly Fresh Air interview. Common Ground AKA Truce, eh? I'll take it.

Lone Justice or Cruzados or Drivin' & Cryin' or Green On Red or Del Fuegos or Jason & The Scorchers or Long Ryders or Bodeans?

Alex, What is Mitchell Froom?

I love this thread. Probably the best of the lot is the first Maria McKee (Can't Pull The Wool Down, Drinkin' In My Sunday Dress), and the Essential Vol. 1 Jason mentioned upthread, though I'll admit to a fondness for the Del Fu-e-gos Slash debut. Just recently decided Gas, Food, Lodging is vastly overrated, and a get re-acquainted with Drivin'n'Cryin didn't turn out so well either.

I'm most likely to listen to those weird Latin Playboys records these days anyway.

Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy

i've seen phil and dave play this stuff live twice this year. full-band electric set at sxsw was loose and fun if not great. mostly what i remember, from my perch pretty close to the stage, was that phil looked 90 years old but sounded 30 years old. that voice of his is protected by the good lord. in los angeles a couple weeks ago, at one of gary calamar's mimosa music brunches in north hollywood, they played acoustic, just the two of them, and it was fantastic. i'm pretty sure it was the first time i've ever seen dave play an acoustic live (mostly a national steel) -- he's good at it, needless to say -- and certainly the first time i've seen either of them before noon. dave sang more than i expected (and more than i probably would've liked) but the years have been kind to his voice, too. there's more voice there than there used to be. the songs worked great in that setting. also, not surprisingly, the alvins have no idea what mimosas are.

Yes...Latin Playboys records are great. Mustard from the 2nd album could be a hit.

also, not surprisingly, the alvins have no idea what mimosas are.

I kinda love this detail.

Two Green on Red items:

http://blurtonline.com/feature/college-rock-chronicles-pt-4-green-red/

“I was in a band that got thrown on the bill with these ‘Paisley dudes,’” recalls Prophet, of his initial encounter with the band. “My first impression was they looked like guys who should be operating the rides at a carnival. They played and it blew my mind! It was chaotic as hell, but really entertaining and musical, and the songs were there.”

Also, have had this as a bootleg on vinyl since high school, just found the video recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixKJq3F4lXo

Dan Stuart was only in his mid 20s during the GOE mid 80s peak?

He seems a lot older

Actually a lot of these people seem older than the Husker Du/Replacements/Minutemen crowd, even if they really werent at all.

GOR = Green on Red

Word from Chuck P.:

-------------------------------------------------------------------
CUT ALONG DOTTED LINE

Hello Trolls, haters, lovers and players,

It’s a party and we’ll cry if we want to. As you have no doubt heard by now Yep Roc will be releasing our new LP, Night Surfer, on CD, cassette and (yes, yes, yes… vinyl too!). RELEASE DATE: September 23rd, 2014.

To celebrate, we’re throwing a private little get-together happy hour party in San Francisco for the insiders who subscribe to this newsletter.

Here’s the deal: The first 50 people to sign up will be our guests at a secret location in San Francisco. Free drinks on us, people! We’ll also have some guitars and drums on hand so who knows? We might even be nudged into playing some music. Hope you can be there when the deal goes down. Next Wednesday Sept. 24th 5-7 PM. Here’s the sign up link: http://tinyurl.com/mkyhjwb

Until then, you can stream our new "jamming, occasionally neurotic" album at Esquire Magazine: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/chuck-prophet-night-surfer

And in other news: For those of you spread out around the globe, John Murry and I will be on Radio Valencia live. Spinning tales and LP’s and taking calls too. You can call the studio line and listen along to the uncomfortable silence of dead air as the DJ tries to figure out how to get you on air. HERE: 415-962-7979

Seriously, John Murry and I will be opening the lines to our souls on the show. Literally. You can just pick up the phone and call. We’ll be there for you. Whatever is wrong in your life, we will attempt to fix. We will also make fun of you if you call and are utterly disinteresting. There's no greater sin than being a tacky bore. It ruins every dinner party. Look, we just wanna talk, dig? We come in peace. Call us for assistance or spiritual guidance or to attack us or try to win an argument (or start one between us). Or just to tell an entertaining story. Goddammit, talk to us! On the air! Okay? Here are the deets: Sunday night, sept 21. Show is from 10 til midnight. Special thanks to our host Jim Granato for inviting us down to the new Radio Valencia Studio in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District. It’s gonna be good: http://radiovalencia.fm/waxcracklepop/

In other news our Newcastle show is still very much on. Note the cluster-lunch of gigs below. It’s our little attempt to re-create a Black Flag van tour circa 1983. How are we doing so far?

Always,

-CP

Oops sorry, here's the gigs of which Prophet speaks:

http://chuckprophet.com/gigs/

I forgot that I used to have a Maria McKee solo record. maybe even two of them? I think they were good.

You Gotta Sin to Get Saved is really really good.

seconded

From Nashville, not LA, but def adding to the tiny, out-behind-the-barn cowpunk pantheon: Jason & The Scorchers roll through Irving Plaza, live for local radio and recording for King Biscuit Flour or Flower Hour's syndicated source of so much liberated goodness. '84, "we just signed with EMI-American," fresh 'n' fuzztone-branded, slamming back and forth in the cattle car, with every song I can recall, except "Both Sides of the Line." Not too fast or slow, only 41'21 seconds, though intense enough that I had to take a short break halfway through, which is rare. Only prob: Jason's vocals are so wholesome, he sometimes makes zingers and sexual sour grapes come across like light breakfast materials, but doesn't misplace the caffeine, and certainly nails the stood-up "how could this happen to Meeee?!" of Kid D.'s "Absolutey Sweet Marie."
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1975

I'm really enjoying this Scorchers show ... I can't believe I remember all those goofy lyrics. Seeing them in 1982 was a life lesson. This is a much more faithful representation of their strengths than any of the studio recordings.

Dan Stuart's testimony, reviewed on Amazon by Chuck Prophet (and others):

http://www.amazon.com/Deliverance-Marlowe-Billings-Memoir-Stuart/dp/0957171722/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421286640&sr=8-2&keywords=dan+stuart

Green on Red, Raleigh '85:
Same source as the Jason & Scorchers set posted above, though not as consistent: they're having occasional mic problems, as they eventually mention, though it's most noticeable early on, although the playing is pretty straight-ahead. Only prob: almost an hour of mostly mid-tempo, and Stonesiness can slip into Pettyness, though I realize most people wouldn't mention TP in a negative sense. Vibier levels do open wider in "Down By The River" and "Sea of Cortez," back to back in the middle; ditto the locomotive finale, "Fading Away." Also good "Hair of the Dog" and others. Works better when the keyboards get more room, but some quite pertinent pickin' too. H'mmm, wonder what GOR Spotify might have? Oh yeah, the link!
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=2202

Speaking of the Scorchers, Warren Hodges is playing lead (for sure) with Drivin N Cryin om MusicCityRoots.com's livestream right now, also audio-only (cool on headphones) at http://www.hippieradio945.com/ Click on Listen live (or check podcast on musiccityroots. com tomorrow or soon)

MusicCityRoots.com's *livestream,* I meant to say

Livestream, dammit!

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20150420/d1/7b/1d/a7/4b3c76837d2a808b5f172bf0_280x280.jpg

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20150420/32/f5/7e/92/27743e1e9f936cd97e11061a_280x280.jpg

THE TEXTONES’ FIRST TWO ALBUMS
— MIDNIGHT MISSION AND CEDAR CREEK —
TO BE REISSUED IN EXPANDED EDITIONS
BY OMNIVORE RECORDINGS ON MAY 26
Carla Olson’s ’80s band combined punk, power pop and Texas roots.
Albums feature guest appearances by Gene Clark, Ry Cooder,
Ian McLagan, and Howie Epstein,
plus co-write with former Textones member Kathy Valentine.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Taking the early ’80s L.A. club scene by storm, the Textones were respected by those in the know for both their song craft and musicianship, as well as for their groundbreaking hybrid of new wave and what would one day become known as Americana. On May 26, 2015, Omnivore Recordings will reissue expanded editions of the band’s first two albums, Midnight Mission and Cedar Creek.
The Textones released an EP in the U.K. and a single in the U.S. But it was after singer/guitarist Carla Olson brought in guitarist George Callins, multi-instrumentalist Tom Junior Morgan, bassist Joe Read, and former Dwight Twilley Band member Phil Seymour on drums to the lineup that the magic truly happened.
Signing to Danny Goldberg’s Gold Mountain label, the Textones’ debut album, Midnight Mission, encompassed everything they’d done, and took it a step further. Produced by Barry Goldberg and Brad Gilderman, and featuring contributions from Gene Clark, Ry Cooder, and Don Henley, Midnight Mission was a mix of rock, blues, and country that captured the band’s live energy. After Olson appeared in Bob Dylan’s “Sweeheart Like You” video, he offered up an unreleased song, “Clean Cut Kid,” which blended perfectly with the band’s originals.
This reissue features five bonus tracks — three songs recorded for the film Sylvester, as well as a two previously unissued live cuts from their performance on Rock of the 80’s, recorded in 1984 at the Palace in Hollywood.
Robert Hilburn wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “ Olson, a lanky singer and songwriter moves about the stage with the sensual confidence of Tom Petty ... Midnight Mission is a refreshing blend of American rock purity and clear eyes commentary ...”
Echoed Mikal Gilmore in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner: “ A roaring and thoughtful delight. Workingman populism and Rolling Stones-style rave-ups ... Like Bruce Springsteen, Olson took an unsparing look at the dissolution of the American Dream and newly resolved. Listening to her, so did I.”

It would be three years before the Textones followed up their acclaimed debut, Midnight Mission. But, it was well worth the wait.
Cedar Creek appeared in 1987 on a new label, Enigma Records, and Carla Olson, George Callins, Joe Read, and Tom Junior Morgan were joined by new drummer Rick Hemmert.
Produced this time by Michael Stone and the band, Cedar Creek features nine originals, including a co-write with original Textone (and Go-Go’s member) Kathy Valentine, who left the group in 1981 to find fame with the Go-Go’s. And, much like its predecessor, legendary contributors like future Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Famers Ian McLagan and Howie Epstein make appearances.
John Fogerty said of the song “No Love in You” (three versions of which are included amongst the two reissues): “ Not only is ‘No Love in You’ my favorite song of 1984 but I always look forward to driving somewhere so I can listen to it four or five times.”
In addition to the original album the oft-bootlegged 1987 performance from the Catalyst in Santa Cruz gets an official release. The blistering eight-track set features songs from both of the band’s albums. According to Olson in the new liner notes, “I don’t wag my tail much about this, but the Catalyst show is one of the best examples of how well I can sing when it all works. It’s some of the best singing I’ve ever done.”
Olson is excited to have this music out there once again: “ As the sticker on the original release of Cedar Creek announced, ‘Rock With Roots, the great Rolling Stones album the Stones never recorded.’ That kind of high praise was unexpected, especially in light of the similar response Midnight Mission received and its middling commercial success. It further stated, ‘Take a pinch of Austin, Texas, a dash of L.A., mix in commanding vocals and crackling guitars and you've got the perfect recipe for a classic album.’ We were ahead of our time or just didn’t get the breaks needed? An artist never knows. What I do know is that when the Textones played together we created a musical fabric never far from our many influences and diverse backgrounds and that the connection we felt between us was one of the joy of entertaining and the hopefulness of our music. We are glad the music is being made available again especially with the live set that we've added to Cedar Creek. We were one hell of a rock ’n’ roll band.”
Midnight Mission track listing:
1. Standing in the Line
2. Hands of the Working Man
3. No Love in You
4. Running
5. Number One Is to Survive
6. Midnight Mission
7. Upset Me
8. Luck Don’t Last Forever
9. Clean Cut Kid
10. See the Light
Bonus Tracks
11. It’s Okay
12. Just a Matter of Time
13. Number One Is to Survive (Alternate Version)
14. Running(Live)
15. No Love in You (Live)
Cedar Creek track listing:
1. Not Afraid
2. Every Angel in Heaven
3. Another Soul Searcher
4. One Love
5. Austin
6. Gotta Get Back Home
7. You Can Run
8. Cedar Creek
9. We Can Laugh About It
Bonus Live Set Recored at the Catalyst, Santa Cruz, Ca, 11/20/1987:
10. Gotta Get Back Home
11. Not Afraid
12. No Love in You
13. You Can Run
14. Austin
15. Upset Me
16. Every Angel in Heaven
17. Standing in the Line

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Not quite the right thread, but what is? (Can't put everything on Rolling Reissues.)

It fits here, but I bet most ILMers know of Carla Olson from her duet album with Gene Clark.

In other news, it turns out The Reivers, a rootsy 80s band that fits this thread to a T, has gotten back together and released a new record a year or two back.

Still haven't checked out The Reivers, must do that.
Meanwhile:

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20150429/5d/40/77/88/6c0765cb3a48497ac107d5f2_280x280.jpg

THE DREAM SYNDICATE’S ICONIC DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES
BACK IN PRINT WITH UNHEARD BONUS TRACKS FROM REHEARSAL
COMING JUNE 16 ON OMNIVORE RECORDINGS
Remastered expanded reissue contains liner notes from band’s peers —
members of Rain Parade, Long Ryders, Green on Red,
Divine Weeks, and Sonic Youth

The Dream Syndicate
http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20150429/6d/51/17/ee/9552ea119b006f8fa8f917d6_280x261.jpg
(photo by Edward Colver)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Dream Syndicate’s debut album, The Days of Wine and Roses, has long been considered the cornerstone album of L.A.’s early ’80s Paisley Underground scene, from which the band emerged. However, it was more influential than that: along with R.E.M.’s Murmur and the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime, the release is often considered one of the cornerstone albums of ’80s indie-rock. In a way it is the missing link between the ’60s-influenced R.E.M. and the post-punk Minutemen. Later period bands such as the Pixies and Nirvana were formed out of the sonic ashes that the original Syndicate lineup left behind.
The original lineup of Steve Wynn, Karl Precoda, Kendra Smith, and Dennis Duck took seminal ’60s rock — most obviously the Velvet Underground along with Buffalo Springfield and the Rolling Stones — and filtered it through the more modern sounds of the Fall and L.A. punk bands Flesh Eaters, Gun Club, et al. In fact, it was flesh eating front man Chris D. who produced The Days of Wine and Roses and got it released on Slash Records, one of the premier L.A. labels of the punk rock era.
Strangely, despite its seminal status, The Days of Wine and Roses has been out of print for the better part of a decade or so. With the rebirth of the band as a live/touring unit over the past two years, Omnivore Recordings has seen fit to remaster this gem, releasing it June 16, 2015.
Calling on the band’s long time archivist Pat Thomas (previously producer of reissues of four other titles from the Dream Syndicate), the previous “bonus tracks” from the 2001 Rhino CD have been replaced with a slew of never-before-heard songs and/or recordings that capture the first year of the classic lineup of Wynn/Precoda/Smith/Duck in all their low-fi glory. These are rehearsal tapes that capture a pair of songs that later turned up on the Medicine Show. Longtime fans have often wondered what it would have sounded like had Kendra Smith stayed in the band for its second full-length album. Now the band’s followers will know: these versions don’t possess the ’70s FM rock sound that Medicine Show had. Instead, they sound like Television’s Marque Moon LP. The four other bonus tracks included in this new version are four original, vintage Dream Syndicate songs that nobody outside the band has ever heard, including a nearly 10-minute Kraut-rock-inspired jam!
The booklet has been revamped as well with new notes that describe the source of the vintage recordings along with fresh testimonies from their peers — members of the Rain Parade, the Long Ryders, Green on Red, Divine Weeks, and Sonic Youth — as well as former Rhino VP of A&R Gary Stewart, and music journalists Chris Morris and Byron Coley.

This is a reissue that is essential for both long time fans who’ve already collected it all before —and the new kids on the block who will soon discover the soundtrack of ’80s college radio for the first time.
According to annotator Byron Coley: “The record still sounds fresh to me. They really captured the sound of a universe expanding. And that is no common thing.”
Track Listing:
Tell Me When It’s Over
Definitely Clean
That’s What You Always Say
Then She Remembers
Halloween 

When You Smile 

Until Lately 

Too Little, Too Late* 

The Days Of Wine And Roses 

Previously Unissued 
Bonus Rehearsal Recordings: 

Is It Rolling, Bob?

A Reason

Still Holding On To You
Armed With An Empty Gun
Like Mary

Outside The Dream Syndicate

Oops, left out the trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTx6MFk9Pak&feature=youtu.be

first listening to that reissue: never have bought Wynn as front man for the most part: seems most effective when he sets up an okay ominous verbal intro, then steps aside for Precoda's swarms (and his own rhythm guitar gouges pretty good too). Sure wish Kendra Smith got to sing more than one song. The rehearsal tapes sound good, esp. since Wynn's voice is off to the side, and my fave of them is the strictly instrumental "Outside The Dream Syndicate," 10:43 and already well under way along when track starts.

"along"? sorry

Long Ryders, Stache's, Columbus OH, 4-2-84:
Good sound, though kinda monotonous at first, but they crank up the jangly cowpunk in the second half, starting with "Final Wild Son," about "a friend of ours who's in trouble," a guy from Memphis, who isn't worried about dead legends cos he's livin' his, and the devil won't take his soul; he'll smoke it up before he goes. They close with "The Rains Came" "(adding lyrics:"Augie Meyer is our friend" and "Haven't seen Doug Sahm since he left this town"), "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White," "You're Gonna Miss Me," and "Jumping In The Night." Not a medley.
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=2271 There's an '85 Stanford show on here too; I haven't listened yet.

x-post--Loved that first Dream Syndicate album when it first came out

Initially, I like about half of this---16 tracks---but those are strong, and others may grow on me. Wasn't expecting such intense, on point instrumentalism: truly electric fedora.

CONTINENTAL DRIFTERS’ TWO-CD COMPILATION
DRIFTED: IN THE BEGINNING & BEYOND
COMING ON OMNIVORE RECORDINGS ON JULY 17
The group, known for dual citizenship in L.A. and New Orleans,
featured Vicki Peterson (Bangles), Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills),
Peter Holsapple (The dB’s) and others.
Continental Drifters (photo by Greg Allen)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Born in Los Angeles in the early 1990s via a residency of jam sessions at a Hollywood dive club called in Raji’s, then relocating to New Orleans, the Continental Drifters lasted about a decade, ending when Hurricane Katrina demolished their homes and the band members scattered.
Key members included Vicki Peterson (Bangles), Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills), Peter Holsapple (The dB’s, R.E.M.), and many others — including the only member who has been with them from the beginning, Mark Walton (Giant Sand, The Dream Syndicate). However, there were also several singer/songwriters (Carlo Nuccio, Gary Eaton, Ray Ganucheau) who shine as brightly as their slightly more famous bandmates. That’s the magic that we’ve captured on Disc One of this set with the band’s earliest recordings — many previously unissued, others that only appeared briefly on a German-only album.
On July 17, 2015, Omnivore Recordings will issue the 2-CD Continental Drifters compilation Drifted: In The Beginning & Beyond.
The best possible comparison is that the Continental Drifters had a similar vibe to the classic roots combo Delaney & Bonnie & Friends — more of a “collective” than a band — in which there were several distinctly original lead singers, blistering sidemen instrumentalists and an inspiring blend of both original and seminal cover songs with a Southern-fried, blue-eyed soul approach that couldn’t be beat.
Disc Two, an incredible treat for the band’s hardcore fans as well as fans of classic roots music in general, was culled from live sets, tribute albums (Gram Parsons, The Hollies) and the rare 2001 European only EP Listen, Listen, their valentine to Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, as well as other unheard treasures.
According to Peter Holsapple, “I believe that this was a band who were the very illustration of a shattering live experience, the embodiment of a force majeure, a family-style drinking society of impavid proportions, and purveyors of some of sweetest harmony songs of its decade. Having Omnivore work its magic on a Drifters’ record is a testimony to the sonic worth of that record; I'm really happy that fans will be able to experience the music in this way, after all this time. Sounded great then, sounds great now!”
Susan Cowsill comments, “I love that we are an old enough band that people consider things we’ve done in the even further past as some kind of importance. We didn’t see that coming way back in the early days! How cool is it to be 2015 and have a Continental Drifters release. I've often thought that our band is, was and always will be timeless. Glad others think so too! Can’t wait for the release, wonder if I can get the band to autograph it?”
Vicki Peterson adds, “Playing in the Continental Drifters rescued my musical soul. This collection captures the early moments when I first fell in mad love with the band.”
Drifted: In The Beginning & Beyond (re)-introduces the Continental Drifters, explores their influence and magnitude, and fills in the gaps of their expansive career. Informative notes from Scott Schinder help tell the story with interviews from band members. It is a trip well worth taking.

DISC ONE:

1.Who We Are, Where We Live 
(Early Version)* 


2.Side Steppin’ the Fire 


3.The Mississippi

4.Match Made in Heaven

5.Karen A (Demo)* 


6.The Rain Song (Early Version)* 


7.Dallas (Alternate Mix)* 


8.Here I Am 


9.Mr. Everything (Alternate Mix)* 


10. No One Cares 


11. Green (Demo)* 


12. I Didn’t Want to Lie 


13. Invisible Boyfriend 


14. New York (Demo)* 


15. Let It Ride

DISC TWO:

1. You Don’t Miss Your Water (Live)*

2. Crescent City (Live)*


3. A Song for You


4. Tighter, Tighter (Demo)*

5. I Can’t Let Go


6. Some of Shelley’s Blues (Campfire Mix)*

7. When You Dance I Can Really Love

8. Turn Back the Hands of Time (Live)*


9. Farmer’s Daughter (Live)*

10. Dedicated to the One I Love (Live)*

11. At the End of the Day (Live)*

12. Listen, Listen


13. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

14. The Poor Ditching Boy

15. You’re Gonna Need Somebody

16. I’m a Dreamer


17. Matty Groves


18. Meet on the Ledge (Studio Version)

* previously unissued

oh yeah, and the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7PahihOaXg&feature=youtu.be

that was an amazing live band. how is the demo of Tighter, Tighter?

Like the other demos here, sounds fine, performance and recording-wise, but the chorus keeps heading toward "Piece of My Heart" distractingly derivative, like some other tracks. Although I prob wouldn't mind it in the middle of a show---some of these live covers are amazing, especially "When You Dance" (damn, if you're gonna do an electric Neil Young song, that's how to do it, son!)

Oh yeah, did we mention this vinyl collection, out in March on Plowboy Records? Personally selected by the band, or at least Kevin Kinney. And these guys are in the thread title, after all.

http://plowboyreco✧✧✧.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/drivin-n-cryin-best-of-songs-510x✧✧✧@2✧.j✧✧

Oh, sorry for trying to show the cover with all the songs listed, just because you put in on the site and in the press release, Plowboy! The nerve of me! Let's try this big ol' batch of words (actual release was this month)

ROCK LEGENDS DRIVIN’ N’ CRYIN’ DELIVER VINYL-ONLY LP DRAWN FROM INNOVATIVE EP SERIES

plowboy Records to release vinyl collection on May 12. ATLANTA, GA. — “We do what we do because we’re still just kids in the treehouse having fun,” Kevn Kinney says of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, the band that he’s led through 30 years of ups and downs and more than a dozen albums’ worth of transcendent rock ’n’ roll. “I’m a Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ fan, and I make these records to give myself something to listen to, in the same way that people who make moonshine make it because they like to drink it.”

Over the past three decades, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ has maintained an unpredictable yet reliably iconoclastic musical course, while commanding the loyalty of a fiercely devoted fan base that continues to pack the band’s live shows, particularly in and around the group’s home base of Atlanta.

The audacious combination of blazing, infectious rock ’n’ roll and thoughtful introspection that’s always characterized Drivin’ N’ Cryin’s recorded output is prominent throughout the band’s new vinyl release, Best of Songs. The ten-song LP, housed in a sleeve whose cover art replicates the vibe of a well-worn ’70s-vintage K-tel greatest-hits album, collects the cream of the quartet of indie EPs — Songs From the Laundromat; Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones; Songs From the Psychedelic Time Clock; and Songs for the Turntable — that the band released between June 2012 and January 2014. Street date for the collection is May 12, 2015.

Recorded in various studios in Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville, the EP series allowed the band — singer-guitarist Kinney plus co-founding bassist Tim Nielsen, guitarist Sadler Vaden and drummer Dave V. Johnson — to release a large amount of music in a relatively short period of time, avoiding much of the stresses that often accompany album-making.

“I just don’t have the patience anymore to spend two years making an album,” Kinney asserts. “The last Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ album, (Whatever Happened To) The Great American ubble Factory, was kind of an autobiographical thesis/rock opera about working-class America that took a couple of years to write. When we were done with that, I decided that it would be more fun to do a series of five- or six-song EPs that we could offer every five or six months, like a magazine subscription.

“Another reason I wanted to do a series of EPs,” he continues, “was that I wanted to deconstruct Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, and try to explain who we are and where we came from. So Songs From the Laundromat was kind of looking back to our early days on the Southern kudzu circuit. Songs About Cars, Space and the Ramones was based on our early roots in punk. Songs From the Psychedelic Time Clock was our tribute to our psychedelic roots. And Songs for the Turntable is who we are today, and what happens when you put all those influences together. No major label would have let me do that.”

The impetus to compile highlights from the EPs into album form arrived when old friend Cheetah Chrome—a punk icon for his seminal work with the Dead Boys and Rocket from the Tombs, and currently creative and A&R director of rising Nashville indie Plowboy Records—approached Kinney about recording for the label.

“Cheetah asked me if I wanted to make a Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ album,” Kinney recalls, “and I said that I didn’t think I had it in me to make another album at that moment. But I’d always wanted to make a greatest-hits album from the EPs. I had originally hoped that people would make their own albums out of their favorite songs on the EPs, and this is my version of that.”

Despite the material’s unconventional birth cycle, est of Songs makes for a remarkably cohesive listen, from the riffy, raucous rock of “Dirty,” “Hot Wheels” and “Space Eyes” to the thoughtful introspection of “Strangers,” “Turn” and “Roll Away the Song.” Elsewhere, Kinney’s knack for exploring his own deep and abiding relationship with rock ’n’ roll drives “R.E.M.” and “The Little Record Store Just Around the Corner,” which vividly capture youthful fandom’s sense of discovery and inspiration.

“I had so much fun doing every one of these songs,” Kinney states. “When you’ve got the pressure of making an album, it can start to feel like work, but we cut these songs fast and kept it fun. And on just about every album, you wind up with an albatross, that one song that doesn’t work or doesn’t fit or is just a throwaway, but we didn’t have that on the EPs.”

The combination of punchy electric rock ’n’ roll and gentler roots-pop has been a consistent thread in Drivin’ N’ Cryin’s recorded output since the band released its debut LP Scarred ut Smarter on the independent 688 label in 1986. Since then, the band — named in honor of Kinney’s penchant for mixing upbeat rockers (i.e. drivin’ songs) and bittersweet ballads (cryin’ songs) — has recorded albums for labels large and small, gaining national attention for such breakout tunes as the country-inflected “Straight to Hell” (from 1989’s Mystery Road) and the surging electric anthem “ ly Me Courageous” (the title track of the band’s 1991 album), while retaining the devotion of their longtime loyalists. Meanwhile, Kinney launched an enduring parallel solo career with 1990’s acoustic MacDougal lues, collaborating with the likes of R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, the Allman Brothers Band’s Warren Haynes and all-star alt-rock outfit the Golden Palominos along the way.

“Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ hasn’t had a major label paying for us to make records since 1994,” Kinney notes. “We’ve been totally independent and investing in ourselves for the last 20 years of our career. That can be frustrating in some ways, but the upside is that we have free reign to do what we want to do, because we’re not part of the system. We get to live in our own world and it’s fine.”

saw susan cowsill at a local library recently. she was complaining of a cold but what a voice. she mentioned that continental drifters set from a couple posts up. i learned that vicki peterson is married to one of her brothers. also that she recorded a couple of singles for warner bros in the 70s, one of which had the first-issued version of "mohammad's radio" as the b-side. jackson browne gave her the zevon demo and suggested she cover it. susan cowsill fun facts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni-VAxik7iw

Wow, thanks guys! Never heard of that. She has a lot of interesting comments in the compilation notes. Think she was already performing with Vicki Peterson as the Psycho Sisters when they met the Continental Drifters, and they finally put out an album under that name last year or so. She also did a solo album a few years ago, which was okay, but so far I like her better as a team player, like here (caffeinated review from 2013 follows)
The Hobart Brothers & Lil Sis Hobart--At Least We Have Each Other Jon Dee Graham, Freedy Johnston, and Susan Cowsill pool their songs about buildings, food, dirt, jobs, women, men, spare tires of several kinds, jobs, pavement, waking up, jobs, dreams (maybe), jobs, spare sounds, fuller ones too (I prefer the former here, for the coffee break vibe, but both work), and jobs. Not really so many (or so remarkable) jobs, but more than we usually hear songs about; songs that beat plain ol' complaints, anyway. Susan Cowsill was the youngest member of her brothers'/mother's/manager dad's group The Cowsills, real-life basis of the Partridge Family. She does not sound waify here: fairly tough and flexible voice, something of a potentially upsetting, born-for/to-trouble spark. Freedy Johnston's reedy, and observant enough to bend with the ornery wind; Graham's one gravelly, articulate Austin cracker. Johnston, whose stoically idiosyncratic practicality has so far led to at least one great solo album, Can You Fly (not even a rhetorical question), sometimes breaks out a bit of power pop here. It's in the soda pop pulled from a rusty icebed by a gas station, probably in Texas and/or the Great Plains, while the sun keeps the beat---they keep enough shade, enough cool to try and work out "the difference between beaten and beat," also Beat. This album is rec'd to these individual artists' fans, ditto those who enjoy the community-minded best of James McMurtry, Warren Zevon, John Doe, Dave Alvin, Eliza Gilkyson, like that y'all.

Also, most of the Continental Drifters core moved from LA to NOLA, and eventually some (most? all?) of them encountered or were affected by Katrina in various ways; one of Susan's brothers didn't survive it.Also this from 2013 Nashville Scene ballot notes:
The dB's--"She Won't Drive In The Rain Anymore": Very good contemporary country jangle-ballad, one of the highlights on a very good reunion album (aren't many of those). The true story, as told by Holsapple to http://dbs-repercussion.blogspot.com
"It's about my wife evacuating New Orleans during Katrina. I was on the road with Hootie [and the Blowfish]; my wife had taken my daughter and my baby son and my daughter's best friend on a train to Birmingham to buy a vehicle up there. She knew the hurricane was coming, and she did all the things you're supposed to do. We didn't think too much about it — we certainly didn't realize it was going to be a 100-year storm. But when she got to Birmingham to get the car, it was very evident there was no turning back, so she drove literally across the storm path to get to her grandmother's in Little Rock."
Peter goes on to explain the reunion theme in the lyrics. He says his wife "took a day to re-group and then started driving back and she dropped my daughter's best friend off with her mom in Memphis. And then [my wife took] Miranda, my daughter with Susan Cowsill, to where Susan and her husband were living at the time. Then she made a beeline to where Hootie was playing next, which was Baltimore. She got there 15 minutes before we went on. It had been this incredible, tortuous time, unable to get in touch with anybody. Meanwhile, I'm in this sort of suspended state of touring because I need the money, and I can't really stop. Where am I gonna go, what am I gonna do? When I saw her, it was the first time in weeks, she and my son pulled up and I was overjoyed just to get to see her. We didn't really talk very much because we didn't really know what to say; it was all just so overwhelming."

Vicki is married to John Cowsill, who plays drums with Mike Love and Bruce Johnston in a "Beach Boys" group. I saw him play with Bob Cowsill, who performs regularly at a club in Los Angeles as The Cowsills. They do 60s/70s covers, with their own hits thrown in.

Speaking of Drivin' 'N' Cryin', as I did also upthread when they played Music City Roots' livestream with xpost Jason and The Scorchers' guitarist Warren Hodges, the latter will return to MCR tonight, touring behind his latest solo alb, Gunslinger. See here for more info on him, then see the previous MCR page for link to said livestream, or scroll to the bottom of the MCR homepage for audio-only, simulcast on Nashville's Hippie Radio. This show, also incl. Webb Wilder and his Beatnecks, among others, starts at 7 Central. Here's Warren:
http://musiccityroots.com/artist/warner-hodges/

Whew. So Warren & band just played AC/DC's "Got Mine The Hard Way," finishing with the Scorchers' shudderbilly version of "Country Road, Take Me Home," which sounds right at home thisaway. Whole show should be in MCR archive pretty soon.

Sweet! More energy, more variety of sources, it sez here---out 9/18
http://nodepression.com/article/dave-and-phil-alvin-make-lost-time

Jason and the Scorchers are playing a Nashville benefit tonight, with Warren Hodges' other employer, Dan Baird (orig. of Georgia Satellites), xpost Webb Wilder & the Beatnecks, and other weirdos---can livestream or audio-only from here, 7-9 Central:
http://musiccityroots.com/blog/for-the-benefit-of-mr-womack/
The show will be archived at this site, probably (most of 'em are)...

As expected, Phil Alvin & Dave Alvin's Lost Time sports Phil's soulful stylish vocals--also his poppin' blues harp, sounds like his crisp rhythm guitar too---and Dave's dynamic leads, but seems like some of the songs, or at least the lyrics, often spotlit, are not that engaging. Do like the bit where Rosa Parks tells the Montgomery judge to have a seat on the back of the bus, "Sit down baby," and take a load off, gonna be ridin' a while, it seems, goes with Dave's current sly, warm, actually smoothed-out baritone, like he's finally found the right cough syrup. Xgau for one thinks he's also finally found his voice, but I get tired of it here and on Eleven Eleven, despite its good songs (some people, incl. xgau,think it's his best solo album, and maybe I'm in the minority).
Also a bit frustrated by the way an intriguing, uptempo (what I think of as a bluesy bluegrass cadence) variant of "House of The Rising Sun" gradually looses emotional impact via Dave's lead vocal. Still, it's worth checking out (hope somebody else, like Phil, takes a shot at this approach.)
Phil does sing lead on most tracks, and they sing well together' maybe the xpost previous reunion, Common Ground was more consistently involving because they were so excited finally to be getting though another album without killing each other.
Spotify has these P & D albums, each one's solo sets, and a big ol' Blasters stash. Sure glad they got this 'un, well-described by xgau:
Phil Alvin: Un "Sung Stories" [Slash, 1986]
He loves a good lyric, and if he can't write them or order them up, he has only to ransack his record collection for oldies that are just strange enough. Mixing country blues with Cab Calloway, Peetie Wheatstraw's murderous "Gangster's Blues" with a supremely mournful country song called "Collins Cave," he goes for narrative and gets it. The arrangements range from very spare to orchestral, and never mind Tower of Power--Alvin goes to Sun Ra when he wants Ellingtonia, Dirty Dozen when he wants polyphony. The only exception to all this smart stuff is a perfectly OK "Daddy Rollin' Stone." I hope it breaks AOR, I bet it won't, and I wish he didn't have to bother. A-
An Alvin expected/pressured by the Slash/Warner denim suits to "break" commercial radio---those were the days!
I like the uneven 1994 follow-up, County Fair, a lot more than the 'gau does. Doesn't state his objections, just slaps an icon on it.

County Fair 2000, that is (and I should say that I actually prefer Dave's earlier, more erratic vox--def the minority report, prob).

No more speedy typing on tiny screens

I hope it breaks AOR, I bet it won't

genuinely confused by this xgau comment on phil alvin's debut solo. who would he have been betting against? was there anyone alive in 1986 who expected AOR to play phil alvin?

Well maybe! It wasn't that long after what seems to have been the peak of commercial efforts (as far as they were willing to go, collectively anyway):
Hard Line [Slash, 1985]
Non Fiction imagined a world in which the American music the Blasters love remained the common tongue of ordinary guys, guys whose connection to their cultural history helped them understand where they were--not in control, but at least conscious. The follow-up attempts to reach those ordinary guys with producers and stereo and more drums and no horns and a John Cougar Mellencamp song, and also with the kind of fancy stuff that comes naturally--accordion here, acoustic version there, Jordanaires all over the place, and the Jubilee Train Singers on a fiercely joyous remake of "Samson and Delilah," which with its ancient threat to tear this building down is good reason not to fret about philosophical retreat. As are "Dark Night," about a race murder, and "Common Man," about some president or other, their two most pointedly political tracks ever. What's softened is the bits of the writing--where Non Fiction nailed specifics (plastic seats, repentant husband wiping ashes off the bed), here Dave Alvin settles (or works) for a level of generalization suitable to pop. Guess he's decided that sometimes ordinary guys don't want things spelled out so fine. He may be right. A
The producer even replaced Bill Bateman with Stan Lynch! On some tracks. More gory details here:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/hard-line-mw0000838669 But yeah, it still turned out pretty well, seemed like. Although I haven't listened in a long time; might seem dated now. Dunno how well it sold, but haven't noticed any of its tracks on 80s hit comps.