Old Stuff Friday: Some Country Stuff... Dwight Yoakam, Jim Lauderdale/Ralph Stanley, Merle Haggard

Hard to find good quality videos of Dwight because WEA apparently makes people take them down. You can find them on his website, though... This is "Gone" from the disc of that name. Just a fantastic record. If you ever get a chance to see him live, you must not miss it.



Website: http://www.dwightyoakam.com

Jim Lauderdale/Ralph Stanley: "She's Looking at Me"

Jim's done two excellent albums with Ralph and two with Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia's longtime songwriting partner. His latest album (co-written with Hunter) is Patchwork River. It's highly recommended to fans of country, roots music and the Dead... to anyone, really.



Website: http://www.jimlauderdale.com

Merle Haggard: "Mama Tried"

Of course this is one of the greatest country songs ever, but Merle's done some good records in the last 5-10 years... well worth checking out.



Website: http://www.merlehaggard.com

Neil Young: Le Noise

Here's the video for "Walk With Me"...



Websites:
http://www.neilyoung.com/index2.html

http://www.youtube.com/neilyoungchannel

Beach Fossils: "Vacation"

Well, I never get tired of this sound... it worked in the 70's (Flaming Groovies), the 80's (REM, Feelies), and it works today. The crazy drummer is an interesting addition... I really like their record.



Band website: http://www.myspace.com/beachfossils

Mclusky: "She Will Only Bring You Happiness"

Mclusky, this is six or so years old but well worth resurrecting. Wish they were still together. Had a falling out with the old singer, I suppose?

Solomon Burke, RIP: "None of Us Are Free"

Using the word "great" to describe Solomon Burke makes you realize how misused the word is when used to describe lesser figures. He was an amazing talent and personality.

I have my friend JD to thank for helping me discover both Burke and Joe Henry, who produced his comeback album Don't Give Up On Me, from which comes this song: "None of Us Are Free":



The record consists of songs written by other artists who admired Burke's work (Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison: a pretty amazing cast in and of itself) and performed by Burke. It is very, very highly recommended.

Here's a nice Rolling Stone retrospective from earlier this year:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/217711?RS_show_page=0

Earth: "Plague of Angels"

This is new to me... but I can tell he's been around for a while, albeit with a lengthy hiatus from about 1996 through 2005. Maybe that explains why I'm just now getting around to finding out about them. Discovered by way of All Songs Considered, when I was looking to find out more about the Sunn 0))) and Boris collaboration that was touted on a recent podcast. Some of the best things are discovered in a roundabout way, eh?



http://www.myspace.com/earthofficial