This One's For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark 2011

 

If you were to ask around Nashville who the greatest songwriters are, most everyone would name Guy Clark before they got to number five. He's written songs performed by almost every roots-based Country/Americana artist, and he produced thirteen studio and four live records under his own name. His records were made almost entirely with acoustic instruments, simple and effective arrangements, and Clark's wonderfully expressive voice. And great songs. Exceptional songs.

Since everyone seemed to love Clark and revere his songs, it was no problem to gather the cream of the Country/Americana A-listers to perform on this record. There are no new untested artists that the record company wanted to promote thrown in, as is often the case. There's just Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Joe Ely, Emmylou Harris, Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle, Radney Foster, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many more. The 2 CD set has thirty songs and thirty artists. 

The performances honor Clark's own recordings by presenting the songs the way Clark played them himself, with simple arrangements and acoustic instrumentation. There might be a couple of electric guitars, but maybe not. Verlon Thompson, Clark's longtime recording, performing and songwriting partner plays guitar on almost all of the songs.

Often with tributes such as this, the original recordings are hard to beat, and the versions presented pale by comparison. As great as Guy Clark's records are, his songs are so amazing that they transcend even his own fine renditions. If you're not familiar with Clark, go check out Boats To Build or Sometimes The Song Writes You. If you already enjoy Clark, here's another way to appreciate his art.

The Double Album, Edited

 

There have been some great double albums, even some that play well from beginning to end. Layla is difficult to edit. XTC's English Settlement needs no editing, even if some listeners prefer the single disc version with five less tracks. There is an occasional exception for greatest hits records and compilations. Chuck Berry's The Great Twenty-eight is pretty much perfect. The Kink's Kronikles is also hard to mess with. 

Most double albums need some editing to approach perfection, and turning them into a single record of 45-50 minutes almost always makes them better. So making a playlist of an edited down single disc record can enhance the enjoyment of these often bloated double albums.

Then there's double CD releases that often run 140-150 minutes. They all need the work of a hatchet. 

So here's a few personal edits of double albums. I'll start right out with the sacrilege of reducing The White Album. Here's the improved Beatles White Album:
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Glass Onion
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey
Helter Skelter
Revolution 1
Savoy Truffle
Dear Prudence

Grateful Dead Grateful Dead (Skull And Crossbones):
Bertha 
Mama Tried
Big Railroad Blues 
Playin' In The Band
Me And My Uncle
Big Boss Man
Me And Bobby McGee
Johnny B. Goode  

See what I did there? It's side 1 and side 3. Anybody that says you can't possibly exclude The Other One (there are 50 other versions) is obsessed about The Dead. Don't bother to argue with them. Sides 1 and 3 of Allman Brothers At The Fillmore is another easy edit.

The Who Quadrophenia:

The Real Me 

Quadrophenia

The Punk And The Godfather

I'm One

5:15

Sea And Sand

Drowned

Doctor Jimmy

Love, Reign O'er Me

The Byrds (Untitled):

Lover Of The Bayou

Positively 4th Street

Nashville West

So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star

Mr. Spaceman

Chestnut Mare

Truck Stop Girl

All Good Things

Yesterday's Train

Just A Season

Cream Wheels Of Fire:

White Room

Sitting On Top Of The World

Politician

Those Were The Days

Born Under A Bad Sign

Crossroads

Spoonful

The Kinks Everybody's In Showbiz:

Sides 1 and 2 (Just remove sides 3 and 4, the live material.)

The same can be said of The Rascal's Freedom Suite (Removing the boring jams on sides 3 and 4).

And again for Moby Grape's Wow/Grape Jam (Skip the jams again.)

Todd Rundgren Something/Anything?:

I Saw The Light

It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

Sweeter Memories

Breathless

The Night The Carousel Burned Down

Saving Grace

Marlene

Black Maria

One More Day (No Word)

Couldn't I Just Tell You

Dust In The Wind

Hello It's Me

Bruce Springsteen The River:

The Ties That Bind

Sherry Darling

Independence Day

Hungry Heart

Out In The Street

Crush On You

You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)

I Wanna Marry You

The River

Fade Away

The Price You Pay

Drive-By Truckers Southern Rock Opera:

Ronnie And Neil

72 (This Highway's Mean)

The Southern Thing

The Three Great Alabama Icons

Wallace

Zip City

Let There Be Rock

Women Without Whiskey

Shut Up And Get On The Plane

Prince Sign 'O' The Times:

Sign 'O' The Times

The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

Housequake

U Got The Look

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Strange Relationship

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

The Cross

Adore

I know, I left off the best song. How could I? Feel free to tell me about it in comments or propose your own edited version of one of these or any other double LP that needs editing. It's a fun and rewarding exercise.

Robert Palmer Anthology

Robert Palmer is one of my very favorite artists. While his work in the 1970s is my preference, I like everything he ever did, with a small caveat for the second Power Station record, and even that has a few killer tracks. I discussed his catalog several times. Those posts are here.

Back in the pre-streaming days, when I owned a CD recorder that allowed me to record CDs from CD and vinyl sources (I still miss that device), I recorded lots of personal Best Of and Anthology CDs. Palmer got the full Anthology treatment, with a three-CD set assembled chronologically.  

Today of course you can just go to your streaming service and assemble a playlist for your listening pleasure. Neither Qobuz or Spotify have Living In Fear, the second Power Station release, but everything else is available. To replace the two from Living In Fear, you could throw in All Shook Up, a 1991 B-side, and It Hurts Me Too, a bonus track on the reissued Drive.  So if you'd like to take the deep dive into Palmer's catalog, curated by a serious Palmerophile, here's your playlist. (Addendum: I just discovered that Qobuz does not have Rhythm and Blues or Live at the Apollo. Spotify has them both.)

CD #1
from Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley 1974:
1. Sailing Shoes
2. Hey Julia
3. Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley

from Pressure Drop 1975:
4. Give Me An Inch
5. Back In My Arms
6. Here With You Tonight
7. Trouble
8. Fine Time
9. Which Of Us Is The Fool

from Some People Can Do What They Like 1976:
10. One Last Look
11. Man Smart, Woman Smarter
12. Some People Can Do What They Like

from Double Fun 1978:
13. Best Of Both Worlds
14. Night People
15. You Overwhelm Me
16. You’re Gonna Get What’s Coming

from Secrets 1979:
17. Too Good To Be True
18. In Walks Love Again
19. Mean Old World
20. What’s It Take?
21. Remember To Remember

CD#2

from Clues 1980:
1. Looking For Clues
2. Johnny And Mary
3. Woke Up Laughing

from Maybe It’s Live 1982:
4. Some Guys Have All The Luck

from Pride 1983:
5. Pride
6. You Are In My System
7. You Can Have It (Take My Heart)
8. What You Waiting For

from The Power Station 1985:
9. Some Like It Hot
10. Lonely Tonight
11. Harvest For The World

from Riptide 1985:
12. Hyperactive
13. Addicted To Love
14. Trick Bag
15. I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On

from Heavy Nova 1988:
16. Simply Irresistible
17. Change His Ways
18. She Makes My Day

from Sweet Lies movie soundtrack 1988 and Addictions Volume 1 1989:
19. Sweet Lies

CD#3
from Don’t Explain 1990:
1. Dreams To Remember
2. History
3. I’ll Be your Baby Tonight
4. Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You
5. Top 40

Option to replace Living In Fear tracks:

All Shook Up 1991 Happiness (from Don't Explain) B-side

from Ridin’ High 1992:
6. Aeroplane
7. Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me

from Honey 1994:
8. Honey B
9. Know By Now
10. Honeymoon
11. You Blow Me Away

from Living In Fear by The Power Station 1996:
12. Scared
13. Taxman

from Rhythm & Blues 1999:
14. True Love 

15. No Problem
16. Let’s Get It On 99
17. Stone Cold
18. Twenty Million Things

from Live At The Apollo 2001:
19. Riptide

from Drive 2003:

Option to replace Living In Fear tracks:

It Hurts Me Too, bonus track on expanded Drive 

20. Why Get Up?
21. I Need Your Love So Bad

Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977 2008

The Kent label, a subsidiary of Ace Records in England, has produced some of the best reissue box sets/series exploring the finest Southern "deep" soul music. No Motown, no Philly, just Memphis, Muscle Shoals, Miami and several other deep south locations. The pinnacle of their success in this vein is probably the Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures series, which is rife with great songs and artists you've never heard.

This 3 CD set mixes big hits with lesser-knowns. So there's Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and Al Green, but also Eddy Giles, O V Wright, Jimmy Braswell, Bobby Newsome, and Denise LaSalle. In that sense it is a bit like a smaller version of the Beg, Scream and Shout box that Rhino did in 1997. There is plenty to discover here.

The booklet has a nice introduction essay, and then discusses each song with a reasonable level of detail, not just a two-sentence blurb. The book/disc holder format is the same one used for The Fame Studio Story, also a Kent release that focuses on similar material all produced in Rick Hall's famous studio in Muscle Shoals.

I remember my trip to Columbus, Georgia in 1966, and how amazed I was with all the incredible soul music that was absent from radio airplay north of the Mason-Dixon line. Motown was big in the north, but many of the artists on this and other deep Southern soul compilations will be new to many listeners. New, and excellent, music to your ears from a mere 70 years ago.

Ronnie Lane 1946-1997

Ronnie Lane was one talented guy. A fine singer, a skilled bass player, and one heck of a songwriter. And generally considered a very nice chap to boot. He died an early death in 1997 at age 51 from multiple sclerosis. His medical bills were paid by Ronnie Wood, Jimmy Page, and Rod Stewart because he needed help and was a great friend.

If you're old enough, you are probably more familiar with his work than you realize, especially his songwriting. In the Small Faces, he co-wrote most of the band's material with Steve Marriot, including Tin Soldier, Itchycoo Park, All or Nothing, My Way of Giving, and Lazy Sunday. With the Faces, he wrote or co-wrote Had Me A Real Good Time, Last Orders Please, Debris, If I'm On The Late Side, and Ooh La La. After leaving Faces in 1973, he made four solo records (three with his band Slim Chance), a soundtrack record with his old Faces buddy Ronnie Wood, and the classic Rough Mix with Pete Townsend. 

He played bass, wrote, and sang on two of the best records made in the 1970s, the Faces A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse and Rough Mix.

His solo records show off his rock writing and singing as well as his interest in English folk music. His singing is heartfelt and charming. His solo output is collected on a six-CD box set titled Just for a Moment: Music 1973–1997 from 2019 that includes all of his solo releases, bonus tracks, and quite a bit of live material from his time living in Austin in the 1980s. There's also a single CD Just For a Moment (The Best Of) from 2006 that is a fine introduction to his solo work, and a great place to go after A Nod Is As Good As A Wink and Rough Mix.

A great unheralded sideman? No, a great unheralded primary contributor to two great bands, and a woefully neglected solo artist.

Joni Mitchell Joni's Jazz 2025

In the last five years, Joni Mitchell's original work has been reissued in multiple box sets, and expanded in multiple box sets of live and previously unreleased material. Eight multi-disc sets have been issued as well as several single discs illuminating individual classic releases. The five Archive sets have presented 26 discs of live and previously unreleased material. It's a lot.

Joni's Jazz is a compilation 4-CD set that samples Mitchell's jazzier side, with only five tracks from before 1975's The Hissing of Summer Lawns, and with half of the tracks from 1994's Turbulent Indigo or later. If you're not fond of Mitchell's work in the nineties and oughts, this isn't the set for you. Or you might be surprised. 

Technically not everything is jazz, but close enough. Mitchell of course famously alienated her folk audience when she branched out into jazz and jazz-influenced styles in the late seventies. But the retrospective evaluations of her later works have been very complementary, and her singing shows that she is the real deal as a jazz singer. She also made most of this music with some of the finest jazz musicians in the business.

The music presented here is very good. Mitchell's later work holds up well. But what is most impressive about this set is the sequencing. It's not chronological. It's not consistently thematic. It took me several days to listen to the whole of it, and every time I restarted listening, I was taken aback at how well the songs sounded in the order they are presented. It would be a real shame to hit shuffle.

If you already own much of Mitchell's later work, this might be an unnecessary expense. But if that is you, I might suggest that you assemble a playlist of the songs in this order, and maybe purchase the individual tracks to fill the holes in your collection. There are only three songs which were released on other artists records, and only two that were previously unreleased.  

It is a wonderful set, artfully assembled with great care.

Always On My Mind

 

I'm a big fan of greeting cards. Birthdays, Valentine's Day, Christmas, sometimes just for the heck of it. I'm particular when I'm looking for a good one. If I open the card and there's a lot of words, I put it back. If there's a lot of words, I know some of them won't express my sentiment. I like the succinct card that has a brief but effective message. Sweet, funny or punny are my favorites.

My least favorite is the apology card. There's a ton of them, and for all the aforementioned occasions. These cards are from a man to his sweetheart/wife/significant other. They start with a line like "I know I don't say it enough" or "I'm not the guy that does that thing you really want from me". I'm not perfect, but when I know something my wife wants from me, she's going to get it. I say I love you every day. I do things that I know will make my wife happy. And I never need to buy a card that starts with something I haven't done that I know I should have done.

The guys that buy these cards are assholes. Their wives should not forgive them for being a jerk (or worse) because they bought an apology card. And when it comes to expressing love for someone, starting with what is wrong with you is just stupid. Don't apologize. Stop being a jerk. Change.

Which brings us to Always On My Mind. It is a lovely song, a great melody that enhances the melancholy with some minor chords and sevenths. Just beautiful. But the lyrics are straight out of an apology card, and just godawful. I didn't tell you how happy you make me, I didn't treat you well, I didn't love you often enough, I didn't hold you when you needed me, and little things I should have said and done, I never took the time. Well, that's because I'm a shithead that doesn't deserve you. 

But you were always on my mind. Bullshit. If you were thinking of her and didn't do anything to express it, it doesn't count.

And when he finally says " Tell me that your sweet love hasn't died, and give me one more chance to keep you satisfied", she should be calling an attorney and filing for divorce. You can do better, and if not, you're still better off without this guy who does not deserve your love.