"But if you die fearing God and painfully employed, you will not go to heaven, you'll go to Champaign, Illinois" The Old 97s have been keeping me company on this lazy sort of Sunday afternoon, in part because their tune Champaign, Illinois (below) has been stuck in my head all week.
That lyric caught my attention and made me pay closer attention to the song but it wasn't until I was listening to an interview with the lead singer that I realized why it seemed a bit familiar. The song is set to the tune of Bob Dylan's Desolation Row (with Dylan's blessing) which is one of my favorite Dylan tunes.
The Old 97s, along with Uncle Tupelo and it's derivative acts Wilco, Son Volt, and the Bottle Rockets were the pioneers of the alt-country sound that came out of the 90s. Growing up it seemed everyone around me was listening to Nashville country and to this day I can't hardly stand to listen to it, discovering alt country was something of watershed moment for me, I had to admit that I didn't hate all country.
The fact that Darius Rucker was able to make it in Nashville after Hootie & The Blowfish was able to achieve such heights of rock blah-ness is condemnation enough for Nashville country I suspect.
I woke up this morning, I sure was pleased. To celebrate I put on some Sunday music and by Sunday music I mean the blues. Lightnin' Hopkins' Woke Up This Morning (below) is one of my favorite ways to start that off. Anybody else have a certain type of music they like to listen to at certain times or associate with certain days?
I love the blues, especially that old delta blues with just a guitar and maybe a harmonica for company. About fifteen years ago I got an opportunity I'll never forget, a chance to meet a figure straight out of blues history. I'd went to the 'Master Musicians Festival' in tiny little Somerset, Kentucky, mainly to catch Old Crow Medicine Show (Whose song Wagon Wheel Darius Rucker later covered/blah-ed) and discovered that the act before them was none other than Honeyboy Edwards. Honeyboy was 92 at the time and had been on the road playing music since he was 14.
Before they took the stage Honeyboy and his band came over to a tent and hung out with some of us for a while and talked, telling stories, answering questions, and signing autographs (better believe I got him to sign a CD). He told us of the night Robert Johnson drank the poison whiskey that killed him (Johnson was kinda the grandfather of rock and roll, the guy selling his soul to play the guitar in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou was a reference to Johnson) and riding the rails during the Great Depression. Also told us of Jimi Hendrix coming to play with some of them long before Hendrix had ever made a name for himself.
When they finally took the stage, they killed it. Half a set acoustic and half electric, it was the best damn blues show I've ever seen (BB King and Buddy Guy put on badass shows too but they still don't beat Honeyboy). When Old Crow finally came out after it was almost a letdown. On a side note, never wear sandals to a show with a bunch of drunk rednecks, that Old Crow set was a bit dangerous.
When I've had my fill of the blues it's nice to switch it up and listen to something a little different, like a little piano music. Although he also played the guitar, Warren Zevon's piano playing is still my favorite and I find myself coming back to it often. Below is his Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner which is one of my all time favorite tunes.
How can you beat a song about a mercenary with no head and a tommy gun who refuses to die? Zevon's last public performance was on the Letterman Show (it was the only time Letterman devoted the entire show to one person) and the version of 'Roland' from that is equally badass.
That's enough about what I like to listen to, what about y'all? Anybody else have 'Sunday music'? I'm always looking to add to my playlists, drop me a comment with a song or artist suggestion or if you're up to it, make a case for Nashville country. Until next time, rock on!