Chris Stapleton “Midnight Train To Memphis”
I got back to the garden. Not MSG, not that garden, but the one about which Joni Mitchell wrote and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young most famously sang: at the erstwhile home of Yasgur’s Farm, the mythical “garden” of Woodstock. This summer (this week, in fact) is exactly 50 years since “The Summer Of Love”...... Read More
Chris Shiflett “Sticks & Stones” (2017)
Chris Shiflett has, for around 20 years, been the guitarist in two different bands, with two vastly different levels of notoriety: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, the greatest punk rock cover band ever (seriously, they are), and another one you’re more likely to have heard of, the Foo Fighters. Most recently, he’s set off... Read More
X “4th Of July” (1987)
A perfect 4th of July song called 4th of July, by underrated L.A. punk band X, the simplest group ever to alphabetize in your record collection... Read More
The Sheepdogs “The Way It Is” (2012)
Many of the longest and closest friendships of my life derive directly from the softball teams I played on in my just-post-college years, particularly the legendary Polera’s Demolition Crew, winners of back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) league championships and continuous crusher of our arch-rival, Ted’s Auto Body. So I’m dedicating this post – for reasons that will... Read More
Whitey Morgan & The 78’s “Waitin’ ‘Round To Die” (2015)
One of my favorite regular reads is “Saving Country Music” penned with an acerbic wit and what can only be described as righteous indignation by a dude named Kyle Coroneos, aka “Trigger”, with whom I agree on just about everything he writes in defending his self-imposed, virtuous cause. Some time ago, in regard to the...... Read More
Dan Baird & Homemade Sin “Licka Sense” (2017)
Dan Baird is everything I love about rock and roll. “Three chords and a cloud of dust,” as his website proclaims. Including his stint as a solo artist, he’s occupied the lead spot in four of my favorite bands of the last 4 decades. If you wanted to package up his work in a time...... Read More
Gregg Allman “My Only True Friend” (2017)
The Midnight Rider's final ride: with "My Only True Friend" Gregg Allman wrote his own farewell song.... Read More
Jim Pepper ‘Witchi Tai To’ (1971)
Freshman year of college two of my friends disappeared one day to some record store, and returned later with a few offbeat choices: “German Drinking Songs,” “Gregorian Chants,” and “Music Of The American Indian.” I think the three of them cost a dollar combined, and they probably overpaid, but we sat in their dorm room...... Read More
Gregg Allman “My Only True Friend”
The Midnight Rider's final ride: with "My Only True Friend" Gregg Allman wrote his own farewell song.... Read More
The Mavericks “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down” (1995)
I’d be hard pressed to come up with a song that has a greater disparity between its dreadfully dour lyrics and the unmitigated joy of its music than this one. While singer and bandleader Raul Malo is crooning the oft-repeated depressing title line, he’s also leading his band through one of the happiest... Read More