Tom Russell‘s upcoming album Folk Hotel features thirteen original songs and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” as a duet with Joe Ely. One of my favorite albums of the last few years was Russell’s The Rose of Roscrae. So I’m looking forward to his latest work.
The album features one of Russell’s paintings on the cover. And one may also buy a lyric book featuring essays, lyrics, and additional paintings.
Uncut describes the new album as “folk-tinged songs about cowboys, Texas, Irish poets, and JFK.” A recent review on No Depression noted that the new album is “a very distinct shift of emphasis back to one man playing guitar and singing songs.” Heck, Russell even asserts it is his best album to date.
Below is Russell’s promotional video for Folk Hotel. Russell rambles around some stories and then there is a bit of music at the end. Check it out.
Folk Hotel hits stores and the Internet on September 8, 2017. Leave your two cents in the comments.
The number one song in the U.S. during much of the summer of 1969 painted a picture of a horrible future for humanity, “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus).”
During the summer of 1969, Zager and Evans dominated the radio with their hit song “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus).” The song stayed in the number one spot for six weeks, including during the Woodstock Music Festival and when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 12, 1969, ending its run at number one on August 22, 1969.
The song catalogs a horrible future for humans, documenting the world in various rhyming years up to 9595. For example,
In the year 5555, Your arms hangin’ limp at your sides; Your legs got nothin’ to do; Some machine’s doin’ that for you.
Something about the song resonated with Americans (the song also did well in the U.K.). “In the Year 2525” seemed even more pessimistic than Barry McGuire’s 1965 hit “Eve of Destruction.”
Perhaps people related to the dystopian vision of “In the Year 2525” after the unrest of the previous year of 1968. That year saw the murders of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, Viet Nam protests, and other events. Or maybe having survived 1968, people found some joy in whistling past the graveyard.
The geniuses behind the song, however, would never match the success of “In the Year 2525.” Zager and Evans were Denny Zager and Rick Evans, who first had a regional hit with the song as local performers in Nebraska. Evans wrote “In the Year 2525” in 1964.
One of their followup songs, “Mr. Turnkey,” which was about a rapist, did not do well on the charts.
According to Wikipedia, Evans later recorded some of his own music but now stays out of the public eye, while Zager went on to build custom guitars for Zager Guitars.
If you are looking for some brand new quality country music to check out, look no further than Tyler Childers. The singer-songwriter released his first full album, Purgatory, on August 4, 2017.
On the new album, Childers has some help. Sturgill Simpson produced Purgatory, and David Ferguson, who was Johnny Cash’s engineer, helps out. But Childer’s songs and his voice speak for themselves on the autobiographical concept album that traces a young man’s growth into an adult.
Childers grew up in eastern Kentucky. And you may hear some of the Appalachian Mountains sound in his music. It’s great stuff, and he should be getting a lot more attention soon. Rolling Stone already has listed him as one of the 10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.
Because he is so good, he should get some help on the technology side so he can put up a website (his Twitter account currently has a link to a reverbnation page that isn’t there).
But it is the music that counts. One of the tracks on the album is “Whitehouse Road.” Check it out.
What do you think of Tyler Childers? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of the late Glen Campbell’s greatest recordings is of the Jimmy Webb penned classic, “Galveston.” Although it has been called one of the best anti-war pop songs (even bordering on sedition), the anti-war elements are so understated that I had heard the song many times without ever recognizing its references to war. Rolling Stone has noted how Webb originally wrote the song as a protest song during the Viet Nam era. Don Ho first recorded the song and introduced it to Campbell. Then, Campbell made some small changes to the lyrics to make it a bit more ambiguous.
The ambiguity is increased by the soaring music and the fact that Campbell wore a uniform in the official video.
The Lyrics to “Galveston”
Yet, it is the ambiguity that makes the song so great. The singer thinks back to the town of Galveston and the love he left there: “I still see her dark eyes glowing./She was twenty one, when I left Galveston.”
The listener hears the first verse and has no idea why the singer left Galveston. But then in the second verse, there is a reference to cannons and the wonderful line, “I clean my gun, and dream of Galveston.”
Yet, to find any anti-war message, a listener must look to the next verse and the song’s final lines. “Galveston, I am so afraid of dying, Before I dry the tears she’s crying, Before I watch your sea birds flying in the sun, at Galveston, at Galveston.”
One may still view the song as a soldier looking back on the love he left behind. In that sense, the song is similar to Bing Crosby’s recording of “White Christmas.” Or one may take the line about the fear of dying as a reminder of the horrors of war, which takes the lives of so many young people.
Original Lyrics
Webb was a great writer, but it is hard to argue that the ambiguous verse Campbell added to replace Webb’s more anti-war verse was not an improvement. In fact, when Webb recorded his song in 1972, he sang it with Campbell’s tweak to the lyrics. What did Campbell change?
According to Wikipedia, the original second verse as sung by Don Ho was:
“Wonder if she could forget me; I’d go home if they would let me; Put down this gun, And go to Galveston.”
The video below of someone’s trip to the beach in Galveston features these original lyrics in the Don Ho version.
Campbell replaced that verse with the verse about cannon’s flashing and cleaning his gun. Gone was the reference to the fact that the soldier would leave the war if he could. Instead, we just know he thinks of Galveston and his love while he cleans his gun.
Still, there is not much difference in meaning. And Campbell also left in the line about the fear of dying.
Webb and Campbell
In the video below, Webb and Campbell discuss the song before playing a slower, soulful version with Webb on the piano.
Webb himself has been a bit ambiguous about the meaning behind the song. In a Sound Observations interview, he claimed: “If there was a statement, and obviously I was saying something, I prefer to say it wasn’t anti-war – that it was more about an individual getting involved in a war and realizing that he’d rather be somewhere else.” He then went on to explain that it was not to be a “hit-you-over-the-head” protest song.
Yet, Webb’s comments did reveal there was a message that became hidden in Campbell’s version: “But a lot of people didn’t get it anyway. Because, Glen pretty much cut it up-tempo. It was kind of like a march. It was kind of happy. It sounded almost patriotic.”
Either way, it is a beautiful song, likely made more beautiful by the clash of the anti-war writer and the more conservative singer who supported the Viet Nam War. One can hear that tension in the beautiful song about a soldier longing for his Texas home, made more beautiful by the wonderful voice of Glen Campbell. What is your favorite anti-war song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Kentucky singer-songwriter Chris Knight created a rare classic modern murder ballad with his song, “Becky’s Bible,” about a killer on the run.
In the 1600’s, a significant number of ballads in Europe told stories centering around a killing. This category of “murder ballads” soon took root in America, as settlers brought some of the Old World songs to the new while also creating new classics. Something about the blood and the conflict, tied up with tragedy, have made many of these songs endure.
Today, we get most of our blood and guts from movies and TV. Pop stars are not likely to sing about murder and mayhem. Yet, the murder ballad does live on in other genres like hip hop and country music, areas of music that are more willing to explore the human condition.
One of my favorite modern murder ballad’s is Chris Knight‘s “Becky’s Bible.” The song appeared on his album A Pretty Good Guy, which had the unfortunate release date of September 11, 2001.
“Becky’s Bible” begins with one of the great opening lines: “Let the beer bottle / Rattle on my pistol / On the seat of my Chevy pick up truck.” He thus captures three country music tropes — beer, guns, and trucks — in one line that also sets up a wonderful tale.
There does not seem to be an official video for the song, but here is a decent fan-made video.
The song does not focus on the crime, though. Instead, we join the singer while he is on the run. We get the idea that the singer was accused of cheating at cards and then somehow it escalated into gunfire.
The wonderful part of the song is that Knight is able to make the listener more interested in the fleeing man than in the crime. The singer tells us his plan for running, but he recognizes that he will eventually get caught. We sympathize with him because his thoughts keep going back to his girlfriend or wife. I don’t wanna see the daylight; But my Becky is alone tonight; I wonder if she’s waiting up for me.
Soon, his thoughts turn to wondering if Becky’s Bible is in his truck’s glove box. “Cause I’m sure gonna need it if that boy died.”
It is still night and the singer is still on the run when the song ends. So we do not know if he is eventually caught, but we have clues from the singer’s certainty of his impending doom.
We care about him, though, because he cares about Becky. Although throughout the song he has recounted how his best chance for escape lies in it staying dark, at the end, he wishes for daylight because it might bring some comfort to Becky. “I’ll be prayin’ for some daylight, / Because my Becky’s alone tonight.”
Here is a live version, although you can barely hear Knight because of the fans singing along. The song has a wonderful catchy tune, so I can’t say I blame them.
Knight’s more recent album is Little Victories (2012) which we reviewed here.
During the summer of 1969, Zager and Evans dominated the radio with their hit song “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus).” The song stayed in the number one spot for six weeks, including during the Woodstock Music Festival and when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 12, 1969, ending its run at number one on 
If you are looking for some brand new quality country music to check out, look no further than 
, on August 4, 2017.
In the 1600’s, a significant number of ballads in Europe told stories centering around a killing. This category of “
, which had the unfortunate release date of September 11, 2001.