Category: Music

Patty Griffin: “River”

Patty Griffin has released a new song, “River,” from her upcoming self-titled album. The new album is inspired by Griffin’s successful battle with breast cancer, and the single compares a woman’s strength to that of a river.

Takes an army just to bend her;
Be careful where you stand her;
You can’t hold her back for long;
The river is just too strong;
She’s a river.

“River” is a beautiful song about resilience and comparing the woman’s strength to the “ever-changing” nature of a river that “doesn’t need a diamond to shine.” Check it out.

According to Rolling Stone, Griffin’s inspiration for “River” comes from Leon Russell’s classic “A Song for You,” recorded by Donny Hathaway. Other artists like Ray Charles, The Carpenters, and Michael Buble have recorded it too.

Listen to Hathaway’s version of that song below.

Patty Griffin will be released on March 8, 2019, and Griffin will be touring to support the new album, her first since 2015’s
Servant of Love.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Steve Earle: “Dublin Blues”

    Steve Earle Guy

    Steve Earle is releasing a new album as a tribute to Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark. The new album, Guy, will feature sixteen tracks, including the newly released single, “Dublin Blues.”

    As a big fan of guy Clark, I am excited to hear that Earle is dedicating an album to his friend. But it will be difficult to surpass the wonderful 2011 multi-artist tribute to Clark, This One’s for Him. Still, Earle’s personal connection to Clark as well as his great talent make him the perfect person to spread the word about the underappreciated singer-songwriter. Earle did a similar feat for his other mentor Townes Van Zandt with the album Townes in 2009.

    The new album will feature a number of Guy Clark’s classic songs, like “L.A. Freeway,” “The Randall Knife,” “Desperados Waiting For a Train,” and “She Ain’t Going Nowhere.” Earle recently released the first single, “Dublin Blues.” Check it out.

    Interestingly, Clark’s song “Dublin Blues” is itself a tribute to another legend, Doc Watson. And the music for the song goes back much further than that. Check out our previous post on the story behind “Dublin Blues.”

    What do you think of Earle’s cover? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Good Ole Boys Like Me

    Good Old BoysWhile recently re-watching the movie Primary Colors (1998) for the umpteenth time, I noticed a song I had never really noticed before.  It occurs after John Travolta’s character Gov. Jack Stanton meets with Larry Hagman’s Gov. Fred Picker.  In a key scene near the end of the movie that was directed by Mike Nichols, Stanton walks away from Picker’s southern mansion singing a song.

    Stanton then says how he loves the song, in particular a line about the Williams boys, Hank and Tennessee.   He expounds, “The picture ain’t never complete without old Tennessee.”  The song is “Good Ole Boys Like Me.”

    I can still hear the soft southern winds in the live oak trees
    And those Williams boys, they still mean a lot to me
    Hank and Tennessee
    I guess we’re all gonna be what we’re gonna be
    So, what do you do with good ole boys like me?

    The song captures the charm of Travolta’s character, who is based upon Bill Clinton during his race for the presidency.  It also shows the politician’s embrace of Southern culture.

    The Song

    Bob McDill wrote “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” a song that stacks together images of Southern culture.  The images range from a Civil War general to great American novelists like Thomas Wolfe.

    McDill initially offered the song to Kenny Rogers, who found it too literary.  So, Don Williams recorded the song and created a classic.

    Other people mentioned in the song are DJ’s like Wolfman Jack and John R., the latter of whom McDill listened to as a kid on WLAC radio out of Nashville.  McDill found inspiration to write the song with images of Southern culture while reading the novel A Place to Come To, by Robert Penn Warren.

    McDill tells more about the story behind the song in the video below.  Check it out.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Lou Reed Inducting Dion Into Rock Hall

    In early 1989, Lou Reed inducted Dion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a short poetic introduction, followed by Dion’s short funny recollections.

    Dion Rock Hall

    On January 18, 1989, one great singer-songwriter associated with New York inducted another great singer-songwriter also associated with the city into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Lou Reed, injecting poetic words as only he could do, inducted Dion DiMucci into the Rock Hall.

    In the video below, listen to Reed describing the influence of Dion and his music, “Bronx Soul.”  Reed does it with language only he would use, all while reading from a sheet of paper that those of us who were around in 1989 recognize as continuous computer paper with holes on the side, printed from a dot matrix printer.

    Then, a happy Dion takes the stage to accept with a short funny speech.

    The “Phil” that Dion mentions is legendary producer Phil Spector, including a reference to Spector’s production of Dion’s 1975 album Born to Be with You and the producer’s notorious reclusiveness.  Subsequently, Spector’s strange behavior would lead to him being convicted of murder in 2009 and going to prison where he died from complications due to Covid in January 2020. The “Bruce” he mentions is, of course, Bruce Springsteen. Check it out.

    The 1989 induction ceremony was one for the ages. Other performers inducted in addition to Dion included The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and Otis Redding.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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