What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

WILLIE NELSON  "across the borderline"  cd, 1993

a revisit
a country album
four tracks written by Willie, the remainder are covers or songs written for him
duets with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Sinaed O'Connor and Paul Simon, all of which work well IMO
a great album that deserves a listen if you havent already done so
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

the duet with Dylan:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

BERNARD FANNING  "tea & sympathy" cd, 2005


a revisit
lead vocals for Aussie rockers Powderfinger
branched out for a solo record
acoustic folky/americana/country-esque songs which obviously do not fit the Powderfinger fprmula
used to love this album, not now, but still really like it
just seems to overstay its welcome by a couple of tracks for me
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

CHRIS ISAAK  "everybody knows its christmas"  vinyl 2022

from Lynne's collection
we are both huge Chris Isaak fans
this Christmas was the first time i had ever heard this album
some serious yuletide songs on here, some novelty as expected and some written by Isaak's
all recorded in either crooner, country or rockabilly style as you would expect
up there with Elvis Presley's Christmas album IMO and that can only mean that...
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

in rockabilly mode:  Chris Isaak | "Almost Christmas" (Official Video)

in serious mode:   O Holy Night

my fave a self composed novelty song  

[CRAZY-HORSE]

STURGILL SIMPSON "high top mountain" cd, 2013

a revisit
debut set from Sturgill...
album title comes from the name of the cemetery where his relatives are buried...
I guess the album cover looking like stained glass windows has that religious overtone also....
fantastic collection of bluegrass and real country on this album...
album would still rate a similar score to the last time i posted it (2.5)
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fave on this occasion:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

STURGILL SIMPSON "metamodern sounds in country music" cd/vinyl 2014

a revisit becuase Lynne purchased all of his studio albums for me for Christmas
second set from Sturgill....
cover art on all his albums are not country looking but the sound sure is...
light melodic story telling on all three....
one cover on the album....
"the promise" which was originally recorded by a UK new wave group called When In Rome...
ive never heard of them or the song, strange thing is, how did he???....
all up, a fantastic album from a modern guy actually keeping the candle burning or real country music!
album would rate the same as last time i posted it (2.6)
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fave on this occasion: pretty sure both Ruby and Jerome would even love this guy if they gave him a chance

[CRAZY-HORSE]

STURGILL SIMPSON  "cuttin' grass volume 1: the butcher shoppe sessions"  vinyl 2020

a Christmas gift from Lynne
never bothered buying this one because it was a covers album of his own songs done in a bluegrass style
a double album, some twenty odd tracks which even with my love of Sturgill is too much for one sitting IMO
at least some of the songs have different arrangements to the originals which does make them slightly 'new'
album was recorded not long after Sturgill recovered from Covid and everything was locked down
"butcher shoppe" refers to the recording studio the album was recorded in
a good album just a couple of standouts and nothing i dislike so a score of 2.1 seems appropriate on this occasion
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

his greatest song in bluegrass style:





I've seen Jesus play with flames in a lake of fire that I was standing in
Met the devil in Seattle and spent 9 months inside the lions' den
Met Buddha yet another time
He showed me a glowing light within
But I swear that God is there
Every time I glare into the eyes of my best friend


Says my son, it's all been done
Someday you're gonna wake up old and gray
So go and try to have some fun showing warmth to everyone
You meet and greet and cheat along the way

There's a gateway in our minds
That leads somewhere out there far beyond this plane
Where reptile aliens made of light cut you open and pull out all your pain
Tell me how you make illegal something that we all make in our brain
Some say you might go crazy
Then again, it might make you go sane

Every time I take a look inside inside that old and fabled book
I'm blinded and reminded of the pain caused by some old man in the sky
Marijuana, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT, they all changed the way I see
Love's the only thing that ever saved my life

So don't waste your mind on nursery rhymes
And fairy tales of blood and wine
It's turtles all the way down the line
So to each their own 'til we go home
To other realms our souls must roam
To and through the myth that we all call space and time

[CRAZY-HORSE]

STURGILL SIMPSON  "cuttin' grass volume 2: the cowboy arms sessions"  vinyl 2020

a christmas gift from Lynne
his second release of 2020 that i never bothered to get
a covers album of country/folk/bluegrass renditions of his own songs
"cowboy arms" refers to the recording studio where it was recorded
one cover on here, "hobo cartoon" originally by Merle Haggard, never heard Merle's but i love Sturgill's acoustic version
much better than volume one simply because its a single album as opposed to a lengthy double album
love most of it and like the rest, album would rate 2.4 if i scored it track by trac
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fave:





Well, I been spending all my money on weed 'n' pills
Trying to write a song that'll pay the bills
But it ain't came yet so I guess I'll have to rob a bank
I guess it could be worse, it ain't that bad
At least I ain't sitting in old Baghdad
In the middle of the hot damn desert sitting in a tank


Well, every time the wife talks, a baby gets mentioned
I'm so broke, I can't pay attention
Lord, how it tears me up to see her cry
So I been spending all my nights on the internet
Looking for a clue but ain't found one yet
Just a bunch of Mopars, guitars, and other stuff I can't buy

Well now Lord, if you can hear me, won't you throw a damn dog a bone?
'Cause if the Devil shows up with a better deal
This old soul's going down
I sing 'em real pretty, I sing 'em real sad
All the people in the crowd say he ain't half-bad
Well, they call me King Turd up here on Shit Mountain
If you want it, you can have the crown

Well, I been sitting on my ass like a bump on a log
Watching Andy and ol' Boss Hog
Guess I ought to get up and go out and find a job
Instead of sitting on the couch trying to find the next line
I'm sure there's gotta be a better use of my time
Like figuring out which one of these banks I'm gonna go rob

Well, the name of the game is "Hurry up and wait"
But that ain't putting no food on my plate
Or gas in my car and I drive a Bronco
So Lord, if I could just get me a record deal
I might not have to worry about my next meal
But I'll still be trying to figure out
What the hell rhymes with Bronco

[CRAZY-HORSE]

STURGILL SIMPSON  "the ballad of dood and juanita"  cd/vinyl 2021

a revisit
his seventh studio album, ffith proper album if you dont include the two re-recorded albums
a concept album 
a love story set in the US Civil War
a short album clocking in at 27 minutes, so it is a short and concise journey
great stuff IMO and would rank somewhere around 2.5-2.6 as a rough guess which means
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

im not posting one track because it is meant to be listened to as an entire project

[Ruby]

^You're obviously listening to his catalogue - maybe mentioned that somewhere and I've missed it. I will have a listen. 



Meanwhile, I've listening to Gregory Alan Isakov's Appaloosa Bones, which MH listened to and posted in 2023 when it was released, I see. And then I discovered that he was born here, in Jozi. Huh! Emigrated with parents a long time ago. I like this album - tastefully done, I think. He's an Indie artist - working hard doing tours, etc. Sounds a little like Fleet Foxes in places and a tad bit like David Gray (early) sometimes too - I dunno. Difficult to peg a perfect sounds like - suffice to say singer/songwriter with folk/Americana leanings - largely acoustic (this album) with properly matched instruments, for voice and style - lovely sounds. Very connected to the earth, which makes sense as he is also a small scale farmer - organic produce. Nice. I'm going to listen to Evening Machines next, which gets good press and is on Glen Phillips's (Toad the Wet Sprocket) list of 5 albums he can't live without. Not so sure about that list, but glad that it pointed me in this direction! Fab album cover too ... suitably bucolic ... 



Now - from Appaloosa Bones, I'm choosing "Silver Bell" because I am hearing silver in the music too (not least Hi Ho! LOL!) - fanciful, but that's how I roll   ...

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^You're obviously listening to his catalogue - maybe mentioned that somewhere and I've missed it. I will have a listen. 

YUP, listening to his catalogue on vinyl actually because Lynne got me his 7 albums on vinyl for Christmas (i own them on cd).
i purchased Lynne seven Prince albums on vinyl for Christmas that she didnt have.