1990s – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Guy Clark – Dublin Blues

I love the way Clark lets the details carry the emotion. His delivery gives the words time to register, and another little picture appears each time I listen. He makes this man’s memories feel familiar, even when they have nothing to do with my own.

Guy Clark was a master songwriter, and one thing I love about his songs is the imagery. He could describe something ordinary and make you see it. A bar, a cigarette, or a memory could tell you more about a person than a long explanation. Dublin Blues is a wonderful example. You can picture the man in this song, and you can feel how badly he wishes he were somewhere else.

Clark wrote the song himself and released it as the title track of his 1995 album. The narrator longs for a familiar bar in Austin while struggling with a love he cannot leave behind. He has pride, regrets, and things he wants forgiveness for. Clark gives us enough to understand his hurt while leaving room to wonder about the relationship. It feels like hearing one side of a conversation that has been going on for years.

One detail I especially like is how he puts seeing great works of art alongside hearing Doc Watson play. To my ears, Watson belongs right there with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. It tells you something about what this man values. He has experienced beautiful things, but those memories cannot settle what is troubling him now. That is a lot to get across in a few lines.

I love this story about writing the song. Clark brought the idea to Rodney Crowell, who declined to help. Crowell had been encouraging him to stop sharing songwriting credit when he was doing so much of the work himself. He wanted Clark to finish this one alone. Clark did, and Crowell later admitted that turning him down had not been one of his smartest decisions. I can understand the regret!

The Texas Chili Parlor is a real Austin establishment, and the margaritas came from Clark’s own experiences there with friends. He recalled that their inexpensive mezcal drinks were pretty awful. After the song became popular, he said a bartender complained that people were ordering them because of the song and then wanting refunds. Leave it to Guy Clark to make people nostalgic for a drink he didn’t even recommend.

Dublin Blues

I wished I was in Austin in the Chili Parlor Bar
Drinking Mad Dog Margaritas and not caring where you are
But here I sit in Dublin just rolling cigarettes
Holding back and choking back the shakes with every breath

So forgive me all my anger, forgive me all my faults
There’s no need to forgive me for thinking what I thought
I loved you from the get go, and I’ll love you ’til I die
I loved you on the Spanish Steps the day you said goodbye

I am just a poor boy, work’s my middle name
If money was a reason, well, I would not be the same
But I’ll stand up and be counted, I’ll face up to the truth
I’ll walk away from trouble, but I can’t walk away from you

I have been to Fort Worth, and I have been to Spain
I have been too proud to come in out of the rain

I have seen the David, I’ve seen the Mona Lisa too
I have heard Doc Watson play, “Columbus Stockade Blues”

Well I wished I was in Austin, hmm, in the Chili Parlor Bar
Drinking Mad Dog Margaritas and not caring where you are

Thank y’all very much
It’s Guy Clark
Thanks very much, I had a great time

Texas Tornados – Little Bit Is Better Than Nada

I’ve been a huge fan of Doug Sahm and that has come in recent years. I honestly don’t think I’ve heard anything by him that I didn’t like. Whether it was the Sir Douglas Quintet, his solo work, or the Texas Tornados, he always seemed to make music that I enjoyed. Another musician I have a lot of respect for is Augie Meyers, who played alongside Sahm in the Sir Douglas Quintet. Both men were part of the Texas Tornados, along with Freddy Fender and Flaco Jiménez. That was quite a collection of talent in one band. Plus, you can tell they had a lot of fun doing this. That comes over in spades.

This song was written by Doug Sahm and released on the Texas Tornados’ 1996 album 4 Aces. Sahm also sings lead on the song. It has that wonderful mixture of country, rock and roll, and Tex-Mex music that these guys did so well. The accordion, keyboards, and rhythm all work together, and the song has a catchy chorus that stays with you. It was also featured in the 1996 Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup and received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Doug Sahm apparently had a lot of confidence in this song. According to a 1996 Billboard interview, when the Texas Tornados were looking to return to Reprise Records, Sahm actually sang “Little Bit Is Better Than Nada” across the desk to label president Howie Klein. Now that’s one way to pitch a record!

What I like about the Texas Tornados is that they never sounded like they were trying to fit into one particular category. They played the music they loved, and it showed. Sahm had a way of making everything sound natural, whether he was singing country, blues, rock and roll, or Tex-Mex. Augie Meyers was just as important to that sound, especially with his distinctive keyboard playing. It is a great example of what made this band special. Four talented musicians having a good time making music, and you can hear it.

Little Bit Is Better Than Nada

Met her in a border town
We proceeded to get down
She turned me on
I dropped the telephone

Moonlight hits the Rio Grande
And the touch of her hand
It makes me high
Like the Fourth of July

The bad bandido came into town
But man, I’m gonna hunt that gringo down
But these words keep ringin’ in my ear

A little bit is better than nada
Sometime you want the whole enchilada
A little bit is better than nada
A little bit or nothin’ at all

Said Cancun was not her style
Turistas there, they drove her wild
The border’s the place
Put on a brand new face

Me and the boys had just hit town
Shake ’em up and rode ’em down
I guess it was fate
I hope I wasn’t too late

Bad, bad boys was on our trail
Federales want us all in jail
But these words keep ringin’ in my ear

A little bit is better than nada
Sometime you want the whole enchilada
A little bit is better than nada
A little bit or nothin’ at all

Joe Ely – Me and Billy The Kid

We just covered Billy Joel’s “The Ballad of Billy the Kid,” so I thought we would stay with the same outlaw for another song. This time it’s Joe Ely with Me and Billy the Kid. I’ve always liked Ely and his mixture of country and rock. This song has a great sense of humor, and unlike Billy Joel’s version, the narrator actually knows Billy. The problem is that he can’t stand him! I love the pacing of Ely’s writing. He makes you want to hear another verse and then another.

The song was written by Ely and appeared on his 1987 album Lord of the Highway. Ely got the idea while passing through Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where Billy the Kid was killed. He stopped at a museum and found very little about the outlaw himself. Since so much of Billy’s life was already surrounded by legend, Ely decided to make up his own story. He imagined himself riding with Billy and competing with him for the same woman. He said he wrote the lyrics on the drive from Fort Sumner to Clovis.

What I like about this song is that Ely doesn’t try to make Billy the Kid into some heroic figure. He’s a thoroughly unpleasant character, and the narrator isn’t exactly innocent either. There are jealousies, a Chihuahua, a robbery scheme, and a rather dark ending. All of it is delivered with a driving country-rock sound and Ely’s wonderful storytelling. It certainly isn’t a history lesson, but it’s one entertaining song. And between Billy Joel and Joe Ely, I think we’ve established that Billy the Kid was a pretty popular fellow with songwriters!

In the past few years, I have learned about some incredible artists, and I thank all of you. Joe Ely, Dave Alvin, Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, Guy Clark, The Flatlanders, and many more. These artists didn’t pop up on the radio as much, and it’s a damn shame.

Me and Billy The Kid

Well, me and Billy the Kid never got along
I didn’t like the way he cocked his hat and he wore his gun all wrong
But we had the same girlfriend and he never forgot it
She had a cute little chihuahua ’til one day I up and shot it
He rode the hard country down the New Mexico line
He had a silver pocket watch that he never did wind
He crippled a piano player for playing his favorite song
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along

Well, me and Billy the Kid never got along
I didn’t like the way he buckled his
Belt and he wore his gun all wrong
He was bad to the bone, all hopped up on speed
I would’ve left him alone if it wasn’t for that senorita
He gave her silver and he paid her hotel bill
But it was me she loved, she said she always will
I’d always go and see her when Billy was gone
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along

Well, me and Billy the Kid never got along
I didn’t like the way he tied his shoes and he wore his gun all wrong
One day I said to Billy, “I got this foolproof scheme
We’ll rob Wells Fargo, it’s bustin’ at the seams”
I admit that I framed him but I don’t feel bad
‘Cause the way I was livin’ was drivin’ me mad
Billy reached for his gun but his gun was on wrong
No, me and Billy the Kid, we never got along

No, me and Billy the Kid never got along
But I did like the way he swayed in the
Wind while I played him his favorite song

Now my baby sings harmony with me to “La Cucaracha”
She winds her silver pocket watch and pets her new chihuahua
I moved into the hotel, I got a room with a shower
We lay and listen to that watch tick hour after hour
Outside I hear the wind blowin’ oh so strong
No, me and Billy the Kid never got along

We never got along
We never got along
We never got along
Never got along
He’d been in the sun too long

Backsliders – Throwin’ Rocks At The Moon

The band’s name rang a bell with me, but not because of them. Back in the early 1990s, I was watching an episode of The Waltons when John Walton referred to himself as a “backslider.” I remember thinking, What a great name for a band. Sure enough, when my own band was looking for a new name, we became The Backsliders. I still have a few old business cards with our long-forgotten phone number on them. So when I discovered this band years later, I had to smile. So from one Backslider to another…the name ended up in very good hands!

The Backsliders were formed in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the early 1990s by singer and songwriter Chip Robinson and guitarist Steve Howell. While country music was becoming increasingly polished on commercial radio, the band looked in a different direction. They blended country, rock, bluegrass, folk, and Americana into a sound that felt both timeless and fresh. Their music owed as much to Gram Parsons, The Byrds, and traditional country as it did to roots rock, and they quickly earned a reputation as one of the finest Americana bands on the East Coast.

This song, released in 1997, grabs me from the very beginning. I love the opening guitar, and once the rhythm section settles in, the song just rolls along with confidence. There’s nothing flashy here. It’s simply a well-written song played by musicians who know exactly what they’re doing. The melody is memorable, the harmonies are excellent, and the performance has that relaxed feel that makes the best Americana music so enjoyable.

One thing I like about The Backsliders is that they never sound like they’re trying to recreate the past. You can hear country, folk, rock, and bluegrass woven together naturally, without any one style taking over. That’s harder to do than it sounds, and it’s one of the reasons their records have aged so well.

If you happen to see an old worn-out business card with “The Backsliders” on it from a little band in Tennessee…well…that was us long before I ever discovered this outstanding group.

Throwin’ Rocks at the Moon

Colder than the pennies on a dead man’s eyes
Meaner than a four-ten side-by-side
She’s the stuff that makes worlds collide
She’s a angel with a dangerous side

Upstairs, razor glidin’ on glass
Upstairs, some strangers hand on her ass
Upstairs, there’s a door being closed in the dark

Well she likes to go riding in her sister’s car
Hanging out the window wishing on a star
Beatin’ on the dash when the radio dies
Making different boys with the look in her eyes

Upstairs, her heart’s beatin’ too fast
Upstairs, she swears this one’s her last
Upstairs, there’s a deal going down in the dark

Maybe in the middle of the night
She’ll think about me
Something won’t hit her quite right
And it won’t let her be
Darkness comes swimmin’ all around her
And sleep never follows too soon
I’ll be standing out in my front yard
Throwin’ rocks at the moon

Boys like to dance when that accordion plays
Spinnin’ her wheels down the lost highway
Kickin’ up dust on a dancehall floor
Leavin’ em thirsty beggin’ for more

Upstairs, razor glidin’ on glass
Upstairs, some strangers hand
On her ass upstairs there’s a door being closed in the dark

Throwin’ rocks at the moon
Throwin’ rocks at the moon
Throwin’ rocks at the moon

Del Amitri – Roll To Me

I remember hearing this song back in the nineties while driving around the Vanderbilt and West End area of Nashville. I liked it immediately. It was short, catchy, and sounded like something that could have been recorded in almost any decade. It’s pure unadulterated power pop.

Del Amitri formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in the early eighties. The band was centered around singer and songwriter Justin Currie, with guitarist Iain Harvie becoming his longtime songwriting partner. They had already been around for years before most American listeners knew who they were.

The song was written by Justin Currie, and oddly enough, it was a much smaller hit in their native UK than in America and Canada. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, and #22 on the UK charts in 1995. One of the many power-pop songs of the 90s.

What gets me about the song is how little time it wastes. “Roll to Me” barely lasts over two minutes. There isn’t a long introduction or anything unnecessary. The guitars come in, Currie starts singing, the melody grabs you, and before you know it, the song is finished.

Del Amitri sometimes gets grouped under alternative rock because of when they became popular, but they never sounded like they were chasing whatever alternative rock was supposed to sound like in 1995. There is some Byrds in their music, some Beatles, and plenty of the kind of melodic guitar pop that had been around long before anyone started calling it alternative.

The band had other good songs, including Always the Last to Know, Not Where It’s At, Kiss This Thing Goodbye, but Roll to Me was the one that really connected in America.

Maybe part of the reason I still remember it so clearly is because music attaches itself to places for me. I can hear certain songs and immediately remember where I was when I first heard them. With this one, I’m back in Nashville in the nineties, driving around Vanderbilt and West End.

The song comes on. Two minutes later it’s over. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Roll To Me

Look around your world, pretty baby
Is it everything you hoped it’d be?
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me
Roll to me

And look into your heart, pretty baby
Is it aching with some nameless need?
Is there something wrong, and you can’t put your finger on it?
Right then, roll to me

And I don’t think I have ever seen
A soul so in despair
So if you want to talk the night through
Guess who will be there?

So don’t try to deny it, pretty baby
You’ve been down so long you can hardly see
When the engine’s stalled, and it won’t stop raining
It’s the right time to roll to me

Roll to me
Roll to me

And I don’t think I have ever seen
A soul so in despair
So if you want to talk the night through
Guess who will be there?

So look around your world, pretty baby
Is it everything you hoped it’d be?
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me
The right time to roll to me
The right time to roll to me, ooh

Leo Kottke – The Other Day (Near Santa Cruz)

Every once I like venturing down the unbeaten path. Leo Kottke certainly qualifies, although great guitar playing is never too far outside of my wheelhouse.

Kottke is one of those guitar players who can make you wonder how many people are actually playing. He is known for both six and twelve-string acoustic guitar, using fingerpicking, slide, and different tunings to get sounds out of the instrument that most of us could only wish for.

He was from Athens, Georgia, and he moved around quite a bit while growing up before settling in Minnesota. He started playing guitar when he was young and became especially interested in the twelve-string. By the late sixties, he was playing around Minneapolis and recorded his first album, 12-String Blues.

His big early break came through guitarist John Fahey. Kottke sent Fahey a demo and ended up recording 6- and 12-String Guitar for Fahey’s Takoma Records in 1969. The album, sometimes called the Armadillo album because of its cover, established Kottke as one of the most distinctive acoustic guitar players around.

Kottke eventually signed with Capitol Records and continued recording throughout the seventies and beyond. His aggressive playing style eventually caused problems with his hands and forced him to change his technique. He adapted and kept playing.

This song came much later on his 1991 album Great Big Boy. The album was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and was unusual for Kottke because every song included vocals. Kottke had always been much better known as an instrumental guitarist than as a singer.

This song caught me because it’s funny. Kottke tells the story through a guy who thinks he has everything figured out, including women and where he can find the ones he wants. He decides Santa Cruz is the place to go looking for “hippie chicks.” By the end, it becomes pretty obvious that this guy doesn’t understand nearly as much as he thinks he does.

Apparently not everyone got the joke. Kottke later said he stopped performing the song because audiences tended to either love it or hate it. Some listeners apparently thought Kottke identified with the character instead of realizing that the character himself was part of the joke.

I like songs like this. It is a little strange, funny, and has a hell of a groove. Underneath all of that is Kottke’s guitar playing, which is the reason I started listening in the first place. If you want to hear why Leo Kottke has the reputation he does as a guitarist, listen to Vaseline Machine Gun (Posted Below).

The song appeared on 6- and 12-String Guitar in 1969. There are no vocals, and none are needed. It’s just Kottke and a guitar, but at times it sounds like considerably more than one person playing. This is the other side of Leo Kottke and probably the best way to finish this post. This song shows his humor and personality.

This song shows what he could do with a guitar. Give Leo a listen!

The Other Day (Near Santa Cruz)

I met a guy the other day he said he had it all figured out
He claimed he was ecstatic and he proved it with a shout
“I like hippie chicks, ” he said, “they’re not so damn dumb
They don’t sing like Ethel Merman, they don’t imitate nuns

“They comb their hair with porcupines and loofah their feet
And they become indignant when you threaten them with meat
Their windows grin like pumpkins filled with candles and beads
Their beds are all futonic and there’s babies on their knees.”
“But my mother wears a hat, ” he said, “extruded from a tank
And my sister reads good housekeeping and worships at the bank
My grandma loves Pat Robertson says he’s it that’s that
And my wife says I’m a lunatic but hippie chicks are where it’s at.”

He told me this while revving up his brand new pick up truck
He wore a leather hat and shades above a 12-pack gut
“I know where they got hippie chicks, they’re all in Santa Cruz”
Then he jammed a tape in his Blaupunkt and drove off born to lose

Cause although he got the message he was deaf to the news
There are no chicks in Santa Cruz

Chris Mars – Popular Creeps

When his solo album Horseshoes and Hand Grenades was released in 1992, it surprised many Replacements fans. Mars was the drummer for them, and this came as a revelation to fans who didn’t know he could write, sing, play guitar and keyboards, as well as drums. One of my friends wrote Chris when this album came out and told him how much he liked it. Chris handwrote a letter back thanking him for listening. I’ve always thought that was a cool thing to do. This song was an alternative hit.

This song was one of the songs that immediately showed there was much more to Mars than we had heard in the Replacements. He wrote the songs on the album and handled the vocals, guitars, keyboards, and drums, with J.D. Foster playing bass. Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner and Dan Murphy also made appearances on the album. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades was produced by Mars and Tom Herbers and recorded at Paisley Park in Minnesota.

This song takes aim at cliques and the people who decide who is popular and who isn’t. Mars writes it from the other side, with his sympathy firmly with the outsiders. It has some of the attitude you would expect from someone who spent years in the Replacements, but it also has a catchy power-pop sound. A review at the time compared the song to the Kinks meeting the Faces in a Minneapolis garage. I can hear that.

Mars became the first former Replacements member to release a solo album. That was something no one expected. The song has the energy of his old band, but he said he wasn’t deliberately trying to sound like the Replacements. He simply made the music he wanted to hear. There is certainly some of that Replacements energy here, but Horseshoes and Hand Grenades showed that Mars had his own voice.

This is my favorite track from the album. It’s melodic, sarcastic, and rough enough around the edges. Plus, I like the fact that he takes aim at the popular high school cliques of our youth. He may have been the drummer in one of my favorite bands, but this album proved he was much more than that.

Music, though, is not what Chris Mars does best. He eventually concentrated much more on his visual art, becoming known for his paintings and other artwork. For someone most people first knew as the guy sitting behind the drum kit in the Replacements, he turned out to have quite a few things up his sleeve.

Chris Mars is an internationally known artist who has sold a lot of his paintings and other artworks. He also has animations on YouTube.

His website is https://www.chrismarspublishing.com/

Popular Creeps

Just around the corner, there they are again.
Legends in their minds of those around.
If they try to slap us with their ego-signs.
Gather up the clowns to cut ’em down.

The Popular Creeps are talking bad about us with our backs turned.
They better leave us stoners alone.
The Popular Creeps are riding high until the day they get burned.
Who’s gonna love ’em when they’re unknown?

Holier than thou egos to make us sick.
Seven hundred heartslaps wouldn’t help.
Some will lick their own boots simply ’cause they exist.
Others would conclude it’s time to mix.

The Popular Creeps are talking bad about us with our backs turned.
They better leave us stoners alone.
Isn’t today the day the tables turned? I hear them falling.
Who’s gonna love ’em when they’re unknown?

Here they come, you mice. Get ready.
It’s time to cut ’em down.

(Instrumental Break)

Here they come, you clowns. Get ready.
The table’s turned. The creeps all learned
It’s time to cut ’em down.

Fastball – Fire Escape

I thought I’d better get some more power pop back on a blog called PowerPop. I was reading Dave’s post on a Fastball song called Out of My Head, and I thought of this song automatically. I liked Fastball when I first heard them in the late nineties. Their big breakthrough was The Way, and I liked that song, so I got the album. I always veered more toward this song. There was just something about that jangling guitar sound that caught me.

Our band actually played this song when it was released. We didn’t play many new songs at the time. Most of what we played came from the 60s and 70s, so for us to pick up a current song meant that we really liked it. This one was one of those rare exceptions. Fastball formed in Austin, Texas, with Miles Zuniga on guitar and vocals, Tony Scalzo on bass and vocals, and Joey Shuffield on drums. Their first album, Make Your Mama Proud, was released in 1996 but didn’t make much of an impact. That changed dramatically with their second album, All the Pain Money Can Buy, in 1998.

The Way, written and sung by Scalzo, became the song that broke the band. It was everywhere that year. This one followed as the second single, but it was written and sung by Zuniga. The album also produced “Out of My Head” and eventually went platinum. Fastball never repeated the success of The Way, which sometimes causes them to get thrown into the one-hit-wonder category. I think that sells them short. All the Pain Money Can Buy was a strong power pop album with more than one good song on it. This song peaked at #10 on the Alternative Billboard Chart in 1998.

It’s one of the more unusual videos I’ve seen. In the video, the band appeared to be kidnapped and killed by a deranged fan, but it has a good and unexpected ending!

Tony Scalzo: “The second-to-last one was almost perfect, and then the girl closed the door too fast and closed it on the camera, which upset everybody not just because the shot was ruined, but because it was a very expensive camera, It’s deathly hot. I’m in this bathtub so that’s okay. But I gotta lie upside down in the water with my face under water. Well, it took all day, but we finally got it and it came out a pretty creepy, weird video. The only other shots we had to do were us walking out of the house, looking stupid, and the live stuff where you see a performance video that’s on a TV in the house.“

Fire Escape

Well, I don’t wanna be President, Superman, or Clark Kent
I don’t wanna walk around in their shoes

‘Cause I don’t know whose side I’m on
I don’t know my right from wrong
I don’t know where I’m goin’ to
I don’t know about you
I’ll be the rain falling on your fire escape

And I may not be the man you want me to
I can be myself, how ’bout you?

I don’t wanna make you mad
I don’t wanna meet your dad
I don’t wanna be your dream come true
‘Cause I don’t know just what I’ve found

I don’t know my sky from ground
I don’t know where I’m goin’ to
I don’t know about you
I’ll be the rain falling on your fire escape

And I may not be the man you want me to
I can be myself, how ’bout you?

I’ll be the rain falling on your fire escape
And I may not be the man you want me to
I can be myself, how ’bout you?
I can be myself, how ’bout you?
I can be myself, how ’bout you?

Alvin Lee featuring George Harrison – The Bluest Blues

I found this song after posting about Ten Years After. One of my readers, M.Y. (Thank you, M.Y.!) brought this one up. She told me about it, and I could not believe I missed it all these years. Put Alvin Lee and George Harrison together on one song, and you already have my attention. Then make it a slow blues with both of them playing guitar, and I’m not going anywhere. George remade himself when he learned slide. He was a good guitar player before, but he became a great one on slide. That is a compliment because I do like his regular playing as well, but the slide became his identity.

This is why I still love looking for new/old music. I’ve been listening to George Harrison for most of my life. I knew Alvin Lee through Ten Years After. Yet somehow The Bluest Blues slipped right past me. They complement each other so well in this song.

The song itself is simple and melodic. But the guitars are what make this one special for me. George Harrison comes in with that unmistakable slide sound and plays a solo that says more than a hundred notes could. Then Alvin Lee answers him in his own way.

Two completely different guitar players. Two completely recognizable sounds. And somehow they fit together perfectly. I can’t believe it took me this long to find it, but that’s the great thing about music. Another song is always hiding somewhere.

The Bluest Blues appeared on Alvin Lee’s Nineteen Ninety Four, originally released in 1993 and later issued in the United States under the title I Hear You Rockin’. Lee was joined by Steve Gould on bass, Alan Young on drums, Steve Grant on keyboards, and Tim Hinkley on Hammond organ. The special guest was George Harrison playing slide guitar. Harrison also appeared on Lee’s version of the Beatles’ I Want You (She’s So Heavy) on the same album.

Lee and Harrison weren’t strangers. They had known each other for years and had worked together before. Lee appeared on Harrison’s Ding Dong, Ding Dong, while Harrison had played with Lee on earlier recordings. By this time they were also neighbors in the Thames Valley area of England. It was one of those musical friendships that quietly produced some great music without getting a lot of attention.

What really gets me about this recording is the difference between the two guitar players. Alvin Lee became famous as the lightning-fast guitarist from Ten Years After, especially after Woodstock. George Harrison was almost the opposite. He wasn’t interested in playing the most notes. George had a way of making a guitar line sound like another voice in the song. He would play for the song completely.

George takes the first major slide solo, and if you’ve listened to him for years, you know it’s him almost immediately. Lee loved the solo himself. He said it was one of George’s best and praised its tenderness and melody. He also said hearing George changed his approach. Instead of playing the more aggressive solos he had been playing, Harrison inspired him to become more melodic.

That’s when the song really takes off. Lee stretches out during the second half and reminds you that there was much more to his playing than speed. His solo has plenty of technique, but there is also restraint and emotion. George doesn’t try to sound like Alvin, and Alvin doesn’t try to sound like George. That’s what makes the combination work.

The Bluest Blue

I couldn’t wait to see you, waiting by the door
There’s no one there to meet me, and your clothes are on the floor
Sorry if I hurt you, and I made you cry
Couldn’t stand to see you, with another guy
It’s the bluest blues, and it cuts me like a knife
It’s the bluest blues, since you walked out of my life

Couldn’t really tell you, how you hurt my pride
Something broke within me, down inside
I never knew I loved you, til you went away
Now the loneliness surrounds me, everyday
It’s the bluest blues, since you walked out of the door
It’s the bluest blues, ’cause I won’t see you no more

I’m sorry if I failed you, if somehow I’m to blame
It’s the bluest blues I’m feeling, it’s a cryin’ shame
I just can’t live without you, face another day
It’s the bluest blues I’m feeling, and it’s here to stay
It’s the bluest blues, and it cuts me to the bone
It’s the bluest blues, when you can’t find your way home

Uncle Tupelo – Graveyard Shift

The first thing that got me was that guitar riff. It has a raw sound that I love, but Graveyard Shift has much more going for it than a good riff. Farrar sings it like someone who has already lived through everything he is singing about. That is what surprised me when I watched the 1989 performance. These guys were young, but they didn’t sound young.

There is country in there. There is punk in there. There is some garage rock as well. Most of all, though, it sounds honest. Uncle Tupelo wasn’t trying to make old country music or follow what rock music was doing at the time. They took all of it and made something that sounded like them. And that riff doesn’t hurt either.

They were formed in Belleville, Illinois, with Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn at the heart of the original band. They took country and folk influences and mixed them with the harder sounds of punk and alternative rock. Farrar has said they were listening to bands such as Hüsker Dü while also drawing lyrical inspiration from Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. That combination helped create the sound that would eventually be called alternative country or Americana.

Graveyard Shift was written by Farrar, Tweedy, and Heidorn and became the opening track on their 1990 debut album No Depression. Farrar takes the lead vocal, and the song sounds like the area the band came from. Belleville had been hit hard during the late 70s to the 80s. That frustration found its way into his writing. The song is about wanting to escape a place where times were tough. The music matches the lyrics perfectly. That riff keeps pushing forward while the rhythm stops, starts, and changes direction underneath it.

The live video I found was recorded in 1989, before No Depression was released. It was aired on St. Louis television in November. Watching them play it then is strange because it’s so raw. They look like three kids playing, yet the sound is already there.

Uncle Tupelo would only last until 1994, but what came afterward tells you something about the talent in that little band. Farrar formed Son Volt, while Tweedy went on to form Wilco. Their influence also lasted much longer than the band itself. The title No Depression was eventually adopted by the magazine devoted to the kind of roots and alt-country music Uncle Tupelo helped bring.

Graveyard Shift

Hometown, same town blues
Same old walls closing in
Oh what a life a mess can be
I’m sitting here thinking of you once again
Won’t you talk to me

Well, time won’t wait, better open the gate
Get up and start what needs to be done
It’s winding down, there’s much you missed
Working on that graveyard shift

Well, I’m not saying there’s nothing wrong as the day comes along
If what I see is true I could learn to believe
Can’t look away
The powers that be might take it all away
Together we burn, together we burn away

Some say a land of paradise
Some say a land of pain
Well, which side are you looking from
Some people have it all
Some all to gain

Well a man in a tie gonna break his twenty dollar bill
There’s plenty of reasons in this world
We’re no longer standing still

But I’m not saying there’s nothing wrong as the day comes along
If what I see is true I could learn to believe
Can’t look away
The powers that be might take it all away
Together we burn, together we burn away

There’s too much time spent looking for a reason
It’s the simple ones that beat the most truth
Oh, what a life a mess can be
I’m sitting here thinking of you once again
Give a thought to me

Well, time won’t wait, better open the gate
Get up and start what needs to be done
It’s running down, there’s much you missed
Working on that graveyard shift

Billy Bragg and Wilco – California Stars

This is one of my favorite collaborations ever recorded. What’s the best way to put this? It doesn’t feel like Billy Bragg and Wilco are trying to recreate Woody Guthrie. Instead, they’re having a conversation with him across time. This is one of those rare songs that sounds like it has always existed. It makes you wonder how many other forgotten lyrics are still sitting in boxes somewhere, waiting for someone to give them a voice. If you’ve never heard the Mermaid Avenue albums, do yourself a favor and spend an evening with both of them. They’re among the finest musical tributes I’ve ever heard.

Mermaid Avenue was a collaborative album by the band Wilco and the British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. It features previously unpublished lyrics by the legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie. The album was released in 1998 and is named after the street in Coney Island, New York, where Guthrie lived. There were 3 albums in all.

I can’t imagine the pressure Bragg and Wilco felt doing this. Having the legendary Woody Guthrie lyrics in front of you and writing melodies around them. They brought in a new generation of fans to Woody Guthrie. In this song, Jeff Tweedy wrote the music around Guthrie’s lyrics. Many of these lyrics were written in the 1930s – 1940s and finished in 1997.

Sometimes the best songs take a few decades to find their melody. This song began as a set of unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics that sat quietly in the archives for years. The project was started by Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie, who wanted to breathe new life into her father’s huge collection of unpublished lyrics. She invited Billy Bragg to set the lyrics to music, and Bragg, in turn, invited Wilco to join the project. They did a fantastic job on these albums.

Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy took Woody’s lyrics for California Stars and wrote a melody that feels like it had always belonged there. Tweedy’s relaxed vocal, Jay Bennett’s beautiful piano, Corey Harris’ lap steel, and Eliza Carthy’s fiddle create one of the warmest recordings of the 1990s. It sounds like an old American folk song, yet it also fits perfectly beside Wilco’s own work from that era. It’s simple, comforting, and quietly unforgettable.

The entire Mermaid Avenue project became much more than a tribute album. Billy Bragg, Wilco, and Nora Guthrie uncovered hundreds of Woody’s unpublished lyrics and introduced them to a new generation of listeners.

California Stars

I’d like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I’d like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars

I’d love to feel your hand touching mine
Tell me why I must keep working on
Yes, I’d give my life to lay my head tonight
On a bed of California stars

I’d like to dream my troubles all away
On a bed of California stars
Jump up from my star bed and make another day
Underneath my California stars

They hang like grapes on vines that shine
And warm the lover’s glass like friendly wine
So, I’d give this world just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

I’d like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I’d like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars

I’d love to feel your hand touching mine
Tell me why I must keep working on
Yes, I’d give my life to lay my head tonight
On a bed of California stars

I’d like to dream my troubles all away
On a bed of California stars
Jump up from my star bed and make another day
Underneath my California stars

They hang like grapes on vines that shine
And warm the lover’s glass like friendly wine
So, I’d give this world just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

So, I’d give this world just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

Dream a dream with you

Jack de Keyzer – That’s The Way

I found this Canadian musician not long ago, and he sounds great. I’ve listened to quite a few songs, and he has a guitar tone that is hard to beat.

Some musicians spend their careers trying to make hit records. Others keep making great music without much attention. Canadian guitarist Jack de Keyzer falls into that second group. Born in London, England, he moved to Canada as a child and became one of the country’s most respected blues guitarists. Since the early 1980s, he has released a string of albums while building a reputation as a terrific live performer, winning numerous Maple Blues Awards along the way. While he never became a household name, musicians have known for years just how good he is.

It was one of the songs that introduced Jack de Keyzer to a much wider audience. Released first as a single in 1990 and later opening his 1991 debut album Hard Working Man, it blends blues, rock, soul, and a little rhythm and blues into a sound that feels both modern and timeless. It isn’t built around huge guitar solos; instead, the song succeeds because of its groove and tasteful guitar work.

Although I’m featuring the original version from Hard Working Man, de Keyzer continued to build his reputation over the years. One of his biggest successes came with The Corktown Sessions, which earned him a Juno Award and introduced his music to an even wider audience, and this song is on it as well. By the time his career reached that point, he’d already spent decades proving himself as one of Canada’s finest blues guitarists.

Before establishing himself, Jack de Keyzer was a member of Toronto’s The Bop Cats in the early 1980s. The band blended rockabilly, rhythm and blues, and roots rock at a time when interest in 1950s-inspired music was enjoying a revival. Featuring energetic performances and tight musicianship, The Bop Cats released several albums, including The Bop Cats (1981), Rockabilly Rhythm (1982), and Bootleg (1983). Although they never became a household name, they developed a loyal following throughout Canada and helped introduce many listeners to de Keyzer’s exceptional guitar playing long before he embarked on his successful solo career. I really like the Bop Cats and will have something coming up on them shortly.

His guitar never overpowers the song, and his vocals fit the music perfectly. The band locks into a steady rhythm and lets the melody carry things forward. You can hear influences from players like Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and Albert Collins, but de Keyzer never comes across as someone trying to imitate his heroes. He has developed his own voice over decades of playing clubs, festivals, and theaters across Canada and beyond.

Sometimes success is measured by longevity, respect from fellow musicians, and a catalog full of songs waiting to be discovered. This is one of those tracks that makes you wonder why more people haven’t heard of him, and that’s usually a sign you’ve found something worth sharing. He has opened shows for artists like B.B. King, Etta James, and Bo Diddley over the years. He may not be a superstar, but the legends certainly knew who he was. That’s often one of the best endorsements a musician can get.

Jack de Keyzer: I’ve done a lot of session guitar playing for live gigs with people. When I played with Bo Diddley and Etta James they were live shows – they weren’t in the studio. In the studio I have worked with a lot of different blues people like Rita Chiarelli, Willie Big Eyes Smith, who was Muddy Waters’ drummer, King Biscuit Boy, Harmonica Shah, David Rotundo, The Shaftmen, Brant Parker and Erin McCallum.

Notting Hillbillies – Your Own Sweet Way

I remember these guys in the early 1990s. It was completely different than Dire Straits, and Mark Knopfler could change like great artists do.

The Notting Hillbillies were never meant to be a full-time band. They came together almost by accident in the late 1980s when Mark Knopfler was working on a television soundtrack and invited a few friends to join him. Along with guitarist and songwriter Steve Phillips, keyboardist Guy Fletcher, and singer Brendan Croker, they enjoyed the sessions so much that they decided to record an album. The result was Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time, released in 1990. It wasn’t built around the Brothers in Arms sound. Instead, it mixed country, folk, blues, and the kind of music these four musicians had loved long before they became famous.

This song is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It was written by Mark Knopfler, and it has everything I enjoy about his songwriting. The melody is simple, the lyrics never try too hard, and the song breathes. Rather than showing off, everyone plays exactly what the song needs. It feels more like four friends sitting in a room making music than a carefully planned studio production.

Knopfler’s guitar is instantly recognizable, but what really makes this recording special is the relaxed atmosphere. Brendan Croker’s voice blends perfectly with Knopfler’s style, while Guy Fletcher’s keyboards and Steve Phillips’ tasteful guitar work add just enough color without ever getting in the way. You can hear the country influences, but there are also touches of folk and British roots music throughout. It has the feel of an old back porch performance that just happened to be captured on tape.

I like songs like this because they remind me that music doesn’t always have to be loud or complicated to leave an impression. It’s simply a well-written song played by musicians who clearly loved making it together. Sometimes those are the recordings that stay with you the longest, and this one has done exactly that for me.

This song peaked at #76 in the UK and #13 in Canada in 1990. The album Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time peaked at #2 in the UK and #29 in Canada.

Your Own Sweet Way

Nothing I can do
Nothing I can say
You’ll do what you want to
Go your own sweet way
You’ll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
Now I can talk to you serious
I can talk to you nice
When it comes to love
You won’t take good advice

You’ll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
Yeah, you’ll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way

It doesn’t matter what I say
What I do or what I think
You can lead a horse to water
You can’t make him drink

You’ll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
I said, you’ll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way

Continental Drifters – Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway

I love finding bands like this. The Continental Drifters remind me that some of the best music never reaches the Top 40. This song has the sound of musicians who have nothing left to prove and are simply making the music they believe in. If you like The Band, The dB’s, or early Americana, I think you’ll find yourself coming back to this song again. I listened to two of their albums and you get a variety. You get female-driven songs like this, and you get male-driven songs like Mezzanine.

The band is made up of musicians who had already built impressive careers, including Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills, Vicki Peterson of The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate, Peter Holsapple of The dB’s, and several outstanding New Orleans musicians like Carlo Nuccio, a great New Orleans drummer and singer/songwriter. Everyone in the band could write songs, sing, and play multiple instruments, which gave them a rich sound without ever becoming cluttered. They never became a hit band, but musicians and critics knew just how special they were. Although they formed in Los Angeles, they eventually settled in New Orleans, and you can hear both musical worlds in their sound.

Some songs grab you the first time you hear them, and then some songs slowly work their way into your head. This one did that for me. I was drawn in by the title first. Then the guitars kicked in, and it had that loose, rootsy sound that reminds me of The Band. It feels like you’re riding down an endless highway with the windows down, even though the story underneath isn’t nearly as carefree.

The song was written by guitarist Vicki Peterson, formerly of The Bangles, and she also takes the lead vocal. She based it on a difficult cross-country trip with fellow band member Gary Eaton during a time when their relationship was coming apart. Instead of writing a typical breakup song, she wrapped it in the image of traveling across America. The result is a song that sounds hopeful on the surface but carries just enough sadness to make it memorable.

Without a major label, they released a song as a single in 1997. It served as a preview of the sound that would soon appear on Vermilion, the album that many fans consider their masterpiece.

I also wanted to give you another song by them called Mezzanine. Carlo Nuccio, a great New Orleans drummer, singer/songwriter, wrote this song and is singing the lead vocal.

Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway

It took two hours to drive out of post-quake l.a.
Where the freeway is sliced up like sheet cake
Got new tires I’m not gonna worry
Got three days to go so I’m not in a hurry
Get into tucson and what do I find
I’m having some trouble just keeping my mind
On the 10.

Driving by that detour we took
To watch the sunset at the scenic overlook
The light was lovely but to my surprise
The most violent colors were in your eyes
All the reds and yellows, black and blue
It’s what I remember from driving with you
On the 10.

On the 10.

Whoa oh, white noise and lightening
Ooooo on the radio, oh no.

Looking up a tree like a georgia o’keefe
And the texas stars are in high relief
University road, you think I’d have learned
So many new ways to get bitten and burned
At the devil’s river inn at three a.m.
Hey, give me those keys I gotta get
Back on the 10.

On the 10.

Whoa oh, white noise and lightening
Ooooo on the radio, go robert, go!

Feeling unbound of heart and breast
Got the visor down and I’m headed west
A little wiser now, I’m unimpressed
By the secret you and I confessed
On the 10 (whoa oh).

On the 10 (whoa oh)
On the 10 (whoa oh)
On the 10 (whoa oh).

6 String Drag – Gasoline Maybelline

With that title, I was helpless; I had to give it a try. I’m glad I did because it’s a great song and band. This is another band that was signed by Steve Earle on his E Squared Records label and another winner. What drew me in was the vocals. Not tight pop vocals but more like The Band’s loose style. I’ll also mention the intro that builds and builds.

Every now and then you run across a song title that makes you stop before you even hear the music. This song by 6 String Drag was one of those for me. The title immediately brings to mind hot rods, rock and roll, and the classic Chuck Berry song Maybellene. It turns out the music delivers exactly what the title promises. This song was released on the band’s 1997 album High Hat, the song mixed country, rockabilly, and roots rock into a sound that felt both old and new.

6 String Drag was formed in North Carolina and became one of the leading bands in the alt-country movement of the 1990s. While many groups in that scene leaned heavily into country influences, 6 String Drag never forgot the rock and roll side. This track is a perfect example. Driven by guitars, drums, and a stop-and-go format. It’s a great mixture of music that makes one.

The album High Hat was produced by Steve Earle, who recognized the band’s talent and helped bring them to a wider audience. Earle encouraged the group to embrace their love of traditional American music while keeping their own identity intact. The result was an album that blended country, rock, folk, and roots music in a way that sounded natural. This song became one of their signature songs and remains a favorite among fans of the band.

6 String Drag never achieved the huge commercial success of some of their contemporaries like Wilco and others. Songs like this show why they are still remembered by fans of Americana and alt-country. It has energy, great musicianship, and one of the coolest song titles you’ll ever hear.

If any of you are good at deciphering lyrics…could you fill in the ? in the lyrics? If so, please let me know, and I’ll fill it in. We will have the only complete lyrics to this song on the net!

Gasoline Maybelline

Soak me in gasoline
If you need more fire baby
I gave you everything it seems but me

Put me up higher than the tallest tree
I’ll come down baby then you’ll see
My broken knees please set me free

I can hold you [?] you
Oh come, don’t turn around
I’ll be gone

Go find somebody new
There’s nothing here for you
I gave you everything it seems but me

Take me down all the way to New Orleans
Leave me lying there on the street
I gave you everything it seems but me

I can hold you [?] you
Oh come, don’t turn around
I’ll be gone

Soak me in gasoline
If you need more fire baby
I gave you everything it seems but me
I gave you everything it seems but me