I am mere hours away from boarding that big ol’ Silver bird for 8 days in Colorado. Which also means I am mere hours away from Avalanche and Fat Tire on tap! While I am gone there will be no updates to 9b.net unless a reader sends me something or one of the contributors writes something. I will have a laptop with me but when I am on vacation I am either:

• snowboarding
• getting drunk
• sleeping it off

Sometimes I am doing the drinking and snowboarding thing together but I would not reccomend it to anyone.

So…see y’all in a week.

~ Autopsy IV

Jane’s Addiction - Mountain Song

from Wikipedia:

The Talking blues was a style of rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free but the rhythm is strict. The music genre or technique developed in the blues in the early 20th century from influences including African music, British folk song, and the music-hall stage (as put by English politician Robert Somers: “Sambo is a natural-born cockney”). (van der Merwe 1989, pp. 146–148)

It typically consisted of a repetitive guitar, utilizing the same three chord pattern as blues, as well as a large portion of folk music and even punk, ska, “pop”, and “rock”, sometimes accompanied by a melodic line with rhythmic, rhyming speaking over it. Tex Williams was most well known for his talking blues, and Woody Guthrie popularized the style. Several sources (including the Almanac Singers) cite Guthrie as the creator/innovator of Talking Blues, or at least the modern form it has involved into. Bob Dylan also utilized this style and brought life back to it in the 1960’s, in light of the strong influence Guthrie had on him. It came to be a trademark of country music (ibid), and can be considered an early predecessor to rap.

I got to thinking about this post while I was writing the Todd Snider post. I was listening to “Happy New Year” and got to thinking about how much I like talking blues tracks. While Happy New Year isn’t so much a talking blues track it is derivative of the class. I am not sure why I am such a sucker for them but I like ‘em in every form. From Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) to Talkin’ Al Kida Blues to Talkin’ Dust Bowl Blues. I just like them. In 2001 NPR’s All Things Considered did a really interesting show on Talking Blues.

Talking Blues is a song form that can trace its surface roots to a recording by the Greenville Trio in April of 1926. Its lineage goes much deeper — to spirituals — and an odd combination of the religious and the profane. The talking blues have served as a vehicle for social commentary for Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and hundreds of others. Musician and researcher Stephen Wade — creator of the stage show, Banjo Dancing, and a contributor to numerous folklore journals — traces the history of the talking blues.

You can listen to the show here.

Here are some Talking Blues tracks for you:

Alan Jackson - The Talkin Song Repair Blues

Betty Sanders - Talking Un-American Blues

Baz Luhrmann - Everybodys Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Bob Dylan - Talkin Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
Bob Dylan - Talking World War III Blues
Bob Dylan - Talkin Hava Negeilah Blues
Bob Dylan - Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues

Dan Bern - Talkin Alien Abduction Blues
Dan Bern - Talkin Al Kida Blues
Dan Bern - Talkin Mrs Ani Difranco Blues
Dan Bern - Talkin Woody Bob Dan Bruce Blues

Donovan - Talkin Pop Star Blues

Johnny Cash - Vietnam Talking Blues

Ramblin Jack Elliott - Talkin Sailor Blues

Scotty Stoneman - Talking Fiddle Blues

Todd Snider - Happy New Year

Tom Glazer - Social Workers Talking Blues

Townes Van Zandt - Talking KKK Blues
Townes Van Zandt - Talking Thunderbird Blues
Townes Van Zandt - Talkin Karate Blues

Woody Guthrie - Mean Talking Blues
Woody Guthrie - Talking Dust Bowl Blues
Woody Guthrie - Talking Fishing Blues
Woody Guthrie - Talkin Hard Luck Blues
Woody Guthrie - Washington Talkin Blues

When I first posted about Backyard Tire Fire I said that their sound could have easily fit into any Capricorn-era album. With the release of their 4th cd, Vagabonds and Hooligans, they maintain the same basic sound but do so more confidently. That confidence has allowed them to venture away from their comfort zones a little on this release and the results are as solid as ever.

Vagabonds and Hooligans was co-produced by the band and Tony SanFlippo and recorded on a vintage early 70’s 3M tape machine in SanFlippo’s all analogue Oxide Lounge recording Studio in Bloomington, Illinois. The results are a very warm and record with a classic (see: Capricorn era) sound. One only needs to look so far as the title track to hear the these classic yet current results. The song, Vagabonds and Hooligans, is the type of song you wanna hear near the end of a whiskey night when you are ready for a little self-reflectance. Musically the title track has a barely restrained energy which helps to set the tone for the remainder of the cd.

The cd winds effortlessly between rockers to bar room sing-alongs. The gospel-flavored country anthem “Get Wise” shines a critical eye on the political landscape without taking an overtly partisan view. The chorus of Get Wise is definitely “stick in your head” material. Probably the most fun track on the cd is Tom Petty, a rollicking tongue-in-cheek view of the rock and roll dream. Downtime is the strongest track on the entire cd. A classic rock and roll song that harkens back to the glory days of the southern rock movement. This is the track that begs you to roll down the windows and make the people in traffic look at you funny.

While Vagabonds and Hooligans does not venture too far from the comfort zone Backyard Tire Fire do bring enough new elements to the table to keep from sounding stale. These guys are undoubtedly a band on the rise and this cd is as good a place as any for you to hop on and take the ride with them.

As Dave Terpeny from Kyndmusic says, “This is music that you drink to and sober up to, music that takes you places because the songwriter has been there and wrote about it.”

Backyard Tire Fire - Vagabonds and Hooligans
Backyard Tire Fire - Downtime
Backyard Tire Fire - Tom Petty

Vagabonds and Hooligans will be released on Feb. 6th. If you can’t wait till then the entire cd is available for streaming on the website.

Backyard Tire Fire Official Site, Backyard Tire Fire on myspace, Buy Backyard Tire Fire’s cds

Back in December I found out Old Crow was going to venture down into my neck of the woods, and made a slightly obscene post about it. Needless to say, my excitement has only grown in the weeks following the announcement. So I threw the new Old Crow CD “Big Iron World” into my CD player a few weeks ago to help pass the time. It has barely left my CD player since and never for longer than 2 days. This ever deepening love of the CD got me to wondering what I had written about the CD on the blog. Turns out, I had not really written anything at all.

Big Iron World was released in August of 2006 on Nettwerk Records. O.C.M.S. is a 5 piece string band from Ithaca featuring Willie Watson (vocals, guitar, banjo), Ketch Secor (vocals, fiddle, harmonica, banjo), Critter Fuqua (vocals, banjo, guitar, bottleneck guitar), Kevin Hayes (guit-jo) and Morgan Jahnig (upright bass). While Big Iron World is traditional country/mountain music it maintains a youthful swagger. If the harmonica was guitar you would be required to file the CD under rock proving it’s possible to utilize traditional sounds while maintaining a modern feel. Big Iron World is one helluva good time. From the opening harmonica laden track “Down Home Girl” to the rocking “Minglewood Blues” to the bluesy murder ballad mourn of “My Good Gal” and all the way through the gospel of “God’s Got It” Big Iron World manages to make traditional music without being preservationists. Furthermore, Big Iron World has enough depth to it that not only does it stand up to repeated listen, it gets better with each one.

O.C.M.S. are on tour and will be playing the Tampa area on February 13. While I have never seen them live I have a hard time believing that they could be anything but a fucking blast in person. So if they happen to play your neck of the woods give ‘em a shot. Tampa folk, you really shouldn’t miss this show.

Old Crow Medicine Show - Minglewood Blues
Old Crow Medicine Show - My Good Gal
Old Crow Medicine Show - God’s Got It

Old Crow Medicine Show’s Official Site, Old Crow Medicine Show on myspace, Buy Old Crow Medicine Show CD’s

In a post I was working on for later this week I make mention of the song Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen). I ended up having to pull the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack out to listen to it. I do not think I had listened to it in 8 or 9 years and I was rather surprised I was even able to find it. I had forgotten all about the When Doves Cry cover on it.
If I were forced to make a list of my 10 all time favorites songs When Doves Cry would definitely appear on it somewhere. Dig if you can, an 11 year old kid in his underwear lip syncing it in the mirror with a toy microphone. Yup, that kid was me.

A little info from wiki:

Prince wrote and composed “When Doves Cry” after all the other tracks on Purple Rain vocals, he also played all instruments on the track. The song’s texture is remarkably stark — there is no bass line at all, which is very unusual for a dance song. The song features an unusual intro of a guitar solo and drum machine, followed by a looped guttural vocal by Prince.

The Quindon Tarver cover on the RQuindondTarvert soundtrack is probably my favorite cover of When Doves Cry. I just love when the beat comes in. When I was in my club kid phase, being sure it would become an instant dance floor hit at the local goth club (goth kids are as bad as techno kids when it comes to being a sucker for a danceable cover) I would beg the DJ to play it. They never did and I still think it would have been a hit. A quick wiki/google search on Quidon Tarver did not turn up anything. I wonder what he is up to these days.

Prince - When Doves Cry
Quidon Tarver - When Doves Cry
Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen)

I am gonna borrow liberally from Creech Holler’s myspace page for a moment:

creech holler plays the music of midnight whiskey stills and front porches. of those whose sole act of contrition before god was to make song of their sin and sorrow. of those who have been to dark places, and who left their soul there. of those who deemed it necessary to kill some poor son of a bitch who had it coming to them, and then deemed it necessary to sing a song about it. of those who loved the sacred and the profane in equal measure; who played the devil’s music on saturday night, and god’s music on sunday morning. of those who have trod black paths so long that they have forgotten the light, but not so long so as to forget to bring their gun and a shovel. of those who saw fit to salve their wounds with the banjo, the fiddle, the guitar…

…creech holler is the hills and hollers of east tennessee and the fields of the delta, and the regret and desires and vain hopes of redemption buried under their soil. it’s everywhere that america’s bad blood flows and gives birth to hymns to the wrong that lives in low men’s hearts. it’s the ghosts of america’s music reborn in furious electricity.”

These guys remind me of what’s right with The North Mississippi All-stars (Shake Hands With Shorty) minus what’s wrong with The North Mississippi All-stars (Polaris)….and I freaking love The North Mississippi All-stars, so you can imagine what I think of these guys. I don’t know the first thing about the blues, but I know what I like, and I fucking like these guys. Oddly enough, they don’t even put blues in their genre description…shows you what I know. However, under Type of Label it does say none and that is a fucking shame. So, check out these tracks, and if you like what you hear, go buy a god damned CD.

Creech Holler - Pretty Polly
Creech Holler - Red Rockin’ Chair
Creech Holler - Poor Ol’ Maddie

Creech Holler on myspace, Buy Creech Holler’s CD

heh heh…if i was stereogum or idolator i would have a catchy theme for this….well, that and one hell of a freaking readership. I guess you could call this Flashback Monday but there is not nearly that much thought being put into it. A friend of mine just posted the link to this video on a message board I frequent and it struck such a nostalgic cord I thought I would post it here. A direct quote from him “wow i forgot about this song, and how much i like it” and I share the exact sentiment. I used to dance my little tuckus off to this song back in the day.

Enjoy….or don’t…I don’t care cause it’s my blog.

I’m kidding…just some old rivethead angst coming out.

Is there no pity for the lonely ladies of the American Murder Ballad? Buried in unmarked graves, their ghosts have been called out to in song for more than two centuries. No face, no form, only lonely names - Polly, Sally, Maggie, Eleanor.

The Pine Box Boys are Lester T. Raww- guitar, vocals; Alex “Possum” Carvidi - banjo, vocals; Col. Timothy Leather - bass, and S. “Your Uncle” Dodds - drums. A sinister group of San Franciscans brought together by Arkansas exile (on the run for killin’ an ex-lover no doubt) Lester T. Raww, and they are singers of murder and misery. Oscar Wilde once said “Murder is always a mistake - one should never do anything one cannot talk about after dinner.” The Pine Box Boys didn’t get the memo. They have released two albums to date, 2005’s Arkansas Killing Time and 2006’s Stab!. 27 songs that all end the same way.“We never wanted any of them ladies to get killed. But they kept on bleeding and Willie kept on stabbing, so, well, I reckon we HAD to write a song about it.”

They classify themselves Southern Horrorbilly and/or Darkgrass. I have no idea what either of those terms mean. Personally, I would describe their sound as a darker version of Old Crow Medicine Show…. a much much darker version. Like, OCMS meets Those Poor Bastards. These are dark blue grassy songs for the dark humored. Call em’ love songs for the recently deceased.

I hope 2007 sees another Pine Box Boys released but I imagine there is a hill somewhere in Arkansas that may be running out of graves.

Pine Box Boys - Just a Crush (the wifes review of this track: “That song is just creepy.”)
Pine Box Boys - Arkansas Killing Time
Pine Box Boys - I Had To Cut Her

Pine Box Boys Official Site, Pine Box Boys on myspace, Buy Pine Box Boys’ CD’s

When Aubrey decided to do a Flashback Friday piece featuring a They Might Be Giants song I had this song stuck in my head for the remainder of the day. Absolutely Bill’s Mood is undoubtedly my favorite TMBG song ever. It also happens to come from my favorite TMBG album. With songs like Absolutely Bill’s Mood, 32 Footsteps, Boat of a Car, and Rhythm Section Want Ad I don’t see how anyone could not have loved that CD. Released in 1986, I would discover it 3 years later at 16 years old. I can only imagine the sight of 4 dirty skate kids driving their mom’s Camry with the Pink album at full-blast. I’m sure it was quite comical but we thought we were edgy and cool. In the process of getting ready to write this piece I stumbled upon This Might Be A Wiki which is a wonderful TMBG knowledge base with all kinds of cool little facts and trivia. Here are some of the neat things it says about Absolutely Bill’s Mood.

• Features the phoned-in guitar mastery of Eugene Chadbourne.
• “For the guitar solo… we put in a special long distance call to Greensboro, NC where Eugene Chadbourne had just put his kids to bed. To avoid disturbing them, he gently played his acoustic guitar into Dubway’s (Dubway Studios, where they were doing additional recording and mixing) answering machine, without musical accompaniment or guide.” - John & John
• The “Bill” mentioned in the title is Bill Krauss.
• The “absolutely” in the title was inspired by Bob Dylan, who would occasionally add irrelevant adverbs to his song titles, as in “Absolutely Sweet Marie.”

So, the song was about a real fella. Who was the Bill Krauss guy?

Bill Krauss is mostly known for his work with They Might Be Giants. In the early days of their career, he was their soundman and produced many of their early releases, including the 1985 Demo Tape, They Might Be Giants and Lincoln. Sometime after Lincoln, They Might Be Giants and Bill Krauss parted ways.

Well there you go. It’s like an Internet version of pop-up videos without the video…or pop-ups…or VH1…oh fuck it. I think I’m about to open up a beer and spend an hour or so boning up on random They Might Be Giants trivia. I am gonna be a real pain in the ass at the bar for a week or for sure.

They Might Be Giants - Absolutely Bill’s Mood

They Might Be Giants Official Site, They Might Be Giants on myspace, Buy They Might Be Giants’ Cd’s

“Hey, Mr. DJ”

Many summer breaks and vacations in my adolescence were spent in New Jersey, at the home of my favorite aunt and uncle, and my older cousin, Josh. Josh was my hero growing up. Three years my senior, Josh was the definition of cool. His influence left an imprint on many areas of my life, including my taste in music. On breaks, he would fill my ears with oodles of tunes I wouldn’t have heard coming from the cassette players of my grade school friends, or on the multi-colored airwaves of MTV. In the mid-90s mainstream world of Vanilla Ice, Pearl Jam, and the Second-Coming of Whitney Houston, I was instead gorged on compositions from The Sundays, The Cranes, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, and other under-the-radar groups. For a pre-teen who was used to picking up on new music solely via FM radio, this was aural nirvana.

Driving home late at night from friends’ houses, Josh would throw in a mixtape and crank up the stereo of his hand-me-down station wagon. The music pumping and the streetlights through trees carving ghostly shadows on the pavement, I would forget all about my life back home, my awful bowl-cut, and the fact that I was not as world savvy as the lyrics of the songs often detailed. As we zigzagged through the hills and half-lit neighborhoods, I would close my eyes and let the music wash over me. Everything was better here, I would think.

One particular night, stereo blasting, a song came on that sent tiny explosions of happiness down my spine, and prompted me to ask Josh to hit the rewind button. Quirky and heavy-handed on the xylophone and synth, it was unlike anything I’d ever heard. The intro was chaotic and zany, almost irritatingly so, with the song exploding into a frenzied clutter of programmed electronics, rambunctious guitar, and stuffy-nose lyrics. I was hooked. And felt a little like I belonged in a slapstick comedy or Warner Bros. cartoon. Who came up with this stuff?

The song, “Hey, Mr. DJ” by They Might Be Giants is still one hell of a catchy romp. To this day, the band brings back memories of fresh mountain air, winding roads, and the days when you felt invincible and free, as if the whole world was yours for the taking. You know what I’m talking about. Cheeseball or not, I love me some TMBG. What’s your song?