The Drive-By Truckers return today with their 10th studio album, The Big To-Do, and they managed to bring some of the rawk back, as well. I gotta be honest, after the last two studio releases I was pretty sure my torrid love affair with the band was in its setting sun. It seemed that marriages, kids, label disputes and time had worn the edge off the band, and I really wasn’t digging the new direction very much. That feeling was reinforced when The Fine Print came out and I was reminded of how good the band had been and how subpar I felt that the last two albums had been. Then I read somewhere that Patterson said their new album was gonna be a “return to rock” and, despite my efforts otherwise, I started to look forward to the release of The Big To-Do.

So I guess the question to ask is, is this the return to rock the band promised? The best answer I can come up with is that it depends on your reference point. I mean, it’s not the rock record that SRO, Decoration Day or The Dirty South were, but when set beside A Blessing and A Curse and Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, its rock is undeniable and quite welcome. The standout tracks on the album are Cooley’s homage to a stripper, “Birthday Boy”, Patterson’s working man’s anthem, “This Fucking Job” and a redone (I know this song from somewhere) version of “After The Scene Dies”. There are stories of excess like “The Fourth Night of My Drinking”, of murder like “The Wig He Made Her Wear”, and a particularly touching ballad to Cooley’s son called “Eyes Like Glue” closes the album. There are moments where you’re left scratching your head, though. Both of Shonna’s contributions feel out of place and really kill the album’s pace, as does Patterson’s “The Flying Wallendas”.

In the end, yes, I think this is a return to rock for the Truckers. I don’t think we’ll ever get another album like The Dirty South or its predecessors from the band and that’s okay. They’re not those people (or that band) anymore, and as people change and grow, so does their music. I’m just glad to see we’re not gonna be stuck with ABAAC’s and BTCD’s from here on out, and with that in mind I’ll say The Big To-Do is essential listening.

Drive-By Truckers – This Fucking Job
Drive-By Truckers – Birthday Boy

The Drive-By Truckers Official Site, The Drive-By Truckers on myspace, Buy The Big To-Do

Stream the entire album:

Here is a real treat to start off a Friday morning. This is a bootleg of a show the Truckers did way back in 2002 when Jason was still in the band. What’s interesting about this show is that it was the first of two shows they did which are rumored to be where the whole idea for the Dirt Underneath acoustic tour came from. Personally, I love how you can hear the crickets and frogs in the background throughout the show. Get’s me ready for summer.

You can download the entire show here and listen to the samples below while it downloads.

Drive-By Truckers – Outfit
Drive-By Truckers – When The Pin Hits The Shell
Drive-By Truckers – The Living Bubba
Drive-By Truckers – Zip City
Drive-By Truckers – The Assassin

Someone Else’s Song is an occasional reoccurring piece here on ninebullets feature cover songs performed by The Drive-By Truckers (Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here). The compilations are assembled by Smitty from the Drive-By Truckers mailing list using the numerous live DBT shows freely available on the internet.

I thought this would couple well with the Covers Mix-Tape post from this morning and we could call it an Under Covers Tuesday. Cheesy title or not, the music is ruling.

Here is the track list:

1. Shattered (Rolling Stones)
2. Hey Ya (Outkast) (w/vocals, not Booker T version)
3. Adam Raised a Cain (Springsteen)
4. Rebels (Tom Petty)
5. Blue Yodel No. 4 (Jimmie Rodgers)
6. Drunk (Vic Chesnutt)
7. We Will Rock You (Queen)
8. Troglodyte (Jimmy Castor Bunch)
9. Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
10. Before They Make Me Run (Rolling Stones)
11. Strutter (KISS)
12. State Trooper (Springsteen)
13. When I Ran Off & Left Her (Vic Chesnutt)
14. Free Fallin (Gov’t Mule w/Patterson on vocals)
15. Southern Man (Gov’t Mule w/Patterson on vocals)
16. Like A Hurricane  (Jason Isbell)

You can download the entire compilation here.

Our roving North Carolina reporter, Adam Fenwick, is back with another show report from another tour skipping Florida:

THE ROCK REPORT: Drive-By Truckers @ The Neighborhood Theater in Charlotte, N.C. (Feb. 25, 2010)

When I heard that the Drive-By Truckers would be playing within 30 minutes of my current home in Concord, N.C., at the ever-popular Neighborhood Theater, I knew right away I couldn’t miss the show.

I ordered a ticket the day they became available and that ticket found its way to my fridge, stuck there via magnet to remind me of the fun that was to come Feb. 25, 2010.

And have fun I did.

I arrived early alongside my partner in crime for the evening, a dear friend of mine named Danelle who graciously agreed to come to the show with me despite not having a clue whom the Drive-By Truckers were.

Once parked, we strolled to the front and found the line to get in the door almost around the corner. I wasn’t overly surprised by this, the Neighborhood Theater is a fairly small venue and I fully expected the place to be packed. I was surely right.

The opening act, Sons of Bill, took the stage around 9 p.m. and served as an outstanding prelude to the forthcoming Rock Show. While not like DBT in terms of sound, they rocked the early goers with their own brand of country rock that resulted in me purchasing their latest CD, titled “One Town Away.”

About 30 minutes after Sons of Bill finished up, the Drive-By Truckers hit the stage with an awesome version of “This Fucking Job,” kicking off another great Rock Show.

I got to hear a number of songs I’ve somehow never heard live Thursday night, including Cooley’s “Uncle Frank” and the always classic “Buttholeville” (one of my personal favorites). Of course they also pulled out a number of new classics, including Cooley’s “Birthday Boy,” Shonna’s “I Told You So,” and Patterson’s “Daddy Learned To Fly.”

Once again I had to call it a night a bit early, after having gone to Atlanta last weekend then attended two concerts in one week I was all but spent. I left just as the band was starting “Zip City,” but just after “Daddy Learned To Fly.”

A side note, somehow I always end up near the idiots in the crowd. For some reason one gentleman (the term used loosely) decided to make the area we were standing his personal mosh pit. While he didn’t get decked, I thought Patterson was going to break his middle finger during an exchange shortly before I left.

During “Hell No, I Ain’t Happy” Patterson got on his knees to perform a solo right in front of me. This moron decided he would give Patterson the bird RIGHT IN HIS FACE. Patterson almost seemed to feed off of it, I could tell he was pissed by simply looking at his face. When he finished his solo he simply reached out and grabbed the guys finger and gave it one good yank.

I don’t know if he actually tried to break it or not, but regardless it was a slightly tense moment during an otherwise excellent Rock Show. At least there wasn’t a fight right in front of me like the last two times I’ve seen DBT.

Drive-By Truckers – Zip City (Live at Pine Hill, 2002)

P.S.: Watch what Patterson does when this dumbass starts making a scene in Raleigh, N.C., just a few days before DBT stopped in Charlotte.

I did this with the last DBT album so I thought it would be fun to do it with The Big To-Do as well so I headed over to the always awesome Southern Shelter and collected live versions of all the songs on the album. The only track I couldn’t find was Track #13, “Eyes Like Glue” which is apparently sung by Cooley and will have to remain a surprise for the time being.

The Big To-Do is set to be released on ATO Records (yes, Dave Matthews’ label) on March 16. Till then, enjoy these live versions of the songs:

The Big To-Do Track Listing:

1. Daddy Learned to Fly
2. The Fourth Night of My Drinking
3. Birthday Boy
4. Drag the Lake Charlie
5. The Wig He Made Her Wear
6. You Got Another
7. This Fucking Job
8. Get Downtown
9. After the Scene Dies
10. (It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So
11. Santa Fe
12. The Flying Wallendas
13. Eyes Like Glue
14. Girls Who Smoke (Bonus track – vinyl only)

Well, I guess it’s my turn. Kasey and RSV have already dropped their faves of the year (here and here) on y’all, so there’s just no avoiding it for me now. This year was particularly difficult due to the sheer amount of great music that came out, and had I made this list tomorrow it would certainly change. That said, you can edit forever but eventually you have to settle on something and call it your list. So, with out further ado I am gonna steal RSV’s formatting and get this show on the road:

20. Eilen Jewell – Sea of Tears
19. Those Darlins – Those Darlins
18. Strawfoot – How We Prospered
17. Justin Townes Earl – Midnight at The Movies
16. Malcolm Holcombe – For The Mission Baby
15. Jon Snodgrass – Visitor’s Band
14. Ben Nichols – The Last Pale Light In The West
13. Cam Penner – Trouble and Mercy
12. The Fox Hunt – America’s Working So We Don’t Have To
11. William Elliott Whitmore – Animals In The Dark

Top 10 (with mp3s) are under the cut…

(more…)

Last December I posted a compilation of cover songs perfomed by the Drive-By Trucker’s. The original compiler was (and is) of unknown origin but the compilation has just been begging for a follow-up.

Enter Smitty from the DBT mailing list. He’s taken the liberty of assembling a new collection of covers songs culled from the numerous live DBT shows freely available on the internet. He is supposed to have a Vol. 3 already near completion as well as a collection of unreleased DBT originals. I dunno about you, but I’m looking forward to those as well.

Here is the track listing:

1. Rockin in the Free World (Patterson on lead) (Neil Young)
2. Holland, 1945 (Neutral Milk Hotel)
3. I Walk The Line (Johnny Cash)
4. Mama Bake a Pie (Tom T. Hall)
5. Louisiana 1927 (Randy Newman)
6. Glad & Sorry (The Faces)
7. Everybody Needs Love (Eddie Hinton)
8. Lonely Women Make Good Lovers (Spooner Oldham)
9. I’m Your Puppet w/Kelly Hogan (Spooner Oldham)
10. Where’s Eddie? (Eddie Hinton)
11. These Arms of Mine (Otis Redding)
12. D-I-V-O-R-C-E (Tammy Wynette)
13. I’m in Love with a Girl (Big Star) (Summer Cousins version)
14. Dressed in White (Malcolm Holcombe)
15. All These Years (Sawyer Brown) (Summer Cousins version)
16. Quaalude banter
17. 867-5309 (Tommy Tutone)

You can download the entire collection here.

I put a lot of thought into how to write about this album. There are a ton of directions I could go with it, but in the end I decided that the “like we were talking in a bar, while not trying to sound like pitchfork” approach that ninebulllets takes so often would work perfectly for this particular release.

In a way, The Fine Print perfectly encompasses the “duality” thing that the Truckers have made a career of writing about. On one hand, it’s the best album they’ve released in many years. On the other, the bulk of it was recorded years ago. On one hand, this album features that classic sound that DBT fans grew to love. On the other, the bulk of this album features a lineup that’s long since gone. That said, this album could be (maybe? possibly?) thought of as a cocoon album. It’s the last album the band has to do for New West Records, a label the band had grown increasingly uninfatuated with over the years, leaving them free to move forward on their own label, Ruth Street Records.

The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008), as it’s properly called, is largely culled from the sessions that gave birth to The Dirty South. None of it is especially new to any DBT enthusiast, but the bulk of it hasn’t seen much circulation outside of the card-carrying DBT fan club. The album features two tracks from ex-Trucker Jason Isbell, and is surprisingly lacking any Shonna-fronted songs. I say surprisingly because I figured they’d put on one there, if for nothing else, cause she’s currently a “singer” in the band. The Isbell-fronted tracks rock your face off, while also serving as a cruel reminder of how good the band was when he was in it and how much has been lost (on both ends) since his departure. The standout track for me, a cover of Warren Zevon’s “Play It All Night Long”, also serves as a reminder of how good the Truckers can be from opening riff to closing bridge, basically forcing your hand to rotate the volume knob clockwise.

So, here we are. The best DBT album since The Dirty South and it’s a collection of toss-offs. What does this say about the band, if anything? Many of the tracks that have appeared on DBT albums in the past had been in the band’s arsenal for years prior to getting a “proper” release, so it’s not like that’s anything new. However, to be honest, the band has not really “rocked” since The Dirty South, and at times has outright sucked (see: A Blessing And A Curse). Before any fans send me hate mail, I, too, like Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, but let’s be honest, it’s not the album you’re gonna give someone if you wanna give them one cd to represent the band’s sound. Who knows, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark may be the Southern Rock Opera of the modern Trucker-era, but (IMO) it’s set apart from the material prior to ABAAC (an album I do not even acknowledge).

Therefore the question is this, is The Fine Print a siren’s call to a Trucker era past, or is it a warning shot that the “rocking” version of the Truckers is back?  Either way, this album has a very secured position on the ninebullets.net Essential Listening list and it’s a must have for any Trucker fan.

Drive-By Truckers – Goode’s Field Road (alt version)
Drive-By Truckers – When The Well Runs Dry
Drive-By Truckers – Play It All Night Long

Drive-By Truckers Official Site, Drive-By Truckers on myspace, Buy The Fine Print

Autopsy IV: This post comes from a long time ninebullets.net reader, Adam Fenwick. It’s nice to see a review of the Truckers. It’s been so long since they’ve come to the Tampa Bay area I’ve almost forgotten what THE ROCK SHOW is like. Hope y’all enjoy.

It had been more than a year since I last saw the best damn band on the planet, the Drive-By Truckers, live in concert, which is far too long. So, when my brothers girlfriend emailed me asking if I knew anyone interested in attending a DBT show at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Aug. 21, I immediately thought of myself.

So, I took a day off of work and made the four hour drive to Wilmington, N.C., to meet up with my brother and his girlfriend before driving the additional hour and a half to Myrtle Beach. The trip itself was nothing compared to the party that would ensue in the House of Blues.

We arrived just as Tift Merritt was starting up her set before the ROCK SHOW. I’ve heard some of her music before, but I can honestly say I was never very impressed with her, but she was certainly a good opening act that warmed up the crowd before the main event.

When the Truckers finally hit the stage after the half-hour lull between sets, the crowd was more then ready. They opened with The Great Car Dealer War and the ROCK SHOW was on.

One Of These Days? Check. Love Like This? Check. Lookout Mountain? Check.

At one point, Patterson calmly stopped the show and began to talk about the recently past Jim Dickinson, the father of Cody & Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars. He thanked Mr. Dickinson for all of his efforts through the years and dedicated “Let There Be Rock” to the legendary pianist.

In addition to all the regular DBT staples, like Road Cases (with extended intro), Heathens and Women Without Whiskey, a few new ones were pulled out. Shonna sang what had to be a new song since I’ve never heard it before and there was at least one other song, sung by Patterson or Cooley, that I wasn’t familiar with either. New material they are testing out perhaps?

As the show moved forward the band pulled out all the stops, including a booming cover of Neil Young’s “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World” that had the crowd in an absolute craze. In fact, the crowd may have been a bit too crazy, because for the second-straight time at a DBT show, a fight broke out right in front of me. One guy, who had been asked to chill by security once already, was being escorted out by being pulled over the front guardrail when all hell broke loose.

Two guys got to shoving and throwing punches and my brothers girlfriend was nearly thrown to the ground in the confusion (which didn’t sit well with him at all). But, just as he always does, Patterson took the incident in stride by saying as the hooligans were escorted out by security: “That’s what you get for trying to fuck up our rock show!”

Oh, and least I forget, one guy got on stage but was promptly ripped in half by two security guards. Ahh…what a fun night at the ROCK SHOW.

Anyway, the band closed with an amazing version of “Angels and Fuselage” which I’ve never heard live before. As the song wound down each member of the band, starting with Patterson, simply put their instrument down, waved to the crowd and exited the stage. It was a classy ending to a great ROCK SHOW.

Drive-By Truckers – Let There Be Rock
Drive-By Truckers – The Living Bubba
Drive-By Truckers – Perfect Timing

The songs are off the Truckers latest album, Live From Austin, Texas (9b write up) which can be purchased here.

Through 25 years, two lineup arrangements and eight albums, it’s really hard to believe that September 26, 2008 was the Drive-By Truckers’ first ever appearance on PBS’s Austin City Limits. Seizing the opportunity, Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood and Co. put on a show that, while more sober than most, is as good as I’ve seen from them.

The pressed collars and the lower volumes allows the strength of the songs themselves to really stand out to the point where I’ve had to rethink some songs I didn’t even like (“Puttin’ People On The Moon”, “Space City”) prior to watching the DVD. I was also really happy to see personal faves like “Zip City” and “The Living Bubba” make it into the performance. One real high point of the performance has to be “18 Wheels of Love”, which also happens to be “the final performance of the song ever”, where Patterson adds another chapter to his mother & stepfather’s story that is almost too good to be true (but you’ll have to buy the album to hear it).

While the cd of this release is good enough, the real value is the multi-angle wide-screen HD video/DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound DVD. The dvd begs for you to pour a whiskey drink, turn the volume up to 20, sit back, close your eyes and enjoy. While it won’t live up to a real life DBT show, it will certainly help fill the void in between them.

Drive-By Truckers – A Ghost To Most
Drive-By Truckers – Puttin’ People On The Moon
Drive-By Truckers – Zip City

Drive-By Truckers Official Site, Drive-By Truckers on myspace, Buy Live From Austin, Tx.