Posts Tagged ‘John Prine’

{MP3} Mickey Clark – “Don’t Piss On My Boots And Tell Me It’s Raining” (ear X-Tacy Records, Feb 19)

Monday, April 20th, 2009

If this guy was Joe Ely or John Prine I wouldn’t have hesitated to write about these songs. If these were new songs by either of those two I would have made a big stink and gotten to them asap. But Mickey Clark is a bit of a mystery to me so this post sat for a bit. I’m sorry it did.

Mickey’s story is a familiar one of a singer songwriter who almost made it, struggled around the edges of fame, and then left music for a long while to raise a family. In his heyday though Mickey Clark was playing with Kinky Friedamn, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Steve Goodman and many more. He was headlining festivals when Lyle Lovett and Lucinda Williams were opening up for folks at the same festivals. Here’s a nice interview/piece from the Houston Press.

Winding Highway is Mickey’s entre back into the world of music and a great one it is at that. Besides his great songs and voice the record features guests John Prine, Kinky Friedman, Jerry Jeff Walker and Sam Bush. It came out in February on ear X-tacy Records and is available here on Amazon.

“Don’t Piss On My Boots” features a duet with John Prine.

Don’t Piss On My Boots And Tell Me It’s Raining (w/John Prine)
Tijuana Tequila

Jeffrey Foucault covers John Prine on his new record “Shoot The Moon Between The Eyes” (Signature Sounds, Feb. 17)

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

“When I was seventeen my Dad brought me home John Prine’s first album and it became my private religion for a while. I learned to play the guitar by learning his songs, and my Dad and I still play them around the table after supper. They’ve kept me company for years, in hotel rooms and foreign countries, on stage and away from it, telling the truth in beautiful and unexpected ways. This is a record I always wanted to make.”

The quote above reflect Jeffrey Foucult’s feelings on John Prine and form the basis for his new Prine cover record, but they could probably be the feelings of anyone who has heard Prine’s songs. I imagine that every Prine fan has a story about how his records or songs affecting them or changed them in one way or another.

These songs were recorded with friends (David Goodrich, Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst, Peter Mulvey) in the president’s office of an old bank. They’re lofi folk songs performed with an ease and relaxed manner that is uncommon in this age of studio trickery. Shoot The Moon Right Between The Eyes came out Feb. 17 on Signature Sounds. Order it here.

The Late John Garfield Blues
Billy the Bum

{MP3} Phil Lee – “So Long, Its Been Good To Know You” (Palookaville Records, 2008)

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

“25 Mexicans” is a song of border crossings, illegal immigration, and the living conditions of Mexican Nationals that strikes up thoughts of Woody Guthrie, John Prine and Tom Russell. As performed by Phil Lee it shares both the cadence and the lyrical themes of some of those great singer-songwriters. It’s a pretty amazing song and one that adds to the great week of music we’ve had already on Songs:Illinois (here and here).

Phil Lee is an unsung “real” country artist from Nashville. He’s had two previous critically acclaimed records. The new one, So Long, Its Been Good To Know You, was released towards the end of 2008 and rocketed to #1 on the Euro Americana Charts where it sits to this day. From the two songs below you can hear how he effectively mixes folk, rhythm and blues, blue-eyed soul and country.

You can order the new record right from Phil Lee’s homepage.

25 Mexicans

Bonus:
Neon Tombstone

Double bonus: (and a belated Christmas song)

I Wanna Spend My Christmas Time With You

P.S. Kudos to The Late Greats for having the only other post on Elbo.ws about Phil Lee.

P.P.S. Swedesplease has had a nice run of music posts over the last 5-7 days including twee, garage rock and dance so check them out too.