September 28: Cowgirl’s Prayer by Emmylou Harris was released in 1993

One of my favourite Emmylou Harris albums was released on this date back in 1993.

Cowgirl’s Prayer is the seventeenth studio album by Emmylou Harris, released on September 28, 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. Coming immediately after 1992’s live acoustic At the Ryman album, Cowgirl’s Prayer is a collection of similarly subdued material (with a couple of rockers thrown in, notably “High Powered Love”, the album’s first single). Continue reading “September 28: Cowgirl’s Prayer by Emmylou Harris was released in 1993”

Rollin Rain and Hard Thunder – An alternative Bob Dylan Compilation Film

This is a true gem, everyone should watch it while they can, I need to say it again, it is fantastic!

Statement from Swingin’ Pig (editor):

Here it is. I spent about a month editing this video together. I ripped the footage from a bootlegged tape of “Renaldo & Clara,” a 1978 film that was edited by Howard Alk and Bob Dylan himself. Some snippets are from Martin Scorsese’s incredible Netflix documentary “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story.” If you’d like to see “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “One More Cup of Coffee” (both of which are in this compilation) in 4K quality, do yourself a favor and watch it. There are other incredible performances in it that weren’t in “Renaldo & Clara.” Continue reading “Rollin Rain and Hard Thunder – An alternative Bob Dylan Compilation Film”

September 26: Abbey Road by The Beatles was released in 1969

Released 26 September 1969
Recorded 22 February – 20 August 1969,EMI, Olympic and Trident Studios,London
Genre Rock
Length 47:23
Label Apple
Producer George Martin


Abbey Road
 is the 11th studio album released by the English rock band The Beatles. It is their last recorded album, although Let It Be was the last album released before the band’s dissolution in 1970. Work on Abbey Road began in April 1969, and the album was released on 26 September 1969 in the United Kingdom, and 1 October 1969 in the United States.

Abbey Road is widely regarded as one of The Beatles’ most tightly constructed albums, although the band was barely operating as a functioning unit at the time. Despite the tensions within the band, Abbey Road was released to near universal acclaim and is considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2012, Abbey Road was voted 14th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. In 2009, readers of the magazine also named Abbey Road the greatest Beatles album.

Continue reading “September 26: Abbey Road by The Beatles was released in 1969”

September 24: Steve Earle released Jerusalem in 2002 – Great album!

“I woke up this mornin’ and none of the news was good 
And death machines were rumblin’ ‘cross the ground where Jesus stood 
And the man on my TV told me that it had always been that way 
And there was nothin’ anyone could do or say

And I almost listened to him 
Yeah, I almost lost my mind 
Then I regained my senses again 
And looked into my heart to find

That I believe that one fine day all the children of Abraham 
Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem”
– Steve Earle (Jerusalem)

Steve Earle released this “protest album” post 9/11, but contrary to widespread belief it is not a concept album about the tragic events on that date. Yes, there are some songs relating to it, but only three out of eleven (maybe four). There were som controversy when it came out, especially the song John Walker’s Blues were widely discussed and often slated in right wing media. It is not a song that takes sides, it is a song that tells us that an ordinary American kid fell in with the wrong crowd (in this case, the Taliban). Earle make us look at this boy, and he does not say that he is innocent, but he says that he should be treated like a human being despite his faults and despite his guilt. It is a fantastic song.

“…Earle has crafted a vision of America thrown into chaos, where the falling of the World Trade Center towers is just another symbol of a larger malaise which surrounds us. Before its release,Jerusalem already generated no small controversy over the song “John Walker’s Blues,” which tells the tale of “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh as seen through his own eyes. While “John Walker’s Blues” is no more an endorsement of Lindh’s actions than Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” was a tribute to mass-murderer Charles Starkweather, even though it’s one of the album’s strongest songs, if anything, it doesn’t go quite far enough.”
– Mark Demming (allmusic.com)

Photo: Born To Listen (2013)

 

Steve Earle made a “state of the nation” album, and he is confused and he doesn’t come up with the answers, but he asks the important questions!

Continue reading “September 24: Steve Earle released Jerusalem in 2002 – Great album!”

September 24: Nirvana released Nevermind in 1991

After years of hair-flailing sludge that achieved occasional songform on singles no normal person ever heard, Seattle finally produces some proper postpunk, aptly described by resident genius Kurt Cobain: “Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, bad solo.” This is hard rock as the term was understood before metal moved in–the kind of loud, slovenly, tuneful music you think no one will ever work a change on again until the next time it happens, whereupon you wonder why there isn’t loads more. It seems so simple.
~Robert Christgau (robertchristgau.com)

Nevermind was never meant to change the world, but you can never predict when the Zeitgeist will hit, and Nirvana’s second album turned out to be the place where alternative rock crashed into the mainstream.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)

Smells Like A Teen Spirit:

Continue reading “September 24: Nirvana released Nevermind in 1991”

September 23: Bruce Springsteen was born in 1949

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]For me, I was somebody who was a smart young guy who didn’t do very well in school. The basic system of education, I didn’t fit in; my intelligence was elsewhere.
~Bruce Springsteen

The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with.
~Bruce Springsteen[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Check out:
Bruce Springsteen sings Bob Dylan songs

They call him the Boss. Well that’s a bunch of crap. He’s not the boss. He works FOR us. More than a boss, he’s the owner, because more than anyone else, Bruce Springsteen owns America’s heart.
~Bono (induction speech for at the 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

Thunder Road – live @ Hammersmith 1975:

Continue reading “September 23: Bruce Springsteen was born in 1949”