Singer/Songwriter

Classic TV: Townes Van Zandt tribute at Austin City Limits 1997

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Tribute to Townes Van Zandt
Austin City Limits
Recorded in December 7, 1997.

Townes Van Zandt, was an American singer songwriter. He is widely held in high regard for his poetic, often heroically sad songs. In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularized it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song “Pancho and Lefty”, scoring a number one hit on the Billboard country music charts. Much of his life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms and backwoods cabins. For much of the 1970s, he lived in a simple shack without electricity or a phone.

He suffered from a series of drug addictions, alcoholism, and the psychiatric diagnosis bipolar disorder. When he was young, the now discredited insulin shock therapy erased much of his long-term memory. Continue reading “Classic TV: Townes Van Zandt tribute at Austin City Limits 1997” →

September 25: Ryan Adams released Gold in 2001

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Ryan-Adams-Gold

“All the songs had to work completely and honestly by themselves on acoustic guitar or on piano. If they didn’t, they weren’t worth putting on the record.”
~Ryan Adams (about ‘Gold’)

“[Gold is] me not buying my own bullshit for two seconds.”
~Ryan Adams

New York, New York:

From Wikipedia:

Released September 25, 2001
Recorded The Sound Factory
(Hollywood, California)
Genre Rock, alternative country
Length 70:26
Label Lost Highway
Producer Ethan Johns

 

Gold is the second studio album by Ryan Adams, released September 25, 2001 on Lost Highway Records. The album remains Adams’ best-selling album, certifying gold in the UK and going on to sell 364,000 copies in the U.S. and 812,000 worldwide. Adams noted that “with Gold, I was trying to prove something to myself. I wanted to invent a modern classic.”

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Jan 26: Lucinda Williams was born in 1953

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Like so many, I discovered Lucinda Williams when she released the fantastic album, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. I went to the record store (yes, we actually did that in the old days) and bought as many of her albums as I could find. There were four albums before Car Wheels.., great albums, I love them all. Since then I’ve awaited all Lucinda Williams albums with great excitement. She’s always good, most of the time she’s great.

Half an hour of the wonderful Lucinda Williams live at Paradiso Amsterdam (2013):

Continue reading “Jan 26: Lucinda Williams was born in 1953” →

Great Song: Nina Simone – Backlash Blues

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Langston left us about a year ago.
Before he died made me promise to sing this song wherever I went, I told him that I would because he wouldn’t be around to say it anymore
-Nina Simone

Backlash Blues is the 6th track on one of my favourite albums, Nina Simone’s Nina Simone Sings The Blues.

This was Simone’s first album for RCA Records after previously recording for Colpix Records and Philips Records. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA/Novus as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues.

Sings the blues

Nina Simone Sings the Blues is a classic record that will stand the test of time; it is a true classic. The best version, in my not so humble opinion, is on the album Forever Young, Gifted and Black: Songs of Freedom And Spirit, a fabulous compilation released in 2006.

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Great Album: Dylan LeBlanc – Cautionary Tale

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

“The easy way out
is a dangerous path
and no one knows it like I do”
– Dylan LeBlanc (Easy Way Out)

Dylan LeBlanc released his new record, Cautionary Tale, January 15 2016.

Shreveport artist Dylan LeBlanc is still only 25 years old, he was considered a wunderkind when he released his debut, Pauper Field, to much well deserved acclaim in 2010. It was a great album and the fall on the follow-up, Cast The Same Shadow in 2012, was hard. Not that the album was so terrible, but the expectations were so high.

He spent his formative years surrounded by some of the region’s finest musicians. His father, James LeBlanc, is a longtime Muscle Shoals session player and a fine singer, songwriter (and guitar player) in his own right.

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Great Album: Rayland Baxter – Imaginary Man

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

“There’s a paper clip resting on my countertop/Sunday morning, I forgot what it’s like to lose a friend,”
– Yellow Eyes

Rayland Baxter released his second album, Imaginary Man, in August 2015. It’s a melancholic journey into sun-drenched stories, stories that are often sad, but feels comforting at the same time. Sometimes it’s ok to embrace the sadness. I saw him in Oslo last summer, he did a very fine set and the photos in this post are from that event.

This album is a big step forward for Rayland Baxter, we look forward following him in the future. He stays true to his roots but finds a way to remain relevant. A very fine record.

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