Episode 63
The Smile – Wall of Eyes
Orville Peck, Willie Nelson – Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other
Kim Gordon – Bye Bye
Corb Lund – Redneck Rehab
Charli XCX – Club Classics
Beyonce – Blackbird
CC Adcock & The Lafayette Marquis – Poke Chop
Jason Isbell – Strawberry Woman
The Drin – Tigers Cage
Orville Peck, Willie Nelson – Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other
I am beyond honoured to be a part of this unreal lineup, celebrating our dear Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday at the legendary Hollywood Bowl!
From part of a USA Today article
On Friday, Orville Peck and Willie Nelson released a duet cover of Ned Sublette’s 1981 song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” a song about gay cowboys. Fans of the country singers have described the collaboration as “healing” when it comes to LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Peck, a gay country music artist, said in an interview with GLAAD published Monday that the duet was actually Nelson’s idea. “It’s actually been a long time in the making this whole collaboration. Willie asked me about it a couple of years ago,” he said.
More here from GLADD – He shares that Nelson wanted to “get gay married in the music video.” Saying he even said, “Annie, my wife, she can be the priest and she’ll give us away at the chapel!”
Corb Lund – Redneck Rehab
This is a great song so I thought I would add it here (above)
Then I found Redneck Rehab
This is his first album since 2020
“There’s quite an epidemic of drug use in rural North America these days. It doesn’t get talked about a lot but it’s a pretty big problem.”
Beyond the lyrics, the stripped-down nature of “Redneck Rehab” represents the musical direction of El Viejo. Lund recorded the new album in his living room, replacing the polished nature of a studio with the spontaneous feel of his home.
Read More: Corb Lund Shares Rollicking New Song, ‘Redneck Rehab’ [Exclusive] | https://tasteofcountry.com/corb-lund-new-song-redneck-rehab/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Beyonce – Blackbird
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-14/clip/16054224 https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-14/clip/16054224
When Melba Pattillo Beals first heard the Beatles’ song Blackbird, she felt like it was written about her. Years later, she learned it actually was. As one of the “Little Rock Nine,” Beals trailblazed the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. She tells us about the violence and hatred she navigated there, what Blackbird means to her, and how Beyoncé’s cover gives the song new life.
While attending Horace Mann High School in Little Rock, an all-black high school, Patillo became aware that she was not receiving the same quality education as her peers at Central High School. Patillo then volunteered to transfer to the all-white Central High School with eight other black students from Horace Mann and Dunbar Junior High School in Little Rock.[1]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 “Interview with Melba Pattillo Beals” conducted for Eyes on the Prize. Discussion centers on her experiences as one of the “Little Rock Nine” who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. |
Beals was 15 years old when she chose to enroll at Central High school in May 1956.[2] The nine black students faced mobs that forced President Dwight D. Eisenhower to send in the 101st Airborne Division to protect their lives after the governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, used National Guard troops to block the students’ entry to the school. Beals planned on returning to Central High for the 1958–1959 school year, but Governor Faubus shut down all Little Rock high schools that failed to resist integration,[3] leading to other school districts across the South to do the same.[citation needed] Not until August 1959 did Central High reopen on an integrated basis.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Strawberry Woman
a quick substitution
This is a look at what Pitchfork sees as the top country/alt-country albums in 2023
The Smile – “Wall of Eyes” – S/T
The Smile is a side project for Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood . The idea to form The Smile and record some tracks initially arose during the dark days of COVID. Many critics likened them to a jazzier and looser Radiohead.
https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/the-smile-wall-of-eyes-review-lyrics-3573993
Kim Gordon – “ Bye Bye” – The Collective
Kim Gordon is a bassist best know for her work with NY legends Sonic Youth. She moved to New York City in the late seventies to start an art career but she end up forming Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore in 1981 She and Moore married in 1984. Over the next three decades Sonic Youth would release over a dozen albums and become a major influence on countless other groups. Her’s Sonic Youth at the height of their major label powers
In 2011 Moore and Gordon separated after 27 years of marriage. After the separation she released various projects and collaborations with others, but 2024’s The Collective is her second truly solo album. Here are two versions of the song:. The first is a pretty cool/creepy video which features Gordon and her daughter and the second is a live performance from Jimmy Kimmel.
https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-kim-gordon-perform-bye-bye-on-kimmel
Add to Kim Gordon…. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/24/kim-gordon-collective-interview-sonic-youth-solo-bye-bye
Charli XCX – “Club Classics” – Brat
Charlotte (Aitchisoni) XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. She took the name XCX’s name as it’s supposed to be Roman numerals. It’s a hundred minus ten, then plus ten again which voila, is a hundred! She started as young teenager sing in dance clubs in England and started rising to fame when she began posting songs on MySpace. She signed to a major record label in 2010 and since then, has released umpteen singles and mix tapes often in collaboration with others. “Club Classics” is the new single from her yet to be released album Brat.
Here’s an interesting article from ten years ago. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/10905375/Is-Charli-XCX-the-new-Adele.html
CC Adcock & The Lafayette Marquis – “Poke Chop” – from the movie Roadhouse
C. C. Adcock a southern performer noted for his Cajun, zydeco, electric blues and swamp pop-influenced sound. He is also a Grammy-nominated music and film producer and film and TV composer. Adcock has provided some music for the new version of the silly Eighties film Roadhouse which now is apparently referred to a cult classic. Poke Chop is an excellent scuzzy bluesy number which would go well with the highly choreographed scraps that I am sure the film provides.
The Drin – “Tigers Cage” – Elude the Torch
The Drin’s are a group where even in the wide expanse of the interweb, I could find out very little about them. We two old fellas have been toiling away at the podcast for a while now and this is probably the least info for an act I have found. So in lieu of background overload, here is their Bandcamp page:
https://thedrin.bandcamp.com/track/tigers-cage-2
Whole-Hearted 