Remembering Porter Wagoner on his birthday

Raising a glass to country great Porter Wagoner on his birthday with a couple of delightful duets with Dolly Parton.

Margo Price shares cover of "Ways To Be Wicked" from Tom Petty tribute LP

Margo Price is joined on "Ways To Be Wicked" by co-writer Mike Campbell. Margo hits Toronto's Budweiser Stage on August 15.

Here's the scoop on Petty Country...

The Tom Petty Estate is thrilled to officially announce Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty, out June 21 via Big Machine Records. The album is a country music tribute to Tom lovingly curated by some of his closest friends and collaborators, including great friend and Grammy-winning producer George Drakoulias and Tom's esteemed colleague Randall Poster. 

Some of the most lauded voices in country music – including Margo Price with Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart, George Strait, Rhiannon Giddens, Chris Stapleton and Jamey Johnson – explore the extensive Petty catalog and put their own personal touches on some of his greatest hits. 

Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty is out June 21st. Get it right here. Also, Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs play Toronto's Danforth Music Hall on July 16th. 

  

Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty

1. “I Should Have Known It” by Chris Stapleton

2. “Wildflowers” by Thomas Rhett

3. “Runnin’ Down A Dream” by Luke Combs

4. “Southern Accents” by Dolly Parton

5. “Here Comes My Girl” by Justin Moore

6. “American Girl” by Dierks Bentley

7. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Lady A

8. “I Forgive It All” by Jamey Johnson

9. “I Won’t Back Down” by Brothers Osborne

10. “Refugee” by Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson

11. “Angel Dream No. 2” by Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson

12. “Learning To Fly” by Eli Young Band

13. “Breakdown” by Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce

14. “Yer So Bad” by Steve Earle

15. “Ways To Be Wicked” by Margo Price feat. Mike Campbell

16. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Midland

17. “Free Fallin’” by The Cadillac Three feat. Breland

18. “I Need To Know” by Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives

19. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by

Rhiannon Giddens with Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench

20. “You Wreck Me (Live)” by George Strait

 

R.I.P. actor Leslie Jordan, 1955-2022

Sadly, Emmy-winning actor, comedian and singer Leslie Jordan died in a car crash in Hollywood today. He'll be greatly missed.

LINKS 

Los Angeles Times Comedian and actor Leslie Jordan dies after car crash at 67

Candi Staton's rare soul recordings for FAME released on vinyl

Candi Staton's 12 shelved FAME recordings – which appeared on the Evidence 2CD in 2011 – are out on vinyl today.  

Here's the scoop...

Trouble, Heartaches And Sadness (The Lost Fame Sessions Masters) features twelve previously unreleased tracks from Candi Staton’s incredible recording period at the legendary FAME studios. Discovered and compiled as part of Dean Rudland's comprehensive 48-track Evidence (The Complete Fame Sessions Masters) 2CD comp released by Ace/Kent back in 2011, Staton's 12 unissued tracks are available for the first time on vinyl for RSD DROPS 2021 on Saturday (July 17).

Side 1 – 1. One More Hurt (2.41), 2. Spread Your Love On Me (3.10), 3. Lovin’ The Easy Way (2.50), 4. Where Were You (3.17)*, 5. I Gave A Little And Lost A Lot (4.19), 6. Do Right Woman (3.07).

Side 2 – 1. We Had It All (2.53), 2. Slipping Away (3.10), 3. I'll Be Here (3.25), 4. Trouble, Heartaches And Sadness (2.47), 5. Jolene (4.13), 6. Are You Just Building Me Up (3.28) (All tracks are stereo except * mono)

Check out Candi Staton's version of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and the title track below. 

Bob Stanley revisits late 60s country on Choctaw Ridge comp

Here's the scoop...

Choctaw Ridge – New Fables of The American South explores a new country sound, one that emerged at the end of the 60s in the wake of Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode To Billie Joe', a shock number one hit in 1967. When singers like Gentry, Jimmy Webb, Michael Nesmith and Lee Hazlewood moved from the south to Los Angeles to make it in the music business, they were not part of the Nashville in-crowd and they forged a new direction. 

'Ode To Billie Joe' was the tip of the iceberg, and it's success helped a bunch of singers and storytellers to emerge over the next three or four years. Some of the tracks on this collection bear that song's stamp more clearly than others: Sammi Smith's moody 'Saunders' Ferry Lane' had a similar mystery lyric, and Henson Cargill's 'Four Shades Of Love' is a portmanteau, with one (or possibly two) of the theoretically romantic situations ending in death. 

Suddenly, character sketches of southerners became a lot more rounded - women didn't have to stay home, or take abuse at the office, and darkness wasn't only found at the bottom of a bottle. Storytelling is the link between all of the songs on this collection. We have cautionary tales about what could happen to someone who heads for the bright lights and doesn't make it, ending up in the grasping hands of 'Mr Walker' (Billie Joe Spears), or on the 'Back Side Of Dallas' (Jeannie C Reilly), or on a mortuary slab in the case of the songwriter with the 'Fabulous Body And Smile' (Robert Charles Griggs). And there are stories about wanting to go home - Nat Stuckey's 'What Am I Doing In LA?' and Charlie Rich's 'Feel Like Going Home' - and others from Ed Bruce and Lee Hazlewood, who know that their home isn't home anymore. 

The tracklist and fulsome sleeve notes have been put together by Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and Martin Green (Smashing, The Sound Gallery), who have been collecting these records for decades. The voices are resonant and relatable, and the productions take in the best of what pop had to offer in the late 60s and early 70s. Before the factionalism between smooth pop-conscious Nashville and the hedonistic 'outlaws' made it look inward again, this was a golden era for an atmospheric, inclusive and progressive country music. It began on the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day.

Choctaw Ridge – New Fables of The American South, 1968-1973 is out July 30. Pre-order a copy directly from ACE Records right here. Watch Jeannie C. Riley perform "Back Side of Dallas" and listen to Sammi Smith's delightfully dark "Saunders' Ferry Lane" and Jim Ford's epic "Harlan County" – which is among the best of the bunch – following the track listing below.

Choctaw Ridge – New Fables of The American South, 1968-1973

01  The House Song - Lee Hazlewood

02  If Only She Had Stayed - Chris Gantry

03  Endless Miles Of Highway - Jerry Reed

04  The Back Side Of Dallas - Jeannie C Riley

05  Way Before The Time Of Towns - Hoyt Axton

06  Strawberry Farms - Tom T Hall

07  Down From Dover - Dolly Parton

08  July 12, 1939 - Charlie Rich

09  What Am I Doing In LA? - Nat Stuckey

10  Mr Stanton Don't Believe It - Rob Galbraith

11  Saunders' Ferry Lane - Sammi Smith

12  Four Shades Of Love - Henson Cargill

13  Drivin' Nails In The Wall - Waylon Jennings & The Kimberlys

14  Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town - Kenny Rogers & The First Edition

15  Why Can't I Come Home - Ed Bruce

16  Mr Walker, It's All Over - Billie Jo Spears

17  Harlan County - Jim Ford

18  Widow Wimberly - Tony Joe White

19  Belinda (Alt take) - Bobbie Gentry

20  Joanne - Michael Nesmith & The First National Band

21  Mr Jackson's Got Nothing To Do - John Hartford

22  Alone - Lee Hazlewood & Suzi Jane Hokom

23  Fabulous Body And Smile - Sir Robert Charles Griggs

24  I Feel Like Going Home - Charlie Rich

R.I.P. Donnie Fritts, 1942-2019

Legendary Alabama songwriter/keyboardist and actor Donnie Fritts passed away Tuesday evening. He was 76. 

That time Dolly Parton sang at a pub in Ireland

Folks across County Kerry still talk about the night Dolly Parton sang "Coat Of Many Colors" at Paídi Ó Sé's Pub.

Happy 70th Birthday Dolly Parton!

Celebrating Dolly Parton's 70th birthday with a classic clip from the Porter Wagoner Show from 1969. 

Remembering Country Hall of Famer "Cowboy" Jack Clement

LINK
Jack Clement dies at 82 obit