Mavis Staples covers Kevin Morby & Gillian Welch on new album Sad and Beautiful World

Mavis Staples' forthcoming album "Sad and Beautiful World" is out November 7th via Anti Records. Hear the first 2 tracks below. 

Writes Mavis....

"I am thrilled to announce my new solo album, Sad And Beautiful World.

"Produced by Brad Cook, this record spans seven decades of the American songbook and includes reinventions of timeless songs by Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, Frank Ocean, and more, as well as original music.

"Take a listen to the first track of the record - my version of “Beautiful Strangers” by Kevin Morby. Visit the links below to listen and to pre-order your copy of Sad and Beautiful World out November 7 on Anti Records."

Album artwork by Elizabeth De La Piedra

Listen, Pre-save and Pre-order: https://mavisstaples.ffm.to/sadandbeautifulworld

Sad and Beautiful World

Grim days call for fierce love. And Mavis Staples, one of the most enduring figures in American music, is laying it down. Sad And Beautiful World is the latest solo album from a national treasure and multigenerational talent. On her new record, Mavis stands side by side with us in the face of dangers she knows all too well, at a time when more and more people have reason to wonder who and what could be lost. 

Sad And Beautiful World was produced by Brad Cook, known for his work with Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, and Nathaniel Rateliff, among other artists. The record spans seven decades of the American songbook — a range nearly as vast as Mavis’ career — and includes reinventions of timeless songs as well as original music.  

Now 86, Mavis has been performing since the age of eight. After starting out with her father Roebuck “Pops” Staples, sisters Cleotha and Yvonne, and brother Pervis in the Staple Singers more than seventy years ago, she’s the lone surviving member of the group, still carrying her family’s gifts and knowledge with her as a living heritage.  

Inducted into several halls of fame (blues, rock, and gospel), a Kennedy Center Honoree, a winner of multiple GRAMMYs (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), Mavis is our musical history. She’s collaborated with nearly every major figure of her era(s), from Bob Dylan to Prince, Aretha Franklin, and Willie Nelson — not to mention countless stars from subsequent generations. 

Sad And Beautiful World includes cameos by artists who have become part of Mavis’ world, many of whom are legends in their own right: Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Derek Trucks, Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, Justin Vernon, and others shine a light on her, while Mavis does what only she can do. Embracing vulnerability, she sings close and deep here, drawing the listener into a circle filled with her unforgettable presence.  

The first track recorded for the album, “Human Mind,” was written for and about Mavis by Hozier and Allison Russell. Paying tribute to the complexity of life, Mavis expresses faith in humanity: “Even in these days, I find / this far down the line, / I find good in it sometimes.” That magical last word — “sometimes” — shows her choosing hope, even with the disappointments that experience has brought. 

Her take on Tom Waits’ “Chicago” flaunts her vocal prowess, opening the album with a high-octane journey North that her family actually made—a dream of a future, but one offering no guarantees. Guitar riffs from Buddy Guy and Derek Trucks layer the song with a musical legacy that rose out of that same migration, a migration that Guy himself also lived. 

These are love songs for tough times. The title track, written by Mark Linkous (a.k.a. Sparklehorse), with its funeral-march rhythm and spare lyrics, finds beauty even in the midst of grief over everything that’s been lost. Mavis turns to Gillian Welch’s “Hard Times” to testify that “we’re gonna make it yet.”   

On Kevin Morby’s “Beautiful Strangers,” she reminds those in danger, “If you ever hear the gunshot… think of mother / I am a rock.” Her version of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed,” delivers a staggering benediction to those who stumble: “There will be mountains you won’t move. / I’ll always be there for you.”  

“We Got To Have Peace”, written by Curtis Mayfield, her friend and longtime collaborator, is framed by Mavis as a plea and a psalm. Yet her take on Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” carries a quiet fury that suggests choosing peace shouldn’t be mistaken for submission. 

The album closes on two reflective notes. Mavis sings “Satisfied Mind,” a song made famous by Porter Wagoner, and delivers it from the perspective of a long life well lived, reminding listeners that fleeting glory makes for shallow victory. And with “Everybody Needs Love,” Mavis finishes with the joy she insists on spreading, reminding us that she’s here, that we cannot go it alone, and that we don’t have to. 

It’s impossible to talk to Mavis’ collaborators without them bringing up the strength of her spirit and her generosity, growing animated over how much her songs mean to them. Allison Russell described hearing the Staple Singers as a preteen and finding out that Mavis had played a key part in the civil rights movement as a young woman.  

Upon being told that a verse from “Human Mind” she’d written (“I am the last, daddy, the last of us”) had made Mavis cry, Russell said she’d been deeply affected. “Mavis is the transcendent force of love embodied,” she said. “There is no higher honor than one of my biggest heroes being moved by words I wrote.” 

Producer Brad Cook tells stories about growing up listening to the Staple Singers. About seeing Mavis perform live, he said, “I remember being utterly floored by the conviction and power she had in her voice.” 

To capture Mavis’ resonant phrasing and textured vocals, Cook tried to build every song around that voice. He began with spare skeleton recordings, just drum and piano, and focused on recording her vocals. Then he expanded the song from there, trying never to overshadow or undermine the framework she’d established. He imagined a record in the tradition of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a group of artists coming together to celebrate community—in this case, one centered on Mavis. 

Sad And Beautiful World shows that love is a choice and a force all its own. The album is a litany of prayer, of Mavis breathing life into these songs. “I just have to deliver the compassion I feel,” she says. “I want to share the song the way I feel it.” 

************************  

More than seventy years after a high-school a cappella teacher tried and failed to change her singing style, Mavis Staples has one of the most recognizable voices in the world, with resonant phrasing and vocals so warm and textured, they feel like a physical presence. 

Not only is Mavis still making studio albums, she’s still on the road, returning to venues like the Newport Folk Festival, where she’s been a fixture since 1964. This July at Newport, Public Enemy founders Chuck D and Flavor Flav dropped to their knees to bow down before her. She made clear it was all unnecessary, but there’s something regal about her that people respond to — a grace that rises out of lived experience. 

Few people wield the combination of moral authority and the musical artistry that Mavis possesses. The moral authority comes from experiencing the Jim Crow era as a Black woman playing music in the South. With Freedom Highway, the Staple Singers created the literal soundtrack for the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. They opened for Martin Luther King Jr. at his rallies. Mavis has spent a lifetime standing up for those people the most powerful among us would like to beat down.  

She considered retiring in 2023 but found she has too much left to express through music. And now, despite our dark days, as she said in the wake of her 85th birthday party last year, “You have to stay hopeful and have faith that things are going to get better.” She can’t keep us from the danger facing the country or magically restore the progress that’s being undone. But she knows from her own experience that it’s possible to find a path through, a way to keep going.  

She may be one of the last true ones standing, but she’s not waiting around to be revered for the wisdom she brings. She’s too busy still leading the charge, still showing us how it’s done. Steadfast in triumph and adversity, Mavis Staples is still making music—and history—just when we need her most. 

David Hepworth discusses rock stars who can't retire in his new book

Check out David Hepworth's chat about his new book Hope I Get Old Before I Die on his Word In Your Ear podcast. 

Here's the scoop on Hope I Get Old Before I Die...

From the author of Abbey Road and Never a Dull Moment, the basis for AppleTV's 1971 documentary, come the stories of how rock icons like Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, and more have survived, thrived, and remained the most powerful forces in music.

When Paul McCartney closed Live Aid in July of 1985, we thought he was rock’s Grand Old Man. He was forty-three years old. As the forty years since have shown, he—and many others of his generation—were just getting started.

This was the time when live performance took over from records. The big names of the ’60s and ’70s exploited the Age of Spectacle that Live Aid had ushered in to enjoy the longest lap of honor in the history of humanity, continuing to go strong long after everyone else in the business had retired.

This is a story without precedent, a story in which Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up a Nobel Prize, The Beatles become, if anything, bigger than The Beatles, and it’s beginning to look as though all of the above will, thanks in a large part to technology, be playing in Las Vegas forever. 

Get a copy of Hope I Get Old Before I Die published by Diversion Books via Simon & Schuster right here. Check out David Hepworth's conversation about his book with Mark Ellen below. 

 

Diana Panton's new album Soft Winds and Roses out October 25

Jazz singer Diana Panton cut versions of modern pop classics with longtime pals Don Thompson & Reg Schwager. Pre-order it here. 

JAZZ VOCALIST DIANA PANTON 

SHOWCASES MODERN CLASSICS FROM THE '60s ONWARD

WITH HER ELEVENTH ALBUM

Soft Winds and Roses (out October 25)

“What makes Panton special is that she’s herself. You feel her relaxed personality throughout, and the quality of her voice is remarkable … a voice that’s as gentle as a doe but smart as a fox. Bravo!” – Marc Myers, JazzWax 

“Her vocal style combines a light, buoyant lilt with immaculate phrasing, an authoritative delivery, and a convincing ability to portray the emotions of the lyrics’ protagonists.” – Bobby Reed, DownBeat

HAMILTON, ONTARIO – With a career spanning nearly two decades, two-time JUNO Award winner Diana Panton has established herself as one of the brightest lights on the international jazz scene, praised by listeners, musicians, and critics alike for her ethereal vocals, exceptional song selection, and emotive nuance. Diana is pleased to announce the October 25 release of her eleventh album, soft winds and roses.

A departure from Diana Panton’s more recent albums, soft winds and roses features modern classics composed from the 1960s onward, including songs by Lennon and McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Gordon Lightfoot, Don McLean, Ron Sexsmith, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell, and more. Diana’s signature sound, which Jazz Times called “arrestingly beautiful,” makes every song her own, and the feather-light intimacy of each track is so direct that the lyrics feel like a secret passed between Diana and her listener. The album’s arc follows a relationship, beginning shyly with hard-to-declare feelings, continuing through a deeply emotional connection, and finally separating, with lingering traces of love. 

Why songs from the ‘60s onward?  Diana Panton explains, “Through the years, I have recorded several compilations for the Asian market, and I was often asked to include a bonus track that was a bit more contemporary and well-known in that market than some of my more obscure song choices. Fast forward to the present: I decided to assemble a selection of modern standards composed from the 1960s onward. It was a fun challenge to bring our trio’s distinctive sound to these modern classics, mixing well-known songs, like Elton John's 'This is Your Song' alongside some new jazz standards such as Fred Hersch's 'A Wish (Valentine).'"

On soft winds and roses, Diana Panton’s evocative vocals are backed by the artistry of two longtime musical colleagues – both former members of George Shearing’s ensemble – who have made significant contributions to the beauty and passion of Diana’s previous albums: pianist/vibraphonist/bassist/arranger Don Thompson (Officer of the Order of Canada) and guitarist Reg Schwager (Member of the Order of Canada). The minimalist instrumentation on soft winds and roses enhances the raw emotion of Diana's vocals. Thompson plays as though he is in conversation with Diana, hanging on her every word, sensing her every breath, and responding in kind. Schwager dazzles with shimmering runs, yet is always understated, playing in full support of the lyric.

ABOUT DIANA PANTON

In command of a keen aesthetic sense, Diana Panton has attracted the attention of some of the jazz world’s most respected masters.  When legendary multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson first heard the nineteen-year-old Diana sing, he enthusiastically urged her to audition for the renowned Banff Centre for the Arts Jazz Workshop. It was there that she studied under Norma Winstone, and, in subsequent visits, with Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton.  When the time arrived for her to go into the recording studio, award-winning guitarist Reg Schwager was invited to join Don Thompson in laying down a collaborative sound that has proved to be, on all of her albums, the perfect setting for the delicate nuance of Diana’s pure vocals. The late, great jazz critic Len Dobin called the product of that first session, …yesterday perhaps, one of the finest debut albums he had heard in years. 

Since the release of that first album in 2005, Diana Panton’s career has gathered astounding momentum, drawing international acclaim for her ten albums and the impressive variety and consistent quality of her catalogue of songs. The numerous honours garnered include JUNO Awards for RED in 2015 and I Believe in Little Things in 2017, three Silver Disc Awards in Japan, eight JUNO nominations, nine Hamilton Music Awards, and a host of National Jazz Award nominations and Canadian and American independent music award nominations. I Believe in Little Things charted simultaneously on Billboard’s Jazz and Children’s Music charts and went to #1 on Amazon’s “Movers and Shakers” chart, following an interview on NPR. The album received a four-star review in DownBeat magazine and was one of their Best Albums of 2016. Diana’s albums have also made the year-end lists of ICI Musique, NOW Magazine, Jazz Critique Magazine, The Montreal Mirror, The Ottawa Citizen, HiFi Trends, and DownBeat, among others, and, in addition to reaching #1 on Amazon and iTunes in Canada and the US, have made bestseller lists in Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan.

LINKS
Broadway World Diana Panton to release 11th album, "Soft Winds and Roses"

Iggy Pop vs. Leonard Cohen

Iggy Pop recently covered Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker" off the tribute comp Here It Is due Oct 14th from Blue Note. 

Here's the scoop from Blue Note...

Blue Note Records has announced an October 14 release date for Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, a remarkable new album produced by Larry Klein that presents stunning renditions of the legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s profound songs performed by an extraordinary line-up of vocalists: Norah Jones, Peter Gabriel, Gregory Porter, Sarah McLachlan, Luciana Souza, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Mavis Staples, David Gray, and Nathaniel Rateli­ff. Hear Taylor’s sublime version of “Coming Back to You” which is available to stream or download today. Here It Is can be pre-ordered now on D2C exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, or digital download. For more info, visit the Blue Note site right here. Check out the album preview clip below. 

“Leonard Cohen had been a friend since 1982 or so, and in the last 15 years of his life, he became a close friend,” says Klein. “He was possibly the wisest and funniest friend that I had, and someone that I enjoyed, immensely, in every way. After he passed away, I found myself frequently covering his songs with other artists that I was working with. One reason, of course, is that the songs are so good—in a certain way, Leonard is the best pop songwriter ever—but the other reason was that it helped keep him in the air around me.”

So Klein decided to assemble an album’s worth of Cohen songs, matching vocalists from different genres with an exceptional core band of jazz-based musicians—or, as he puts it, “a group of the most prescient and forward-looking musicians in the jazz world”—guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Nate Smith with additional contributions from Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar and Larry Goldings on organ.

The album’s 12 tracks offer a range of Cohen’s compositions, with songs drawn from his beloved 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen all the way up to selections from his final album, You Want It Darker, released just days before his death in 2016 (listen to Leonard Cohen's original recording followed by Iggy Pop's new version below). The set covers some of his best-known classics and less familiar deep cuts, all given new life through thoughtful and unexpected arrangements and performances. The resulting collection is ultimately reminiscent of the concept that guided Klein’s production of Herbie Hancock’s 2007 album River: The Joni Letters, which won the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year (and on which one of the featured singers was, in fact, Leonard Cohen).

“It was an immensely gratifying experience to recontextualize these poems, and shine a different light on them,” Klein continues. “I hope that this musical language that we developed together, the context that we put these things in, makes the songs connect with people in a new way.”

You can get a copy of the Leonard Cohen tribute Here It Is via your platform of choice right here. 

Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen

Steer Your Way – Norah Jones

Here It Is – Peter Gabriel

Suzanne – Gregory Porter

Hallelujah – Sarah McLachlan

Avalanche – Immanuel Wilkins

Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye – Luciana Souza

Coming Back to You – James Taylor

You Want It Darker – Iggy Pop

If It Be Your Will – Mavis Staples

Seems So Long Ago, Nancy – David Gray

Famous Blue Raincoat – Nathaniel Rateliff

Bird on The Wire – Bill Frisell

 

Daniel Lanois plus Leonard Cohen equals "Torn Again"

Daniel Lanois added steel guitar to a Leonard Cohen recitation to create "Torn Again" which was released today. Hear it below. 

Here's the scoop from Daniel Lanois...

"There are moments in this creative journey that stand out in a quiet profound permanence. This Leonard Cohen poem and reading from the man himself, always left me with that special feeling. The framing of Leonard’s reading started as a slide guitar performance with my good friend Rocco Deluca. The spine of our steel guitars became the rock for the poem to stand on. Wayne Lorenz and I spent many hours in the studio rearranging and dubbing out the steel to enhance the lyrical journey with orchestral compliment. I’m very proud of this work, may it keep on reaching and speaking. With thanks to Adam Cohen, for his friendship and help and to Sony for their kindness and co-operation."

- DL

Get "Torn Again" from your preferred music service right here. Watch the new video for "Torn Again" (created by Roland Schlimme, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier) followed by a zoom interview with Dan Lanois. 

Happy Birthday Leonard Cohen

Remembering Leonard Cohen with Donald Brittain & Don Owen's 1965 film Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. Leonard Cohen.

 

Bloodshot marks 25 years of alt-country in Chicago with Too Late To Pray comp

Watch Wild Earp's video for "The Last Honky Tonk in Chicago" featuring some of the Windy City's notable hang-outs. 

Here's the scoop from Bloodshot HQ...
"Bloodshot Records was born in 1994 with the release of its first album, the scene-capturing compilation For A Life of Sin: Insurgent Chicago Country. For our 25th anniversary, we wanted to come back home to shine a light, once again, on Chicago—ever-changing, ever-vibrant, ever-on-the-make—to champion the storytellers who keep the city a vital place. While the metropolis is too motley to have a signature sound, it does have a signature hustle, the hope-against-hope drive that a small-timer can beat it past the big shots and catch a break. No matter what may change, move on, or get bulldozed, as long as the city IS, that spark will never be snuffed out. Someone or something will always be here to fan it.

"Bloodshot Records is undeniably and proudly a product of that Chicago hope and hustle. As the label’s home, the diverse city has shaped its personality, its sound, and its surrounding scene. A communion of ideas between local artists and purveyors at venues, record shops, bars & restaurants, and numerous independent organizations inspires a certain quirky, inclusive, salt-of-the-earth spirit.

"Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots is a redux of For A Life of Sin. It is a current magnifying-glass look at some—but not even close to all—of the artists and groups making unique and special music in the city’s roots scene. Some of the artists you may have heard of; some are woven so tightly into the fabric of the city, it’s hard to imagine a time without them; some we’ve claimed, whether they like it or not, as natives; some you might be hearing for the first time; and some you may never hear from again.

"Robbie Fulks, Freakwater, Jon Langford’s Hillbilly Lovechild (featuring Steve Albini), and the The Handsome Family return in resplendent form from their contributions on For A Life of Sin and maintain their unchallenged status as guardians of the traditional guard. Other featured artists are just as well-regarded in their accomplished tenure and we are now fortunate enough to release some of their exceptional music: Tammi Savoy, The Hoyle Brothers, Brendan Kelly, Lawrence Peters, and The Western Elstons. Some we have worked with before in other forms (Bethany Thomas & Tawny Newsome of Jon Langford’s Four Lost Souls, Joybird’s Jess McIntosh); some have interned and worked at Bloodshot (The Dyes, Kelly Hogan); others are more recent trailblazers of the scene and are driving it in exciting, new directions (ROOKIE, Wild Earp, Big Sadie, David Quinn, The Family Gold, Sima Cunningham of OHMME, Saluda Moonlighters, Los Gallos). Too Late To Pray is one big Chicago family affair."

Note: The deluxe version of the Too Late To Pray LP is limited edition silver & turquoise 180-gram double vinyl gatefold package (limited to 500). Standard LP is 180-gram black double vinyl with gatefold. Includes digital download. Pressed locally at Smashed Plastic Record Press. CD includes 12-page booklet. Pre-order a copy of Too Late To Pray (due November 8th) directly from Bloodshot right here here.

Watch Wild Earp's video for "The Last Honky Tonk in Chicago" and The Lawrence Peters' Outfit standby "I Wrote You A Song" followed by the tracklist below.

Various Artists - Too Late To Pray (Bloodshot Records)
Wild Earp & The Free For Alls - “The Last Honky Tonk in Chicago”
Tammi Savoy & the Chris Casello Combo - “If It’s News to You”
Jon Langford’s Hillbilly Lovechild (feat. Steve Albini) - “I Am a Big Town”
Half Gringa - “Wearing White”
Brendan Kelly & the Wandering Birds - “Lay Me Down”
The Family Gold - “The Sun Is Going Down”
Big Sadie - “You Never Told Me”
ROOKIE - “Head Over Heels”
The Dyes “Liza Jane”
Robbie Fulks - “Lonely Ain’t Hardly Alive”
Freakwater - “Sway”
David Quinn - “Long Time Gone”
The Hoyle Brothers - “A Little Bit of Buck”
Bethany Thomas & Tawny Newsome - “Dinosaur”
Sima Cunningham - “Weeds and Daisies”
The Lawrence Peters Outfit - “I Wrote You a Song”
Kelly Hogan - “Gotta Have My Baby Back”
The Saluda Moonlighters - “Honky Tonkin’ in the Moonlight”
Los Gallos - “Yeah Yeah Yeah”
Joybird - “The Sweetness”
The Western Elstons - “Toast That Lie”
The Handsome Family - “Tower of Song”

The Handsome Family's Morricone-esque update of Leonard Cohen's "Tower Of Song" promises to be the icing on the cake. 

Get to know the 22 Chicago artists and songs on this release

Wild Earp & The Free For Alls "The Last Honky Tonk in Chicago": Perhaps Chicago’s rowdiest outlaw country gang. With their response to Buck Owens's "Close Up the Honky Tonks,” they give gratitude to the Sunday two-step matinee at the Empty Bottle. The message is inspired by the resurgence of traditional country music following the closure of some local honky tonks.

Tammi Savoy and the Chris Casello Combo "If It's News to You": This resident retro garage-soul howler—backed by one of the most heralded globe-trotting roots outfits—reaches for the rafters while covering the Little Esther's hit from 1957.

Jon Langford’s Hillbilly Lovechild "I Am a Big Town": A reunion of Langford's country-punk collective Hillbilly Lovechild, seldom heard since their appearance on For a Life of Sin in 1994. The unlikely group features Steve Albini, Tony Maimone, and John Szymanski (Four Lost Souls).

Half Gringa "Wearing White": Izzy Olive is a leading voice in the high-minded, spirit-forward indie-folk scene. “Wearing White” is a fine specimen of the genre, with its swooning fiddle, echo-laden Telecaster, and Olive’s stunning vocals.

Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds "Lay Me Down": Kelly, of storied punk band The Lawrence Arms, is a fixture on the stage and behind the bar in town. Here he performs a growling, smokey, bar rock rendition of Loretta Lynn’s “Lay Me Down” with his side-band The Wandering Birds.

The Family Gold "The Sun Is Going Down": Torchbearers of freewheelin’, old timey American music—an amalgam of country, hillbilly, and ragtime. This is a high-speed drinking song tailor-made for the Midwestern saloon, eliciting visions of bottles flying and dancers on the tables.

Big Sadie "You Never Told Me": A modern fixture at The Hideout is this revered bluegrass-folk group. The original song is representative of the band’s blissful harmonies, airtight songwriting, and knack for storytelling.

ROOKIE "Head Over Heels": The new-school southern rock, guitar-hero party band takes on a fuzzed-out, swampy, T-Rexified version of the beloved new wave classic from Tears For Fears.

The Dyes "Liza Jane": Cramps-and-Flat Duo Jets-fearing garage power trio spins a sleazy, lo-fi psychobilly take on a pop standard that became David Bowie’s first recorded single.

Robbie Fulks "Lonely Ain't Hardly Alive": The foremost roots music dignitary of the city and one of our most renowned songwriters. “Lonely Ain’t Hardly Alive” is an original bluegrass ballad for the lonesome-hearted and represents the other end of the spectrum from his fast-paced debut ditty that appeared on For a Life of Sin.

Freakwater "Sway": The longtime beloved Chicago/Kentucky-affected lefty folk heroes organically bring the Carter family back to life in this lilting banjo-dusted take on the Rolling Stones staple “Sway”.

David Quinn "Long Time Gone": Quinn, with his hot-sh*t band of West Side players, is a cosmic country-rock arbiter teaching the scene some vibrant new dance steps. The original song is fit for a Southern California rock revue led by Gram Parsons.

The Hoyle Brothers "A Little Bit of Buck": The Empty Bottle’s hard honky tonk house band of nearly two decades is known for outlaw and dancehall covers, but here present a two-steppin’ original longing for the days of country heroes being played in the clubs along State Street.

Bethany Thomas & Tawny Newsome "Dinosaur": These two renaissance women can be spotted in every theater, comedy club, and live room in town. They co-wrote this door-busting song recalling the ‘90s golden era of local roots-inflected indie rock.

Sima Cunningham "Weeds and Daisies": One half of beloved local noise-folkies OHMME, Cunningham is among the city’s go-to collaborators for everyone from Chance the Rapper to Twin Peaks. The tune showcases the skyscraper dynamics of her songwriting and arranging prowess.

The Lawrence Peters Outfit "I Wrote You a Song": The city’s favorite snare-drummin’ honky tonk crooner with a stripped-down twangy blues number recorded in one take at Dale Watson’s studio in Memphis, TN.

Kelly Hogan "Gotta Have My Baby Back": A longtime Chicago resident artist-vocalist and Bloodshot staple, who—in addition to a solo career and performing with The Flat Five—is a gun-for-hire singing backup for the likes of Mavis Staples, Decemberists, Neko Case, and more. This is a Fred Tillman cover sung in the key of Patsy Cline, backed by Joel Paterson (Devil in a Woodpile) and Scott Ligon (The Flat Five).

The Saluda Moonlighters "Honky Tonkin' in the Moonlight": The flashiest western swing band in town, led by ubiquitous retro rockabilly diva Bailey Dee. “Honky Tonkin’ in the Moonlight” was borne from the storied barndance scene that is being resurrected at venues like Thalia Hall and Berwyn’s FitzGerald’s.

Los Gallos "Yeah Yeah Yeah": The Norteño & Tex-Mex roots-rockers bring a ruckus with their loose and energetic lo-fi sound, incorporating a dancing drumbeat and breakneck guitar hook. Party music for the insurgent country scene.

Joybird "The Sweetness": Old Town School of Folk Music’s foremost fiddle luminary and local go-to session player Jess McIntosh with her indie-bluegrass band on a fluttering, feel-good folk number.

The Western Elstons "Toast That Lie": The harmonizing honky tonk supergroup—comprised of drummer-about-town Alex Hall, local guitar icon Joel Paterson, and The Flat Five’s and NRBQ’s Scott Ligon and Casey McDonough—performs every Wednesday at Andersonville’s Simon’s. Here they play a swingin’ number written by Scott’s ingenious organist brother Chris Ligon.

The Handsome Family "Tower of Song": The longtime gothic country duo, who first appeared on For a Life of Sin, is now residing in the desert and puts an appropriately Spaghetti-Western spin on Leonard Cohen’s ode to the craft “Tower of Song”.

One For The Weekend: Lindi Ortega

Check out Lindi Ortega's version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and see her on tour with Dustbowl Revival. 

Leonard Cohen puts Kanye West in his place

Listen to Leonard Cohen's poem "Kanye West Is Not Picasso" read by Michael Shannon from The Flame. 

Happy Birthday Leonard Cohen!

Remembering Leonard Cohen on his day with Ron Sexsmith's solo acoustic version of Sisters Of Mercy. 

John Cale's Fragments Of A Rainy Season gets deluxe reissue treatment

John Cale's classic live album, Fragments Of A Rainy Season, featuring many solo versions from his enduring catalogue, plus his brilliant interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" along with previously unreleased outtakes, is being reissued by Double Six/Domino on December 9.  The 3 LP triple gatefold version with 8 previously unreleased tracks will be limited to one pressing on heavy weight vinyl with digital download card. Check the complete track listing right here.

Watch Abby Portner's creepy cool new video for Cale's version of Hallelujah following Malcolm Gladwell's discussion of the song from his Revisionist History podcast and the Domino press release below.

Fragments of a Rainy Season is the the first live John Cale album to feature him performing solo and "unplugged" – before that term became a mid-'90s buzzword. In contrast to the jaundiced punk truculence of Sabotage/Live (1979) or Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1986), Fragments gives us Cale at his most melodic and moving, a mellowed and certainly a soberer man in a Yamamoto jacket and a lopsided haircut running through a selection of his prettiest songs.

It's a Cale many of us love deeply, a man alone at a concert-hall Steinway revisiting the pop-rock of 'Paris 1919' and 'A Child's Christmas in Wales', as wistful and whimsical as any '70s singer-songwriter holding court at L.A.'s Troubadour club. It's the Cale who disavowed the spiky nihilism of the Velvets, inspired instead by melodicism of Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson.

Cale being Cale, Fragments isn't all rueful tenderness. The deceptively jaunty 'Darling I Need You' is flippantly introduced as a song about "religious awakening in the southern part of the United States", while Elvis' 'Heartbreak Hotel' is no less gothic in the solo version here than it is in the Grand Guignol horror show of the original on Slow Dazzle. 'Guts' is as close as Cale ever came to Lou Reed at his most withering.  It's easy to forget that – years before Jeff Buckley and The X-Factor – he was the first artist to recognize the hymnal majesty of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', or that it was his original 1991 reading of the song that popped up on the soundtrack of Shrek.

Revisionist History: Hallelujah by Malcolm Gladwell

One night, Cohen is playing this version at the Beacon Ballroom in New York and the musician John Cale happens to be in the audience. Cale is a legend, used to be in The Velvet Underground, a really pivotal figure in the rock 'n roll avant-garde. He hears this song come out of Cohen's mouth and he's blown away. So he asks Cohen to send him the lyrics. He wants to do a version of it. So Cohen faxes him fifteen pages - who knows what the lyrics actually are at this point! Cale says, that for his version, he took the "cheeky" parts. He ends up using the first two verses of the original combined with three verses from the live performance. And Cale changes some words - most importantly, he changes the theme and brings back the biblical references that Cohen had in the album version.

Cale is really the one who cracks the code of Hallelujah according to Alan Light. This cover version appears on a Leonard Cohen tribute album put together by a French music magazine - it was called "I'm Your Fan"- came out in 1991. Almost nobody bought "I'm Your Fan", except, weirdly, me. I think I found it in a remainder bin in a little record store on Colombia Road in Washington, DC. Another person who bought "I'm Your Fan" was a woman named Janine, who lived in Park Slope in Brooklyn. She was good friends with a young aspiring singer named Jeff Buckley. He used to house sit at her apartment. And one time, when Buckley's there, he happens to see the CD of "I'm Your Fan" - he plays it - he hears John Cale's version of Hallelujah and decides to do his own version of that version. He performs it at a tiny little bar in the East Village called Sin-e where he happens to be heard by an executive at Columbia Records. So Columbia Records ends up signing Buckley and he records his version of Hallelujah for the album 'Grace' which ends up being Buckley's first, and only, studio album. It came out in 1994.

Now I'm guessing that Buckley's version is the one you're most familiar with - it's the famous one, the definitive one. It's not really a cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', it's a cover of John Cale's cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' only with Cale's piano swapped out for a guitar and of course, Buckley swaps out Cale's voice for his own extraordinary voice.

Here's Abby Portner's new video for John Cale's version of Hallelujah...

RIP Leonard Cohen, 1934-2016

Remembering Canada's poet laureate with Tower Of Song since even he was tired of hearing Hallelujah.

Happy 80th Birthday Leonard Cohen!

Toasting the Canuck icon on his day with the choir! choir! choir! version of Hallelujah.