Jamey Johnson is hereby forgiven for co-writing “Honky Tonk Badonka Donk.” Of course, if push came to shove, he wouldn’t even have to do this awesome cover for me to forgive him. He’s old-school country and I dig it.
“Night Swimming” by Sugarland (R.E.M.)
Sugarland is another country-pop band that makes me like them in spite of my cynicism towards Nashville’s current establishment. Kristian Bush, the male half of the duo, was a member of Billy Pilgrim which was a great acoustic rock male vocal duo in the 1990’s. So thank God that even if Billy Pilgrim didn’t make it, Kristian and his current cohorts still find a way to be awesome on occasion. Here’s a cover of the hauntingly beautiful R.E.M. song “Night Swimming.”
“To Love Somebody” Flying Burrito Brothers (The Bee Gees)
It’s something that I hate to admit, but the Bee Gees could actually put together dang good lyrics and melodies. Their arrangements are just atrocious in my opinion. But I digress. The fictionalized “Grand Theft Parsons” was on IFC the other night. When Gram Parsons, pioneer of country rock, died, his road manager Phil Kaufmann stole the body from LAX, drove it to Joshua Tree and set it ablaze to honor his dead friend’s wishes. Phil turned himself in afterwards but was only fined for stealing a coffin – not for stealing the body or burning it in the desert. I guess there wasn’t a law on the books for that. Now that is rock’n’roll. Here’s Gram and the Flying Burrito Brothers Band covering “To Love Somebody.”
“Wichita Lineman” Part 2
Wade Hayes is more of a traditional country singer by today’s standards. An admirable attempt with story-based video.
James Taylor has a voice that matches well with this song. Here he is live in Rotterdam.
Johnny Cash from his American recordings sessions. This didn’t make one of his big album releases because they had so much great stuff.
Ready to jump the shark? Here’s a dance hall remix. Yikes.
Redemption from the songwriter himself, Jimmy Webb, who explains the genesis of the song.
“Wichita Lineman” Part One
Late night host Craig Ferguson sheds some light on why this song is so popular beyond the traditional country/western fan base.
Here’s the Crown Prince of Reggae, Bob Marley’s favorite singer, Dennis Brown, who was the master of “lovers rock” a sub-genre of reggae. Of course, this song was made famous by Glen Campbell.
Sammy Davis, Jr. gives an interesting twist with a big band and nightclub vibe. I think this is from an album named “Something for Everyone.”
The Dells with a classic soul rendition. “Oh Wichita! Wichita!”
This is going to be a two-part post because there are so many. But this is probably my favorite from REM….
Same Old Tune 