Category: Music

Steve Earle: “Dublin Blues”

Steve Earle Guy

Steve Earle is releasing a new album as a tribute to Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark. The new album, Guy, will feature sixteen tracks, including the newly released single, “Dublin Blues.”

As a big fan of guy Clark, I am excited to hear that Earle is dedicating an album to his friend. But it will be difficult to surpass the wonderful 2011 multi-artist tribute to Clark, This One’s for Him. Still, Earle’s personal connection to Clark as well as his great talent make him the perfect person to spread the word about the underappreciated singer-songwriter. Earle did a similar feat for his other mentor Townes Van Zandt with the album Townes in 2009.

The new album will feature a number of Guy Clark’s classic songs, like “L.A. Freeway,” “The Randall Knife,” “Desperados Waiting For a Train,” and “She Ain’t Going Nowhere.” Earle recently released the first single, “Dublin Blues.” Check it out.

Interestingly, Clark’s song “Dublin Blues” is itself a tribute to another legend, Doc Watson. And the music for the song goes back much further than that. Check out our previous post on the story behind “Dublin Blues.”

What do you think of Earle’s cover? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Why “GUY”? (Steve Earle album review)
  • Guy Clark Has Heard Doc Watson Play “Columbus Stockade Blues” (Song Within a Song)
  • Nanci Griffith’s Superstars on Letterman: “Desperados Waiting for a Train”
  • Heartworn Highways . . . Revisited
  • Tribute to Guy Clark CD is “Stuff That Works”
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    Good Ole Boys Like Me

    Good Old BoysWhile recently re-watching the movie Primary Colors (1998) for the umpteenth time, I noticed a song I had never really noticed before.  It occurs after John Travolta’s character Gov. Jack Stanton meets with Larry Hagman’s Gov. Fred Picker.  In a key scene near the end of the movie that was directed by Mike Nichols, Stanton walks away from Picker’s southern mansion singing a song.

    Stanton then says how he loves the song, in particular a line about the Williams boys, Hank and Tennessee.   He expounds, “The picture ain’t never complete without old Tennessee.”  The song is “Good Ole Boys Like Me.”

    I can still hear the soft southern winds in the live oak trees
    And those Williams boys, they still mean a lot to me
    Hank and Tennessee
    I guess we’re all gonna be what we’re gonna be
    So, what do you do with good ole boys like me?

    The song captures the charm of Travolta’s character, who is based upon Bill Clinton during his race for the presidency.  It also shows the politician’s embrace of Southern culture.

    The Song

    Bob McDill wrote “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” a song that stacks together images of Southern culture.  The images range from a Civil War general to great American novelists like Thomas Wolfe.

    McDill initially offered the song to Kenny Rogers, who found it too literary.  So, Don Williams recorded the song and created a classic.

    Other people mentioned in the song are DJ’s like Wolfman Jack and John R., the latter of whom McDill listened to as a kid on WLAC radio out of Nashville.  McDill found inspiration to write the song with images of Southern culture while reading the novel A Place to Come To, by Robert Penn Warren.

    McDill tells more about the story behind the song in the video below.  Check it out.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Lou Reed Inducting Dion Into Rock Hall

    In early 1989, Lou Reed inducted Dion into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a short poetic introduction, followed by Dion’s short funny recollections.

    Dion Rock Hall

    On January 18, 1989, one great singer-songwriter associated with New York inducted another great singer-songwriter also associated with the city into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Lou Reed, injecting poetic words as only he could do, inducted Dion DiMucci into the Rock Hall.

    In the video below, listen to Reed describing the influence of Dion and his music, “Bronx Soul.”  Reed does it with language only he would use, all while reading from a sheet of paper that those of us who were around in 1989 recognize as continuous computer paper with holes on the side, printed from a dot matrix printer.

    Then, a happy Dion takes the stage to accept with a short funny speech.

    The “Phil” that Dion mentions is legendary producer Phil Spector, including a reference to Spector’s production of Dion’s 1975 album Born to Be with You and the producer’s notorious reclusiveness.  Subsequently, Spector’s strange behavior would lead to him being convicted of murder in 2009 and going to prison where he died from complications due to Covid in January 2020. The “Bruce” he mentions is, of course, Bruce Springsteen. Check it out.

    The 1989 induction ceremony was one for the ages. Other performers inducted in addition to Dion included The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and Otis Redding.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    John Legend: Bring Me Love This Christmas

    Legendary Christmas

    We wish everyone a very merry Christmas. This year, one of the best new Christmas songs comes from John Legend. In the upbeat song “Bring Me Love,” from Legend’s A Legendary Christmas album, Legend asks for one thing for Christmas.

    Bring me love this Christmas,
    ‘Cause I deserve you here;
    Bring me love this Christmas,
    ‘Cause I’ve been good this year.

    Here’s wishing you are surrounded by love this holiday season.

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