When I heard that Patty Griffin appears on a song on the new album from Shooter Jennings, I had to track it down. The new song, “Wild and Lonesome” is from Jennings’s album The Other Life, coming out March 12. Jennings brings a traditional country sound to the song, and Griffin, who takes a break from her work with Robert Plant here, provides outstanding harmonies. The song is already earning great reviews and creating anticipation for the album. Check it out.
The album The Other Life will accompany a film by the same name, with the film also featuring Jennings on a supernatural trip of self discovery. Jennings is also working on a film about his late father, Waylon Jennings. Meanwhile Patty Griffin will have her own new album, American Kid, out on May 7.
What do you think of “Wild and Lonesome”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
After my favorite baseball team had a heartbreaking loss, I picked up my copy of Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America (2007) for some comfort. While reading it I came across a story from Buck O’Neil about his days in the Negro League that put into perspective my puny broken baseball dreams.
Willard “Sonny” Brown
Willard “Sonny” Brown
In the book, Posnanski relates O’Neil’s story about Willard “Sonny” Brown, who O’Neil had managed on the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League. In 1947, the same year Jackie Robinson made it to the Major Leagues, the St. Louis Browns signed Brown and his Monarchs teammate, Hank Thompson.
The Dodgers had worked to try to prepare Robinson for the pressure of the Majors with a stint in the Minor Leagues. By contrast, the Browns immediately sent Brown and Thompson to the Majors. There, the two men became the first black teammates on a Major League team.
By the end of the 1947 season, though, the Browns sent both men back to the Negro League’s Monarchs. Thompson would eventually return to the Major Leagues and have a successful career (although a troubled life), but it was Brown’s only time in the league.
The First African-American to Hit an American League Home Run
When Buck O’Neil visited school kids across America, though, he told them about Sonny Brown. And he would tell about one particular at bat.
Late in Brown’s one season in the Majors, on August 13, the team had already given up on the player. But on that Sunday, Brown came in as a pinch hitter in the second game of a double header against the Detroit Tigers.
Brown was surprised about being called into the game. And he did not even have a bat. So, he picked up a damaged bat of the team’s best hitter, Canadian-born Jeff Heath.
At the plate, Sonny Brown connected with a pitch, driving it so it smashed off the center field fence that was 428 feet away. Brown ran around the bases at full speed, turning the hit into an inside-the-park home run. It was the first home run by a black man in the American League.
But there were no congratulations in the dugout for the historic hit. None of Brown’s teammates even looked at him. The only acknowledgement Sonny Brown saw was that the notoriously short-tempered Jeff Heath took his bat that Brown had used and looked at it. Then, in disgust, he smashed the bat against the wall.
“It Wasn’t Easy”
Buck O’Neil used to ask the school children what lesson they learned from the fact that the player had broken Willard Brown’s bat after he hit a home run. He would tell them, “The lesson, children, is that it wasn’t easy.”
In Patty Griffin’s song, “Don’t Come Easy” from Impossible Dream (2004) she sings:
I don’t know nothing except change will come; Year after year what we do is undone; Time keeps moving from a crawl to a run; I wonder if we’re gonna ever get home.
Sonny Brown did find a home. The World War II veteran continued to have a successful career in the Negro Leagues. He ended his career there a few years later with a .355 lifetime batting average, a lot of home runs, and six All Star appearances.
Brown then continued playing baseball in Texas and in Puerto Rico until he retired from the sport with his nickname “Ese Hombre” (The Man) in 1957.
Brown — who was born on June 26, 1911 in Shreveport, Louisiana — died in Houston, Texas in 1996. Ten years after his death in 2006, Major League Baseball gave him the recognition he deserved. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Leave your two cents in the comments.
If you have always wanted to attend the Newport Folk Festival, you can at least watch a number of the acts live this year on your computer, thanks to National Public Radio. The festival starts Friday, July 27 and goes through the weekend with acts that include Wilco, Patty Griffin, Jackson Browne, Iron & Wine, and My Morning Jacket. Check out the NPR website for a full list of the acts and information about how you can watch the performances live. Below is a video about the festival.
What is your favorite memory of the Newport Folk Festival? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of my favorite recent CD purchases is This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark (2011), which I have had on repeat play since I got it in December. This One’s for Him is a solid 2-CD collection of songs by the wonderful Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark. Although tribute albums often are hit-and-miss affairs with an uneven collection of interpretations by various artists, this one maintains a nice consistency throughout. One reason the CDs work so well is the consistency of Guy Clark’s writing, although tribute albums usually consist of well-written songs. Another reason that the listening experience is like listening to a CD by one artist is because the producers recorded live with the band and a limited number of overdubs, giving consistency throughout. Finally, the great collection holds up due to the group of artists assembled for the project. Although there are some famous singers on the collection, the producers clearly opted for talented musicians who love Clark’s music instead of just seeking big names, and the love comes through the music.
It is hard to choose a favorite song, but one of mine is Jack Ingram’s version of “Stuff that Works.” In a video no longer available on YouTube, Jack Ingram talked about his love of Guy Clark’s music, noting that the music feels “like the Truth.” The great thing about Clark’s songs is that he writes beautiful words to go with his beautiful music. Stuff that works, stuff that holds up; The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall; Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel; The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall.
Artists on the CD include a who’s who of great singers and songwriters: Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Prine, and many more. [UPDATE: In a promotional video no longer on YouTube, Hayes Carll, who sings “Worry B Gone” on the tribute CD, talked about hanging out with Clark.]
If you are already a fan of Guy Clark’s music, you will love the CD. But if you are new to his music, the tribute CD is a great place to start. One of my favorite songs of all-time is Guy Clark’s “LA Freeway.” Radney Foster does an excellent job covering the song on the CD. I could not find his version on Youtube, so here is the songwriter’s version. He does a pretty good job too.
If I can just get off of this LA freeway, Without getting killed or caught; I’d be down that road in a cloud of smoke, For some land that I ain’t bought — bought — bought.
“LA Freeway” captures the common longing for running off and being free. Even if you cannot make that kind of escape, you might come a little closer if while you’re on the road you pop in this CD.
This post continues the Chimesfreedom discussion of Best Gospel Songs by Pop Singers. In this series, we consider some great recording of gospel songs that were made by popular singers. This post includes songs recorded by Patty Griffin, Aretha Franklin, and George Harrison.
House of Gold, Patty Griffin (& Hank Williams)
I finally got around to buying Patty Griffin’s CD of gospel music, Downtown Church. She has one of the best singing voices, and it shows on my favorite song off this CD.
“House of Gold” was originally written and performed by Hank Williams. The song works here because her voice echos above the restrained instrumentation. And the song has some of the best gospel lyrics ever:
I’d rather be in a deep, dark grave And know that my poor soul was saved Than to live in this world in a house of gold And deny my God and doom my soul
Blessed Assurance, Aretha Franklin
Like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin has many great Gospel recordings, including the album, Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings. She has recorded some excellent versions of “Amazing Grace,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” and “How I Got Over,” but here is a beautifully restrained version of “Blessed Assurance.”
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My Sweet Lord, George Harrison
“My Sweet Lord” may not technically qualify as a gospel song (and some Christians have objected to the “Hare Krishna” chants). But it is a beautiful song about one’s relationship with God, so it qualifies for me.
George Harrison originally wrote the song for Billy Preston but ended up having a big hit with it on his own as part of his first post-Beatles album, All Things Must Pass. Unfortunately, he lost a lawsuit for subconsciously copying the Chiffons’ hit, “He’s So Fine.” Under today’s laws that are more lenient toward sampling, etc., though, he likely would have won.
(2007) for some comfort. While reading it I came across a story from Buck O’Neil about his days in the Negro League that put into perspective my puny broken baseball dreams.
(2004) she sings:
. She has one of the best singing voices, and it shows on my favorite song off this CD.
. She has recorded some excellent versions of “Amazing Grace,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” and “How I Got Over,” but here is a beautifully restrained version of “Blessed Assurance.”
. Unfortunately, he lost a