Jackson Browne: Tribute and Reissue

“Looking Into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne” was released in April. The two disk set features a dazzling array of artists including the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, Keb’ Mo’ and Bruce Springsteen. But honestly, doing Jackson Browne songs anywhere near as well as Jackson Browne is tough even for these titans. So, covers of lesser known songs are among the most enjoyable. Two tracks from Browne’s fourth album “The Pretender” get that treatment: Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek covering “Your Bright Baby Blues”, and Springsteen accompanied by his wife, Patti Scialfa, covering “Linda Paloma”.

Just last week a 40th Anniversary Reissue of Browne’s third album “Late for the Sky” was released. We featured the title track from that album in an earlier post, so here’s “The Late Show” which provides the “early model Chevrolet” lyric that ties to the album’s cover art. The song has all the ingredients: deep lyrics, pure Jackson Browne voice, beautiful vocal harmonies and David Lindley steel guitar, found in so much of Browne’s work.

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Bob Mould Keeps Bringing the Alt Rock

Bob Mould just released “Beauty & Ruin”, the 11th solo album from the frontman of the influential punk band Hüsker Dü and the 90’s band Sugar.

The video for “I Don’t Know You Anymore” puts you through about two minutes of concept set-up with Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, but rewards you with an enjoyable tune reminiscent of Mould’s earlier work.

Sugar only lasted for a few years in the early 90’s, but produced a few albums that made the top 10 on the UK indie album charts. A favorite song form their second album is “Your Favorite Thing”. The sonic connection with Mould’s brand new work is pretty clear

Hüsker Dü gets credited as an important American punk band of the early 80’s, and as one of the bands that pushed American music down the alternative rock path – integrating a bit more melodic sense into its fast and powerful sound. See what you think of Hüsker Dü’s “Makes No Sense At All” from the band’s fourth album “Flip Your Wig”. And if you hang in till the 2:30 mark, Hüsker Dü pays homage to a TV show that put their hometown of Minneapolis forever on the sitcom map.

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Grab Bag: Mark Whitaker, Draco Rosa, and Veruca Salt is Back!

One of our favorite excavators of new music, Jess at pH balanced and mvyradio, featured Boston-based artist Mark Whitaker on a recent blog post – a great voice, an interesting banjo style, and very nice song writing. Here is “Nowhere to Land”.

Another one of our favorite sources, Read and Hear, recently featured a song by Maggie’s Dream. The band was fronted by Draco Rosa, along with the likes of Ricky Martin part of the boy band Menudo, and recorded only one album of rock, funk, soul in 1990. Despite recent illness, Rosa has continued to record, creating his own modern latin sound. See what you think of “Change for the Better” by Maggie’s Dream, and Rosa’s “Mas Y Mas” from his 2013 album “Vida”.

And not to shift your sonic gears too hard, but Veruca Salt is back! The original line-up, with vocals by Nina Gordon and Louise Post, put out a two-song EP in April for Record Store Day. Nina’s and Louise’s voices are as sweet as they were two decades ago on “The Museum of Broken Relationships”.

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Some New Alt Country from Old 97’s, and Speaking of Alt Country, Cracker is Still Kickin’

Rolling Stone gave a rare 4-star review to “Most Messed Up” by Old 97’s. The band formed in Dallas in 1993 (so you figure out the meaning of “Old 97’s”) and are fronted by singer, guitarist and songwriter Rhett Miller. Their first record was released in 1994, and their latest just came out last week.

Listen to “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” from “Most Messed Up”, and then try out “Question” from their 2001 album “Satellite Rides”. The older track was featured on an episode of the TV series “Scrubs”, a show noted for integrating a lot of music, new and old.

Whenever alternative country is mentioned, we can’t help but think of our all time favorite, Cracker. The band was formed in 1991 by David Lowery and Johnny Hickman shortly after Lowery’s former band, Camper Van Beethoven, broke up.

Cracker hit it big with the song “Low” from their second album “Kerosene Hat”. Many of the band’s songs show a great sense of humor, like Old 97’s, none of them more than “Mr. Wrong” from their eponymous first album.

Cracker is still touring, and sometimes Lowery reunites Camper Van Beethoven for a double bill.

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New Albums from Classic Women Vocalists and a Newcomer – Rosanne Cash, Chrissie Hynde, and Rachel Price

Some famous female vocalists have new music out, and a great new singer has arrived on the scene.

Rosanne Cash, eldest daughter of Johnny and superstar in her own right, released “The River and the Thread” in January. The album has received its share of good reviews, and the first track is “A Feather’s Not a Bird”. The album’s producer is Rosanne’s husband John Leventhal, who also co-wrote all the songs and plays lead guitar on this performance. If you like the video below, check out this studio performance of “The Long Way Home” with John backing Rosanne on acoustic guitar.

Perhaps the best Rock & Roll frontwoman ever is Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. Almost 35 years after “Brass in Pocket” launched the band’s career, Chrissie is about to release her first solo album. “Stockholm” is due out in June, and the first single “Dark Sunglasses” has been released. Unfortunately, the video shows us no Chrissie, just a bunch of folks wearing – you guessed it. If you want to see Chrissie front the Pretenders in their heyday, 30 years ago, check out the other video too. The video quality isn’t great, but don’t you wish you’d been there?

Back in October we wrote about Lake Street Dive covering a Jackson Five tune. The band is now out with a new full-length LP “Bad Self Portraits” that is fresh and absolutely delightful from start to finish. The band’s lead singer, Rachel Price, has a great voice and a unique style that propels the band’s range of jazz, soul and R&B tunes. Here is the title track from the new album, and “You Go Down Smooth”.