When I was young and full of grace, the brief moment I remember the most with my father was huddled around a black songbook of Country songs, singing and playing his jumbo Epiphone guitar. In those songs, I heard harmony, melody, and storytelling as it had been handed down from the troubadours traversing Europe to the blue-jean-wearing, cowboy-boot-kickin' outlaws of the day. In all of those songs, the ones that reeled me in like a fish on a hook were from Kris Kristofferson.
Despite his raspy voice and devil-may-care attitude, Kristofferson lodged in my DNA. As I learned to play guitar and write songs, his always haunted me. We know the legends. Landing a helicopter on Johnny Cash's property to get him to listen to "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down." The only blue-jean-clad attendee at any award ceremony in the early Seventies. He had so many fantastic songs in the beginning, that he was his only competition for "Song of The Year."
Weirdly, the Rhodes Scholar left it all behind to become an actor. Kristofferson possessed a natural talent for lifting the characters from the page. Perhaps it was his intense study of literature. Perhaps he could dial into his experience on the road, on oil rigs, and on helicopters, just seeing life passing by like a spectator.
Kristofferson was the best writer when his "antenna" was up in the air. From the oil platforms of South Louisiana, he conjured the tender detail of "Help Me Make It Through The Night." Studying in England in 1958, Kristofferson was four years too early for the Folk boom. Trying to take care of his wife and son, Kristofferson was willing to sweep the floors of Nashville studios at night - just to get that one chance at having his songs heard. That is the confidence level in one's self that too many have lost. Kristofferson knew his songs were good - so good that he left the Army and was disowned by his family just to prove it.
As an in-demand songwriter, Kristofferson's songs became the cuts that proved an artist was an "interpreter." "The Taker" (co-written with Shel Silverstein) led Waylon Jennings (still trying to function within Nashville's stringent limits) to cover four Kristofferson songs (and earn a Top 5 Country hit). In addition, for his first recording of an outside writer, Kristofferson chose "Good Christian Soldier," written by Bobby Bare's bandmate Billy Joe Shaver. Even good luck with other songwriters helped Kristofferson in weird ways. Answering a challenge from his first producer Fred Foster to immortalize the Monument Records secretary in song, Kristofferson wrote one based on a misnomer of the woman's name from office mates Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (writers of tons of hits for the Everly Brothers including "Love Hurts”). A little bit of Fellini's "La Strada" and time on the road from New Orleans to Baton Rouge gave us "Me & Bobby McGee." Months later, in May 1969 "McGee" hit #12 on the Country chart via Roger Miller which inspired versions from Kenny Rogers & The First Edition, Gordon Lightfoot (#1 in Canada), and The Statler Brothers.
Entering the Seventies with the wind of being a desired songwriter at his back, Kristofferson again followed his path. Despite a dynamite band (Dennis Linde, Donnie Fritts, and Billy Swan) and critical acclaim, solo success did not find Kristofferson until former paramour Janis Joplin's posthumous version of "McGee" topped the charts in 1971. In hindsight, it is admirable that Kristofferson never really sought his own material to become "hits." Most of his admired albums today would not be far from either Dylan circa 1969 ("Nashville Skyline") or Willie/Waylon/Glasers circa 1976. His craft only suffers as he spreads himself into acting and touring. Nonetheless, even his failures inspired him. Singing about junkies, juiceheads, and all those living on the outside of the social lines sent Kristofferson to the mirror to examine his place on earth. In the most humble and penitent of terms, Kristofferson wrote "Why Me." His emptiness and openness of heart would become one of his biggest hits (his lone Country #1) and even become a feature in sets by The King.
By 1973, Kristofferson was a bankable star. By no means would he ever have to do anything he did not truly want to do. To be honest, Kristofferson never really needed another hit either. He was part of Seventies Country/Rock royalty (even as his personal life with Rita Coolidge mirrored his on-screen life with Barbra Streisand in "A Star Is Born"). He will always be a Highwayman. He will always be the one who comforted Sinead O'Connor at the Dylan tribute. He will always be a friend to songwriters everywhere (just listen to how many he names in songs and intros over the year). His legend is in these acts as much as it is in his songs. His humility and willingness to bear it all made him a better songwriter - and that fact alone will inspire those who listen to his canon to - follow his requested epitaph from the words of Leonard Cohen:
Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
—
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
New MUSIC this Week
CARIBOU - Honey [YELLOW LP/CD] (Merge/AMPED) • As Manitoba, Daphni, and now Caribou, Dan Snaith has managed the worlds of Dream Pop, Electronic Music, Glitch Soul, and more. "Honey" is an uptempo burst of gleeful dance music that wants to be celebrated on the dancefloor. Snaith keeps it simple with the mid-tempo "Come Find Me" built around its mid-tempo click track to a Daft Punk-ian Disco peak. While "Broke My Heart" is HyperPop at its best complete with helium-voiced vocals and a seductive, repetitive hook (familiar to Suzanne Vega fans) delivered over EDM build/boom cycling.
TBONES will host a listening party for Caribou on FRIDAY at 6PM.
LEON BRIDGES - Leon [WHITE LP/CD] (Columbia) • For an autobiographical album, "Leon" is Bridges biggest stretch of the rhythmic imagination. As if he has been held to the standards of outside producers (everyone on "Gold-Diggers Sound" fit well, but being versatile is not everything.) So "Leon" takes us back to his home in Texas, yet Grammy-winners Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian return him to soothing Soul ("That's What I Love") and expand his rhythmic backdrop to African polyrhythms ("Peaceful Place.") If anything, "Leon" revives the warmth of his "Coming Home" debut while pushing Bridges in different directions that are closer to their roots in classic Soul.
FINNEAS - For Cryin' Out Loud! [PURPLE LP/CD] (AWAL) • After the production triumph of his sister's statement of purpose "Hit Me Hard and Soft," Finneas gets to response with a loose-limbed studio album. "Cleats" is bit too much like Coldplay delivering a Hall and Oates song, while the title cut strays a little too close to pulling from Harry Styles' plastic Soul. As always, Finneas is a great singer with an expressive voice and comforting palette. However, his songs are clearly giving their Pop elsewhere.
THE SMILE - Cutouts [WHITE LP/CD] (XL/Beggars/ Redeye) • Whether these cuts were left over from their excellent "Wall of Eyes" or were created from scraps after a brief tour does not matter. Where the other Alternative acts are interested in a steady upward pattern of growth, Messrs Yorke, Greenwood, and Skinner could care less. "Foreign Spies" is a beautiful wavering ballad that could have been hidden on "Wall" (especially with its weird "Suspiria" like keyboard parts.) "Don't Get Me Started" is the closest The Smile have come to a Radiohead track with its Amnesiac haunted reverberated balladry. Still, there is an inner beauty with The Smile that only reveals itself after you crank it up loud and feel it in your body. "Started" assumes you know where it is going and then hits you with galloping beats - which are then removed. Like the epic "Bending Hectic" from "Wall," "Started" is about taking you places you only think you have been. Finally, there is "Zero Sum." This amazing single is their best use of terse polyrhythms and guitar delay ever. It begins as an exercise in control before the trio expand it to include saxophones and mute them all just as you are giving in to their heat and brilliance.
THEE SACRED SOULS - Got A Story To Tell [VIOLET LP/CD] (Daptone/Redeye) • The worthy successors to the Daptone throne, Thee Sacred Souls are among the only New Soul (hate that term) bands to bring the Latin/West Coast smooth side of classic Soul back into the light. Josh Lane is a premiere lead singer with a brilliant range. "Lucid Girl" is their most Psychedelic (read: Curtis Mayfield) production yet, while "Live For You" is their Marvin Gaye tribute right down to the "I Want You"-style bass lines. "Waiting For The Right Time," at least throws back to what made their debut such a staple. However, as a band, "Right Time" is their showcase with Lane taking a bit of a support role. "Got A Story To Tell" is Thee Sacred Souls moving into the fertile ground of Soul in the Seventies while keeping that sweet East Side Story vision alive.
DRUG CHURCH - Prude [PURPLE LP/CD] (Pure Noise/ The Orchard) • While you weren't looking, Punk made quite the comeback. The Hardcore bands earned their stripes and added a bit of Nineties Alt. Rock thunder to stay Metal yet show the hooks that could get them on the radio. Yes, radio. Drug Church wants to make songs that are catchy first (the crushing Green Day-on-steroids grind of "Demolition Man") and true to HC second. So, Drug Church uses mighty tom beats and anthemic stances ("Chow") to stay both aggressive and ready to crank up ("Slide 2 Me.")
COLDPLAY - Moon Music [ZOETROPE LP/AUTOGRAPHED CD] (Parlophone) • For their second frame of success, Coldplay continues to make deep, meaningful Pop with Electronic leanings. "feelslikeimfallinginlove" is again dependent on that Max Martin hook (as well as Chris Martin's vocals,) while "WE PRAY" manages to bog down its all-star support from Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna, and TINI in a repetitive and false drama. Not bad for the most expensive record of all time (35 million pounds to produce.)
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR - No Title As of 13 February 2024, 28, 340 Dead [2LP/CD] (Constellation/Secretly/AMPED) • Here is the real drama. Godspeed celebrates its 30th year making music a haunting six-song series that capitalizes on their stock and trade (swelling strings, cymbal wash, and guitar swirl) while adding an undercurrent of tension that one might have heard in the debuts from Black Midi and Black Country, New Road. "Grey Rubble -Green Shoots" is an emotional, hand-wringing film score ready burst of raw beauty. As always, even their weird non-linear titles and composition cannot push their heartbreaking sense of melody down.
REISSUES OF THE WEEK
(FLASH EDITION)
WILCO - Summerteeth [BLUE/WHITE 2LP] (Nonesuch/ Rhino) • Denying the importance of any early Wilco album is to miss the point. At a time when No Depression/ Alt. Country/Americana types were not supposed to be making sparkling, densely recorded Guitar Pop - they did. Here is Wilco in their prime barely keeping it together but harnessing that tension for their most literate ("Via Chicago,") deep meaning-from-simplicity ("A Shot In The Arm,") Seventies-ready ("Candyfloss") yet new-millennium prepared ("Can't Stand It") music.
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - No.4/Shangri La Dee Da [COLOR LP] (Atlantic/Rhino) • Speaking of new millennium stylings, STP closed it out with a return to guitar crunch on 1999's "No.4." A different level of tension here (vocalist Scott Weiland back from time served) as this one is heavy and like a black & white movie ("Sour Girl" and "Down.") When it surprised everyone by being a hit, 2001's "Shangri La Dee La" turned the colors back on making more Psychedelic Glam Pop/Rock while still keeping it heavy ("Dumb Love.")
MINISTRY - Twitch/The Land of Rape and Honey [2 LP DLX] (Sire/Rhino) • After seeing themselves as SynthPoppers on the MTV hit "Revenge," Al Jourgensen took Ministry in a completely different direction. "Twitch" tries to erase their bleeping debut in favor of dark ranting and blistering samples. The singles they released actually make more use of the space (the classic "Everyday Is (Halloween)" from 1985) and the deluxe edition adds more. By 1988, Jourgensen emboldened by numerous Industrial/ Dance singles under a variety of names at Wax Trax unleashed Ministry's angriest yet in "Rape and Honey." With the torrent of samples, beats, guitars, bass, and drums, there was only room for Jourgensen's distorted barking/ sneering voice. This is the channeling of all the aggression from Industrial into music that could be just as powerful on the dancefloor as in the pit ("Stigmata.")
DOOBIE BROTHERS - Toulouse Street/What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits [CLEAR LP] (Rhino) • The Tom Johnston years of the Doobies were important. Here was a rock band willing to try Country, Folk, and even R&B. The two-drummer sound of 1972's "Toulouse Street" made them an AOR radio staple ("Jesus Is Just Alright," "Rockin' Down The Highway," and their first major hit "Listen To The Music.") When its followup (1973's "The Captain and Me") went even broader introducing synths and Blues into the mix, 1974's "Vices" came back to center with the dominant sounds of the day: Southern Rock ("Black Water") and Country/Rock ("Another Park, Another Sunday" - whose B-side "Black Water" became their first #1 thanks to listeners.)
MORPHINE - Cure For Pain [LP] (Rhino) • In the go-go-go Nineties, if you had a cool sound and a cool video - you could find an audience. The low-slung two-string bass of Mark Sandman combined with the saxophone wail of Dana Colley was like no other music on the radio. Add drummers Jerome Duepree and Billy Conway, record it like a Jazz album from the Sixties, and you get enough musical smoke to thrill everyone from Meadow Soprano to Beavis & Butthead. Thirty years later, "Cure For Pain" is still underrated and has very few works in its wake to draw comparison with. If "Buena" blasted out of your playlist today, we guarantee - you will make new friends.
SISTERS OF MERCY - Slight Case of Overbombing [MAROON 2LP] (Merciful Release/Rhino) • After "First and Last and Always" or side one of "Floodland" (coming back to wax October 18th,) your best first dose of Doomy Glam Rockers (don't say Goth) Sisters of Mercy is this collection of singles. "Vision Thing" and "Doctor Jeep" have not aged well - despite actually being hits on US Modern Rock radio. However, "Lucretia" and the stellar operatic overdrive of "This Corrosion" are staples, as is the 1992 remix of their classic early single "Temple of Love."
