March 18, 2009
Return of the Podcast: Joe Ely's Chris Gaffney Tribute
Posted by Larry Karnowski at March 18, 2009 7:00 AMTo celebrate our trip to SXSW this week, please welcome the triumphant return of the Hickory Wind Song of the Week podcast! This week we're featuring Joe Ely's version of Chris Gaffney's "Lift Your Leg" from the forthcoming The Man of Somebody's Dreams, Yep-Roc's tribute to Chris Gaffney coming out in May.
"Lift Your Leg" kicks off the album with a driving honky-tonk beat and a one-two punch of electric guitar then crazy-good steel guitar. Pepper in a little "south of the border" accordion and simmer for a couple of minutes... mmm... what an aroma!
Man of Somebody's Dreams reads like a veritable who's-who of Americana singer-songwriters and super-bands -- Joe Ely, Los Lobos, Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Tom Russell, Calexico, James McMurtry, Freddy Fender, the Iguanas, Alejandro, Robbie Fulks, Los Straightjackets, and on and on.
The best three songs are definitely "Lift Your Leg" by Ely and "Fight (Tonight's The Night)" by James McMurtry -- both barn-stormers, and "Frank's Tavern" by Calexico. This latter song is a slow, two-step number... the most beautiful country slow song I've heard in a long, long while. I need to pick up some more Calexico. (And some Hacienda Brothers, it seems...)
Enjoy! See y'all in Austin!
Drat! It seems that if you let your software sit for almost two years, it can sometimes get busted. The auto-download podcast link isn't working right now. It'll have to wait until I get back from SXSW. For now, though, you can listen to the song directly from this page. (Sorry!)
Posted by: larry at March 18, 2009 7:47 AM
