Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#702 in the Series) is Willie Nelson, Heroes I know what you’re thinking. The world needs another Willie Nelson album about as much as they need another repackaging of The Knack Greatest Hits.  The “All Music” site alone lists 85 albums by the “Red Headed Stranger,” and in the 50 years since his first release in 1962 it was only twice, once in 1964 and then again in 1991, where some sort of a Willie Nelson recording was not released in a calendar year. Of course, with the type of fertile productivity that would make the “octo-mom” blush, there are bound to be a few miss-hits along the way.  The idea of...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#662 in the Series) is Steve Earle, Townes The year was 1971 and singer songwriter Joe Ely, Texas National Treasure, and once considered to be the musical heir apparent to fellow Lubbock resident Buddy Holly, was driving on the outskirts of town when he spotted on the horizon a straggly Howard Hughes looking dude, wearing a back pack, wandering on the shoulder of the main road leading into the city. Ely pulled over and offered the travelling stranger a ride to the other side of town.  As a kind gesture to thank him, the stranger reached into the back pack, pulled out one of the fifteen albums that resided there, no clothes...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#632 in the Series) is Levon Helm, Dirt Farmer. (Vanguard Records) Every year since the early 80’s I’ve come up with my own Album of the Year. This won easily as my Album of Year in 2008.  (It was actually released late in late 2007, I know! You’ll understand soon.) We all know Levon Helm as drummer, picker and lead vocalist of The Band.  If you’re a fan of The Band, or just Americana music in general, you must add Dirt Farmer to your collection. It was strange.  I actually had this album for quite some time before I really got into it.  I had it, gave it a quick spin when...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#602 in the Series) is The Little Willies, For the Good Times (Milking Bull) Those of you that have been Norah Jonesing for an encore to The Little Willies and their eponymous album that featured fun eclectic versions of classic country songs like “ I Gotta Get Drunk”  and “Nightlife” alongside the  masterpiece “Streets of Baltimore”, and a rousing original song that sings the praises of Lou Reed called, appropriately enough, “Lou Reed”,  need wait no more. This time around For The Good Times, the second release for the band that consists of Lee Alexander on bass, Jim Campilongo and Richard Julian on guitar, Dan Reiser on drums, and the incomparable Norah...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#592 in the Series) is Waylon Jennings, Honky Tonk Heroes The time was late summer 1972 and the somewhat grassroots movement that was to become known as “Outlaw Country” and was rooted in the anti-hero cowboy and celebrated rugged individualism vs. Brylcreem wearing, skinny tie sporting, image conscious country crooning,  was still in its embryonic stages  and had not yet galloped into public awareness. The place was Dripping Springs, Texas in a field that had been recently outfitted with a stage along with the accompanying infrastructure to put on what was to become an annual event, Willie Nelson’s Summer Picnic. On the bill that day were soon to be country icons Willie...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#588in the Series) is The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume II. Will The Circle Be Unbroken Vol II is, obviously, the follow up to the 1971 album. If you’re not familiar with the two, they were a pair of albums released by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band that featured a roomful of guest stars. The original album gave us names like Roy Acuff, Merle Travis, Vassar Clements etc. Volume II continued the tradition. Some wonderful names are on this release. Here we find, Johnny Cash, Sam Bush, Bruce Hornsby, EmmyLou Harris, Levon Helm, John Denver (Before he made a big splash), John Hiatt, John Prine, Rosanne Cash, Randy Scruggs, Roger...

Today’s Cool Album of the day (#144 in the Series) is the self titled album by, The Notorious Cherry Bombs. OK, who knows who these guys are? I’ll explain.

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#567 in the Series) is Lydia Loveless, Indestructible Machine – NEW MUSIC REVIEW (Bloodshot Records) The first thing that hits you between the eyes when you look at the CD cover from the new release by Lydia Loveless, Indestructible Machine, is a mostly black and white female Huck Finn anti Norman Rockwell looking drawing of Lydia swigging from a gas can.   The second thing you see when you turn the cover over is a picture of the diminutive songstress smoking a cigarette next to two empty bottles and a well-played guitar. If by taking these two images into your own internal data base your resulting output delivers an alt-country version of country...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#547 in the Series) is Robert Ellis, Photographs. (New West Records) The name Robert Ellis is new to me and all I know about him is that he’s 22 years old, hails from Houston Texas and made quite a reputation for himself at “Whiskey Wednesdays” in a place called Fitzgerald’s. Oh, and he’s just made a totally brilliant album! Now some albums have you hooked from the first few listens whereas others take time to grow on you, working their charms at a nice sedate pace. This one manages to pull off the unique trick of doing both. He’s done that by making a record that has the feel of a defiantly...

  Today’s Cool Live album of the Day (#544 in the Series and #57 in the Live Saturday Night Series) is Gram Parsons & the Fallen Angels, Live ‘73 (Sierra Records) Today we look at this special album by this special artist on a special day, for today, Gram Parsons would have been 65 years of age.  I look at it as a bittersweet day, for as I celebrate his birthday I cannot help but wonder what would have been.  What kind of music would Gram have been producing if those that were troubled and in need of help back in the early 70s could have received the help that they do today.  Not that we have all the...