Michael Elliott's Blog, page 15

New John Hiatt & Jerry Douglas Documentary To Premiere At Nashville Film Fest

Film focuses on the recording of their acclaimed new album at RCA’s legendary Studio B.

The first collaboration between John Hiatt and Jerry Douglas, Leftover Feelings, was released in the spring of 2021. Beginning September 30, footage from that four-day session will be released as a documentary during the Nashville Film Festival. Written and directed by Lagan Sebert & Ted Roach with Ken Levitan, Brian Penix, and Jack Rovner acting as executive producers, the doc features interviews with such legends as Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, Rodney Crowell, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna.

Viewers can watch the film online from September 30th through October 6th, or they can choose to see it on the big screen on Monday October 4th at 7:00 PM at Belmont University in the Large Theater.

Click here for more information on how to view the documentary, tickets, and showtimes.

John Hiatt: The Middle Years

Wishing John Hiatt a happy 69th birthday as we also celebrate less than a month before the publication of Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story (September 14th). Here’s the second official biography playlist, focusing on John’s move back to Nashville and beginning with his landmark album, Bring the Family.

Covering the years 1987-1998, these tracks find John Hiatt helping to invent Adult Alternative radio format, and what eventually became known as Americana. Stay tuned - more playlists covering each phase of his lengthy, varied career are coming soon, as is the book, of course!

John Hiatt’s Early Years

As we get closer to the publication date for Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story (September 14th, in case you’d forgotten), here’s a sampling of John’s years before his landmark album, Bring the Family, changed everything for him and for a generation of artists that now call Americana home.

Covering just over a decade, 1974-1985, these tracks show John Hiatt’s development from quirky folkie to punk/new waver to roots rocker garnished with a heavy dose of ‘80s production sheen. Stay tuned - more playlists covering each phase of his lengthy, varied career is coming soon, as is the book, of course!

I Want My MTV

MTV debuted 40 years ago this week. I saw it happen, and it helped shape the culture of my generation.

I saw it happen when it happened. Mainly because I was a Gen-Xer and was glued to the television, unsupervised. It kept me quiet and occupied. We had cable. I was ten years old. We already had HBO. I remember the first HBO Guide we had had a picture of John Travolta giving his now-iconic finger-pointing pose from Saturday Night Fever on the cover. I watched my first R-rated movie around that time: Animal House. I saw it with dad, so it was ok. That’s the way it was back then. I think I was 10.

I know I was 10 when MTV debuted, four months shy of my 11th birthday. I’d already become obsessive about music by the time MTV came along, and watching music on television was nothing new. I distinctly remember seeing Kiss Meets the Phantom and many installments of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert (brought to you locally by Woofer and Tweeter). I remember Kirshner’s wide-collared shirts and whiny voice as he introduced some truly kick-ass acts. I was transfixed.

There was also American Top 10 with Casey Kasem where I was first exposed to the world of music videos months before the debut of Music Television. It’s where I first saw Rush, Foreigner (whose album, 4, seemed to be the biggest thing in the world for much of 1981 and ‘82), and many others.

But on August 1st, 1981, here came an entire channel that focused on nothing but music. I was hooked from the start.

Interestingly, I didn’t find myself discovering new bands on MTV as much as I was anticipating the coverage of bands I already loved. Still, I got to see live concerts of everyone from bands I already dug, like AC/DC, to artists I would grow to love, like Frank Zappa. My tastes were always aimed toward rock’n’roll, so it was like Christmas whenever a new band would appear that reflected that taste, from R.E.M. and the Georgia Satellites to, later, the Black Crowes.

Of course, I had to sit through those damn Duran Duran fellas, and the endless array of pop sheen that paraded through, including Madonna et al; artists seemingly tailor-made for the video channel. Yes, the music most times took a back seat to the visuals, a mojor concern from the baby boomers and the radio jocks back then (one of which I became). But I did fall for Prince from the very beginning.

Even the guy I discovered from listening to WQDR playing “Spirit In the Night,” “Growin’ Up,” and “Born to Run,” ended up becoming a video star, too.

Then Michael Jackson appeared after MTV got in hot water for not playing Black artists (most famously called out by David Bowie, seen below chastising a bumbling Mark Goodman) and Thriller became the biggest album in the world.

Later, I went through a metal phase and MTV’s Headbangers’ Ball became required viewing every weekend with my pals.

What started as badass concert footage of bands like Motorhead and Iron Maiden unfortunately turned into the bubblegum pop metal of Poison and bands with names like Trixter. Still, I watched it all, and learned to tolerate and, yes, even really enjoy some of it. (Cinderella was a pretty good blues-rock band if you forgot all about the existence of all the other blues-rock bands that came before them, for example.)

The local college station at NC State University, WKNC, aired an all-metal show called Chainsaw Rock that was a perfect supplement to HBB. In that respect, their show, Night Wave, was complimented on MTV by 120 Minutes. That’s where I was first exposed to everyone from The Cure to Sonic Youth and XTC.

It’s a pointless cliche to gripe about how MTV no longer plays music; they’ve been non-music television now longer than they were music television. Still, they were at the forefront of the culture for the entire decade of the ‘80s, and let’s not forget their fantastic Unplugged series. Everyone from Eric Clapton to Lauryn Hill to Nirvana had defining moments on that stage.

As the years went by I found myself gravitating toward the more boomer-friendly MTV off-shoot, VH1, where artists that I adored including Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat, found a home on their playlists before the onset of Adult Alternative Radio.

Even though they’re not even a shell of their former selves now, airing nothing but block programming of the horrible Ridiculousness and even worse, 16 and Pregnant, MTV’s legacy is still intact for maybe not killing the radio star, but giving them a fresh platform on which to show off what they had - some, like Whitesnake, benefitted greatly, thanks in no small part to the late, great Tawny Kitaen and her peerless Jag dance.

So Happy 40th, MTV. You’ve aged like most of us middle-aged folks: you’re not what you used to be, maybe not as sharp, but you’re still around and still being talked about, which is all one can hope for.

R.I.P., Dusty Hill

Billy F. Gibbons may have been the mouthpiece, the cool daddy-o, the guiding vision of ZZ Top, but his right-hand man for more than 50 years - the man who literally stood to his right night after night - and kept the boom in the room while riding atop Gibbons’s low growl with a high lonesome holler, was the bassman Dusty Hill.

Of course, along with Frank Beard behind the kit, Gibbons and Hill would take the best - and weirdest - part of Texas with them all over the world for a half century. Their sound may have been dressed up at times and may have had some tweaking to fit in with - or sometimes anticipate - current trends, for better (Eliminator) or worse (Recycler), but ultimately it remained the same three-chord down-and-dirty rockin’ blues they started with. If Texas BBQ was a sound, it’d be ZZ Top.

Dusty offered the perfect counterpoint to Billy’s John Lee Hooker-meets-Howlin’ Wolf infatuations. Hill hollered and squawled, shouting like a backwoods preacher converted to singing the gospel of soul, blues, and even a little touch of bluegrass yelp. And that bass! In a trio, there’s no place to hide, you’ve got to fill the space, or know when to let it breathe, and Dusty knew where - and where not - to land in the mix.

(For further reading, here’s a piece I wrote for Albumism on the 45th anniversary of Fandango )

Here’s to one-third of the baddest, bluesiest rock’n’roll band to ever hail from the Lone Star state. Let’s celebrate Dusty Hill with some of his best moments on record. Some feature his vocals, some are just badass bass parts. Many are both, of course.

New & Notable

New Tracks Worth A Listen. That’s All

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - “Thirteen Days”

From the “reimagining” of the She’s The One soundtrack from 1996 (resequenced and retitled Angel Dream and now rebranded as a proper studio album), “Thirteen Days” is a ferocious cover of a JJ Cale song that originally opened Cale’s 1979 album, 5. On the Heartbreakers’ version, Petty makes us wish he would’ve covered the Okie (and his onetime fellow Shelter labelmate) more often than he did. (Though he did contribute to Eric Clapton’s posthumous tribute album to Cale in 2014 and this song had been a live staple in TP shows dating back decades.)

Tony Joe White - “Bubba Jones”

Found on his Dan Auerbach-produced posthumously-released album, Smoke From the Chimney, “Bubba Jones” harkens back to White’s best late ‘60s and early ‘70s material for Monument, in particular of the “Roosevelt and Ira Lee” story-song camp. The track drips with Tony Joe’s swamp sensibilities and even through you know it’s not White’s guitar on the solo (that’s relative newcomer, soul-filled axeman Marcus King instead), it doesn’t distract from the story or - more importantly - its telling. If you’re not smiling throughout and laughing at the end, then I can’t help you.

The Wallflowers - “Maybe Your Heart’s Not In It No More”

Jakob Dylan returns with his ever-evolving band of Wallflowers with a magnificent new album, which kicks off with this deeply melodically soulful track, featuring backing vocals by the incomparable Shelby Lynne (who also sits in on three other songs on Exit Wounds, the Wallflowers’ first album in close to a decade). Saying I didn’t know I missed them until they returned is the musical understatement of the year.

Shannon McNally - “Black Rose”

We lost the great Billy Joe Shaver recently. This is a tribute to both him and Hoss that would make both of ‘em give a big ol’ Texas grin. From McNally’s fierce new album The Waylon Sessions. Listen with your hind parts. Shannon gets it.

Robert Finley - “Make Me Feel Alright”

With a backstory that’s the stuff of books and movies (seriously, look him up), and with the help of North Carolina-based Music Maker Foundation, then Bruce Watson of Big Legal Mess, and finally, Dan Auerbach, Robert Finley has paid his dues and is deserving of all the praise he’s finally receiving. Here’s an example of why…

Allison Russell - “All Of The Women”

An outstanding track on a fantastic album (the acclaimed Outside Child), “All Of The Women” is the type of song that stops you in your tracks and forces you to listen. With Russell’s commanding vocal, you’re powerless to do anything else but listen. And we must listen.

HIss Golden Messenger - “Sanctuary”

Ok, I’ll admit I was late to the M.C. Taylor party. I know, he’s a fellow Tar Heel; I know, musically, he scratches that mellow soul itch I get quite often; I really have no excuse. Maybe it was the unnecessary second “S” in HIss? Maybe I didn’t get the pun? Maybe I still don’t? Either way, his last two albums have made me a fan. Big time. This is from his new one, Quietly Blowing It. Dig.

Phil Wolff & Monty Warren - “Caravan”

Slapback Backslap, their follow-up to their first collaboration, Two Badasses, sees Wolff and Warren deepening their musical ties, and becoming more adventurous in the process. Unlike most protest songs, “Caravan” isn’t pious, it merely tells a story, with a powerful twist that makes you want to hear it again. A true test of a great song.

The Georgia Thunderbolts - “Looking For An Old Friend”

While so many of today’s artists try to recapture the “southern rock” or “outlaw” thing, this track just bleeds Capricorn circa 1976. ‘Nuff said. Turn it up.

Aaron Lee Tasjan - “Don’t Overthink It”

Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is so damn good, I implore you to stop reading this, go buy it, and come back and pick up where you left off. I’ll wait. Done? What? You haven’t left yet? Ok, well, check this out and then go. You’re welcome.

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - “Sad But True”

Turning a bludgeoning Metallica track into a North Mississippi rave-up a la Junior Kimbrough during a wild night at his juke joint? You damn skippy.

Now, go forth and jam.

Hiatt Featured In New Book Celebrating 50 Years Of The Exit/In

John Hiatt spent his all-important first few years in Nashville playing many nights at this one-of-a-kind legendary venue. He played there the year it opened, shortly after he settled in Music City.

Foreword by the first performer ever at the Exit/In, Jimmy Buffett.

Read more about it, of course, in Have A Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story on September 14, 2021. Pre-order info here.

More info on Exit/In: 50 Years here.

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Bob Dylan at 80

Celebrating the Minnesota Bard As He Begins His Octogenarian Phase.

Photo: Xavier Badosa

Bob Dylan spent the year before turning 80 releasing his first album of original material in eight years, Rough and Rowdy Ways - a double album at that, which closed with the nearly 17-minute, “Murder Most Foul.” A modern epic that begins at the assassination of JFK but sticks around to give us a state of the union address since the boomers took over. Finally, an “American Pie” from the Jester’s point of view.

Let’s be honest. There’s nothing I can write here that would add anything to what’s already been, or being, said about one of the greatest artists of all time, so I’ll just let the music and his songwriting do the talking. Here are 80 of my favorite Dylan tunes for his 80th birthday. The fact that I had a hard time whittling this playlist down to a mere 80 should tell you all you need to know about his impact.

Feel free to argue over the choices in the comments. Happy Bobday!

Goin’ Down South

The Black Keys return to their roots on Delta Kream

In the early to mid-nineties, I, like many others, fell under the spell of Fat Possum Records, the little-label-that-could based out of Oxford, Mississippi and whose slogan was, “We’re trying our best.” They exposed me to the likes of T Model Ford, RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, the Jelly Roll Kings, and others.

My dad with T-Model Ford, somewhere in the ‘90s at the Berkeley Cafe in Raleigh, NC.

It was the perfect time for me to listen because much of the 1990s were a dark time musically. Grunge, post-grunge, alt-rock, even alt.country initially didn’t really ring my bells. None of it grabbed my soul. I’ve always loved the blues, but even some of my long-time favorites by the mid-nineties were putting out all-star ego-fests instead of letting their mojo work (*cough-Buddy Guy-cough-cough). So when I first saw Robert Mugge’s documentary Deep Blues (inspired by the classic book by journalist Robert Palmer, who also acts as the film’s guide), I realized that most of the soul in the blues had never really left its Mississippi birthplace after all - it had just settled in the Hill Country.

Apparently, up in Akron, Ohio, The Black Keys were listening around the same time I was, or maybe a little later. What matters is, they caught the bug and had the means and the talent to expose many, many people to the real deal. Like the Stones decades before who brought Howlin’ Wolf onto a very British, very white television show to educate the masses, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney is unleashing the John the Conqueror Root onto mainstream audiences, and I’m all here for it.

Their latest, Delta Kream, returns them to what made them want to play music to begin with: those long, droning, trance-like blues that ooze sex and steam. Listening to it made me reach back to those Fat Possum albums of the ‘90s, as well as the other labels who helped bring the sound of pure juke joint sweat out into the daylight for the whole world to smell.

So here’s a sampling of some of my favorites from back then and beyond as a sort of supplement for Delta Kream.

Now head down south with “a ass pocket of whiskey” and get funky.

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Willie Turns 88

Celebrating the unparalleled life and career of Willie Nelson on his 88th birthday.

Shotgun Willie, 1973, Atlantic Records.

There’s only one Willie. There’s also not much one can say about him that hasn’t been said before. But I gave it a try a few years ago with a piece I wrote for The Bitter Southerner. It was an ode to Willie, Elvis Presley, and Robert Johnson - three of my biggest musical influences and heroes. You can read the piece below.

Also, check out my review in No Depression of one of Willie’s many fantastic latter-day albums.

And finally, there’s no way to summarize a career as vast as Willie Nelson’s in just a quick playlist, but I thought I’d try to narrow it down to 30 of my all-time favorites.

So join me in celebrating a true American icon, and someone who’s truly one of a kind.

Happy birthday, Willie - and here’s to many, many more. We need you now more than ever.

Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

In Honor of Willie’s 88th, revisit my piece about him, Elvis, and Robert Johnson for The Bitter Southerner, Two Kings and a Texan.

On ‘Ride Me Back Home,’ Willie Nelson Shows No Sign of Hanging Up His Saddle

Read more in No Depression.

And finally, just 30 of my favorite Willie songs. My favorites this week anyway…