Kudzu Guillotine wrote:Surely, Rolling Stone should know better but this particular problem isn't unique to them, at least from what I've seen. Wasn't it Billboard who initially reported the story that got Matt Patton's name wrong? Having fact checking, spellchecking and outright grammatical errors happen so often is a clear indication that that sort of attention to detail has gone out the window in age of journalism on the internet. Hell, some of the same problems also plague print publications, especially since typewriters and proofreaders have been replaced by computers.
It's not like I didn't make mistakes in the old days, too, but when you're pulling smelly Compugraphic text rolling s l o w l y out of a big-ass machine and know you'll have to cut-and-paste last minute corrections while living in fear of rubber cement on the side of your hand, it kind of focuses you.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be
Lots of laziness in journalism these days. But there really is not much money in it anymore.
My main beef with RS is that they are not on top of the music scene at all. I don't think they covered Neff leaving and Matt Patton joining. They are a music magazine the way Playboy is a porno mag. Both magazines are "lifestyle" mags. One has photos of naked chicks the other has interviews with bands. The sad thing is that fifty years from now, when people are researching the history of rock, RS will be one of the few sources.
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts
I don't know of many music publications that have reported extensively on the various comings and goings of the members of the Truckers over the years, including Rolling Stone. I think fans, folks in the know, band members themselves, etc. posting such news via social media tends to take precedence when it comes to those kind of stories. Wasn't it a Neff post on FB that alerted Patterson to his departure? I don't exactly expect Rolling Stone or any music publication worth their salt to report on that (even though Rolling Stone has been known to devote a good bit of ink/electrons to the Truckers post-Southern Rock Opera). Maybe if it was a more high profile band. To that same end, wasn't it Booker T. that initially let the public know that Levon Helm may have been on his last legs via a Twitter post? That's how a lot of "news" (music related and otherwise) tends to break these days.
RevMatt wrote:Lots of laziness in journalism these days. But there really is not much money in it anymore.
My main beef with RS is that they are not on top of the music scene at all. I don't think they covered Neff leaving and Matt Patton joining. They are a music magazine the way Playboy is a porno mag. Both magazines are "lifestyle" mags. One has photos of naked chicks the other has interviews with bands. The sad thing is that fifty years from now, when people are researching the history of rock, RS will be one of the few sources.
There may have been a time when Rolling Stone was the de facto publication of record for rock music, but even back then I don't think they claimed to be complete. These days, they couldn't possibly claim to be complete and I didn't think anyone expected that of them. As long as there's an internet and storage, there won't be any shortage of sources on the history of rock post mid-90's.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
Patterson Hood: He had a really long writer's slump, a pretty brutal dry spell. Even the songs on the last two Truckers records, most of them were older songs he was forced to dig up and rework. Really, the only genuinely new song in a long time had been "Birthday Boy" [from The Big To-Do]. Which is a really good one, in my opinion. But I think he really beat himself up about it, which made it worse.
He came out of it in a big way. He came [into the studio] with all these songs. I kind of felt, deep down, like maybe we'd done him a disservice doing two records instead of one, at a time where he wasn't having a lot to bring in. I think that compounded his negative feelings about the situation.
cooley said something a few years ago to the effect of "we had to record every god damn thing we had ever written" .
Re "Made Up English Oceans" and EO as the title: "That particular phrase had to do with a couple of urban legends that floated around high schools here when I was in junior high that had to do with two English pop stars - and I’m not going to go there. It really has nothing to do with the rest of the album, and it’s kind of stupid, but it worked for an album title."
Somebody here nailed that. Wish I could remember who it was.
Good interview and I'm still trying to get used to Cooley being so up front and effusive.
Edit: Oh, I see the same quote caught TC's eye as well.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
Re "Made Up English Oceans" and EO as the title: "That particular phrase had to do with a couple of urban legends that floated around high schools here when I was in junior high that had to do with two English pop stars - and I’m not going to go there. It really has nothing to do with the rest of the album, and it’s kind of stupid, but it worked for an album title."
Somebody here nailed that. Wish I could remember who it was.
Good interview and I'm still trying to get used to Cooley being so up front and effusive.
Edit: Oh, I see the same quote caught TC's eye as well.
I knew what he was talking about immediately. (But The Hold Steady covered it first, in about 2006....)
Matt playing like an evil motherfucker w/ rhythm with a capital MPLAEMWR.
The writer of that piece seems to think the mom is the girl who's plain as a primer coat. Interesting. I wonder if he got that from Cooley or is just spitballing. I was growing partial to the interpretation (Beatownbubba's?) that the narrator wished the daughter were as plain as a primer coat.
The writer of that piece seems to think the mom is the girl who's plain as a primer coat. Interesting. I wonder if he got that from Cooley or is just spitballing. I was growing partial to the interpretation (Beatownbubba's?) that the narrator wished the daughter were as plain as a primer coat.
Nope that would be Cole Younger. Someone else also speculated in that direction but i forget who that was. Sorry about that.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
American artist Wes Freed has done pretty much all DBT’s album artworks, becoming almost responsible for creating the artistic aesthetic of the band. He is usually sent the record and then he starts painting, but this time it was a bit different as Hood and Cooley decided to use a pre-existing painting, done for one of Freed’s friends. Patterson explains: “The three daughters of this friend that lives in DC commissioned Wes this painting as an anniversary present for his wife. He showed it to me and I absolutely loved it, and while making the record I kept thinking about it as that was what I wanted the album cover to look like. I don’t know what it means, but it’s the perfect cover and I just like how it all works together, the cover, the lyrics, everything.”
So, could this be the answer to who those characters on the cover painting is meant to be?
“I remember he called the apartment. The first time I ever talked to him. Somebody had been calling and hanging up and I was getting pissed,” Cooley says. “The phone rang and I just picked up the phone and started screaming obscenities into it, and then he introduced himself to me over the phone. So that was how it started.”
Iowan wrote:The most surprising thing in that whole Grantland piece was Neff's comments about EZB being threatened by Shonna's songwriting. What?
That just doesn't add up to me.
I don't think it was so much threatened as much as it was dismayed... "You guys got rid of Jason, and now we're playing 'Home Field Advantage'? Jesus..."
This is a fantastic article. And exposure to a wide audience for our guys. Love it.
i love that Cooley opens it w/ a Melvins anecdote.
There are a lot of bands that have been grinding it out for a few decades but never made it big. Their stories are often similar. The recent Reverend Horton Heat concert documentary has a bunch of interview segments, and just about everything Jim Heath says about his career can be said about DBT , The Melvins, Dinosaur Jr. etc. etc.
And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever