Kudzu Guillotine wrote:Never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine that NC band Sidewinder would ever receive a shout out in a song. However, if it's going to happen, I can think of no more appropriate place for them to appear than in one by Drive-By Truckers. Yet another page ripped from my youth showing up in a Truckers song. They were all over the place back in the 80's, if not sometimes headlining at one of the local clubs I frequented but also appearing at festivals, and as an opening act. They're often referred to as a cover band but they did have one album of mostly original material, Fade to Black that was released in 1985. They also made it to the finals on Star Search but were beat out by Sawyer Brown. For that bid for stardom, they largely abandoned their signature hard rock/metal sound for a more pop one. Though it was not the lineup Patterson refers to in "Welcome 2 Club XIII," at one time, Sidewinder counted among their members Audley Freed and Robert Kearns who have been members (together and individually) of Cry of Love, the Black Crowes, the Bottle Rockets, Trigger Hippy, Peter Frampton's band, and the Chicks. Last I checked, they were both members of Sheryl Crow's touring band. As mentioned elsewhere on the board, at one time either the band/or members of their legal team came after the Sidewinders from Arizona leading to a couple years of legal entanglements that stopped them in their tracks. They re-emerged as Sand Rubies but never regained their momentum. In recent years they've done a few Sidewinders reunion shows.
I also welcome the change in direction of the new album. I have nothing whatsoever against the Truckers' views and tend to agree with them nearly 100% of the time but considering the harsh environment surrounding the previous Presidency (if it can be called that) was already negatively impacting my emotional state, most of The Unraveling only served as a grim reminder. From what I remember reading, because of that, they even wondered if they should put it out into the world.
Well said Kudzu. I mostly agree with the band politically (well, we share a similar disdain of right wing politicians anyhow), but over the last few years the constant political bickering permeating all aspects of life has been detrimental not just for myself, but probably all of us.
I suspect (maybe Patterson will weigh in) the band got to the same point and was ready to move on. If you haven’t figured out where DBT stands by now, you’re hopeless.
Could use more Cooley. I wonder if he's in a drought again.
I think it may be more like a John Prine/Guy Clark situation where he serves no song before its time. I don't recall him ever being particularly prolific. I believe English Oceans is the only album where there was anything close to an even split between him and Patterson.
Could use more Cooley. I wonder if he's in a drought again.
I think it may be more like a John Prine/Guy Clark situation where he serves no song before its time. I don't recall him ever being particularly prolific. I believe English Oceans is the only album where there was anything close to an even split between him and Patterson.
And American Band.
I think Cooley's MO is pretty clear by now. He works slowly even when he's not burdened by some kind of block or drought. One reason fans want more of Cooley is that his songs are so good. One reason his songs are so good is that he takes his time and as KG says releases no song until he thinks it's ready. Patterson writes and records many more songs. Without trying to count, he probably has at least as many great songs as Cooley; Patterson also has a bunch that are various levels of good but not great (and a couple of clunkers). If Cooley wrote more songs chances his ratio would be something like Patterson's.
The fact that both of these guys are writing, playing, singing and recording so well 25 years into this project and well over 30 years since they started playing music professionally is a small miracle just the way it is.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
This is all fair. And I know about his process compared to Patterson's, but it even feels better to get ... three or four on a 12-song record than it does two on nine.
The fact that both of these guys are writing, playing, singing and recording so well 25 years into this project and well over 30 years since they started playing music professionally is a small miracle just the way it is.
I was thinking similar thoughts today. There's not a lot of bands out there that make it to 14 studio albums---and a few of those standalone albums are as good as many bands' greatest hits collections.
I'm fine with Cooley having only two songs on a record considering the quality of Slow Ride Argument and Grievance Merchants. Cooley is a poet and Hood is a story teller---I think their different writing styles is part of why they mesh together so well. They're both great writers, and I can appreciate that Cooley's process takes longer----he weighs every word.
After more listens to the single since my earlier post, song Club XIII has grown on me. It'll never be among my favorite Hood songs, but I appreciate it for what it is---he didn't set out to write a masterpiece---just a fun song that's a snapshot of where they were at the time.
Here's the lyrics to The Driver as posted by Patterson himself yesterday on FB
The Driver
Used to go out driving, sometimes late into the night
Twenty-one, fucking round and wasting gas
Across the bridge to Sheffield then out into Tuscumbia
Where the main street’s a time-trip to the past
Behind the Hotel Grant there was a flaming dumpster
I saw a group of klansmen in their robes
I circled back but they had vanished like rats
Leaving nothing behind them but some smoke
If you’d like to tell your story, by all means go tell your story
But don’t forget that you only have one side
So parlay your Innervisions with the usual suspicions
As you make your grand approach to the divide
And when you’re changing lanes and passing on the right
Check your blind spot and signal your intents
I saw that Honda full of girls go airborne into the trees
In the pouring rain on interstate ten
They were flying… They were flying… They were flying…
Used to go out driving, sometimes late into the night
Trying to make sense of the pieces of my life
Still young enough to not know how the puzzle fits together
“Nothing to fall back on but a knife” *
The bombed out looking factories on the east side of town
Blasting “Here Comes a Regular” on ten
An epiphany, a moment of clarity
Driving all alone at 4AM
Driving… Driving… Driving…
In a van full of stink, we set out upon the plains
to the black hills and Rockies and Cascades
We had never been out west, at least not further out than Texas
As our lives spread out before us like a page
An unwritten novel, our Huck Finn adventure
come to life, we were living in real time
That rare day when we just turned the music off
And let the wide open vistas fill our minds
We were already older, yet much younger than today
Pushing hard against the limits we’d arise
Ever westward, we saw sunglass reflections
Of a setting sun in vast Montana skies
Driving… Driving… Flying…
And there’s the alternate reality where everything was different
Than the world of happy endings we endure
A moments distraction, an alarm clock powered down
A blindspot not checked before a turn
That Grand Prix we saw head-on, on our way to see Replacements
When I hydroplaned but caught the road in time
That guy on I-10 driving east as we were west-bound
In Florida, 2000, April-Nine
That ten degree decline headed down Teton Pass
Cooley driving, snow on solid ice
That meteor that fell beside our bus in Idaho
As we drove on past a near flaming demise
As we drove on past a near flaming demise
As we drove on past a near flaming demise
(c) Patterson Hood - March 1 & 2, 2021, Portland Oregon (HeathenRoom)
True stories and alternate realities.
* inspired by a line from “Down the Dream” by Maggie Roche
“The Driver” kind of bowled me over last weekend. I can never remember if I got into the band in ‘08 or ‘10, but I don’t remember a new song (since discovering SRO, DD, and Dirty South) blowing me away like The Driver.
A Virginia buddy of mine and I used to ride around late at night…he called it “possum hunting,” and this song immediately conjure up possum hunting memories for me. Ironically the same friend and I saw DBT together for the first time in Charlottesville!
I acknowledge this has been said 1000 times, but how Hood/Cooley can crank out shit like this as far into their careers as they are is beyond me…
The lyrics read like psychedelic, Southern poetry. If Edgar Allen Poe had access to motor vehicles and lsd….
Because sometime copious amounts of alcohol and opium ain’t enough?!?
“The Driver” for me has subtle political references. Not to say that’s bad, as I agree with all they’ve ever said. It’s just a clear move for a more toned down approach from the more straight forward political commentary of the last three albums.
Feels like "The Distance" would have been a great fit if it hadn't been needed to fill out The New OK. Oh well. It is interesting to see DBT examining their own history and legacy on some of these songs, which is only natural 26 years in.
Also, I will just note the connection between "The Driver" and "Hell No, I Ain't Happy." Whatever happened that day on Florida's Interstate 10 made quite an impression on Patterson.
All it takes is one wicked heart, a pile of money, and a chain of folks just doing their jobs
I don’t recall the band ever really taking steps to keep live recordings of new songs off the internet, but that appears to be happening with this record. The Team Dirty South Homecoming recordings specifically exclude the new songs, and the SLC recording has gone missing.
Obviously it’s their prerogative to do whatever they’d like in this regard, but it does seem to be a change in MO from what we’ve grown accustomed to.
All it takes is one wicked heart, a pile of money, and a chain of folks just doing their jobs
I don’t recall the band ever really taking steps to keep live recordings of new songs off the internet, but that appears to be happening with this record. The Team Dirty South Homecoming recordings specifically exclude the new songs, and the SLC recording has gone missing.
Obviously it’s their prerogative to do whatever they’d like in this regard, but it does seem to be a change in MO from what we’ve grown accustomed to.
This isn't totally new. Patterson asked that Heat Lightning material not be posted before the release, and it wasn't. I expect we'll see these back up sooner than later.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be
I don’t recall the band ever really taking steps to keep live recordings of new songs off the internet, but that appears to be happening with this record. The Team Dirty South Homecoming recordings specifically exclude the new songs, and the SLC recording has gone missing.
Obviously it’s their prerogative to do whatever they’d like in this regard, but it does seem to be a change in MO from what we’ve grown accustomed to.
It's really funny sometimes how this band sometimes pretends that it's audience isn't totally niche. That and it's 2022 and I can absolutely guarantee you online bootleg recordings of a new song will not help or hurt sales of a DBT record.
Did not see this coming that "Every Single Storied Flameout" was about Cooley's 16 year old son. Just shows as fans we will never be able to get inside of Cooley's head and what he's thinking
Did not see this coming that "Every Single Storied Flameout" was about Cooley's 16 year old son. Just shows as fans we will never be able to get inside of Cooley's head and what he's thinking
BTW, the "less political" nature of the album has been clear for some time and when Patterson first described it that way (perhaps in an interview, possibly in one of his house concerts?) it generated virtually no controversy. My sense of the pulse (totally unscientific) is that fans are ready for something else, whether as a "breather" or as a new/old direction for the band.
I’m personally in the “breather” camp, at least as far as overtly political songs go (i.e. something mentioning Trump or a specific current event directly). However, I will take as many songs about class struggle as I can get.
Absolutely! I’m firmly in this camp. I don’t have to agree with the message of political songs to like them as songs. But to me, political music is like political comedy, if you’re going to do it then it had better be among the best stuff you’ve done because a little goes a long way. Especially these days. I am really excited about the new album and it is really nice to feel that way. I was left pretty cold by the last two as I just don’t enjoy those songs aside from a couple and the political thing had just been ridden into the ground and I was way beyond tired of it. As somebody said I was sick of songs that made me feel worse. I was about ready to call it a day with this band as far as new music. I have t listened to The Unraveling in so long I could t remember the title the other day and The New Ok does even less for me. This new one has me fired up again and it’s good to feel that way.
Listening to the new stuff in my truck this afternoon just reaffirms my excitement about these songs.
Club XIII might not be a mind blowing song but does everything have to be? Not in my mind. It’s a fun song that puts a smile on my face and I wasn’t sure they still had any interest in these kinds of songs. I’m glad they do.
The Driver is the best song Patterson has written in a long, long time. I mean maybe going back as far as the Brighter Than Creation’s Dark days. Something about the verses has a Three Great Alabama Icons quality to me and anything that evokes that side of the band is great with me.
I mean maybe going back as far as the Brighter Than Creation’s Dark days.
It's a matter of personal taste and opinion but boy that passes over some heavyweight stuff, e.g. Grand Canyon, Pauline Hawkins, Mercy Buckets, Used to be a Cop, etc. Always interesting to have these conversations about how the songs and albums stack up "against" each other. Can't wait for this album to be released so we can all fully dive in.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
I mean maybe going back as far as the Brighter Than Creation’s Dark days.
It's a matter of personal taste and opinion but boy that passes over some heavyweight stuff, e.g. Grand Canyon, Pauline Hawkins, Mercy Buckets, Used to be a Cop, etc. Always interesting to have these conversations about how the songs and albums stack up "against" each other. Can't wait for this album to be released so we can all fully dive in.
Ha! Good catch. I know it is political but I guess it’s just common sense to me. I mean to me saying it’s wrong to treat somebody bad based on race is just common sense. But I’m busted I guess .
Yeah I don’t know what it is. While I recognize there is some good, maybe great stuff there, Grand Canyon is always great live but I can’t say I love it on record, Used To Be A Cop is good, Pauline Hawkins is just ok to me and Mercy Buckets I can take or leave. Zip has often said that he felt like Heat Lightning changed Patterson’s writing a lot. I tend to agree. It’s not that it wasn’t good, it just changed and it seems like the new ones are more like what he used to do.
it seems like the new ones are more like what he used to do.
I hadn't thought about it that way, but yeah, based on the early returns I think that's a good observation.
But you can take or leave Mercy Buckets?! We're gonna have to have a serious chat about that one. I have the lyrics hanging on the wall in my house.
I look forward to it.. It’s not that the beauty of the lyrics are lost on me, I don’t know, listening to it the song has just never been among my favorites for whatever reason. But hey, I love Birthday Boy and TC has said several times that it does nothing for him. You can’t ever tell I guess.
Thank you <someone> for posting the lyrics to The Driver. This one is really starting to hit me in a good way.
I’m pretty close to Patterson and Cooley in terms of trips around the sun (I think). Maybe the way this is resonating with me is not at all what Patterson had in mind but here goes.
When I was younger (even five years ago), I never dwelled on the “what might happen” if I left two minutes early or late or chose one route over another. But now I do. And I didn’t expect to at this age. I thought my 50s would be pretty carefree but I worry about sh*t that I never worried about before, about “the alternate reality where everything was different” and how to keep avoiding it.
I haven’t wrapped myself in bubble wrap (not out of fear anyways) or retreated to a padded room or anything. Whenever I think I’m making a fear based decision, I remind myself that “living in fear is just another way of dying before your time” and get my ass back out there.
Question: When did the band make the transition from a van to a big tour bus? Seems that the perspective would be different on many levels and the driver might not necessarily be at the wheel.
I mean maybe going back as far as the Brighter Than Creation’s Dark days.
It's a matter of personal taste and opinion but boy that passes over some heavyweight stuff, e.g. Grand Canyon, Pauline Hawkins, Mercy Buckets, Used to be a Cop, etc. Always interesting to have these conversations about how the songs and albums stack up "against" each other. Can't wait for this album to be released so we can all fully dive in.
Grand Canyon and Mercy Buckets are to date my favorite two Patterson songs of all time. Not that a guy with such few posts matters in this discussion....but I'm just saying lol.
I mean maybe going back as far as the Brighter Than Creation’s Dark days.
It's a matter of personal taste and opinion but boy that passes over some heavyweight stuff, e.g. Grand Canyon, Pauline Hawkins, Mercy Buckets, Used to be a Cop, etc. Always interesting to have these conversations about how the songs and albums stack up "against" each other. Can't wait for this album to be released so we can all fully dive in.
Grand Canyon and Mercy Buckets are to date my favorite two Patterson songs of all time. Not that a guy with such few posts matters in this discussion....but I'm just saying lol.
You matter as much as I do, I can promise you that.
.
. It’s not that the beauty of the lyrics are lost on me, I don’t know, listening to it the song has just never been among my favorites for whatever reason. But hey, I love Birthday Boy and TC has said several times that it does nothing for him. You can’t ever tell I guess.