3DD artist of the week - 5/10/2010 - Todd Snider
Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 8:30 am
Todd Snider
95 percent of Todd Snider concerts include the following greeting somewhere in the first 3 or 4 songs:
“My name is Todd Snider and I’ve been driving around this country for more than 20 years. I make this shit up and I sing it for anybody that’ll listen.
“Some of the songs are gonna be sad, some are gonna be funny, some are gonna be both, some are gonna be short, some are gonna seem like they go on forever and some nights still I like to go on for as many as 18 minutes in between the song.
“And I’ll tell you something else that I might have told you before but I told you before because I meant it before the same way I mean it now: my friends tell me that some of my songs get a little opinionated so I want to say before we go too far in the show that while I might share some of my opinions with you over the course of it I’m not gonna share them with you because I think that they’re smart or because I think that you need to know them. I’m going to share them with you because they rhyme.
“I did not come down here to change anybody’s mind about nothing, I came down here to ease my own mind about everything. “
Obviously influenced by singer-songwriters like John Prine, Billy Joe Shaver, Randy Newman, Kris Kristofferson, and Jerry Jeff Walker, Snider writes songs that include humor, self deprecation, odes to oddballs, old friends and acquaintances, social, political and pop culture commentary, and his own hippie philosophy. His sound can best be pegged as Americana. He’s not the best singer, but he’s also not bad. He’s not the best guitar picker, but he has improved markedly over the last 15 years. I would consider him a great songwriter and an exceptional lyricist. If he didn’t want to perform and write music, he could probably do some Hunter S. Thompson style journalism or stand up comedy. Snider’s personal journey began in Portland, Oregon and has included stops in California, Austin, Athens, Memphis, drug rehabilitation, poverty, and finally East Nashville. He has built a bit of a persona, that of a good natured, unprepared stoner.
One of Snider’s central themes in his songs involves social commentary. Perhaps the greatest example of this is his cult classic, “The Ballad of the Kingsmen”. The song begins with the story of a band from his hometown, The Kingsmen, and the FBI’s interest in the lyrics to “Louie, Louie”. From here the song discusses Marilyn Manson, Columbine, televising violence, our society’s push to succeed, along with religion’s effect on it all. And to this aging hippie, he makes it all make sense. Other social commentary songs to check out: Tension and Standing on A Corner.
Another of Snider’s central topics involves odes. ‘Play a Train Song’ is a moving tribute to East Nashville icon,Skip Litz ( http://www.myspace.com/helenback_again) To really get the full effect of this song, I suggest listening to his story (extremely long) on the fantastic Tales from Moondog Tavern bootleg set. http://atruersound.blogspot.com/2009/06/from-archives-todd-snider-tales-from.html
Another ode worth checking out is “D.B. Cooper”, the airline robber from the 1970s. His most recent album, included “America’s Favorite Pastime”, a humorous look at Doc Ellis and his alleged LSD influenced no-hitter.
Snider also excels when it comes to writing about his own struggles. His most recent album, “The Excitement Plan” includes a song called “Greencastle County Blues” which discusses his own arrest in Greencastle County, Indiana for marijuana possession and leaves him wondering, “How do you know when it’s too late to learn?”. Another one to check out his the wonderful “Tillamook County Jail”, “Can’t Complain”, and the less introspective, but more catchy “Alright Guy”.
My personal fandom regarding Todd Snider did not take off until I saw him live. I knew some of his hits, but when he starts telling his stories and rambling on for as many as eighteen minutes between songs, it all started to make sense to me, his philosophy, his sense of humor, his ability to be sarcastic without being mean, his painfully sad songs that can make you laugh. To a collection of stories and to capture a general feel for the show, check out the previously mentioned “Tales from Moondog’s Tavern”.
For people looking for albums, you are going to find some great songs on all of his albums, but his last three LPs, “East Nashville Skyline”, “The Devil You Know”, and “The Excitement Plan” have been IMO his finest work. If I was to rate his releases today, it would look something like this:
Proper Albums
1. The Devil You Know (2006)
2. East Nashville Skyline (2004)
3. The Excitement Plan (2009)
4. Happy to Be Here (2000)
5. Songs For The Daily Planet (1994)
6. New Connection (2002)
7. Step Right Up (1996)
8. Viva Satellite (1997)
Other releases
Peace Queer (EP) (2008)
Live at Grimey’s (2007)
The Devil You Know (DVD) (2006)
That Was Me (Compilation) (2005)
Near Truths and Hotel Rooms (Live) (2003)
Songs you must hear:
Easy Money
Alright Guy
Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues
Horseshoe Lake
Tension
Can’t Complain
Doublewide Blues
D.B. Cooper
Ballad of the Devil’s Backbone Tavern
Beer Run
Age Like Wine
Tilamook County Jail
Play A Train Song
Alcohol and Pills
Ballad of the Kingsmen
Iron Mike’s Main Man’s Last Request
Conservative Christian Right Wing Republican
Sunshine
If Tomorrow Never Comes
Just Like Old Times
You Got Away With It
The Highland Street Incident
Thin Wild Mercury
The Devil You Know
Stuck on the Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)
Greencastle County Blues
America’s Favorite Pastime
Money, Compliments, Publicity
95 percent of Todd Snider concerts include the following greeting somewhere in the first 3 or 4 songs:
“My name is Todd Snider and I’ve been driving around this country for more than 20 years. I make this shit up and I sing it for anybody that’ll listen.
“Some of the songs are gonna be sad, some are gonna be funny, some are gonna be both, some are gonna be short, some are gonna seem like they go on forever and some nights still I like to go on for as many as 18 minutes in between the song.
“And I’ll tell you something else that I might have told you before but I told you before because I meant it before the same way I mean it now: my friends tell me that some of my songs get a little opinionated so I want to say before we go too far in the show that while I might share some of my opinions with you over the course of it I’m not gonna share them with you because I think that they’re smart or because I think that you need to know them. I’m going to share them with you because they rhyme.
“I did not come down here to change anybody’s mind about nothing, I came down here to ease my own mind about everything. “
Obviously influenced by singer-songwriters like John Prine, Billy Joe Shaver, Randy Newman, Kris Kristofferson, and Jerry Jeff Walker, Snider writes songs that include humor, self deprecation, odes to oddballs, old friends and acquaintances, social, political and pop culture commentary, and his own hippie philosophy. His sound can best be pegged as Americana. He’s not the best singer, but he’s also not bad. He’s not the best guitar picker, but he has improved markedly over the last 15 years. I would consider him a great songwriter and an exceptional lyricist. If he didn’t want to perform and write music, he could probably do some Hunter S. Thompson style journalism or stand up comedy. Snider’s personal journey began in Portland, Oregon and has included stops in California, Austin, Athens, Memphis, drug rehabilitation, poverty, and finally East Nashville. He has built a bit of a persona, that of a good natured, unprepared stoner.
One of Snider’s central themes in his songs involves social commentary. Perhaps the greatest example of this is his cult classic, “The Ballad of the Kingsmen”. The song begins with the story of a band from his hometown, The Kingsmen, and the FBI’s interest in the lyrics to “Louie, Louie”. From here the song discusses Marilyn Manson, Columbine, televising violence, our society’s push to succeed, along with religion’s effect on it all. And to this aging hippie, he makes it all make sense. Other social commentary songs to check out: Tension and Standing on A Corner.
Another of Snider’s central topics involves odes. ‘Play a Train Song’ is a moving tribute to East Nashville icon,Skip Litz ( http://www.myspace.com/helenback_again) To really get the full effect of this song, I suggest listening to his story (extremely long) on the fantastic Tales from Moondog Tavern bootleg set. http://atruersound.blogspot.com/2009/06/from-archives-todd-snider-tales-from.html
Another ode worth checking out is “D.B. Cooper”, the airline robber from the 1970s. His most recent album, included “America’s Favorite Pastime”, a humorous look at Doc Ellis and his alleged LSD influenced no-hitter.
Snider also excels when it comes to writing about his own struggles. His most recent album, “The Excitement Plan” includes a song called “Greencastle County Blues” which discusses his own arrest in Greencastle County, Indiana for marijuana possession and leaves him wondering, “How do you know when it’s too late to learn?”. Another one to check out his the wonderful “Tillamook County Jail”, “Can’t Complain”, and the less introspective, but more catchy “Alright Guy”.
My personal fandom regarding Todd Snider did not take off until I saw him live. I knew some of his hits, but when he starts telling his stories and rambling on for as many as eighteen minutes between songs, it all started to make sense to me, his philosophy, his sense of humor, his ability to be sarcastic without being mean, his painfully sad songs that can make you laugh. To a collection of stories and to capture a general feel for the show, check out the previously mentioned “Tales from Moondog’s Tavern”.
For people looking for albums, you are going to find some great songs on all of his albums, but his last three LPs, “East Nashville Skyline”, “The Devil You Know”, and “The Excitement Plan” have been IMO his finest work. If I was to rate his releases today, it would look something like this:
Proper Albums
1. The Devil You Know (2006)
2. East Nashville Skyline (2004)
3. The Excitement Plan (2009)
4. Happy to Be Here (2000)
5. Songs For The Daily Planet (1994)
6. New Connection (2002)
7. Step Right Up (1996)
8. Viva Satellite (1997)
Other releases
Peace Queer (EP) (2008)
Live at Grimey’s (2007)
The Devil You Know (DVD) (2006)
That Was Me (Compilation) (2005)
Near Truths and Hotel Rooms (Live) (2003)
Songs you must hear:
Easy Money
Alright Guy
Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues
Horseshoe Lake
Tension
Can’t Complain
Doublewide Blues
D.B. Cooper
Ballad of the Devil’s Backbone Tavern
Beer Run
Age Like Wine
Tilamook County Jail
Play A Train Song
Alcohol and Pills
Ballad of the Kingsmen
Iron Mike’s Main Man’s Last Request
Conservative Christian Right Wing Republican
Sunshine
If Tomorrow Never Comes
Just Like Old Times
You Got Away With It
The Highland Street Incident
Thin Wild Mercury
The Devil You Know
Stuck on the Corner (Prelude to a Heart Attack)
Greencastle County Blues
America’s Favorite Pastime
Money, Compliments, Publicity