Artist of the Week (6/14/10) - Lucinda Williams

[Clams]

I discovered Lucinda Williams in 1998 when I picked up a copy of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road after reading a review in Rolling Stone. I knew next to nothing about country or alt-country or Americana (or whatever you call it) at the time, but as soon as I heard Lucinda's voice and music, I knew I'd found a home. It sounded like a great blend of rock and roll, country, blues and twang, with acoustic guitars and electric guitars and sweet pedal steel, and of course that voice with the alsum Looziana drawl. I was in musical heaven!

But what really knocked me off my feet were the stories and characters in her songs. Lu (that's what she's called) was born and raised in the deep south and, like the Truckers, she wears her southern badge with pride. Her songs are filled with real people and real places, real-life stories about musicians, drunks, suicides, abusive boyfriends, broken relationships, new love, making love and lost love. Very much like our friend Patterson Hood, Lu can convey detailed, vivid images of people, events and places with just a few words. The stories, places and people in her songs just come alive and suck you in like a... well, like a DBT song. Songs like Pineola, where the singer has to deal with the sudden suicide of her friend Sonny who shot himself with a .44 while laying in bed…

I could not speak a single word
No tears streamed down my face
I just sat there on the living room couch
Starin' off into space

Mama and Daddy went over to the house
To see what had to be done
They took the sheets off of the bed
And they went to call someone

Some of us gathered at a friend's house
To help each other ease the pain
I just sat alone in a corner chair
I couldn't say much of anything

Songs like Sweet Side, which give you chills as she sings about her fucked up boyfriend…

You're tough as steel and you keep your chin up
You don't ever feel like you're good enough
You've had the blues ever since you were six
Your little tennis shoes and your pick-up sticks

You were screamed at and kicked over and over
Now you always feel sick and you can't keep a lover
Every Christmas there were presents to unwrap
But the things you witnessed when you were five and a half

So you don't always show your sweet side
You don't always show your sweet side
You don't always show your sweet side

But in the end she manages to see the love through all his shit…

I've seen you in the kitchen cookin' me supper
I listened to you bitchin' and I watched you suffer
I still love you baby 'cause I know you
Don't mean to do the cruel things you do

I've seen you sewin' buttons on your shirt
I've seen you throwin' up when your stomach hurt
I stick by you baby through thick and thin
No matter what kind of shape you're in

'Cause I've seen your sweet side
I've seen your sweet side
I've seen your sweet side
I've seen your sweet side

She puts you right next to her on the Lake Charles Bridge as her lover tries to convince her into a suicide pact in 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten...

I had a lover
I thought he was mine
Thought I'd always be his valentine
Leaning against the railing of a Lake Charles bridge
Overlooking the river leaning over the edge
He asked me baby would you jump into the water with me
I told him no way baby that's your own death you see
Too cool to be forgotten
Hey hey too cool to be forgotten

And there's the guitar player who drank himself to death in Drunken Angel...

Could've held on to that long smooth neck
Let your hand remember every fret
Fingers touching each shiny string
But you let go of everything
Drunken Angel
Drunken Angel
You're on the other side

Another favorite of mine is the title track to Car Wheels, where she sings about the many images and memories of childhood that seem to stay with you forever. Close your eyes and the images are so close that you can touch them...

Cotton fields stretching miles and miles
Hank's voice on the radio
Telephone poles trees and wires fly on by
Car wheels on a gravel road

Of course, any discussion of Lucinda’s songs has to eventually reach the bedroom. Put it this way, Lucinda (and/or the people she sings about) spends a lot of time in the sack! She moans about what her lover's going to do to her, she begs for more, she gets pissed because he hasn't called after their weekend fling, and she gets REALLY pissed when he can't get her off (pissed enough to write a song about it!). Consider:

Right in Time:

I take off my watch and my earrings
My bracelets and everything
Lie on my back and moan at the ceiling
Oh my baby
Think about you and that long ride
I bite my nails I get weak inside
Reach over and turn off the light
Oh my baby

The way you move it's right in time
The way you move it's right in time
It's right in time with me

Damn, is it me or is it getting hot in here??? lol

Those Three Days

You built a nest inside my soul
You rest your head on leaves of gold
You managed to crawl inside my brain
You found a hole and in you came
You sleep like a baby breathing
Comfortably between truth and pain
But the truth is nothing's been the same
Since those three days

Did you only want me for those three days?
Did you only need me for those three days?
Did you love me forever
Just for those three days?

All you do is talk the talk
You can't back it up with your walk
You can't light my fire, so fuck off
You didn't even make me, come on!

(I always feel inadequate after I hear that song)


But wait! It's not just about the songwriting. There's more!

Lucinda’s a lot of fun to see live. On stage she’s always chatty, sometimes tipsy, usually in a cowboy hat, and always has her big-ass songbook with her. Mrs Clams and I still laugh about the time Lucinda was rocking onstage in a pair of tight, hot pink leather pants. She’s known to stop songs right in the middle and start them over if she’s not happy with how they’re going. And if you have the chance to catch her in a small theater or someplace with great acoustics, then by god do it. Last year I was lucky enough to see her play Greenville and Jackson (both off of Car Wheels) back to back with just Lu on acoustic guitar at an old refurbished theater and I’ll never forget it. I'm getting goose bumps just writing about it. Last year she was pissed about all the TM and Live Nation ticket fees, so she was selling all her merch at 25% off as a way to give some of the money back. Lu is cool like that.

Another thing I love about Lucinda’s music, and another trait she shares with the Truckers, is how she constantly surrounds herself with rock/country royalty. There’s the duet with Elvis Costello on Jailhouse Tears... Tom Petty's Change the Locks is a Lucinda cover... Emmylou singing back up on Greenville.... Steve Earle playing guitar on Concrete & Barbed Wire... Lucinda covering The Grievous Angel... Charlie Louvin opening her show... stuff like that, and believe me the list could go on. And in her songs, she’s always name dropping the cool artists that she likes… ZZ Top, Howlin Wolf, Hank, Robert Johnson and others frequently turn up in her lyrics.

An interesting tidbit that you may not know… Lucinda's father is the poet and scholar Miller Williams (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive ... ml?id=7457 ).

One negative I’ll mention is that about 18 months ago her longtime guitarist Doug Pettibone stopped touring with her. I’m not sure why he left, but he was a tall dude who played some badass guitar on her songs. You can see him on some of the Youtubes below.

Just a few more things because I’m getting tired of typing and editing this thing (yes, I am attempting to edit it, and no, Rev Todd is not my editor), Lu’s got a message board over on her website. It’s at http://lucindawilliams.com/forum.php It doesn’t get all that much traffic but one cool feature is that her husband Tom Overby frequently posts news and updates. (Lu and Tom got married onstage during the intermission at one of her shows last year and she played "Happy" by the Stones as her first married song).

So I’ll close this out with a couple of Youtubes and also a reward for those who’ve been nice enough to indulge me by reading this far.... a 13-song sampler you can download that includes a lot of the songs I’ve mentioned above. Listen and enjoy someone whom I believe to be one of America’s greatest songwriters and a first ballot shoo-in for the 3DD Artists Hall of Fame.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/84nsld

[Smitty]

Great post Clams - you nailed what makes Lucinda so great - one thing apparently you didn't know (and only adds to the song) is that Drunken Angel is about Blaze Foley, and he didn't drink himself to death (although I can see where you could get that) he was murdered by one of his friend's son - gives extra poignancy to lines like

Blood spilled out from the hole in your heart
Over the strings of your guitar

and

Sun came up it was another day
And the sun went down you were blown away
Why'd you let go of your guitar
Why'd you ever let it go that far

here's an article about him at the time of his death (with Lucinda quotes)
http://home.earthlink.net/~stewells/new ... _Glory.txt

here's an article about the shooting:

Blaze Foley, an Austin singer-songwriter whose If I Could Only
Fly was recorded by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, was fatally shot
early Wednesday after an argument with the son of a friend.

Foley, 39, whose real name was Michael David Fuller, died of a
gunshot wound to the left side of his chest. He was shot about 5:30
a.m. in a house at 706 W. Mary St., and died during surgery at
Brackenridge Hospital three hours later.
Carey January, 39, of 706 W. Mary St. was charged with murder and
held on $25,000 bond.
Police and friends said Foley had a lingering dispute with
January and was a friend of the suspect's father, Concho January, 66,
who also lived at the house where the shooting occurred. Police said
the cause of the disagreement was unclear.
``It's really a senseless killing," said homicide Sgt. Edward
Balagia. "According to witness accounts, they had had some bad blood
in the past, but this attack was sort of unprovoked. He was just
shot in the living room while he was visiting some friends.''
Foley identified the assailant before he was taken to the
hospital, according to Municipal Court records. Police found a
.22-caliber rifle in the back yard of the house next door, records
said.
Foley grew up in West Texas and sang with his mother, brother and
sisters in a gospel act called the Fuller Family. He sang in
Houston, New Orleans and Austin through the 1970s and '80s, drawing a
steady following and wide respect from fellow musicians.
"There are so many of his songs that have never been recorded and
that we'll never hear again," said musician and friend Kimmie Rhodes.
``He was an exceptional talent, not only as a writer but as a singer.
His voice got right to the heart of his essence. It was sensitive
and deep, and I loved the sound of it."
Foley wrote about 100 songs, friends said. They included Oval
Room, Girl Scout Cookies, World War III, Clay Pigeons and If I Could
Only Fly. The Nelson-Haggard version of If I Could Only Fly was
issued as a single in 1987. A band called The Characters recently
released a Foley song in Germany called I Should Have Been Home, said
Peggy Underwood, Foley's attorney.
Friends said Foley was known for his kind heart and odd creations
- such as ``mood rings'' he made of aluminum foil or duct tape he
stuck on his clothes.
"There's kind of two Blazes," said singer-songwriter Townes Van
Zandt, who knew Foley about 10 years. "A lot of people saw one or
the other. There was the wild one. . . . And then there was the
gentle, loving, caring one. I got to know both."
Van Zandt said that aside from his songs, Foley would be
remembered for his ``generosity down to his last penny," his wit -
and his duct tape. He was unsure how Foley grew attached to duct
tape, but said it became his trademark. "He'd get a new pair of
shoes and put duct tape (on them) to dress them up,'' Van Zandt said.
``He was a friend of the homeless, poor, elderly, a real super
caring guy. And he would sometimes seem bitter, you know. The only
reason for that is he was brimming over with so much genuine love and
caring. To see an injustice sometimes it would just put him over to
a frenzy, kind of. He couldn't stand to see a poor bag lady on the
street. It threw him into a rage, almost. It just came from love."
Pat MacDonald, a member of the duo Timbuk 3, said Foley ``really
cared about people'' and helped plan occasional benefits. He often
opened for Timbuk 3, and was an early fan of their shows.
``If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have had anybody at our
first Austin gig," MacDonald said. "He told a bunch of people they
should come and hear us. Everybody that was there was there because
Blaze told them to go."
MacDonald also remembered his wit. ``He used to point to the
Dumpsters, the BFI Dumpsters, and he used to say the BFI stood for
Blaze Foley Inside."
Foley was ``really kind of a rare breed and really kind of a lost
soul, too," said musician Pat Mears. ``Austin used to have more of
them. Blaze just continued to live on the couch circuit. He always
stuck with his music and just lived that life.''
Foley released one album, Blaze Foley, issued several years ago.
He recorded a live album at the Austin Outhouse on Dec. 18, his 39th
birthday, and had another album in the works. A reissue of the first
album was also planned.
Funeral arrangements were pending.

the shooter was acquitted

[dime in the gutter]

excellent job clams. belmont avenue is in my neighborhood and her dad taught at lsu. suck it.

[scotto]

Nice one, Clams.

excellent job clams. belmont avenue is in my neighborhood and her dad taught at lsu. suck it.

He also taught at the University of Arkansas.

[dime in the gutter]

Nice one, Clams.

excellent job clams. belmont avenue is in my neighborhood and her dad taught at lsu. suck it.

He also taught at the University of Arkansas.

scotto does not have to suck it.

[Clams]

Great post Clams - you nailed what makes Lucinda so great - one thing apparently you didn't know (and only adds to the song) is that Drunken Angel is about Blaze Foley, and he didn't drink himself to death (although I can see where you could get that) he was murdered by one of his friend's son - gives extra poignancy to lines like

Blood spilled out from the hole in your heart
Over the strings of your guitar

and

Sun came up it was another day
And the sun went down you were blown away
Why'd you let go of your guitar
Why'd you ever let it go that far

here's an article about him at the time of his death (with Lucinda quotes)
http://home.earthlink.net/~stewells/new ... _Glory.txt

Was not aware of all that Smitty. Thanks for keeping me honest.

[Gator McKlusky]

Good one Clams! Bus To Baton Rouge is one of my favorite Lucinda songs. Along with Ryan Adams, i don't think there is anybody who writes better songs about returning to your childhood home or longing for a childhood that is long gone whether it was good or bad.

On the deluxe version of Car Wheels the live disc has her introducing Drunken Angel by mentioning Blaze Foley--don't tell me you dont have that Clams?

[dime in the gutter]

lucinda is hot.

[Clams]

On the deluxe version of Car Wheels the live disc has her introducing Drunken Angel by mentioning Blaze Foley--don't tell me you dont have that Clams?

I don't. And it was recorded right here in Philly.

PS - Nice av, Wally. Where'd ya find it?

[Clams]

On the deluxe version of Car Wheels the live disc has her introducing Drunken Angel by mentioning Blaze Foley--don't tell me you dont have that Clams?

I don't. And it was recorded right here in Philly.

PS - Nice av, Wally.

[Gator McKlusky]

On the deluxe version of Car Wheels the live disc has her introducing Drunken Angel by mentioning Blaze Foley--don't tell me you dont have that Clams?

I don't. And it was recorded right here in Philly.

PS - Nice av, Wally. Where'd ya find it?

It is just as good as the live at Fillmore.

(I scoured the internets looking for just the right avatar. Why? )

[Clams]

lucinda is hot.

[dime in the gutter]

[Smitty]

she writes some sexy fucking dirty hot songs too

[Given to Fly]

Great write up Clams. I've seen Lucinda in concert only once and that was opening up for Tom Petty. I have no good reason to offer why I haven't seen her since. I love this woman. 'Damn' usually comes out of my mouth after listening to one of her songs. Either my pants got a little tighter or I need a kleenex (sometimes both)

I stumbled upon a recent ACL show & saw the big songbook on the stand. Was kind of turned off by that. What's up with that?

[bovine knievel]

Her version of It's A Long Way To The Top might be worthy of a post on the "cover songs better than the original" thread.

[mhc]

I first discovered her on Leftover Salmon's "The Nashville Sessions". She does a version of "Lines Behind Your Eyes".
I soon went out a purchased everything she had.
Saw her for the first time on Sept 14th, 2001. She put on a 3 hr show, dedicated it to the 9/11 victims and had two guitar players that knocked me out. Doug Pettibone was the one that stood out the most. I have seen Lucinda 6 times now. The most distinctive show I witnessed was just her and Pettibone doing a duo show.
If you have never seen her, I recommend it.
"Maybe in Sidell, I can find my Joy"!!!!

[RevMatt]

I am a huge Lucinda Williams fan. People call Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville the female response to Exile on Mainstreet. B.S. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is, right from the opening number about masturbation! Lucinda is too cool to be forgotten.

I love the song "If Wishes Were Horses."

[Steve French]

Her version of It's A Long Way To The Top might be worthy of a post on the "cover songs better than the original" thread.

Fascinating. Pretty good. Not better than the original (what the hell IS?) but not bad

[StevieRay]

Clams: nice work! Lucinda is as good as there is. She sure can be cantankerous too. At a show a couple of years ago she outright blew up at some idiots in the audience, swore at them, etc. Smitty: I always assumed Foley shot himself from the way those lyrics go: never bothered to look the story up - you are a scholar.

Two of my favorites of hers that have not yet been mentioned above are: "Side of the Road" - here's a clip of that (It has no video component - but, the audio seems to be the original studio version):

**Note - I have not read whatever "review" is cited here/have no idea who the author is, etc.

And: one of my all time favorite songs of hers is "Real Live Bleeding Fingers (and broken guitar strings)" which she introduced at a show I saw back on the "World Without Tears" tour as having been influenced by Paul Westerberg... though, I'm not sure the lyrics are exclusively about him. There isn't a 'great' youtube vid of this one, but, you can get the point here (ignore the loud guy in the beginning):

[StevieRay]

There's a terrific cover of Lu's "Steal Your Love" on the new Carrie Rodriguez album:


How HOT is Carrie btw?

[StevieRay]

This bluesy interpretation of Dylan's "Meet Me In The Morning" is worth adding to the thread as well. I think Lu might be tanked as she sits in with Alaska's unbelievably fantastic band The Whipsaws:

[Clams]

Last time I saw her, she closed her encore with a great cover of Bobby Gentry's ode to Billie Joe.

[RevMatt]

I always thought "Real Live Bleeding Fingers" was about the Stones.

[StevieRay]

I always thought "Real Live Bleeding Fingers" was about the Stones.

I think (as she says) it's about "the ravages of rock and roll" and, certainly The Stones exemplify/transcend.

[StevieRay]

Alaska's unbelievably fantastic band The Whipsaws

Something other than Caribou Barbie to think about in the context of Alaska people!

[bold99]

Love Lucinda. West is a great heartbreak album. I love that her albums have a different feel from one to another. Great lyrics too. Love her duet on the last M ward album too.

[Clams]

You can hear Lucinda's cover of The Ballad of Lucy Jordan for the new Shel Silverstein covers CD here...
http://www.covermesongs.com/2010/06/luc ... ms-covers-“the-ballad-of-lucy-jordan”-cover-me-premiere.html


Also, here's a link to a very cool thread over on Lu's message board (the dude posting as "TOverby" is her husband)...
http://lucindawilliams.com/forum/viewto ... 79&start=0

['Scratch]

Lucinda's great and Car Wheels is one of those albums that really opened my eyes to new genres of music. I saw her at the Electric Factory a few years back and it was a really good show.

"Sittin' in a kitchen
a house in Macon
L'retta singin' on the ra-di-o ?

[yessaidyes]

Great write up, Clams.
But dammit, this is like when my friends explained how Madonna's "Like a Prayer" is a naughty song and I was totally oblivious.

"Right in Time" is a fantastic song. I was a fan of hers before I heard that one, because someone gave me a mixed album with "Something about what Happens when we Talk" on it. Listen to that back to back with Gillian Welch's "Look at Miss Ohio" --- so wonderful.

Something About What Happens When we Talk: (don't mind the slideshow that someone put to this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R_dkP2duog


and for kicks, Look at Miss Ohio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPEj63d0jY