For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records CD

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records buy CD music Steve Earle is widely known as a tireless political activist who's not afraid to use his music to further the causes for which he fights. In 2004, America was in dire need of forward-looking activism, and Earle responded with THE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW. The album was written and recorded quickly in order for Earle to get his two cents in before the Presidential election, and it turned out to be both his most overtly political and most effectively concise offering to date. With a mix of country and straightforward rock & roll, Earle engages in rabble-rousing (the title track), tells the tales of people victimized by the war in Iraq ("Home to Houston," "Rich Man's War"), and lambasts stifling conservative forces on the homefront ("F the CC"). There are a couple of love songs thrown in for good measure, and they're all the more affecting for their marked contrast. THE REVOLUTION STARTS NOW seamlessly blends the personal and the political without a trace of mawkishness or didacticism. Recording information: Room & Board, Hermitage, TN. Illustrator: Brad Talbott. Photographer: Glen Rose. Arranger: Chris Carmichael. Personnel: Steve Earle (vocals, guitar, mandola, harmonica, harmonium, organ); Steve Earle; Kelly Looney (vocals, bass guitar); Dr. Edward O. Henry, David Angell (violin); Chris Carmichael (viola); David Henry (cello); Eric Ambel (vocals, guitar); Will Rigby (vocals, drums, percussion); Emmylou Harris (vocals); Patrick Earle (percussion). Audio Mixer: Ray Kennedy.

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records CD music Regardless of opinions about White Stripes leader Jack White's credentials to produce country-music queen Loretta Lynn (he toured with the legendary singer and dedicated 2001's WHITE BLOOD CELLS to her), there's no denying that VAN LEAR ROSE significantly kick-started Lynn's career both commercially and artistically. In a move similar to Rick Rubin's 1990s Johnny Cash productions, White enlists members of his garage-rock cohorts the Greenhornes, along with a couple of country ringers, to back Lynn, giving her the grittiest, most rock-tinged production of her long reign. Encouraged to come up with an album's worth of original tunes for the very first time, Lynn sounds plucky and full of fire. Her marvelous voice is as powerful and graceful as ever, as the septuagenarian singer gamely leads the band of youngsters through honky-tonk burners, bluegrass-tinged acoustic numbers, and even an evocative spoken-word recitation. Closer in spirit to Lynn's spunky '60s classics than anything she'd released in decades, VAN LEAR ROSE is built to reassemble the faithful and snare some new ears as well. Produced And Arranged By Jack White(White Stripes) Recording information: Nashville, TN. Photographer: Russ Harrington. Arranger: Jack White . Personnel: Loretta Lynn (vocals, acoustic guitar); Jack White (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, organ, percussion, background vocals); Dave Feeny (slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, dobro, percussion, background vocals); Dirk Powell (banjo, fiddle, bass guitar); Jack Lawrence (bass guitar, percussion, background vocals); Dan John Miller (acoustic guitar, percussion, background vocals); Patrick Keeler (drums, percussion, background vocals). Audio Mixers: Jack White ; Stuart Sikes.

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records songs Additional personnel includes: Baker Glare (whistling); The Irish Horns (brass); Micky Gallagher (organ). Digitally remastered by Ray Staff & Bob Whitney (Whitfield Street Studios, London, England). If punk rejected pop history, LONDON CALLING reclaimed it, albeit with a knowing perspective. The scope of this double set is breaktaking, encompassing reggae, rockabilly and the group's own furious mettle. Where such a combination might have proved over-ambitious, the Clash accomplish it with swaggering panache. Guy Stevens, who produced the group's first demos, returns to the helm to provide a confident, cohesive sound equal to the set's brilliant array of material. Boldly assertive and superbly focused, London Calling contains many of the quartet's finest songs and is, by extension, virtually faultless. This 3-disc set includes the original remastered album, an entire audio disc of previously unreleased demo material, and an exclusive 45 minute DVD documentary produced by Don Letts on the making of the album including band interviews and rare footage, plus promo videos and previously unseen studio footage. The package will include an extensive color book including rare photos and illustrations, in-depth essays, and a fold-out lyric sheet. Also available in a 3-pack with THE CLASH and COMBAT ROCK. The Clash: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones (vocals, guitar); Paul Simonon (vocals, bass); Topper Headon (drums, percussion). LONDON CALLING: THE LEGACY EDITION includes a bonus DVD featuring an exclusive 45 minute documentary on the making of the album. The Clash: Mick Jones , Joe Strummer (vocals, guitar); Paul Simonon (vocals, bass instrument); Topper Headon (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Baker Glare (whistling); Irish Horns (brass); Mick Gallagher (organ).

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records album for sale After recording SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA--a two-act, two-disc epic about growing up in the American South--and then following it up with 2003's equally lauded DECORATION DAY, one might think Drive-By Truckers would be out of energy. But nothing seems tired about 2004's THE DIRTY SOUTH. In an age when some artists are building a glamorous "redneck" image, Drive-By Truckers convey realistic, hard-hitting truths about life in the margins of the South. Here the Truckers unveil a dark, lean roots-rock set redolent of whiskey, low-income housing, and kudzu vines, as they spin narratives about war veterans ("The Sands of Iwo Jima"), steel workers ("The Day John Henry Died"), and convicts ("The Boys from Alabama"). With the exception of a couple of hook-filled, sing-along rockers, the band favors portraits of struggle. "Puttin' People on the Moon" depicts a character working at department store and selling drugs to support his family, while "Cottonseed" is a confession from a murderous outlaw. There are traces of Merle Haggard's mythos, Neil Young's vulnerability, and the Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd here, but THE DIRTY SOUTH also boasts an integrity and individuality that demands to be heard. Audio Mixers: David Barbe; John Agnello. Liner Note Author: Patterson Hood. Recording information: Chase Park Transduction, Athens, GA; The Legendary Fame Recording Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL. Director: David Barbe. Photographers: Patrick Hood; Adam Smith . Drive-By Truckers: Shonna Tucker, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, Jason Bell, Brad Morgan. Personnel: Jason Isbell (vocals, electric 12-string guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer organ, background vocals); Shonna Tucker (vocals); Mike Cooley (banjo, harmonica); David Barbe (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, background vocals); Patterson Hood (piano); Clay Leverett (background vocals). Additional personnel: David Barbe, Clay Leverett, The Minor Hill Singers, The State Line Chain Gang.

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records CD music A gap of six years separates ASHGROVE from Dave Alvin's last batch of new songs, 1998's BLACK JACK DAVID (a live album and a selection of traditional songs came in between), and it sounds like he benefited from the break. As always, the consummate roots-rocker splits his time between country, blues, folk, and rock tunes, all delivered in his raw, honest baritone. As he did with his erstwhile band the Blasters, Alvin paints vivid, organic pictures of American life, giving small-scale moments and deceptively complicated personalities their moment in song. Closing in on age 50, Alvin begins to ruminate on his own life as well, looking back to his youth on the title track. But he's at his best when he's inhabiting other characters, like the withered, hospitalized old man in "The Man in the Bed" or the shady ne'er-do-well of "Out of Control." With his mastery of traditional American musical forms and his strong narrative control, Alvin proves that there's still vitality in the well-traveled roads of Americana. Recording information: Winslow Court Studio, Hollywood, CA; Your Place Or Mine Recording, Glendale, CA. Photographer: Issa Sharp. Personnel: Dave Alvin (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Dave Alvin (vocals); Greg Leisz (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar, background vocals); David Piltch (acoustic bass, double bass); Bob Glaub (electric bass, bass guitar); Chris Gaffney (background vocals); Patrick Warren (keyboards); Don Heffington (drums, percussion). Audio Mixers: Greg Leisz; Mark Linett.

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records buy CD music If only the "more a legend than a band" that seems to surround the Flatlanders were true and the "legend" were allowed to be what it is. But people keep dragging stuff out of the woodwork, and the three companeros who made that unit up -- Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore -- have decided that being a band is a better thing and have reunited to record and tour. Man, people can't leave well enough alone. New West has dug up this old tape from the Flatlanders' halcyon days, recorded at the dawn of the cosmic cowboy craze in Austin. What it proves first and foremost is that these guys should never have reunited (no one can blame them for wanting to get paid, but the myth was better before it became reunion flesh) and that their individual identities were formed even back then. Gilmore is the high lonesome country songwriter, Ely is the hillbilly rocker (his lead vocal on "Honky Tonk Blues" and "Settin' the Woods on Fire" would make Hank Williams smile and then hoot in delight), and while Hancock is clearly here, he doesn't sing lead on any of these tracks though he wrote a few of them. The fidelity on this thing is far from perfect, and it sounds like there are maybe 25 people in the audience tops. One way cool thing is you get to hear Steve Wesson's musical saw very well and mystic beat legend John X. Reed's killer guitar picking on Al Strehli's fine "So I'll Run." This is a back-porch singalong brought into the barroom. There are tunes by Townes Van Zandt ("Waitin' Around to Die" and "Tecumseh Valley"), a slew of traditional tunes, Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Bay Blues," Bob Dylan's "Walkin' On Down the Line," Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home to Me," "Jole Blon," and more. It's loose, easy, and the vibe is relaxed and fun. The fidelity isn't great, but the performance is full of energy and verve. But it's not the second coming that New West label boss Peter Jesperson is making it out to be (and no doubt scads of alt-country Postcard 2 crazies as well). He states that Ely thinks the most unique thing about the tape is that it exists at all. Exactly. No more, no less. ~ Thom Jurek Liner Note Author: Peter Jesperson. Recording information: The One Knite, Austin, TX (06/08/1972). Photographers: Joe Ely; Butch Hancock. The Flatlanders: Butch Hancock (vocals); Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely. Personnel: Joe Ely (vocals, acoustic guitar, dobro, harmonica); Jimmie Dale Gilmore (vocals, acoustic guitar); John X. Reed (guitar); Butch Hancock (acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica); Steve Wesson (autoharp, musical saw); Tony Pearson (bass guitar). Additional personnel: Tony Pearson (vocals, bass guitar); Steve Wesson (vocals); John Reed (guitar).