This has been out a little over three months and I finally finished my three spins last week (hey, I bought the double disc, so sue me). The draw for moi was Jim James of My Morning Jacket. The other big name, Jay Farrar of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt fame, has never clicked well for me. The remaining two guys I had no knowledge of, though I had seen Anders Parker's band name, Varnaline, somewhere back in the day. These guys were allowed to raid the Guthrie archives over the past few years, and essentially stumbled upon lyrics from the short time Guthrie lived in Los Angeles. Each man composed songs from the lyrics that spoke to him and recorded them together whenever schedules allowed. Process from start to finish? About five years. But fate has a way of aligning things and next month is the 100th anniversary of Guthrie's birth, so Happy Birthday, Woody!
If you are a fan of any of the aforementioned bands, enjoy folk/rock/alt-country/blues, or like songs with politics/protests/whiskey & "kokaine" in the lyrics, this is for you.
And one more...
The deluxe version is worth every extra penny paid for it. "Jake Walk Blues," "Dopefiend Robber," and "When I Get Home" stood out for me. Sure, there are a couple of tracks that I edited out to get to a single CD, but I'm still keeping the deleted tracks digitally.
Will New Multitudes receive Grammy consideration like previous Guthrie collaborations? I would not be surprised.
More than seven years of professional radio experience and over twenty years in music retailing have provided many opportunities to introduce friends, family, co-workers and customers to great music in four different decades. Out of the biz now for more than five years, I still seek out new music to add to my enormous collection. Most in my age group gave up on finding new music years ago. To quote a line from Crack the Sky, "Why don't they make music for us anymore?" Well, they do, and I share my discoveries in a manner that is intended for those who know me, but can be appreciated by you who do not. I am not a reveiwer paid to have a piece available upon a recording's release, I write only after several listens and sometimes several weeks of spins. Feel free to comment, suggest, and enjoy!
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