Happy Birthday Willie

Today is Willie Nelson's 79th birthday, and he is about to release a new album. Here is a song from my favorite Willie Nelson album, The Great Divide. From ten years back, this is "You Remain" performed with Sheryl Crow.

No Depression

I found this clip when I was looking for Levon Helm video. Here is Sheryl Crow with Helm and his band performing the Carter Family song "No Depression" 

Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain

A song for a rainy day, Brandi Carlile & Amos Lee perform "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain"

The Soweto Gospel Choir

This Sunday the Soweto Gospel Choir's Tiny Desk Concert.

The Weight

To follow up yesterday's post on the passing of Levon Helm, here are two versions of a classic, "The Weight". 

With Pops and Mavis Staples helping out, from the film The Last Waltz.

A much more recent version of the song recorded at the Ryman Auditorium with John Hiatt

Levon Helm (1940-2012)

A post to mark the passing of Levon Helm. (ABC Obituary) One of the most influential musicians in what has become known as Americana music. Starting out in the 1960's as a singer and drummer with The Band, he battled throat cancer in the 1990's, but came back to win two Grammys in the 2000's with his albums Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt. I saw him perform at the Ramshead Live a couple years ago, and it was one of the best live shows I have ever seen.

The first video below is from his days with The Band, and the second two are from his more recent solo career.

From the 1978 film The Last Waltz, Helm playing drums and singing lead with the Band—"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"



"A Train Robbery"—A song about Jesse James from the album Dirt Farmer



The Springsteen song "Atantlic City"

Imagine That

A live TV performance from exactly 50 Years ago today—Patsy Cline singing "Imagine That"

Be Thou My Vision

The lyric for "Be Thou My Vision" is based on the Irish text "Rop tú mo Baile" which is believed to have been written by Dallán Forgaill in the 6th century. So this is probably be the oldest lyric I have ever posted on this blog. This has become a popular song, and there are many performances of it, but none of them can compare to this version by Alison Krauss.

Earl Scruggs on the Banjo

Looking back last month when Earl Scruggs died, I realized that he was paying guitar in a lot of the video I have posted of him. So here is a post focused on what he is famous for—his banjo playing.

"Randy Lynne Rag"



"Ground Speed"



A performance from 2006 with Little Roy Lewis.

Rodrigo y Gabriela on Leno

Rodrigo y Gabriela with C.U.B.A. perform a song off their latest album, Area 52.

Kathleen Edwards Tiny Desk Concert

Last month I posted a video of Kathleen Edwards covering a Iris Dement song. Here is a NPR Tiny Desk Concert where she performs some of her own. I think all of these songs are off her latest release, Voyageur:
     "Chameleon/Comedian"
     "House Full Of Empty Rooms"
     "Sidecar"
     "Change the Sheets"

I Can't Make You Love Me

In 1991 Bonnie Raitt released the song "I Can't Make You Love Me" on her Luck of the Draw album. Raitt always picks the best songs to record, and this one—written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin—is one of the very best. It was listed as #8 on a Mojo magazine list of The 100 Greatest Songs Of All Time list, and is #331 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. There have been a number of covers of the song in the last 20 years. In the last year both Adele and Justin Vernon have had very successful covers of the song. Here are videos of a couple versions.

Bonnie Raitt performs the song in 2011. What I like about this clip is that at the beginning you can here several people talking, but just a little into the song you can tell that the entire audience has become silent.



Adele



Justin Vernon form Bon Iver. This version includes part of another Bonnie Raitt song, "Nick of Time"

Happy Birthday Emmylou

Today is Emmylou Harris' 65th birthday. She has more posts on this blog than anyone else, so I had to look around for something new to post today. Here she duets with Shawn Colvin on "Love and Happiness"—a song Harris co-wrote.

Sacred Steel

This weekend a little sacred steel with the Campbell Brothers performing "Morning Train"