Ripple Library - Willie Nelson - Roll Me Up & Smoke Me When I Die

The title says it all. Willie was born on April 30, 1933 (too bad it wasn't 10 days earlier) and with his 80th birthday approaching he's not taking any chances with his final wishes. If you want to know the history of Willie and his music there are better books out there. Willie: An Autobiography (2000) and Willie Nelson: An Epic Life by Joe Nick Patoski (2009) will tell you just about everything you want to know about his music and incredible life.

Roll Me Up… is more of a companion piece to those books. You won't get too many insights but there are some good laughs and words of wisdom. If you're looking for secrets on how to become a good songwriter here's what he has to say - "I will never say anything to discourage a songwriter but if you're a real songwriter, nothing I could say would discourage you, anyway. If my opinion could change your mind about being a songwriter, then you weren't really a songwriter to begin with and I would have done you a favor by making you look for a different career. If a real songwriter happened to hear that I didn't like his work, he'd say 'What the hell does Willie Nelson know?'" You can apply that lesson to just about anything in life. The book is full of lessons like that plus some interesting stories from sister Bobbie. There are some lyrics and some old jokes that probably sound a lot funnier if you're burning one with Willie on his bus but it would be impolite not to chuckle at them while reading at home. Hopefully an audiobook version is coming out, it would be a great listen on a road trip.

Keep it next to your nightstand for a quick, easy read before bed or in the bathroom if you need inspiration.

--Woody

Buy from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Roll-Me-Smoke-When-Die/dp/0062193643/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1354038169&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=willie+nelson+roll+me+up+and+smoke+me+when+i+die

 

Occupy This Album - Various Artists

“Occupy This Album” is what every liberal political junkie should have on hand. I realize that’s a bold statement. But “Occupy This Album” truly shows, just like the Occupy Movement, that people from different walks of life, different bands, different genres, different colors, and different beliefs can come together for one purpose, to help each other out, and to show that the 99% will not back down!

Spanning four discs, and seventy-seven vastly different artists, “Occupy This Album” is the sound of a movement that will never die. And with that many songs, I’m pretty sure this album will never die, or end. Seriously, there’s over five hours of music on it. Maybe I’m dumb for trying to review an album with approximately four thousand different genres on it, but like I said before it’s not just punks that are protesting now, it’s everyone. Everyone that is tired of being pushed around by the rich and the government. There are artists from every genre, from punk to rap to jazz to bluegrass to alt rock to pop and everything in between.

Obviously with that many different styles on one disc, I didn’t like some songs, but that’s not due to the artist not having talent, it’s just because that’s not my genre of preference. Every artist on here has talent coming out of their ears. There’s not a poorly produced or ill-put together song on this album. There are so many songs that shine on this album, it’s impossible to name all the great artists.

There are HUGE, I mean, HUMONGOUS names on here. Willie Nelson. Anti-Flag. Deborah Harry. Third Eye Blind. Patti Smith. Yoko Ono. Our Lady Peace. The list goes on, and on, and on…. Seeing big name artists join indie-label bands is truly refreshing to hear. It’s again going back to that everyone is struggling and fighting this. I mean, obviously Willie Nelson isn’t hurting in the cash department, but those big names bring money, focus and help to the cause. I’ll admit it; I was much more excited about this album when I saw Anti-Flag on it, so there you go, an example.

Another reason I liked seeing big names next to smaller ones, is that it gives the chance to discover a lot of really talented artists you weren’t aware of before. Richard Barone, Matt Pless, My Pet Dragon, Build the Sun, and various others are ones that I liked in particular. Don’t write this album off for not having your favorite genre on it, (though I cannot imagine one it missed) because you probably will find an artist on here that’s from a completely different genre than you’re used to that will blow you away. True story, happened to me.

Not all of the songs on “Occupy This Album” are protest songs. There are songs for uniting (We Stand as One, Come on Come on Come On, Smile {Get Up and Sing}, Under the Bridge, others). Ones clamoring for peace and love (Love {Only Love}, Take a Stand, A Peaceful Solution, others), And, Ones shouting that rebellion is the way to go (Rebel, Worldwide Rebel song, People Have the Power, Fight the Good Fight, Revolution, others). And of course the protest ones (Nothing Recedes like Progress, This Is What America Looks Like, GREED, Which Side Are You On?, others).

All in all, a powerful album that shows up any compilation album of many artists of the last few years. A real prize, it’s not an album to be missed.


--Gorgeous Nightmare

Tony Bennett - Duets II

 
 

Amy Winehouse's "Body and Soul," even if it weren't arguably the most famous "jazz improv" tune (via Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of the standard, where, arguably for the first time, a soloist did not use the main melody of the tune
and struck out on his own, ushering in modern improvised jazz as we know it today), just KILLS her version of this song--

I don't doubt for a second (speaking purely sonically, this without knowing her extensive substance-abuse history or recent death) that she absolutely meant what she sang: hers was a voice with genuine and obvious experience.

It's also a great reminder why nearly everyone else on this pretty much sucks: they're all just doing covers-- they don't bother to try and make the song their own, it's just a re-hash, full of over-reverence for the source material.

Lady Gaga (surprisingly?) is actually really cool-- she's one of the only ones trying to do something new with her tune. She's having a lot of fun with "The Lady is a Tramp," and this sense of fun infects Bennett, whose performance seems boosted by this. There's no gravitas here (not that there has to be, just see Buddy Greco's version of this tune for evidence of this), but she's clearly enjoying herself-- and in this, she entertains you. Whereas Winehouse is a singer, first and foremost, Gaga is the most obvious entertainer, and she reminds you what this means as you listen to her with Bennett-- you want to keep listening.

Faith Hill is surprisingly a good (ranged) singer on "The Way You Look Tonight," but is bland overall; it's the Christina Aguiliera problem-- great, nearly-athletic voice, great range-- with nothing to say.

You know-- the polar opposite of someone like Billie Holiday, Paolo Conte, Leonard Cohen, Gil Scott-Heron or Tom Waits.

Especially when considering that there is a truly great Johnny Griffin version of that tune on A Blowin' Session, which also features John Coltrane and Hank Mobley. It's Epic company to try and match up to, and Hill utterly fails.

Willie Nelson, after Gaga and Winehouse, hits 3rd place-- he can barely sing (I love Willie, but don't you dare try and deny it), but is 20x more interesting than the others in his version of Ellington's (via Johnny Hodges) "On the Sunny Side of the Street."

Bennett himself is surprisingly (refreshingly) gracious, in that he essentially "backs up" everyone with whom he sings-- he gives them the spotlight. I already respected Tony Bennett, but this puts him in Ronnie James Dio "I am a gracious, well-mannered badass" territory.

--Horn