When I switched to the whiskey, I knew that I was gone...

"Sweets for a sweetheart, that is what you said to me, as you handed me a shot glass, and I drank down hungrily."

A confession, a caveat, and a peace offering.

First the confession: It’s time I said it. I’m really not all that wild about alt.country. Apart from a few exceptions (Uncle Tupelo, early Neko Case, the first few Old 97’s records) I find it to be mostly boring and derivative. Sorry. I hope this fact won’t get between us. (Please feel free to vent in the comments.)

Now the caveat: When I say “alt.country,” I’m talking about the music that calls itself "alt.country," not the long tradition of music on the alternative or rocking side of country. I really love 1980’s cowpunk, 1970’s progressive/outlaw country, 1960’s country-rock, 1950’s rockabilly, and 1940’s hillbilly boogie. But it all kind fell flat for me in the 1990’s, right about the time they coined the term “alt.country.” Not sure why. Maybe I'm just old.

And, finally, the peace offering: Despite my newly expressed reservations about the genre, today I’m posting a great song performed by two alt.country artists I really do like, Amy Allison (the daughter of Mose Allison) and Laura Cantrell.

You can have this song two different ways: As a shot of straight-up bourbon whiskey (the original by Amy Allison) or on the rocks with a sprinkle of cool branch water stirred in (the smoother, but equally delicious, cover by Laura Cantrell). Try them both, as they've each got a different feel. Either way, it’s a fine drinking song, and about as contemporary as you’re going to get out of me in this series.

Amy Allison – The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter (buy album)

Laura Cantrell – The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter (buy album)

Both of the albums from which these tracks come are well worth your money—especially if you actually like alt.country.

If you're looking for more drinking songs, be sure to head right over to Star Maker Machine, which is featuring the same theme this week.

Laura Cantrell's Guest Post at Boogie Woogie Flu

photo by Ted Barron

One of my favorite artists, Laura Cantrell, has just posted an entertaining and educational rant over at Boogie Woogie Flu about the dearth of female artists in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

[Check It Out!]

Here are my earlier posts about Laura Cantrell:
Queen Of The Coast
Indoor Fireworks

Here is a great song from Laura Cantrell (covering Amy Allison):

Laura Cantrell – The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter (buy)

Queen Of The Coast - Laura Cantrell, Bonnie Owens, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and more!

Photo by Ted Barron (who also has a heck of a blog).

Laura Cantrell is one of the most interesting country performers to come along in recent years. As I noted in a previous post, she sings a lot like Kitty Wells, but her music is innovative enough to have won high praise from the late great John Peel.

Cantrell is a student of music history. For years she has been the "proprietess" of a great New York radio show called The Radio Thrift Shop, which features great old country, bluegrass, and swing music scoured from "bargain bins, church bazaars and yard sales."

On her excellent debut LP, Not The Tremblin' Kind, Cantrell put her historical knowledge to use in a song about Bonnie Owens (pictured) called Queen Of The Coast. Bonnie Owens married and sang back-up for the two giants of California country music, Buck Owens (husband #1) and Merle Haggard (husband #2). She continued to sing back-up for Merle Haggard after their divorce, which plays into Cantrell's song.

Laura Cantrell – Queen Of The Coast (buy album).

She was the queen of the coast back in 1965,
Prettier than most, she could keep a room alive,
With the catch in her voice and the beehive on her head.
Do you remember anything she ever said?

Well, some stars fade faster than the rest,
And the promise wore off though she did her best.
She finally looked around for somethin' else to do.
What she found was a man who needed what she knew.

Have you forgotten? Have you forgiven?
Tell me are you livin' just a little in your past every day.
Time sure has changed you; it's walked right on by you.
Does it satisfy you to have so little to say?

For the next ten years she rode around on the bus.
She did washin' and ironin' and pickin' up.
She had a place to stand at the back of the stage.
She was there every night, lookin' her age.

She lent her voice, but she gave her heart.
And, I guess, that must've been the hardest part.
She figured out exactly what was goin' on,
All the love she had given for a song.

Then things unravelled like they usually do.
She got her old heart busted up by husband number two.

[Chorus]

I'm not quite sure when she got back on the bus.
But she's still washin' and ironin' and pickin' up.
If you look all the way to the back of the stage,
She's standin' at her mic, lookin' her age.

In a roadstop in Reno at supper time,
The waitress comes over with a look in her eye.
Says: "I saw you in Modesto almost thirty years ago,
And I can still remember every song in your show."

Please Help Me, I'm Falling, Don't Come Home A-Drinking,
Well, there's a pair of Swingin' Doors for every Cowboy's Sweetheart tonight.

Time sure has changed you; it's walked right on by you.
Does it satisfy you to have so little to say?

Here are the other songs mentioned in the last part of Queen Of The Coast:

Hank Lockin - Please Help Me I'm Falling (buy album).

Loretta Lynn - Don't Come Home Drinkin' With Lovin' On Your Mind (buy album).

Merle Haggard - Swingin' Doors (buy album).

Patsy Montana - Cowboy's Sweetheart (buy album).

Maybe the coolest thing about Queen Of The Coast is how the mandolin intro and outro mimics the guitar lead used in this classic Merle Haggard song:

Merle Haggard - I'm A Lonesome Fugitive (buy album).

Here are some Merle Haggard songs featuring Bonnie Owens:

Merle Haggard & Bonnie Owens – Just Between The Two Of Us

Merle Haggard & Bonnie Owens – Forever And Ever

Merle Haggard & Bonnie Owens – Too Used To Being With You

(buy album).



And here are a couple tunes from the great Buck Owens:

Buck Owens - Waitin' In Your Welfare Line (buy album).

Buck Owens – Love's Gonna Live Here (buy album).

Now back to Laura Cantrell. All of her stuff is great, in my opinion, but my favorite (getting the highest STWOF seal of approval) is Not the Tremblin' Kind. Here's a poppy song from that album that I really enjoy:

Laura Cantrell - Pile Of Woe (buy album). (Joe Flood cover).

Many more great Laura Cantrell downloads are available at her website.

Indoor Fireworks - Elvis Costello and Laura Cantrell

The second of three posts in the Elvis Costello series focuses on the song Indoor Fireworks from King Of America (1986).

It's no secret that Elvis Costello is a fan of classic country music--one of the many styles to have shaped his sound over the years. While Indoor Fireworks is not a straight-up country song like Stranger In The House or Radio Sweetheart, the country influence definitely shines through, especially when performed by country singer Laura Cantrell.

This should be no surprise, as Elvis was conscioulsy trying to write a Hank Williams song. Interviewed for the book Written In My Soul (by Bill Flanagan, 1986), Elvis humorously explained his goal in writing Indoor Fireworks:

"I tried to write one that had some chill in it. Like 'May You Never Be Alone' [by Hank Williams]. I was aiming up there. Whereas when I wrote 'The Only Flame In Town' I was only trying to write like Allen Toussaint. I was thinking, "How tough does Hank Williams ever get?" He didn't ever shy away from the matter. If you're going to be true to yourself you've got to say, "Could I say it as cold as Hank Williams did?" You have to keep reminding yourself how strong the really strong songs are."

While it's not likely Hank ever would have sung about Audrey being the "gin" in his "vermouth," (a good line for Elvis), I think Costello hit the mark pretty well with Indoor Fireworks.

Evis Costello - Indoor Fireworks (buy album).

Laura Cantrell - Indoor Fireworks.







And now for a word about Laura Cantrell (who deserves another post on this blog someday). Two of her albums, Not The Tremblin' Kind and When The Roses Bloom Again, are among my favorite country music albums from the last twenty years. Her voice is reminiscent of Kitty Wells and she picks superb material. The famous John Peel went further, calling Not The Tremblin' Kind "my favorite record from the last ten years, and possibly my life." Wow. That's pretty high praise coming from him!

Laura Cantrell - Not The Tremblin' Kind (buy album).