My list in particular.

THIS IS NOT IN MY LIST. THIS IS WHY MY LIST CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

ipso facto my list needs to die.

Rosanne Cash on The List.

PS. As well as She Ain't Going Nowhere by Guy Clark I can't believe I left THIS song off my fave country songs list. I SUCK! The dreaded "embedding disabled by request" but GO HERE. I love that whole rekkid those three did together. WHERE IS IT? I own it. WHERE IS IT??

Well here's Guy now, which cannot make up for my shameful omission. Like for reals this song is only pipped by If You See Her Say Hello as my my favourite song ever so how did I blank it that night? Neuroplasticity, how you mock me.

It's not the whole song but it includes my favourite bit of hillbilly haiku:

Well the wind had a way with her hair
And the blues had a way with her smile
And she had a way of her own
Like prisoners have a way with a file

PPS While we (I) are (am) on a YouTube kick -- Dublin Blues by Guy Clark is also a perfect song. The perfect essence of a song, all Platonic like.

Forgive me all my anger
Forgive me all my faults
There's no need to forgive me
For thinking what I thought

I often think this quatrain should be my next tattoo.

As previously mentioned, the delectable Rosanne Cash has an album coming out shortly called The List, which is 12 songs chosen from a list of (I think) 100 country songs her father gave her, as comprising an education in that discipline.

I trust you shall agree this is a pretty good list.

1. "Miss the Mississippi and You"
2. "Motherless Children"
3. "Sea of Heartbreak" (w/ Bruce Springsteen)
4. "Take These Chains From My Heart"
5. "I'm Movin' On"
6. "She's Got You"
7. "Heartaches by the Number" (w/ Elvis Costello)
8. "500 Miles"
9. "Long Black Veil" (w/ Jeff Tweedy)
10. "Silver Wings" (w/ Rufus Wainwright)
11. "Girl From the North Country"
12. "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow"

I thought I would do my own. Also 12 songs, my own list if in a parallel universe I could sing. These are not meant to be an overview of the history of country music (there's nothing before the early 60s for a start) but just a solidish collection of songs I could listen to all day. I put the last two in brackets just because those are the versions I chose to include but could have used any number of other versions -- both "She's Got You" and "He Thinks I Still Care" have male and female pronoun versions so I chose one of each. It's hard, but on the other hand the top 10 or so really write themselves then the final two spots are tough to divide between about half a dozen tracks. "Sea of Heartbreak" gets brackets cos basically I'll love anyone singing that song. I cheated and gave myself a bonus disc ....

I Drink -- Mary Gauthier
All Her Lovers Want to Be the Hero -- Steve Young
Big River -- Johnny Cash
Once a Day -- Connie Smith
She's Got You -- Loretta Lynn
Pancho & Lefty -- Townes Van Zandt
Sing Me Back Home -- Merle Haggard
Choices -- George Jones
South of Cincinnati -- Dwight Yoakam
Goodbye -- Steve Earle
Sea of Heartbreak -- (Rosanne Cash feat. Bruce Springsteen)
The Lord Knows I'm Drinking -- Cal Smith

Bonus Disc:
Goodbye -- Steve Earle
Willin' -- (Linda Ronstadt)
He Thinks I Still Care -- (Patty Loveless)

Hm. It's not very ... upbeat, is it?

Under the bylaws of 8tracks you're not supposed to make a playlist anywhere (so it mimics internet radio) but ... eh, I hope I can be forgiven this one time. So here it is! (and a direct link)

Download MP3: Santa Ana Wind.mp3

As even cursory readers of this blog may know, I am a big Tom Russell fan and have been very much looking forward to the new album, not the least because it might be the catalyst for him to actually tour Australia sometime.

Thanks to Shout! Factory I have a free and legal MP3 here to give you from the forthcoming (Sept 15) record Blood and Candle Smoke recorded with Gretchen Peters and Calexico.

"Santa Ana Wind" is a pretty classic Russell song where the historical and mythical American west meet, a grand stage for the doing of love and art and death. And as always his voice is like the wind itself, hot, dry and surging. I'm also a big believer that mariachi horns improve any song.

As I have mentioned several times on the blog before, Tom has been posting reflections on each of the songs from the new album, here's the one of Santa Ana Wind.

Enjoy!

The band:
Tom Russell (vocals)
Gretchen Peters (vocals)
Joey Burns (Spanish guitars, bass)
John Convertino (drums)
Barry Walsh (Wurlitzer, piano)
Craig Schumacher (percussion)
Jacob Valenzuela (trumpets)
Nick Luka (steel guitar)