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We haven't finished our official count, but it appears that
there were in the neighborhood of 738,614 CDs produced in 2001,
give or take a few reissues, remixes, and those Greatest Soft
Rock Hits of the Middle '70's That Are Fine For Making Out by
Artists Whose Last Names Begin with Q, X, or Z only for sale
on late night television. Rather than look up the sales data
from Billboard or Gavin or just crib a Top 5 list from Rolling
Stone or some other completely biased media source, we at Rockzillaworld
have decided to simply ask a few folks for their Top 5 personal
favorites of the past year, the albums that spent the most time
in their players. Three albums got multiple mentions: Jim Lauderdale's
"The Other Sessions," Scott Miller's "Thus Always
To Tyrants," and Billy Joe Shaver's "The Earth Rolls
On." Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Davin James also appeared
more than once on the lists. These lists are totally subjective,
and it will be obvious that some folks couldn't entirely divorce
friendship, politics, ego, blood relations, employment, or economic
self-interest from their selections. Yeah, so?
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My Top 5
1. The Other Sessions - Jim Lauderdale - Lauderdale is the
country performer Tim McGraw ought to want to be. Lauderdale
is my choice as the best combination writer and singer in Nashville.
His sense of the possibilities of the country form proves the
CMA has its head where the sun don't shine. And where does he
get those pickers?
2. Born To Howl - Stone Coyotes - Barebones but literate, the
Coyotes may be the smartest rock band around. Barbara Keith
is certainly one of the smartest writers. Forget about posing,
forget about prissing and preening, forget about angst, that
ain't the Coyotes' style. Just turn it on and let it rip. "Can't
you hear the band playin'...shake, rattle and roll."
3. Thus Always To Tyrants - Scott Miller - Miller throws off
the chains of alt-country and lets it blast. Forget about bobbing
and weaving, this one comes straight at you with its best punch.
Will Miller's next album be titled "Is There Room On The
Cross For Griel Marcus?" "Winter will spring, summer
will fall"
4. You Should Have Known Me Then - Phil Lee - Bob Dylan in roadhouse
mode, Phil Lee writes with his uncommon humanity in one hand
and a bloody straight razor in the other. And he sings like
a man possessed. "You have to watch your tongue in Babylon..."
5. Poisonville - Ronny Elliott - Elliott packs more real life
into one song than most writers can put in an album. His band
is filled with Zen twangers and his lyrics make record company
execs and radio programmers clutch their Bibles and their checkbooks
in a death grip. "I got a copy of Lolita just in case I
need it, monkey on my back, tryin' not to feed it"
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Jay Johnson, Dallas, performer
1. Kiss On the Breeze - Kevin Deal - With lines like "I'm
just a leak in the roof and he's a warm summer rain, I can't
hold a candle to your old flame" and "I'm just a shell
of the nut I used to be," who can disagree? Kevin makes
the music a stonemason would make. If you rub up against it,
you're gonna come away with permanent scars. I wear mine like
a new suit.
2. The Lonelies EP - The Lonelies - Doug Burr has always captivated
me with the images he portrays. Eric (?), the producer, will
take Lloyd Maines' place as The Producer if he continues doing
this kind of work.
3. Wide Afternoon - Max Stalling - No comment necessary. This
is a truly great record from a truly great writer. These songs
will last beyond his lifetime.
4. Live - Houston Marchman - This is a trophy bass caught in
your neighbor's smallest pond. A rare find.
5. Biggest Fool in Town - John Evans - John is one smart guy
and this album smokes. Rockabilly balls with Jackson Browne intellect.
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Jonathan Houlon, Philadelphia, performer
1. Love and Theft - Bob Dylan - "You can always come
back but you can't come back all the way." Ain't that the
truth?
2. Ten Recent Songs - Leonard Cohen - Forget about down from
the mountain. This guy is down from the monastery. He continues
to amaze.
3. Outlaws and Dreamers - Dick Gaughan - His take on Si Kahn's
"What You Do With What You Got" is worth the price
of admission alone. Add a blistering version of "Tom Joad"
and several top-notch songs by his Scottish compadre, Brian McNeill,
and you've got a record that can be compared to his 1980s masterpiece,
"Handful of Earth."
4. Scar - Joe Henry - This guy never repeats himself and keeps
getting better and better and selling less and less. I dunno.
"Richard Pryor addresses a tearful nation" with Ornette
Coleman! Killer.
5. Renegade Picker/No Place to Fall (reissue) - Steve Young -
This guy was alt-country before anyone ever dreamed up the concept.
Steve Young is an American hero. His version of Rodney Crowell's
"Home Sweet Home Revisited" makes me cry.
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Leslie T. Travis, Houston, disc jockey, KIKK 95.7 FM
1. Midnight Pumpkin - Toni Price - This IS the best CD of
the year. Too much variety, humor, well-crafted songs and Toni's
amazingly personal delivery to take it out of the player.
2. Nothing Personal - Delbert McClinton - Delbert's back with
a vengeance! Can you have a party without this CD? I think not.
3. Big Trouble in Shangra La - Stevie Nicks - Vintage Stevie
with a little help from her friends, like Natalie Maines of the
Dixie Chicks. She rediscoverd herself with this and it's nice
to have her back.
4. Essence - Lucinda Williams - With the lengthy layover since
the last Lucinda Williams CD, you've got to include it on any
list because you're just so damn happy to hear new material from
her.
5. Step Right Up - Charlie Robison - From the duet with his brother
Bruce to the redone "Desperate Times' to the tongue-in-cheek
'Wedding Song' to the "What did he say?!" closer, it's
as solid a CD that has come out of Nashville in years. Of course
it's not a Nashville CD, it's a true Texas CD.
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Jesse Dayton, Austin, performer
1. The Other Sessions - Jim Lauderdale - There's a difference
between re-writing retro standards and writing honest country
songs that sound like classics. Lauderdale writes classics.
2. The Earth Rolls On - Billy Joe Shaver - My personal favorite
songwriter on the planet ... my musical daddy.
3. Magnolia - Davin James - There's a lot of Texas flag-waving
going on with the new crop of singer-songwriters. This guy blows
'em all away.
4. If I Could Only Fly - Merle Haggard - This record, which includes
performances from The Strangers, and the fact that punk rock
label Epitaph did so well marketing it gives us all hope for
the future of country music.
5. Burnside On Burnside - R.L. Burnside - Tired of post-Stevie
Ray, FM radio hacks? The blues is still alive, straight from
Mississippi. Go buy an R.L. Burnside record. Now!
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Al Kunz, Minneapolis, writer, Rockzillaworld
1. Thus Always to Tyrants - Scott Miller & the Commonwealth
- I liked the V-Roys, but this one really grabbed me. It rocks,
yet doesn't ignore his mountain roots. His lyrics
mean more to me each time I listen. Like Chris Knight, I see
Scott Miller as someone working the same lyrical ground as Steve
Earle or Fred Eaglesmith. He's the real deal.
2. Houston Kid - Rodney Crowell - A great album anyway, but being
an ex-Houston resident this had more meaning to me. Favorite
tracks are "Telephone Road" and "I Walk the Line
(Revisited)." It was quite a coup to get former father-in-law
Johnny Cash to sing a snippet of "I Walk the Line"
to a different melody.
3. Straight Down Rain - Greg Trooper - Same great, introspective
lyrics as I always expect (and get) from Greg. Producer Phil
Madeira took him into new ground sonically, not good or bad,
just different - a little more variety. My personal favorite
Americana
artist. Once you've seen him live, you'll be hooked.
4. Are You Ready for the Big Show? - Radney Foster - Captures
the energy of his live performance. Some great old songs done
differently and some great new ones too. Put
together a band that included Chris Thile (Nickel Creek), my
favorite Americana guitarist-for-hire (Mike McAdam), and purespunk.com
office assistant Ashley Arrison on background vocals so that
even the older songs had different arrangements. The bonus track
with Pat Green was a good marketing move, but is my least favorite
track although it's still okay.
5. The Earth Rolls On - Billy Joe Shaver - I'd heard of Billy
Joe Shaver before this year, but never really heard his music
before. I bought "Highway of Life" earlier in the
year and snatched up a copy of "The Earth Rolls On"
soon after it was released. With as much good music as there
is every year, it's tough for anybody to hear it all. Shaver
is a good reminder that no matter how much great music I find
there is always more that I still haven't heard. In some cases,
well known artists that I just haven't taken the time to become
familiar with yet.
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Eric Black, Australia, disc jockey, Blue Country Radio
program
1. Conway's Corner - R.C. Banks - I don't know if I should
call this a blues album or an Americana album, or maybe I should
just stick to Texas Music! Whether you're into blues or whatever,
DON'T miss out on getting yourself a copy. This is definitely
one of the best albums I've heard this year.
2. Bad Juju - Jim Suhler & Monkey Beat - Jim Suhler is one
of the best slide guitarists on the scene today. Bad Juju features
plenty of slide and the songs, all originals, range from acoustic
and electric blues to Tex-Mex and southern rock. A couple of
fav tracks are "I.O.U." with its Robert Johnson feel,
and Jim's tribute to Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher on "Restless
Soul."
3. Rattlebag - Paul Reddick & The Sidemen - Rattlebag is
an electric album that captures the raw energy of the blues from
the 20s and 30s. Paul Reddick is the most exciting and original
songwriter in the blues world today and his harp playing is something
to behold. Like they say, these are "hard blues for modern
times."
4. Blues Like Midnight - Kim Simmonds - Blues Like Midnight features
thirteen tracks and Kim wrote eleven. When you listen to Kim's
originals, you'd swear they were written back in the 20s and
30s. He has a genuine feel for this music, better than most
you'll
ever hear. His vocals are passionate and true to the genre and
his guitar playing is simply superb, whether he's picking out
a tune in a Piedmont style rag or playing in the harder edged
Delta style and running the slide along the frets like Son House.
5. 3 Chords and a Cloud of Dust - Snit's Dog & Pony Show
- When I first heard the name of this band I thought they might
be some kind of kinky freak show, but these guys from Texas play
the best ass-kickin' bluesy rock and roll around. There's nothing
fancy in the way they play, just good, honest blues and rock
& roll stripped to the bone and played from the heart with
a whole lot of soul.
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Neil Drucker, Philadelphia, owner, Record Cellar
1. The World Won't End - Pernice Bros - Big emotional 'Go-Betweenish'
pop.
2. Why Men Fail - Neilson Hubbard - Lonely and hauntingly sad.
3. How I Learned To Stop Worrying - Bigger Lovers - Self-assured,
Cheap Trickish
pop full of hooks.
4. Idiots - Frog Holler - Everyman's Americana with a sound of
its own.
5. Looks Like Up - John Train - Modern folk music with great
words, phrases, and
images.
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Dave Pilot, Charlotte, North Carolina, writer, Rockzillaworld
1. Southern Rock Opera - Drive By Truckers Chicken-fried
rock and roll. One of the best albums (actually a 2-disc set)
of the year; a mad rush through the backwoods and legends of
the Deep South. Screaming guitars and soul-searing vocals from
Patterson Hood make very clear the duality of the Southern thing.
A masterpiece.
2. The Eagle and the Snake: Songs of the Texians - Brian Burns
- Musically speaking, this disc is seamless. Man's a perfectionist.
The history of Texas is on display here along with visions of
her future. It's a standout concept album, moving Burns closer
to the Marty Robbins realm of singer/storytellers.
3. Tall Texas Tales - Jesse Dayton - Clean and hard-driving,
crunchy and slick guitar work. Stories that sound like every
part of Texas.
4. Undisturbed - Beaver Nelson - One of the most poignant and
clear of the current crop of songwriters. Nelson's new disc
is crisp and heartbreaking, and his vocals add a clarity to insights
that only come through experience. A must have.
5. Thus Always to Tyrants Scott Miller and The Commonwealth
- Lyrically and musically a step apart from the crowd. Miller's
sharp wit and insights are on clear display here, and the wall
of sound coming from the band is unstoppable.
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Melissa Joulwan, Austin, webmistress, Jesse Dayton
1. Hey Nashvegas! Man, what a voice! It's like good
whiskey: warm, rich, with an unexpected kick. Listening to a
song like "Don't Take Yesterday" is a reminder that
feeling bad can feel so good. But Jesse knows how to have a
good time, too, and I dare anyone to keep their butt in the chair
during "Roses Ain't Enough."
2. The Other Sessions - Jim Lauderdale - That Jim Lauderdale
isn't selling millions of records is a crime! His songwriting
talents extend to a mix of genres, but this album is all country
and it's damn good. "Merle World" is a fine tribute
to Haggard and "Honky Tonk Haze" perfectly creates
that 2:00 a.m., "what-am-I-gonna-do-now" feeling.
"If I Were You" will surely make you reminisce about
that one person who really grabbed your heart and wouldn't let
go. And "You'll Know When It's Right" is just a perfect
weeper.
3. Cocky Kid Rock - Sometimes you've just gotta rock out:
crank the stereo, bang your head, pump your first in the air,
and curse like a sailor. Those times call for Kid Rock. But
the thing I really like about this record is that he adds a little
taste of country to his Detroit rock, tipping his white trash
cowboy hat to his rootsy influences. He somehow makes hip hop
scratching seem like the perfect addition to a crying-in-your-beer
weeper. "Baby Come Home" is worth a listen, even for
hip-hop-hating country music lovers.
4. Lucero Lucero - I saw this Memphis-based roots rock/country
band open for the North Mississippi All Stars this fall and was
riveted by their performance. The CD, like their live show,
is a little rough around the edges, but Ben Nichols' (vocals
& guitar) delivery is very moving and his songs tell compelling
stories. I just kept thinking to myself, "How did such
a young guy get that voice?" Gravelly, world-weary, but
full of redemption. "My Best Girl" is a loving tribute
to his six-string and "Raising Hell" is all about his
little brother's adventures in Texas. Great, moody, moving stuff.
5. The Earth Rolls On Billy Joe Shaver - We should all
learn a lesson from the song "You Are the Star of My Heart"
and remember to tell the people we love how important they are
to us. What a beautiful gift Billy Joe Shaver gave his son in
that song! The album would have been a stand-out anyway, but
knowing the context of its release shortly after his son's death
only makes it more poignant. But it's not all sad. "Leavin'
Amarillo" is a nice little kiss-off song that's perfect
for driving with the windows down. This record is a reminder
of what a powerful singer and songwriter Shaver is, and we're
lucky to have him.
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Johnny Wolfe, Houston, performer
1. Magnolia - Davin James - Great vocals, great guitar
2. Big Game - Luxurious Panthers - Great songs, raw recording
with no artificial sweeteners.
3. Alcohol and Salvation - Carolyn Wonderland - Awesome pickin'
by a totally cool chick.
4. Welcome to the Wasteland - Clay Blaker - Songwriting at its
finest.
5. Bad Tonight - Johnny Wolfe - Hey, what can I say!
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Bonny Holder, Cedar Crest, New Mexico, writer, Rockzillaworld
1. Love & Theft - Bob Dylan - Released on 9/11, this album
is Dylan at his musical best. He probably didn't craft a single
sentence of a single song ("theft") but who else could
have plagiarized so perfectly? And Charlie Sexton is great on
guitar. This is a truly important album of songs that will not
soon be forgotten.
2. Texoma - Jimmy LaFave - This CD is a wonderful compilation
of originals and other songs composed by Texans and Oklahomans.
LaFave, whose soul shines with unselfishness and whose voice
shines with soul, puts himself on the line and the end result
is an album of songs that might be called -- oh dear -- "pretty."
His band is
tight and sensitive. If Jimmy LaFave is a stranger to you, this
would be the perfect introduction into Red Dirt Soul.
3. drum hat buddha - Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer - This duo
with southwestern roots is so multi-leveled that they are hard
to describe. Carter's songs describe stories and settings one
must hear to believe. Musically, their voices and instruments
intertwine and become two parts of the same soul. This is their
third CD, and perhaps the best yet.
4. Over & Under - Greg Brown - Finally Greg gets down and
dirty, with uncensored lyrics and root-level musicianship. By
far the best recording he's ever done, brave in a way that hopefully
will influence others. Melodic and true.
5. Millionaire - Kevin Welch and The Danes - Still unreleased
in the U.S., this CD deserves a home and distribution in Kevin's
native land. Combining his thoughtful lyrics and relaxed baritone
with a non-"country" (Nordic!) band of pro players
results in an album that is as enjoyable as it is enlightening.
Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net
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