WE WALK THE LINE: JOHNNY CASH TRIBUTE

This week, Sony Legacy released We Walk The Line: A Celebration Of The Music Of Johnny Cash. It's a live album of a concert recorded earlier this year in Austin, Texas.  An impressive group of singers joined an amazing house band to pay tribute to the songs that Johnny sang.  He didn't always write the songs he sang, but when the man took a tune on, it belonged to him.

My favorite performance on the album is Lucinda Williams doing Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails classic "Hurt," which Johnny covered on American IV: The Man Comes Around. But there are a lot of great performances here.  Jamey Johnson is kind of the perfect guy to sing Johnny songs: he does "Sunday Morning Coming Down" with Kris Kristofferson, which is great.   Buddy Miller's "Hey Porter" is great, as is the Carolina Chocolate Drops' "Jackson," Shooter Jennings' "Cocaine Blues" and Willie Nelson's "I Still Miss Someone."

The most moving part of the night might have been the cover of The Highwaymen's "Highwayman."  The Highwaymen were, of course, Cash, Willie, Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.  So, this version featured Willie and Kristofferson, along with Jamey Johnson singing Johnny's part, and Shooter singing his dad's part.  I got chills listening.  Also, the arrangement is way cooler than the original from the album.

I have to give it up to the house band: Buddy Miller on guitar, Blue Note Records president Don Was on bass, Greg Leisz on slide guitar, Kenny Aronoff on drums and Ian McLagan on keyboards.  Mr. McLagan actually told me all about the show in a recent interview. He told me there'd probably be some kind of tour supporting it, with the house band and different singers in each city.  I hope that that's still on.  Hell, I don't care if they get any famous singers: just put Buddy Miller on the mic, that's good enough for me!

GRAMMY WATCH: JOHNNY CASH - "AIN'T NO GRAVE"

Johnny Cash has been gone for a seven years, but he still looms large.  "Ain't No Grave," the title track from his final album (released earlier this year) is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Short Form Video category. It's a pretty extraordinary effort - it was created through an online project where people got to contribute frames to the video. Over 250,000 people contributed. Well, watch the below video - it explains the project and then shows the entire video.

"Ain't No Grave" has stiff competition: Eminem and Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie," Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You," Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and Gorillaz/Mos Def/Bobby Womack's "Stylo." I really like all of those, but I'd love to see "Ain't No Grave" win.   

GRAMMY WATCH: BEST AMERICANA ALBUM

Out of all the categories in this year's Grammy Awards, the most difficult for me as a voter was the Best Americana Album category. All five of the albums are incredible.

First is Rosanne Cash's The List, which came out in early 2010. The title is a reference to an actual list that her father, Johnny Cash, made for her of some of the greatest songs of all time, like "Long Black Veil," "Motherless Children" and "I'm Movin' On." It's mostly a solo album, but there are duets with Bruce Springsteen, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Tweedy and Elvis Costello. It's a really great and moving album (and kind of seems made for the Grammys, I was kind of surprised it didn't get more nominations, but the fact that it came out so long ago probably worked against it).

Los Lobos' Tin Can Trust was one of my favorite albums of 2010, I've written about it before. I'll just say that Los Lobos never seem to get their due. I love this album, I love the band. In 2011, I'm planning on completing my Los Lobos CD collection. I've never seen them live, this year I hope to change that. It shouldn't be hard, they seem to tour very frequently.

Willie Nelson's T-Bone Burnett-produced Country Music was another album that I loved, and I'm sorry that it didn't get more attention. I guess part of Willie's problem is that he is so prolific, people can hardly keep up with all of his albums. Country Music really was great... of course, it wasn't "country" in the current mainstream Nashville sense, but it did have great songs like "Dark As A Dungeon," "House Of Gold," "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" and "House Of Gold." Willie and T-Bone's regulars cooked up a great brew (among other things, probably) of amazing music.

Robert Plant's Band Of Joy was another of my favorite albums of 2010. I listen to it all the time, and am still amazed by it. Also amazing is the strength of his vision and his commitment to it. At this point, he's not only turning down lucrative Led Zeppelin tours to do his own thing, he's turing down the follow up to his multi-Grammy winning collab with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand.

Ultimately the album I loved the most was my second favorite album of 2010, Mavis Staples' You Are Not Alone... the title track was my favorite song of the year and one of my favorite songs of all time. Also - I don't vote based on this - I was surprised to learn that Mavis has never won a Grammy! This is a career record for her, and I'd love to see her get the recognition, so here's hoping she wins on Sunday.

TIE FOR #11: BIG BOI, LAMONTAGNE, MUMFORD & SONS, SHERYL CROW, RECKLESS KELLY, GASLIGHT ANTHEM AND CASH

In late December, I posted my top ten albums of 2010; the list was topped by The Drive-By Truckers' The Big To-Do. Immediately afterwards, I started thinking about some other albums that I really enjoyed this year, so I started a brief series called "Tied for #11." I've done a bunch of posts, starting with one about Buddy Guy's Living Proof.  Here is another handful of albums that I enjoyed a lot.

Outkast's Big Boi finally released his debut this year: Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son Of Chico Dusty.  It's too bad that it didn't get the attention that it deserved. Both by the press and even by Def Jam, who helped Boi to get the album from Jive (the label that OutKast record for).  "Shutterbug" is one of the hottest singles of the year. I think that, like Black Thought of The Roots, Big Boi is one of the best MCs in hip-hop, but doesn't get the attention of, say, Lil Wayne or T.I.

Ray LaMontagne's God Willing and The Creek Don't Rise is a really great album. It's a gorgeous album, but because Ray doesn't really do much promotion, you don't hear much about it. I think it will benefit from being nominated for a few Grammys (including "Beg Steal or Borrow" which is up for Song Of The Year). Hopefully he will perform at the ceremony.

Mumford & Sons was probably my favorite new discovery of 2010. Their Sigh No More album reminded me of Springsteens' Seeger Sessions Band, and I mean that as a high compliment. The fact that a band so removed from any recent trend, either in the mainstream pop world or the "indie rock" world has become so popular is, frankly, amazing to me and it gives me hope. I haven't seen them live, but I have filmed a studio performance by the band (see it here) and I really dug it.

I've often felt that Sheryl Crow doesn't get the credit she deserves, and that's never been more true than on her current album, 100 Miles From Memphis. I guess in a way, I can understand people paying a bit less attention to her - her last two albums weren't as strong as her first few. But this album is a great comeback, and should have done really well. But if you liked her earlier music, I urge you to check this one out.

Like The Drive-By Truckers, Reckless Kelly is a band who I discovered thanks to the SiriusXM channel Outlaw Country. (And this is where I offer the full disclosure that I work for SiriusXM, but I was a SIRIUS subscriber before I worked there.) Somewhere In Time is an album of songs by someone named Pinto Beckett. Without knowing much about him, or the band, I really dug it. I have to make it a point to get more music by both of them in the '11.

New Jersey's own Gaslight Anthem got a decent amount of press for their album American Slang, and deservedly so. They're a really good band, and they have the double edged approval of Bruce Springsteen (good because of the obvious extra exposure, bad because you can't do interviews without talking about him). They come from the punk rock underground, but they sound is really accessible. Hopefully people won't be scared of them because of their appearance. I'd love to see them get huge. In 2010 they headlined Radio City Music Hall, so maybe they're on their way.

One last album I'll mention is Johnny Cash's final recordings: American VI: Ain't No Grave. It sounds like he is aware that this is "it" for him, and it adds a poignancy to the songs . I have always been a big fan of the American Recordings series, I think Rick Rubin did a great job on all of them, this one included.

OK, NOT EVERYONE LOVES JOHNNY CASH'S AMERICAN RECORDINGS

I thought that Johnny Cash's series of American Recordings albums, produced by Rick Rubin, were universally loved classics.  *I* love them. But a few months back, I read an interview with Bob Dylan who said he really didn't like those albums, and in a recent interview in Uncut, Willie Nelson says that "Aw, I could probably do that one of these days, do my morbid album. My wrist-slashing music. No, they weren't my favorite Johnny Cash albums." OK! Well, I'll still maintain that those albums are great, and Cash and Rubin's partnership was a pretty cool one.

P.S. I love Willie's new album, Country Music. It is one of my favorite albums of the year.  Last year, his album with Asleep At The Wheel, Willie & The Wheel, was one of my favorites too. I'm just glad that so many of the artists that I love are able to make great music after they are AARP eligible. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SHOWTUNES! (REALLY)

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Tomorrow I will

veer slightly from my usual comfort zone and talk about showtunes, albiet ones that are pretty rocking.  That's because The Tonys are this weekend. And while I'm not a Broadway guy, this year's Best Musical nominees are pretty rocking.

First is Green Day's American Idiot: The Musical which I saw a few months ago.  I enjoyed it, but the story didn't knock me out. I liked the music.  To me, there's something inherently funny about a musical - people just breaking into song.  The Simpsons have been genius at parodying this (see below video).  Still, if you can get over that, you can have a good time at a musical. In the case of American Idiot though, it was more like a cover band or a musical revue.  I guess I had higher hopes for it, but I have to admit I had fun. So, I'll be playing some songs from the cast recording, as well as some of the original versions, and also Green Day's new version of "21 Guns" with the cast.

Fela! On Broadway is the stage adaptation of the life of Nigerian musical legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Look him up, his music is very different from western rock and pop, it is very funky. I have a song from the cast recording and a Fela original.

The Million Dollar Quartet is about the four Sun Records legends who recorded together... once. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. I'm not sure how they turned this into a show - or if it is just another review. Either way, the source music is mind blowing, hopefully they do it justice.  I don't have that soundtrack yet, hopefully I can grab it in the morning.

Memphis: A New Musical is, as it says, actually new.  Which seems to be a new concept for Broadway - I'm not an expert but all of their shows based on things we've already seen and heard? I have a few songs.  I read that Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan wrote a lot of the songs.  It's pretty impressive. You can hear his Elton influence, but Elton was influenced by Memphis soul and R&B.

Well, I'm not a Broadway expert, so if you're listening, call in and help me out!

Anyway, here's one of my favorite showtunes, courtesy of The Simpsons.  "See My Vest." And by the way, I'm an animal lover, this is just a parody, I'm not endorsing Mr. Burns' wardrobe and neither were The Simpsons' writers.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: JOHNNY CASH, DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, SHOOTER JENNINGS AND IKE REILLY

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. We talk about - surprise! - music.

This week, I'm bringing some really cool records, the first three are records you can hear on our Outlaw Country channel - but probably very few other places. First off, Johnny Cash's final album, American VI: Ain't No Grave. I've talked about this album on The Catholic Channel, it really hit me hard. I think that Rick Rubin, who of course produced the entire American Recordings series of Johnny Cash's albums, may have saved the best for last. 


My favorite rock album of the year thus far is The Big To-Do, by The Drive-By Truckers. Over the past few years, they've become one of my favorite bands, and they are a band I definitely would not have gotten into without Outlaw Country. But the new album is really great: they are kind of like Springsteen meets Skynyrd with Petty and Westerberg thrown in there.  The single, "This Fucking Job," is classic. 

Shooter Jennings is not just a big artist on Outlaw Country, he's also a host. But his new album, Black Ribbons, goes way outside of his usual turf.  It's a concept album featuring guest narration by Stephen King as a DJ, and it sounds like a cross between NIN, Floyd and Alice In Chains. Dude has king size stones to even attempt this.  


Finally, a singer-songwriter who I have followed on and off over the years, Ike Reilly.  Years ago when I was at VH1, my boss made me interview him, which was odd, as the channel wasn't supporting him, and no one knew who he was.  I was grateful for it, though, and now I'm happy to tell people about his new album, Hard Luck Stories (which features a duet with Shooter). 

I plan on writing more about Ike in the future. 

GREAT RICK RUBIN INTERVIEW RE: JOHNNY CASH AMERICAN VI

Really interesting interview with Rick Rubin, talking about Johnny Cash's American VI: Ain't No Grave with New York magazine. What interested me most was his comparing the end of the album - the traditional Hawaiian song "Aloha Oe," to the song that ended American IV: The Man Comes Around. That album ended with "We'll Meet Again," and featured backing vocals by Johnny's friends, family and employees.  Johnny thought that that would be the last song on his last album, his health wasn't in great shape at that point. But the day after the album was done, Rick asked him if he wanted to start working on American V. So all the sessions they worked on at that point made up the final two albums.  This time, he really did know his time was running out, hence "Aloha Oe" ending what actually was the final album.

TOMORROW NIGHT ON THE CATHOLIC CHANNEL: JOHNNY CASH

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, once a month I go on SIRIUS XM's Catholic Channel's Busted Halo show on "Faith and Culture Thursday." Each time I discuss a different artist.  Tomorrow, I'll be talking about Johnny Cash on the eve of the release of what will be his final album, American VI: Ain't No Grave. I think that producer Rick Rubin may have saved the best for last. These really are the final songs that Cash recorded before he passed away.  I have listened to the album a few times now, I totally recommend it. I'll be talking about songs from his Sun and Columbia Records years as well.

CELEBRATE THE MAN IN BLACK

This Friday would have been Johnny Cash 's 78th birthday, and as I've mentioned, there's a group asking people to wear black to commemorate the occasion. Another group is celebrating the man with a movement to get Columbia Records to re-release Bitter Tears, Johnny's 1964 album about our country's gross mistreatment of Native Americans. Read more about that at Reuters.

Meanwhile, as I write about this, I'm listening to what is most likely the final Johnny Cash album, American VI: Ain't No Grave.  Producer Rick Rubin may well have saved the best of the American Recordings sessions for last.

GREAT REVIEW OF JOHNNY CASH: AMERICAN VI: AIN'T NO GRAVE

I just got my digital copy of Johnny Cash's American VI: Ain't No Grave, but I haven't digested it yet. I'll be talking about it next Thursday night on SIRIUS XM's The Catholic Channel's Busted Halo Show, and at some point on OutQ's The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick as well. But there's a really moving article/review of the album at the LA Times, which discusses the difference between that album and American V: A Hundred Highways.  Check it out.

BLACK CELEBRATION: JOHNNY CASH'S BIRTHDAY

There is an official facebook group organizing people who want to celebrate the 78th anniversary of the birth of Johnny Cash on February 26. The page was put together by Lost Highway Records, as part of the promotion behind behind Johnny's final album, American VI: Ain't No Grave. The facebook page is also having a contest: if you post pictures of yourself wearing black, you are entered into a contest to win the new album, as well as the 5 CD box set, Unearthed, collecting tons of unreleased gems from Johnny's American Recordings era. It is a really awesome box set, I have it, it's totally worth getting.

JOHNNY CASH'S FINAL ALBUM DUE FEBRUARY 26

A few weeks ago, I wrote about rumors of Johnny Cash's final album, American VI: Ain't No Grave. Looks like that's the name of the album, and here's the cover, it comes out on February 26 on what would have been The Man In Black's 78th birthday. These songs were recorded during the same sessions that yielded American V: A Hundred Highways.  He knew these songs would be his last ones.  It gives a lot of weight to songs on American V like "God's Gonna Cut You Down." I imagine this album will be similarly heavy. Like that album, this one features Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of The Heartbreakers.  Some of the songs: Sheryl Crow's "Redemption Day," Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times," Queen Lili'uokalani's "Aloha Oe," and one of the last songs Cash wrote himself, "I Corinthians 15:55." I think Johnny Cash's American Recordings albums were phenomonal, and I'm glad that we're getting the chance to hear all of the sessions.

BEST OF THE 00's: RICK RUBIN

I have often expressed admiration of Rick Rubin 's production skills. If I were a producer, I'd like to be like him: hip-hop, metal, funk, punk, country, singer-songwriters, nothing is off limits, and he proved that again in the '00s.

He remained close collaborator of Johnny Cash, producing American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around in the early years of the decade. I would argue that Cash's American series of albums are nearly as good as anything he'd ever done, obviously American IV's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" was one of the greatest moments of an incredible career. Rick also curated the incredible Unearthed box set, allowing fans to hear some of the incredible things that didn't make the American albums. He's also been the keeper of the Cash flame, releasing American V: A Hundred Highways, which featured "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (and now there's word that 2010 will see the final album from the American sessions, American VI: Ain't No Grave.

Rick started working with Tom Morello, who certainly was paying attention to Rubin's rap/rock/metal hybrids in the '80s. Rubin produced Rage Against The Machine's final album, the all-covers Renegades, as well as their posthumously released live album, Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium (which turned out to be the band's final shows before reuniting years later). Rubin hooked Morello and Rage mates Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk up with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell and produced the first Audioslave album.

One of Rick's supposed talents is to discover new talent, and I don't know how much he's done that in the past decade, but one band he did work with early on is System Of A Down, who are one of the best metal bands around (even though they seem to be on hiatus at the moment). Rick signed them to his American Recordings, and has produced their albums, including (this decade) Toxicity (which, bizarely, hit #1 on 9/11), Steal This Album! and Hypnotize and Mesmerize.  Another younger band in the heavy guitar category he worked with The Mars Volta on their De-Loused In The Comatorium album.

He remained the go-to guy for The Red Hot Chili Peppers (having worked with them ever since 1991's BloodSugarSexMagik), producing the excellent By The Way and the maybe-too-long double album Stadium Arcadium. I really hope they work with him on the next one, which will be their first since guitarist John Frusciante quit (again).

He briefly returned to hip-hop, producing a cover of Ice-T's "99 Problems" for Jay-Z's "final" record, The Black Album. It may be Jay's finest moment. Less successful was his "Better Than I Ever Been" track that he produced for Nike, featuring Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One (DJ Premier later did a better remix which also featured Rakim).

Rubin also veered closer to the mainstream, producing Shakria's Oral Fixation albums, which included her huge hit collaboration with Wyclef Jean, "Hips Don't Lie." There was also The Dixie Chicks' album Taking The Long Way featuring the classic "Not Ready To Make Nice." And he tried to give Neil Diamond a new credibility by doing some American Recordings type stripped down albums with him. He also worked with Weezer, Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan on his first solo album, a new-ish Americana-type band called The Avett Brothers who I need to write more about, and The Gossip. And of course, Metallica's triumphant comeback album, Death Magnetic. He also produced some tracks with U2, but the full album he worked on with them remains in the vaults.  And he is apparently working with Crosby Stills & Nash and ZZ Top at the moment. Will he discover more LL Cool J's, Run-D.M.C.s, Public Enemys, Slayers and System of a Downs in the '00s? That's what will be interesting to see.

JOHNNY CASH - AMERICAN VI?

I read on Rolling Stone (who read it on Twenty-Four Bit) that Amazon is now listing an import version of Johnny Cash's American VI: Ain't No Grave, with a release date of February 23. A few years ago I interviewed John Carter Cash, Johnny's son, who said that there were probably two albums of material from the Rick Rubin sessions left. Twenty-Four Bit has the (possible) tracklist, of particular interest to me was "For The Good Times," a song written by Kris Kristofferson and covered by Al Green.

Other than Bob Dylan, who dissed Cash's American Recordings series in a recent Rolling Stone interview, I don't know anyone who doesn't like what Rick Rubin did with The Man In Black.  I love those albums, and look forward to hearing this one - maybe the last word on a great American artist.

33 1/3's "CHOSEN ELEVEN"

I've written a bit about the 33 1/3 series of books before -- I was totally moved by the edition on Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality -- and they've just announced the next eleven books they will be putting out. Congratulations to everyone whose idea was picked. I may try to submit something next time.

Some great albums will be featured: Portishead's Dummy, Johnny Cash's American Recordings (which Bob Dylan just ripped in his recent Rolling Stone interview, but whatever, they were awesome), Television's Marquee Moon, Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville, AC/DC's Highway To Hell, Radiohead's Kid A and The Rolling Stones' Some Girls (one of my favorites by them, it's the first album with Ron Wood as a real member of the band).

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: GREAT LIVE PERFORMANCES

This week I'll be talking about great live performances that fall into two categories: one - performances that have been released before and two - performances that haven't.

In the previously released category is U2's Under A Blood Red Sky, a classic EP that introduced the band's live power to America. Then there's Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison, one of his two concert sets recorded in front of a captive audience. And Roy Orbison's A Black And White Night Live, the TV special that re-introduced him to the public, and which featured Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, and Elvis Costello among others in the backing band.

Some of Otis Redding's Live In Paris and London was released on Live In Europe, but this contains full concerts. You can't beat the power of Otis in 1967. The Clash's Live At Shea Stadium is a classic (if you've seen the live video for "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," it's from that show), and I've already raved about Tori Amos Live At Montreaux 1991-1992.

SPEAKING OF JOHNNY CASH...

Well, there's more going on in the world of Johnny Cash than goofy pop stars trying to attach the man's name to John McCain's campaign for four more years of bush.

His record label is reissuing the classic Johnny Cash At Folsom Prision. Again! This version will include the entire first show (including a bunch of previously-unreleased tracks), the entire second show (most of which is previousl-unreleased) and a DVD with a documentary. It comes out September 30.

This is one of the greatest "live" albums ever. It is really powerful. Cash goes to the prison not to glorify crime or to judge the criminals. He knew that, in other conditions, he could have been one of them. Folsom wasn't Cash's only prison concert: he also played San Quentin where an incarcerated Merle Haggard saw him. After doing his time and serving his debt to society, Merle became a singer, which worked out pretty well for him.

Can you imagine the flak Cash would get from stupid news pundits if he performed in a prison today?

ROSEANNE CASH SMACKS DOWN THAT LITTLE GUY IN BIG & RICH

Good for Roseanne Cash. After John Rich of the goofy country duo Big & Rich said that Johnny Cash (who really avoided affiliating himself with political parties, and who played for Democratic and Republican White Houses) would endorse John McCain, she responded on her blog.

She said: "It is appalling to me that people still want to invoke my father’s name, five years after his death, to ascribe beliefs, ideals, values and loyalites to him that cannot possibly be determined, and to try to further their own agendas by doing so. I knew my father pretty well, at least better than some of those who entitle themselves to his legacy and his supposed ideals, and even I would not presume to say publicly what I ‘know’ he thought or felt."

By the way, her last album Black Cadillac was pretty great.

THIS WEEK'S COOL RELEASES

#1 on my list: the Into The Wild soundtrack, which is essentially an Eddie Vedder solo album. The film, directed by Sean Penn, is (I think) based on a true story about a guy who left life behind to live in the wilderness. It would be worth seeing without the music, but Eddie's music makes it an "event" movie (at least according to my definition of the term). I heard a rumor that the other Pearl Jam guys were pissed that Eddie did a solo record, but I doubt that that rumor is true: Pearl Jam has been kept vital thanks to the fact that all the other guys have had solo projects. I've always been a huge fan of the band and of Eddie, although he seems a bit obsessed with being accepted by indie-rock fans, which is a bit silly because (a) most of them aren't going to like him/Pearl Jam based on critieria that has nothing to do with music and (b) most of the big indie rock bands of the moment (and few of them last more than a few moments) are lame. Yes, Fugazi were an indie band - but they put an incredible amount of effort into their music: most indie bands sound like they can't be bothered. Anyway, I'm really excited to hear this album.

There's a DVD coming out featuring segments from Johnny Cash's TV show from the '70s, including performances by Louis Armstrong, Neil Young and Ray Charles. That will be worth whatever they charge for it.

There's an(other) Emmylou Harris box set coming out. I remember one came out over ten years ago: but this one is more about rarities, with some of her album tracks thrown in. I became a huge fan with her 1995 classic, Wrecking Ball, she is truly one of the greats. I'll probably have to splurge on this one.

There's an(other) Nuggets box set coming out. The first one, of course, was an expanded version of the 1972 compilation, that collected out-of-print garage rock songs from the '60s. The box set re-release came out in 1998 - Rhino Records did an amazing job with this, giving lots of people (myself included) a great education in garage rock. They soon followed with Nuggets II - the first one was all American bands, II was all non-American bands (mainly from the U.K.) and that was an awesome collection as well. Two years ago they put out Children Of Nuggets, which was basically garage rock from the '80s. I still haven't gotten that one: box sets cost way too much. It's on the top of my list. This week, they're releasing San Francisco Nuggets, which seems more hippie music than garage rock, so I don't think I'll pick that one up.

Here's one not to miss: Mary Gauthier's new album. Her last album, Mercy Now, was extremely powerful. The woman knows the blues. Actually, I'm looking forward to her album as much as I am Eddie Vedder's. She's not well known, but rest assured, based on her last album, she belongs in No Expiration.

Oh yeah, and a new album of songs from The Simpsons. It always amazes me that they come up with such catchy songs for the show. But then again, it is like, the best comedy of all time.