Men in black

* Johnny Cash, the man in black.

+ Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

* Loquillo (Bunbury y Calamaro), hombres de negro.

+ Voy de negro y te preguntas el por qué
porque no visto otros colores sé muy bien
que mi apariencia puede resultar sombría y gris
tengo razones para vestir así

Llevo el negro por los pobres y también
por los vencidos puestos contra la pared
Lo llevo por el preso,
que paga el sueldo de
una ley hecha a medida del poder.

Llevo el negro por aquellos que jamás
hicieron caso a Cristo al proclamar
que existe un camino de Amor y de Piedad
hablo claro, tú me entenderás

Voy de negro por la injusta soledad
de los viejos y los que acabarán
fríos como piedras después de cabalgar
mientras alguien se hace rico en su sofá

Voy de negro por el joven que caerá
en la guerra creyendo tener detrás
a Dios y a su madre de su lado
y no es verdad.
es la carne del juego de un general

Sé que hay cosas que nunca estarán bien
pero nada es imposible mírame
yo canto esta canción
¿ que puedes hacer tú ?
Mira hacia dentro y carga con tu cruz

Quiero enseñar un arco iris al cantar
pero en mi espalda cae la oscuridad
y hasta que la luz no brille de verdad
voy de negro, de negro me verás.

The Blue Ridge Rangers rides again

+ John Fogerty is going to release his new album, entitled "John Fogerty and The Blue Ridge Rangers rides again". Check out his page to listen to John and Bruce Springsteen cover a Everly Brothers' wonderful tune "When will I be loved".

+ The track list includes songs from Buck Owens, Ray Price, Rickie Nelson and other great artists:

* Paradise (John Prine)
* Never Ending Song of Love (Bonnie Bramett/Delaney Bramlett)
* Garden Party (Rick Nelson)
* I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me) (Buck Owens)
* Back Home Again (John Denver)
* I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) (Ray Price/Rusty Gabbard)
* Change in the Weather (John Fogerty)
* Moody River (Gary Bruce)
* Heaven’s Just a Sin Away (Jerry Gillespie)
* Fallin’ Fallin’ Fallin’ (D. Deckleman/J. Guillot/J.D. Miller)
* Haunted House (Robert L.Geddins)
* When Will I Be Loved (Phil Everly)

+ Sure you know it is great!

The Boxmasters

+ Billy Bob Thornton, the actor behind so many excellent films (not including Bad Santa), plays good old rockabilly with his group The Boxmasters. Their modern mix is irresistible!

+ Two good records (The Boxmasters and Modbilly) are there for you to know them.

* Listen to Poor house.

Reno’s sparkling ahead honey I thought I’d give you a call.
I’m looking for tomorrow to be sunny in the midst of this snowfall.
I let you and the kids down for way too long now,
I’m hoping to turn our life around if I can just figure out how.

I’m working on a plan to save our home
Keep us outta the poor house, pay off those loans
I’m working on a plan to save our home
Keep us outta the poor house, and I won’t do it stoned.

I’ll sit with the grannies at the nickel machines
and pull handles til my hands are blue
I’ll do just about anything to bring a future home to you
I put down the Pales and liquor
You know I tried to keep a job
I just think this’d be quicker
If I could win a little off the mob

I’m working on a plan to save our home
Keep us outta the poor house, pay off those loans
I’m working on a plan to save our home
Keep us outta the poor house, now that I’m not stoned.

Well my plan didn’t work exactly honey, but I do have a little good news:
I’m not bringing home any money, but I didn’t turn back the booze.
I guess it’s back to the drawing board, ideas are starting to brew
I’m bringing back all I can afford and that’s love to the kids and you.

I’m working on a plan to save our home
Keep us outta the poor house, pay off those loans
I’m working on a plan to save our home
Keep us outta the poor house, and build a house of stone

* Or listen to Turn it over.

+ Great Billy!

Zac Brown Band, country and pride

+ Listen to this, today it's friday. We are not in the USA, but in Murcia. It's steaming, hot as hell, but tonight:

You know I like my chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up

* Listen to Zac Brown Band and imagine listening to the radio while drinking cold beer and eating, well, fried chicken (or lamb or whatever you fancy).

Rodney Crowell, master

+ Why this man does not have about the same recognition as Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, for instance, is a mistery to me.

+ His most recent work, sex and gasoline, is another gem of wonderful songs with soulful lyrics.

+ The album, follower of the spirit of his recent records, since The Houston Kid in 2001, Fate's right hand in 2003 and The Outsider in 2005. Get to know him before it's late.

Raul Malo, he's a lucky one

+ Soon, a review of cuban-american musician Raul Malo, leader of the great The Mavericks.

+ Raul Malo’s Fantasy Records label debut album, Lucky One, finds him fully shedding his musical shackles. “I have been fighting my whole life against people who want to pigeonhole music. I feel like I’ve got no restrictions anymore.” Malo is known for his work as the frontman of the Grammy Award-winning, globally platinum- and gold-certified band the Mavericks. Following two albums of covers, Lucky One is Malo’s first album original material in seven years.

+ Malo has earned much critical respect over the years. USA Today applauded “a voice that seems to have no limits of range or versatility.” The New York Times said, “Malo has an exceptional voice, a burnished tenor that harks back to Roy Orbison and the great Cuban singer Beny Moré.” Rolling Stone added, “Raul Malo has a voice on par with the best of ‘em: Sinatra, George Jones and Orbison.” And The Wall Street Journal opined: “Malo’s superb voice is big and melodic with a natural vibrato. Exquisite.”

+ Malo wrote Lucky One over a two-year period at his Nashville home and was so happy with the results that several of his home demos appear as final versions on the CD. For the balance of the album, he once again enlisted Steve Berlin, best known for his work with Los Lobos and who worked on Malo’s 2001 Today album, as co-producer. “I trust Steve musically,” Malo says. “Art comes first with him. That’s the most important quality of all. Nothing gets in the way of that.” Lucky One follows You’re Only Lonely and After Hours, two CDs of cover songs written by Malo’s favorite tunesmiths including Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson and Roger Miller. "How could that not influence my songwriting on Lucky One?” Malo asks. “It certainly had an effect on how I wrote for this. There’s an appreciation for song structure, melody and lyric that these guys certainly had.” Songs on Lucky One range from the upbeat “Moonlight Kiss,” to songs like “One More Angel” and “Rosalie,” which take on mortality and the loss of life. “Hello Again” is a deceptively upbeat, swinging tale of heartbreak, and the closing track “So Beautiful” is an ultimately uplifting benediction influenced by events in and outside Malo’s home.

* Listen to lucky one.
* Listen to for you.
Listen to The Mavericks:
* Listen to hot burrito #1.
* Listen to dance the night away.
* Listen to Dolores.
* Listen to someone should tell her.

I wanna do bad things with you

* Jace Everett - Bad Things.

I wanna do bad things with you.

When you came in the air went out.
And every shadow filled up with doubt.
I don't know who you think you are,
But before the night is through,
I wanna do bad things with you.

I'm the kind to sit up in his room.
Heart sick an' eyes filled up with blue.
I don't know what you've done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.

When you came in the air went out.
And all those shadows there filled up with doubt.
I don't know who you think you are,
But before the night is through,
I wanna do bad things with you.
I wanna do real bad things with you.
Ow, ooh.

I don't know what you've done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.
I wanna do real bad things with you.

The great lost Cash's concert

+ It is strange. Now some intrepid workers managed to get Johnny Cash's home completely burnt, The cause is unknown, but Steele said the flames spread quickly because construction workers had recently applied a flammable wood preservative to the exterior of the house. The preservative was also being applied inside the house. No workers were injured, but one firefighter was slightly hurt while fighting the fire.

+ They did a ring of fire, in five minutes everything was gone. Everything?. No, not at all, my friend. Now you have an excellent piece of live Cash's music. In Asbury Park, NJ, in 1990.

+ I could not get the whole history about how they decided to recover this musical gem. But, I tell you it is worth the work. The man in black performs some 13 years before his passing, still in perfect shape with his band, including his son John Carter Cash and his second wife, beloved June Carter. With June, they do a great Jackson, energetic, rough voice, trading verses with Johnny.

* I'm gonna Jackson, look out Jackson town!

+ So, this record is really a must. In fact, how many live records do you think Cash did?. Ok, one?. You bet!.

+ Please, listen to some audio from The Great Lost Performance:

* Walk The Line.

* Ring Of Fire.