ten mini-stories. Dancing the “Cornmeal Waltz” to a fiddle driven honky tonk band, and “El Coyote” is a Tex-Mex tune I would have loved to hear the great Marty Robbins sing. Not that Guy does it badly his own self. “Heroes” is one of the best cuts on the record, all about a war hero and all the crap these sol- diers end up carrying with them for life, pro- vided they make it back home. Also of note is “The Death of Sis Draper,” one of Clark’s great character studies. (One of my favorites was “Arizona Star” sev- eral years back). A great acoustic album with tasty fiddle, amazing songs... And speaking of great song writing, Nashville’s Marshall Chapman has deliv- ered one of her finest al- bums ever with Blaze of Glory (Tall Girl), her 13th record. “I Don’t Want Nobody” is a fun rocker, and the title track, “Blaze of Glory” is a moody, introspec- tive tune that begs to be played again. In fact, the whole album is so well produced, it is just easy on the ear, and the songs are all well written. “Love in the Wind” finds Marshall in duet with Todd Snider. Very cool. Of course, my favorite track is one she wrote for her brother, “Call The Llamas.” It is one of those songs that just makes you smile. I have writ- ten so much about my friend Marshall over the years, I somehow feel as though I have run out of adjectives to describe how great her music is. What can I say? Trust me folks, Marshall is the real deal, and this may well be her finest piece of work yet...Who doesn’t love John Fogerty? On his latest, I Wrote a Song for Everyone (Vanguard), the former Credence Clearwater Revival front man turns in a record that is a true celebration of his
songs, finding Fogerty in duet with some of his friends on classic CCR numbers. Among the highlights, Fogerty and Bob Seger deliver a righteous version of “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” (Is it just me, or does the beginning sound like “Against the Wind?”) Then there’s a smoking “Fortunate Son” with Foo Fighters, and a mighty soulful “Proud Mary” with Jen- nifer Hudson singing and Allen Toussaint on piano with The Re- birth Brass Band. Nice. “Almost Satur- day Night” with Keith Urban; “Wrote a Song for Everyone” with Miranda Lambert and Tom Morello; and “Born on the Bayou” are just a few of the excellent tracks here. And our boys The Zac Brown Band turn in an excellent rendition of “Bad Moon Rising” with John. Of course, with all this talent, Fogerty manages to
still steal the show. After all, there are no guest stars on the single release from the album, “Mystic River,” and boy oh boy is it ever a good one. I still remember all those years when some bullshit contract prohibited Fogerty from performing his own classic songs. Thank God that is all behind him, be- cause nobody, not even Alan Jackson, Dawes or My Morning Jacket can do ‘em like John - although they all sound great doing them with him... Delbert & Glen’s Blind, Crip- pled & Crazy (New West) finds Delbert Mc- Clinton and Glen Clark recording together for the first time in over 25 years, and the re- sults are pretty darn excellent. Of course, the guys don’t shy away from the fact that they are not spring chickens any more. Like on the fun romp, “Been Around a Long Time,” and “Sure Feels Good Being Me,” my personal fa-
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