Five Records With… Patterson Hood

I had the opportunity to interview Patterson Hood about some records that keep him going. I covered his band, the Drive-By Truckers’ latest record The Big To Do here. Five Records is an occasional feature of artists talking about the music that inspires them. Read more of these posts here.

Elton John
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

“When I was a kid, it was Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.I was 8 when I started writing songs and that was 1973. My dad had both of those albums and I played them all the time.Later on Todd Rundgren’s Something/Anything? album and The Clash’s London Calling that sort of set my mind to how it’s done.”

Neil Young
Tonight’s the Night

“I’m obviously a big Neil Young fan and really love Tonight’s The Night. He was best known for making kinda countryish mellow, kinda pleasing music and his mental state deteriorated due to some bad times and instead of pretending it was all right, he followed his muse and made a very difficult album. It sold very poorly at the time but is certainly held as a masterpiece by some of us out there.”

Willie Nelson
Phases and Stages

“I can’t think of any single album that directly related to The Big To Do. A lot of it was written on the road and the stereo on the bus is usually playing some old soul album but when I’ writing I tend to try not to be listening to anything in particular. I have in recent months been listening to a lot of Iron and Wine, Spoon, Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages album and Dylan’s last album but our new album doesn’t sound anything like any of those albums.”

Curtis Mayfield
Superfly

“There’s a lot of songs I really admire but no one could ever write someone else’s song (at least not the songs I tend to love). So much of what makes a song is how the inspiration is filtered through the writers psyche and imagination. I am a really great big admirer of Curtis Mayfield and love how he did the soundtrack/score to Superfly, taking the context of that story and turning it around to suit his own point of view but still being totally true to the subject matter and in the process taking the subject to a much greater and higher artistic height. “Freddies Dead” is a masterpiece.”

Girls
Album

“I’ve been really digging Album by Girls a lot. It’s a really cool album. I’d really like to see them live.”

Patterson Hood – Pollyanna

Posted: April 2nd, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Five Records With… Allison Moorer

I had the chance to ask Allison Moorer a few questions about her favorite records. Her new record Crows comes out February 9th. I covered the first single, “The Broken Girl”, here. Five Records is an occasional feature of artists talking about the music that inspires them. Read more of these posts here.

Tammy Wynette

The Essential Tammy Wynette

“There are so many great records that have influenced me. Tammy Wynette’s Greatest Hits, but also Willie, Waylon, Jessie Colter and Tompall Glaser’s Outlaws and The Jayhawks’ Tomorrow The Green Grass.

Neil Young

Harvest

“Neil is just an all-around great artist — great songwriter, singer, player, and does the work to remain vital even after doing it for so long.”

Joao Gilberto

Getz/Gilberto

“I listened to this record a ton while I was making Crows.”

The Beatles

Help!

“There are many songs I wish I had written!  Can we start with the Beatles Help!? It has “Yesterday” on it.  I’d take that one…“

Grizzly Bear

Veckatimest

“As far as new releases, I’ve been digging this.”

Allison Moorer – Like The Rain

Posted: January 29th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Five Records With… Adam Carroll

I recently spoke with Adam Carroll, a singer/songwriter from Lockhart, TX. He and Michael O’Connor are about to release Hard Times, which I covered here. Five Records is an occasional feature of artists talking about the music that inspires them. Read more of these posts here.

Neil Young

Live Rust

“ When I was 19, I listened to this thing forever, before I started playing guitar. If there was anyone that made me want to get into music, it was Neil.“

Sir Douglas Band

Texas Tornado

“Doug Sahm — He makes San Antonio really cool, which it is. He plays blues, Tejano, just that old style. I really admire that he did what he wanted to. A lot of musicians talk about him, but I dont think he gets enough credit.”

Ernest Tubb

The Legend and the Legacy

“Michael and I were trying to write honky tonk songs while making Hard Times. If you want to call yourself a honky tonk singer, you had better listen to Ernest. He’s not the best singer in the world, but he’s the best at what he does, which is good news for me.”

Kris Kristofferson

Spooky Lady’s Sideshow

“Theres a song called “One For the Money” that he wrote for Sam Peckinpah, that I wish I had written. Also, from the same record, “The Lights of Magdala” is about as good as it gets.“

Scott Nolan

Canadian Amplifier – Bootleg Series Vol. 1

“He does stuff with sound, and this little bitty guitar, that is cooler than anyone I’m hearing. He can do more interesting things with beat up old equipment that new gear can’t recreate. Also a great writer.”

Adam Carroll – Rice Birds

Posted: January 8th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
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