Lucinda Williams with special guest Tim Easton. El Rey Theater – Los Angeles – March 31, 2006.

Tim Easton opened the show with guitars; harmonicas and some electronic contraption that turned his foot beat into a drumbeat. I am always impressed by the pure honesty that a single musician brings on stage, letting loose their spirit. Tim’s harmonica playing was without bluster, sweet juice added to his own compositions, his guitar, footwork and even a little whistling making for a pleasurable opening act. It’s always difficult to fully appreciate an artist at first impression, not with Tim’s performance – “Next To Youâ€_ was a well-crafted and performed song. “Lexington Jailâ€_ and “All the Pretty Girls are leaving Townâ€_ – were other great moments in his set. He ended his set with a political tune – “Jesus Save Me from your followersâ€_. I definitely will buy his new album in May when it is released on New West Records. Of course with Lucinda Williams joining in on one his songs on the new album (she announced this during her set) is an added bonus.
Lucinda Williams came out about 10:30 with Doug Pettibone and played an incredible acoustical set. “Fruits of My Laborâ€_, my personnel favorite by Lucinda, was the thirds song of the set and “Blueâ€_, another one of my favorites was the second. Doug Pettibone is an exceptional counterpoint to Lucinda; sweet guitar picking that makes her lyrics potent. Lucinda introduced 5 new songs from her new set of 25 newly written songs, two of which we had heard at her Grove performance. The new song “Knowingâ€_ was incredible and had my eyes tearing up, as did the new song “Unsuffer Meâ€_. Wow. What a great evening. “Pineolaâ€_, “Three Daysâ€_, “Lake Charlesâ€_, “Joyâ€_, “Essenceâ€_, “People Talkin’”, “Righteouslyâ€_, “Sweet Sideâ€_, “Tears of Joyâ€_ (a new song that she says is her first love song), “Get Right With Godâ€_ (accompanied by Tim Easton and Katie) for the encore. She had Tim join her and Doug for the final song of the set – Tim played a mean guitar accompaniment to “Joyâ€_. Lucinda kept asking the audience to forgive her but she wanted to try out some of her new songs, myself I would have loved it if she played just new music – but I’ll take the great songs she did play. Of course there are those songs I would have liked to hear – “Venturaâ€_ and “Bus Ride to Baton Rougeâ€_, but it was an exceptional evening of friends playing music to an adoring crowd. Lucinda said that Hal Wilner will be producing her newest album – I think that will be a great addition to the growing list of Lucinda CDs.
Surprisingly to me and I am sure the rest of the audience was Lucinda’s revelation that she has such a hard time getting other artists and record labels to use her music. It must be quiet disheartening to know you have great words and music to share with the world and it is turned into a money issue by the publishers and agents who control what is heard. It’s no wonder songstresses like Joni Mitchell and Marianne Faithful have lost faith in the music industry. The major labels are afraid of offending the masses. My question is when does honest emotion become offensive. Heartfelt lyrics, songs, paintings, performances need to be added to the mix, not this mindless chatter that is foisted upon everyone everyday. It would be a sorry day if we were to only have music that didn’t offend or didn’t use words that aren’t PC okay. Although not a big fan of hip hop and rap, I would rather have it than the censored music of the powers that be. Recent Music Purchases Worth Listening To: Girl Group Sounds: Lost and Found: an incredible collection of fun time music – teenage love and pathos wrapped up in four CDs in a black and white striped hat box. The box design alone is enough reason to buy and the music inside just gets you all fun time oriented. Riverside Jazz: Keynote recordings from 1953-1964: Thelonious Monk, Jonny Lytle Trio, Mongo Santamaria, Yusef lateef, Charlie Byrd, Coannonball Adderly with Milt Jackson, Wynton Kelly, Wes Montgomery, The Jonny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Quintet, Milt Jackson & West Montgomery, Thelonious Monk Quartet and John Coltrane, Bill Evans David Bowie: Stage: A great addition to our Bowie collection Brotherhood: The Isley Brothers: Some all time hits here – recently saw the Isley Brothers at Spotlight 29 in Indio, CA – it was a really great concert, the music was fun and exhuberant. Sergio Mendes: Timeless: not everything on this CD is great but there are some great pieces of music here, Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, John Legend Sam Cooke: Portrait of a Legend: 1951-1964: I love Little Red Rooster, Summertime and Another Saturday Night Got a Feeling Called the Blues: Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker – what can I say Jackie Wilson: Baby Workout, Doggin’ Around Lucinda Williams: Sweet Old World: All i can say is definitely need to buy her entire collection, these songs just go to your heart. Her voice has changed over the years. Rosanne Cash: Black CadillacThis is what good music is about. Rosanne is another musician that doesn’t get noticed often. To bad – she make really sweet songs and her voice is one of those voices that stay with you long after listening to her. I find myself already humming tunes off of this CD. Elvis Costello: Live with the Mtropole Orkest: My Flame Burns Blue: Interesting music from Mr. C. the jazz inflections and twists that he has put to his songs are worth a few turns on the CD table and the bonus “Il Sogno Suite” is interesting, probably will grow on my much like the Billie Joel excursion into classical music. Teddy Thompson: Separate Ways:Well I bought this album because Amazon said people listening to Rufus Wainwright were buying Mr. Thompson’s CD. Well there isn’t much comparison between the two singers other than both are male and both sing. The music is stripped down and emotional, but I for one often think that Rufus’ music is optomistic and Mr. Thompson’s music seems to be filled with remorse. Not that I don’t like it but I just don’t find it part of my life. The music is good – don’t get me wrong, so are the lyrics, She Wants Revenge:She Wants Revenge: Well this one is on my heavy rotation list right now. Perfect songs for driving to and has that great early eighties bar sound. Out of Control is my definite favorite reminding me of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love. The other songs are a bit dark, but as Lucinda said Friday night: “We all have our dark side and we should celebrate it”. Tear You Apart and These Things are also great.