Tidy Tunes 2019 #18/28 Sermon - Mercury Rev feat. Margo Price

Sermon - Mercury Rev feat. Margo Price
from the album 

'Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited'
Bella Union/Partisan Records
Released 8th February 2019



Listen To The Album Click Here.

Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited 

Tracklist:
01. Okolona River Bottom Band (feat. Norah Jones)
02. Big Boss Man (feat. Hope Sandoval)
03. Reunion (feat. Rachel Goswell)
04. Parchman Farm (feat. Carice van Houten)
05. Mornin’ Glory (feat. Laetitia Sadier)
06. Sermon (feat. Margo Price)
07. Tobacco Road (feat. Susanne Sundfør)
08. Penduli Pendulum (feat. Vashti Bunyan w/ Kaela Sinclair)
09. Jessye’ Lisabeth (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
10. Refractions (feat. Marissa Nadler)
11. Courtyard (feat. Beth Orton)
12. Ode To Billie Joe (feat. Lucinda Williams)
 

Louisianna Man is the only track from the Bobbie Gentry album that Mercury Rev did not include on the album, in it's place they included the Ode To Billie Joe. I'm not sure the reason behind that decision.

There are some more links below to check out to enjoy even more music.

The Delta Sweete - Bobby Gentry
Capitol Records
Produced by Kelly Gordon
Released 5th February 1968
US Chart #132

A1 Okolona River Bottom Band 2:57
A2 Big Boss Man 2:56
A3 Reunion 2:35
A4 Parchman Farm 3:00
A5 Mornin' Glory 2:57
A6 Sermon 2:41
B1 Tobacco Road 2:50
B2 Penduli Pendulum 2:55
B3 Jessye' Lisabeth 3:00
B4 Refractions 2:20
B5 Louisiana Man 2:35
B6 Courtyard 2:58

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In a press release, Margo Price said of Bobby Gentry's craft and career:

"Bobbie Gentry is one of the greatest writers and performers of our time. She was the definition of country funk and southern soul. Her songs were well crafted, literary masterpieces. Bobbie produced so much of her own work that she didn’t get credit for. Her influence on my music has been massive and her influence on the music world in general is earth shattering. Bobbie is iconic, original, eloquent and timeless. She is an elusive wonder in a world of plain spoken, worn out cliques. She has remained a strong voice and an eternal spirit of the delta, wrapped in mystery, yet forever here."

Remaking a classic album is something that doesn't always appeal to me but down through the years there has been a couple that grabbed my attention: Billy Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones covering The Everly Brothers 1958 album 'Songs Our Daddy Taught Us' back in 2014 with the title 'Foreverly', was pretty interesting. Camper Van Beethoven's take on Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk' was another I found quite delightful. Also the Various Artist take on Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' entitled 'Dead Man's Town: A Tribute To Born in the U.S.A.' was pretty cool as well. I'm sure there must be some others out there worth listening to.

Anyway, Indie Rock band Mercury Rev have returned with their first album since 'The Light In You' (2015) and it's a remake (bar the one track that I mentioned above) of Bobbie Gentry's 1968 album The Delta Sweete. Each track features a different female vocalist  and I have to say I was more than impressed with it. Hope you enjoy listening to it today and hopefully you'll take some time to listen to the original as well which is also posted above.

Soundtrack4Life: The Best Albums of 2017 - #05 All American Made - Margo Price (2017)

The debut album from Margo Price, Midwest Farmer's Daughter was released on Jack White's Third Man Records in 2016. It gained her a lot of friends even among the critics who were falling over themselves to heap praise upon it (very unusual behaviour indeed especially when you consider it was a Country Album!) and Margo Price joined that rather small band of ladies who make up the Female Wing of The Outlaws of Country Music!

For her second album she went to the Sam Phillips Studio (Phillips Recording) in Memphis with the luxury of having a bit more of a recording budget (see the link for a 2016 Interview below where she discusses the making of the Debut Album that was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis).

Where the Debut had mainly dealt with her own story, All American Made starts to look at the world around and at times it's not a pretty place (yep that's a harsh reality that some of the more popular County music artists don't always shine a spotlight on for fear of standing out from the crowd) and Price is brave enough to stand up and declare.

(This next section is taken from an Interview in Rolling Stone, the link is down below in order to read the rest. Margo talks a little about politics and the reaction to the election result, the title track of the new album and how important it is to speak up):

"Like a lot of America, I was kind of in shock," she tells Rolling Stone Country, calling between tour stops in September. "The songs had already been written up until that point but it did steer it a little bit, especially deciding to put 'All American Made' on it. During the Obama administration was when that song was initially written, but it just took on a completely different meaning after the election."

"All American Made," a largely acoustic number that closes the album, begins with sampled speeches from Bill Clinton, Martin Luther King Jr. and Richard Nixon, among others, mimicking the way messages often get blended into meaningless noise through our relentless news cycles. "Got a heartache on the bottom and a headache on the top / the part of me that hurts the worst is the hardest one to spot," she sings, taking a hard look at the symptoms and causes of American malaise. With no clear solutions, the song takes an unsparing view of the way our disagreements turn into deep chasms – a scene that's played out repeatedly and even violently on many occasions.

"I've always been one to want to discuss those things and try to make our country the best that it can be," says Price. "But it's so many complex and so many ugly, violent things that have been happening. It's really hard to turn a blind eye to that. I think it's important to voice your opinion and, regardless of people who tell me otherwise, I think that's what makes our country beautiful ... our freedom to express our thoughts and views. Our voices are all we have right now, and it's important to use them." - for the full piece from Rolling Stone check the link below Margo Price Talks Politics etc.

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One of the other things I love about the album is that she's prepared to not stick to the script of a typical Country album but is prepared to bring in other musical styles to augment her own particular style.

Her debut appeared in many of The Best of 2016 lists and I hope that this one does also because it's a mighty fine slab of All American Made music.

All American Made - Margo Price

Third Man Records

Produced by Matt Ross-Spang and Alex Munoz

Released 20th October 2017

US Chart #89

US Folk Albums #4

US Indie Chart #6

US Country Chart #12

UK Country Chart #1

Listen to songs from All American Made Here:

 Tracklist
A1 Don't Say It    
A2 Weakness    
A3 A Little Pain    
A4 Learning To Lose (with Willie Nelson)   
A5 Pay Gap    
A6 Nowhere Fast    
B1 Cocaine Cowboys    
B2 Wild Women*    
B3 Heart Of America    
B4 Do Right By Me (with The McCrary Sisters)    
B5 Loner*    
B6 All American Made
* Not on the Playlist above as there seems to be no You Tube videos or performances available.

Margo Price 

Rough Trade East - London 

Tuesday 7th November 2017

Meet Margo Price, Your New Favourite Nashville Badass (The Fader 2016).

Margo Price Talks Politics, Willie Nelson Duet on New LP (Rolling Stone October 2017). 

Jonathan Bernstein's Review for Rolling Stone (October 2017).

Midwest Farmer's Daughter - Margo Price (March 2016)

I always like finding something that's new to my ears and watching The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon I stumbled across Margo Price performing Four Years of Chances.

Although her album has been out since March it's the first time I have heard of her (I seem to have missed her when she played on Later...with Jools Holland earlier in May as well).

I know very little about her seeing that it was only about an hour ago that I watched Fallon and rewatched her clip a few times. 

I think I'm going to investigate further and go and buy the album. For the moment though, if Margo Price is new to your ears also, I hope you enjoy it.

Here's a little bit more info from NPR:

Album Review.

NPR Interview with David Greene.

 Midwest Farmer's Daughter - Margo Price

Third Man Records

Produced by Alex Munoz

Released 25th March 2016

US Billboard 200 Chart #189

US Top Country Albums #10

US Top Independent Albums #11

UK Country Albums #1

On The Playlist

01. Hands of Time - (Pseudo Video)

02. About To Find Out - (Official Audio)

03. Tennessee Song - (Sun Studio Session)

04. Since You Put Me Down - (Promo Video)

05. Four Years of Chances - (Grimey's Instore Performance March 2016) 

06. This Town Gets Around & How The Mighty Have Fallen - (Rough Trade East May 2016)

07. Hurtin' (On the Bottle) - (Promo Video)

Weekender and World's Greatest Loser are not on the playlist as I couldn't find an available version on You Tube. Versions of the songs in the playlist are not necessarily the versions released on the album.

NPR Front Row

SXSW Showcase 

16th March 2016