For the Edification of Rev Jim
I happened to notice on Rev. Jim's profile that he likes them damn (grin) jam bands. For mainly for you, Jim, to broaden your musical horizons, not to mention introduce you to the Greatest Living Performing Rock Band on the Planet, Drive-by Truckers , I present you with a few nuggets that can also be found in the archives.
If it helps to "sell" you on this band, their manager also handles another favorite band of yours, them String Cheese guys. And Widespread Panic are friends of Drive-by Truckers also. Actually helped them finance one of their earlier records, because they're nice guys like that.
And just to upsell these fantastic musicians and songwriters a tad more, the folks at Jack Daniel's Distilleries thought enough of them to put them on Blaney's race car for a Cup Race in 2005. I'd like to tell you who the "other, much more famous band" who got "bumped" offa that ride was, but the statute of limitations ain't up yet.
I'm a tad too closely affiliated with their music to make reasonable recommendations for a new fan, but maybe Rankin' Rob or Alastair can steer you one way or another.
One thing is for sure, you need to get a copy of their song "Steve McQueen" - an homage to all the things most of us hold dear. Lyrics below, with my favorite lines highlighted.
STEVE MCQUEEN
Steve McQueen Steve McQueen
When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be
Steve McQueen Steve McQueen
The coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen
I’d drive real fast everywhere no one would ever catch me
and I’d kick your ass if you pissed me off so be careful what you ask me
and I’d never have an empty bottle or an empty bed
and as cool as Paul Newman is I bet Steve could whup his head
Steve McQueen............................
Bullitt was my favorite movie that I’d ever seen
I totaled my go-cart trying to imitate that chase scene
That Duster had six hubcaps, know what I mean
and I love the way they all flew off when it landed in that ravine
Steve McQueen............................
I really loved The Getaway back when I was eight
that pussy Alec Baldwin sucked in the remake
and speaking of pussy, I guess Steve got it all
He fucked Faye Dunaway and he fucked Ali McGraw
Steve McQueen Steve McQueen
When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be
Steve McQueen Steve McQueen
The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen
(yee-haw)
(suddenly the scene turns slow and somber, as a campfire harp plays in the background)
I went to see The Hunter on my first date
The Hunter was the last movie Steve McQueen lived to make
They took my drivers license when I was just sixteen
the year Mesothelioma killed Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen Steve McQueen
When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be
Steve McQueen Steve McQueen
The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen
(yee-haw)
lyrics by Patterson Hood
music by Drive-by Truckers (Cooley, Hood, Howell, Lane, Neff, Stacy)
©1998 Soul Dump Music
dedicated to my grandfather W. M. Patterson
(Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos. It’s mortality rate is known to be extremely high.)
_________
I should also add that The Drive-by Truckers have written one of the greatest racing songs ever, that being Daddy's Cup - and songwriter Mike Cooley was given the deck lid of one of those #07 cars as a gift from Richard Childress himself. Signed by Dave Blaney. I believe he uses it as a headboard in his master bedroom.
posted by The Dixie Butcher at 8:49 AM
7 Comments:
Every time I see a picture of that car it just blows my mind and puts a big grin on my face. Blaney might actually make a run at the Busch title this year if Carl Edwards starts wrecking out.
True story:
2004 - I was flying back from the United Nations General Assembly in NYC and the guy in the seat in front of me was telling the guy beside him how he was working on trying to get NASCAR to allow JD to put a logo on one of the cars.
The other guy was incredulous. I like to think that I was there when history was made.
J.
P.S. Steve McQueen is the a good song, but Patterson makes it great by being the only person in the history of rock & roll to ever use the word " "mesothelioma" in a song lyric.
Dixie is 100% on the money Rev Jim. DBT rock.
S'funny, I bowled into my local indie record store in 04, bored and in need of some new soul filler and was given 'The Dirty South' to listen to. Being a NASCAR fan and lyric sheet reader I went straight for "Daddy's Cup".
I was pretty much instantly hooked, bought the digi-pak disc with the cool art (oh baby, that art) and headed straight home for a proper listen.
By the time we'd got to "Puttin' People on the Moon" DBT had a new fan, but holy of holies "Cottonseed" got them a lifetime devotee. It's that good.
"Guns and drugs and whores and booze"
From my little white trash upbringing here on the bottom of the world their lyrics spoke to me far more than any band ever had. Three years later and having collected all their albums there is not a day go by that one of them isn't in my car or home stereo.
And I'm still finding new gems. I've recently fallen in love with 'Southern Rock Opera' - that's taken three years, but well worth it.
"I've got 350 heads on a 305 engine, I get 10 miles to the gallon, I ain't got no good intentions".
Another band I'd highly recommend would be Alabama 3 (ironically an English band) and their album 'Last Train to Mashville' - an acoustic record that includes a version of their song from the intro to 'The Sopranos' - "Woke up this morning, got myself a gun".
Great southern rock!! Thanks for the intro. I actually found DBT music and downloaded a few tunes.
Happy Easter
Jinxy: You sure as shit did witness history in the making. Don't you love it when that happens?
"Mesothelioma" is genius, but one of me n Cecil's favorite genius rhymes is from "Shriekback"'s "Nemesis". Cuz it's also hard to fit "parthenogenisis" into a song. :)
RaceFan57- thanks for trusting us, and thanks for being part of the rock.
ABAT: I did a little singin' on that Southern Rock Opera - my fav. is at the end of "Wallace". How Earl Hicks got three pasty white, red-headed girls to sound that big and black is beyond me....
As for "Cottonseed" - some kind soul sent us a video of a DBT Halloween show where the band dressed as their "skeletal characters" the way Wes draws them.
When Cooley does "Cottonseed", he is just about the scariest looking motherfucker on earth.
Without makeup, he is simply "the scariest motherfucker on Earth". (grin)
Hey Dixie,
Don't want to sound like a fanboy or nothing. But that is pretty damned impressive.
I've been listening to 'Southern Rock Opera' quite a bit lately. Wicked.
I go through different phases and usually have at least one DBT disc in my player, usually a Clutch one and some Johnny Cash. The other three discs are on a higher rotation. Over Summer I've been listening to a fair bit of New Zealand reggae and dub and Roky Erikson.
Dixie, I am very sorry that it took me so long to find this post.
Unfortunately, because I live in what is partly a motel, which still uses the common phone lines and cable service of the motel, I cannot go online from home, and have to use the public library computer to do so. (The Libertarian in me is placated by the fact that it is the Gates foundation, not the federal government that provides the service). However, I cannot download or listen to songs on the public computer.
I am interested in listening to Drive-by Trucker, and will do my best to get a copy of their music. It says a lot that Widespread Panic, another great band, supported them.
Thank you for posting this...sorry it took so long to get here.
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