John Prine

Various Artists - Love For Levon. A Benefit To Save The Barn (2012) [2CD+2DVD] {Blackbird}
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© 2012 Blackbird Prod. / StarVista | 20012-X
Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock / Country Rock

Love for Levon was a concert that took place on October 3, 2012 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey as a tribute to the late drummer/singer Levon Helm of The Band. The concert featured a wide variety of musicians who had worked with Helm as well as musicians who were influenced by him. Proceeds from the concert went towards keeping Helm's Woodstock barn in his family's control as well as continuing his Midnight Ramble concert series in the barn. The concert's musical directors were Don Was and Levon Helm collaborator Larry Campbell.

A talk show with Elvis Costello interviewing other musicians could have been unbearably precious, but Costello is such a formidable songwriter, and so obviously bright and quick, that he keeps his equilibrium even with three of rock’s biggest stars: Bruce Springsteen, and U2’s Bono and The Edge. The highlight of the second season of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . is doubtless the two shows with Springsteen. In the first, Costello reaches back to the songwriter’s first two records, prompting the Boss to remember his early days, when he and his band hustled for work in bars along the Jersey shore. Nils Lofgren and Roy Bittan join Springsteen onstage for "Wild Billy’s Circus Story," a song from his second album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.

Jerry Williams’—aka Swamp Dogg—first love was country music, listening to it as a Navy family kid growing up in Portsmouth, Virginia. “My granddaddy, he just bought country records out the asshole,” Swamp remembers. “Every Friday when he came home from the Navy yard he’d stop off and get his records, like ‘Mule Train’ by Frankie Laine, or ‘Riders in the Sky’ by Vaughn Monroe.” His first time performing on stage, in fact, was a country song at a talent show when he was six years old: “I did Red Foley’s version of ‘Peace in the Valley.’”

Among musicians, Arthur Alexander was always considered one of the greatest R&B songwriters. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones covered his songs, "Anna (Go to Him)" and "You Better Move On," respectively, early in their careers. But they weren't the only ones – throughout the years, his work was rich source material for many blues, soul, rock, and country artists. He may have earned the recognition of his peers, but he remained relatively unknown to the general public, right up to his death in 1993. In order to raise his profile, Razor & Tie released Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander in 1994, assembling a stellar and diverse lineup to record new versions of his songs. The diversity and the fresh arrangements illustrates the depth of Alexander's songs and how well they lent themselves to new readings. Like any tribute album, Adios Amigo is uneven, with a few tracks falling flat, but the best moments – Elvis Costello's "Sally Sue Brown," Robert Plant's "If It's Really Got to Be This Way," Chuck Jackson's "You Better Move On," Frank Black's "Old John Amos," John Prine's "Lonely Just Like Me," Gary U.S. Bonds' "Genie in the Jug," Graham Parker's "Every Day I Have to Cry" and Nick Lowe's "In the Middle of It All" – are affectionate salutes to a departed master, and they're damn enjoyable in their own right as well.

Various Artists - Poet: A Tribute To Townes Van Zandt (2001) (FreeFalls FFE-7019-2 U.S. Pressing}
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© 2001 FreeFalls Ent. | FFE-7019-2
Folk / Country / Contemporary Folk / Acoustic / Progressive Country

Tribute collections – especially those dedicated to a deceased artist by a various group of performers – are usually a mixed bag by their very nature. A dedicated various-artists set of songs by the towering songwriter Townes Van Zandt is even more daunting in concept. That said, Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt, originally issued in 2001, is the exception to the rule in every case. Containing 16 cuts by a stellar cast that includes everyone from Willie Nelson and Nanci Griffith to Lucinda Williams and John Prine with lots of folks in between.

Joan Baez - Rare, Live & Classic (1993) {3CD Box Set Vanguard VCD3-125/127 rec 1958 to 1989}
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© 1958-1989, 1993 Vanguard | VCD3-125/127
Folk / Singer/Songwriter / Folk Revival / Folk-Rock

60 songs, 22 (!) previously unreleased-including duets with Dylan, the Dead, Kris Kristofferson, Donovan, Judy Collins and sister Mimi Farina, etc.-together with a 32-page full-color book packed with interviews and rare pix! From We Shall Overcome through The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down to Diamonds and Rust , her complete career. This is a big ol' box of Baez; certainly more than any casual fan would need. The hits are here ("Diamonds and Rust," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"), along with a treasure trove of rare duets (with Kris Kristofferson, Bob Gibson, Donovan, and others) and previously unreleased tracks (including a giddy 1965 concert duet with Bob Dylan on his "Mama, You Been on My Mind"). The depth and breadth of Baez's work–from her early traditional bent ("Silver Dagger") to her fine choices from contemporary writers (Merle Haggard, John Prine)–is well-represented. The striking beauty of her voice is, too.