Kelly Hogan & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts – Beneath The Country Underdog

Bloodshot Records – BS062

1 (It’s A Mighty Thin Line) Between Love And Hate 3:23
Backing Vocals – Hogan*, Ken Sluiter
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12)
Rhythm Guitar – Celine (16), Jon Langford (2)
Written-By – Aubrey Mayhew, Johnny Paycheck

2 I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone 4:29
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12), John Forbes
Written-By – Willie Nelson

3 Mystery 3:46
Backing Vocals – Deanna Varagona, John Wesley Harding, Neko Lenyova Shevshenko*
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Lead Guitar – Celine (16)
Organ, Piano – Barcley McKay*
Rhythm Guitar – Jon Langford (2)
Written-By – Jon Langford (2)

4 I Don’t Believe In You 3:05
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Horns – Dave Max Crawford, Paul Mertens
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Andy Hopkins (12)
Pedal Steel Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Jon Rauhouse
Rhythm Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12), Jon Langford (2)
Written-By – Andy Hopkins (12), Hogan*

5 Papa Was A Rodeo 4:29
Backing Vocals – Edith Frost
Drums – Mike Bulington
Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12)
Mandolin – Celine (16)
Piano – Robert Lloyd (3)
Vocals – Mike Geier
Written-By – Stephin Merritt

6 Easy Loving 2:23
Backing Vocals, Guitar [Whammy Bar] – Robbie Fulks
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Fiddle – Celine (16)
Pedal Steel Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Jon Rauhouse
Written-By – Freddie Hart

7 Wild Mountain Berries 3:13
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Guitar – Celine (16)
Lead Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12)
Vocals – “Rudy Day” Hopkins*
Written-By – B McRee, C Thomas, E Thomas*

8 Sudden Stop 3:37
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Andy Hopkins (12)
Organ, Piano – Barcley McKay*
Pedal Steel Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Jon Rauhouse
Written-By – Bobby Russell

9 Crackers Rule 3:19
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Pedal Steel Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Jon Rauhouse
Piano – Robert Lloyd (3)
Trumpet – Dave Max Crawford
Written-By – Hogan*
Written-By, Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12)

10 Gone 3:26
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12), Jon Langford (2)
Lead Guitar – Celine (16)
Organ – Barcley McKay*
Piano – Robert Lloyd (3)
Written-By – Andy Hopkins (12), Hogan*

11 Whispering Pines 4:36
Backing Vocals – Ana Egge
Bass – Tom Ray (2)
Drums – Steve Goulding
Guitar – Andy Hopkins (12), Celine (16)
Organ, Piano – Barcley McKay*
Pedal Steel Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Jon Rauhouse
Vocals – Edith Frost, Jon Langford (2)
Written-By – Richard Manuel, J. R. Robertson*

GREAT POP THINGS

GREAT POP THINGS: THE REAL HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL FROM ELVIS TO OASIS
comic strips by Colin B. Morton & Chuck Death
——————————————————————
Chuck Death is the nom de guerre of Jon Langford. Colin B. Morton is a writer, musician, and irrepressible satirist who lives in Newport, Wales, where he and Langford grew up.


Amazon.com lists Great Pop Thing


Neil Strauss’s review of Great Pop Things, in his column “The Pop Life,” New York Times, Thursday Dec. 3rd
THE POP LIFEContinue reading

Songs of False Hope and High Values – Reviews

Bloodshot says: You may know Sally and Jon from their decades-long stint in the ongoing punk/art experiment The Mekons, Jon’s leadership role in the country mayhemists the Waco Brothers, or Sally’s country chanteuse alter-ego Cowboy Sally. I suppose there’s a chance you may not know them at all.
Here’s your chance to hear them together on a numbered Limited Edition of 2000 8 song EP in a special paperboard sleeve with Langford cover art. It’s available only through Bloodshot’s mail order and website, very select stores and from Jon and Sally on tour.
Songs of False Hope and High Values has a stripped-down, but not sparse, campfire feel full of jaunty and crushing songs of hope desperation and heartbreak. It’s a couple of wide-eyed Brits wandering through the vast expanses of America soaking in all the grand myths, disappointments and shattered plans that have become part of the roadside scenery.Continue reading

Jon Langford Offers A Global Perspective

Jon Langford Offers A Global Perspective (and Talks About Music)
The American political system is in complete disarray. George W. Bush–the first president of the new millennium–will carry the baggage of illegitimacy until his PR team can convince the public that his reign is warranted. Constant legal bickering amongst partisan candidates and their contingents has marred the reputation of our once seemingly infallible institution of government. Ironically, the balance of power in the so-called Free World has been a legal nightmare, determined by one state, Florida, whose shape resembles a handgun.
Offering insight into his own politics, as well as his personal world of sound, Jon Langford sat down with musictoday.com after a Waco Brothers CMJ showcase gig in New York City. Continue reading

Jon Langford & Sally Timms: Songs of false hope and high values

Jon Langford & Sally Timms: Songs of false hope and high values
First edition,: cardboard cover, BS (2000)
* Second edition: jewel case, BS 72 (2003)
Songs:

01) Horses (2:56) (Lead vocal: Sally)
02) Watching the Horizon (2:14) (Jon)
03) Anything Can Happen (2:22) ( Jon)
04) Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain (2:37)
05) I Picked Up the Pieces(2:21) (Jon & Sally)
06) Dark Sun (3:12) (Jon)
07) Dover (3:53) (Sally)
08) Joshua Gone Barbados (4:48) (Jon)
09) Blessings (Jon & Sally) *
10) Hank signs his contract (Jon) * Jon’s paintings
11) Randwick bells (Sally) *
12 Blow the man down (Jon & Sally) *

Line-up:
Sally Timms. vocals and bicycle bells
Jon Langford: vocals and guitar
Jon Rauhouse: banjo, hawaiian guitar, mandolin and backing vocals
Tom Ray: double bass
Chris Mills: guitar
Sterve Rosen: banjo on ‘Watching the horizon’
John Rice: guitar and mandolin on ‘Watching the horizon’, ‘I picked up the pieces’ and ‘Anything can happen’
Ken Sluiter: organ on ‘Down from Dover’

Skull Orchard Lyrics

Tubby Brothers

Someone’s dead in Blewitt Street
Down the stairs we chipped some paint
Declined sweet cherry, had some tea
And hovered silently.

Someone’s dead in Caldicot
They dug their grave on a brand new plot
See the footbridge has been taken down
It only takes five minutes drive through town
But the flowers look like wounds
And the roads cut deep and direct
The railways change their names and don’t connect
Continue reading

Fresh Air 1998

Terry Gross, Washington, DC
* 12/17/98
Fresh Air
FEATURE
(c) Copyright Federal Document Clearing House. All Rights Reserved.
TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I’m Terry Gross. My guest, singer-guitarist Jon Langford, is a founding member of the British punk band The Mekons — one of the few punk bands of the era that is still performing. Critic Robert Christgau says they’ve put out as much good music as anybody in rock and roll.
Jonboy with Gurf Morlix at SXWS 2000 Langford is Welsh, but now lives in Chicago. Living in the States is feeding his growing interest in country music. He plays in the country-inspired band The Waco Brothers, and he pays tribute to the father of western swing on his new CD, “The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills.”
Langford recently released his first solo CD called, “Skull Orchard.” Langford is also a visual artist, and under the pen name Chuck Death draws the syndicated comic strip “Great Pop Things,” which satirizes rock and roll history. The strips are collected in the new book, “Great Pop Things.”
Let’s get started with a track from the Bob Wills tribute record.Continue reading

THE MAJESTY OF BOB WILLS – Reviews

“One of the brightest homages I’ve heard in a long time…not a bad or boring track to be found”
Bob Townsend Stomp and Stammer

“Somewhere beyond the pearly gates, Bob Wills is streched out in a rocking chair, a cigar in his left hand, a glass of Jack Daniel’s in the other, tapping his foot and grinnin’ from ear to ear. With all the crap on the airwaves that tries to pass itself as country music these days, this new recording is blessed relief…19 songs all told, each executed with the wild abandon and excellent musicianship that characterized Wills and the Playboys.”
David Bennett San Antonio CurrentContinue reading

PINE VALLEY COSMONAUTS: SALUTE THE MAJESTY OF BOB WILLS: KING OF WESTERN SWING, PIONEER, TRADITIONALIST, AVANT-GARDIST, MAGICIAN

PINE VALLEY COSMONAUTS SALUTE THE MAJESTY OF BOB WILLS: KING OF WESTERN SWING, PIONEER, TRADITIONALIST, AVANT-GARDIST, MAGICIAN

Bloodshot BS029

SONGS:
Home in San Antone
Trouble in mind
Texas playboy rag
Drunkard’s blues
Across the alley from the Alamo
Sweet kind of love
Time changes everything
Hang your head in shame
Steel guitar rag
Brain cloudy blues
Right or wrong
Roly Poly
Pan handle rag
Bubbles in my beer
Stay a little longer
My window faces the south
San Antonio Rose
Take me back to Tulsa
Faded Love
PVC’s are:
Waco Brothers Jon Langford, Steve Goulding, and Mark Durante
Tom Ray (Bottle Rockets) on stand up bass
John Rice on guitar and fiddle
Dave Crawford and Paul Mertens (both from Poi Dog) on horns and piano
Guest singers: Jane Baxter Miller (Texas Rubies)
Sally Timms
Chris Mills
Brett Sparks (Handsome Family)
Cherilyn and Jo (TMP)
Kelly Hogan
Tracy Dear
Neko Cas
Edith Frost
Bob Boyd (Sundowners)
Robbie Fulks
Alejandro Escovedo
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Rico Bell
Brendan Croker
Dean Schlabowske.
LP out on September 8th. CD out October 6th.
LPs are hand numbered, limited edition double records with a poster insert of Langford artwork)

Gravestone EP

SONGS
Nashville Radio/Death of Country Music – Jon Langford’s Hillbilly Lovechild, Rerelease on: Makin Singles – Drinking Doubles, Blodshot 100, Dec 2002
Dollar Dress (Live) – Waco Brothers
Return Of The Golden Guitarist – Mekons

LYRICS:

NASHVILLE RADIO

Drinks and pills and Nashville radio, my life will never be the same
Chills and spills from Maine to Mexico, riding on my funeral train

In every town there’s the same tribulation, in every state that I wake up in
The night before is a dim recollection of powers and bottles and sin

There’s a bored little stranger heading out the door just about half my age
Blood on the walls and glass on the floor, I don’t think I even made it on stage

Doctor, Doctor, sign my prescription, I’m in trouble again
Ever since I was a tiny little baby, I couldn’t get rid of the pain

Drinks and pills and Nashville radio, my life will never be the same
Spills and chills from Maine to Mexico, riding on my funeral train

I shake my hips but I walk like a cripple, and my body is getting too thin
I can count every one of my bones in the mirror, poking through my cold white skin

There’s a shiny star on the dressing room door, but I’ll be out in the back of my car
Cause I don’t know a soul I can trust with the money or to tune up my guitar

Drinks and pills and Nashville radio, my life will never be the same
Chills and spills from Maine to Mexico, riding on my funeral train

Doctor, Doctor, sign my prescription, I’m in trouble again
Ever since I was a tiny little baby, I couldn’t get rid of the pain

I can’t sleep without the engine humming, and the wheels rolling night and day
I can’t sleep without the Nashville radio, slipping through the chemical haze

Playing some song that I should remember , with the DJ calling my name
Play my song on the Nashville radio, my life will never be the same

Ever since I was a tiny little baby I couldn’t get to sleep at night
I’d be listening to the Nashville radio hours before daylight

They threw me off the Grand Ole Opry cause I couldn’t behave
I didn’t know how many friends I had until I was lying in a cold dark grave

I gave my life to country music, took my pills and lust
If they don’t play my songs on the radio, it feels like I never was
(feels like I never was)

Fat sweaty cop in an Alabama lock-up looked at me and laughed
Said he heard my songs on the Nashville radio, asked me for my autograph

He said, “Doctor, Doctor, sign my prescription, I’m in trouble again
Ever since I was a tiny little baby, I couldn’t get rid of the pain”

THE DEATH OF COUNTRY MUSIC
(also from Waco Brothers album COWBOYS IN FLAME)

My body is a temple
Safer than a prison
I done some demolition
And in a world gone wrong

The death of country music
Rattles round the planet
We light the flame and fan it
Deep into the night

Where the city casts its shadow
We leave the straight and narrow
Tomorrow and forever
Seems so far away

Where the dance floor’s overcrowded
The music’s getting louder
The people do some breathing
While they’re cheating death

Tonight the west is sleeping
The desert will be creeping
Inch by inch
Across the continent

And the bones of country music
Lie there in their casket
Beneath the towers of Nashville
In a deep black pool of neglect

So we cast our nets in the water
Drag the pool and caught ‘em
Grind ‘em up and snort ‘em
Deep into the night

And we spill some blood on the ashes
Of the bones of the Jones and the Cashes
Skulls in false eyelashes
Ghostriders in the sky

And the Hack bone’s connected to the Buckbone
And the George bone’s connected to the Hank bone
The Willie bone’s connected to the Billy Bones
We’re picking the flesh off the bone

The death of country music
The death of country music
The death of country music
We’re picking the flesh off the bones

DOLLAR DRESS (also on COWBOYS IN FLAME, WACO BROTHERS)

She is dancing with death in the Dollar Dress

There’s a box in an attic in a run down northern town
There’s a key on the shelf so you can look inside
There’s a song that will pick you up and spin you round
A photograph and a letter left behind

Can you prove you’re alive?
Do you know where you’re been today?
Sown into the fabric of your life
Washed and mended, worn away

She is dancing with death in the dollar dress

The hooter sounds and the whole town shakes again
A line of ghosts clock out at the factory gates
Cousins, sisters and brothers are spirited home
They fill the streets and make the traffic wait

Will the flag still fly
If the wind don’t blow today?
It’s sown into the fabric of your life
Washed and mended, worn away

THE RETURN OF THE GOLDEN GUITARIST

His grip is not frozen in one old G chord
Looking for thousands of bodies
With luck he might make it without losing his way.
The return of the golden guitarist

His eyes are as flat as an old 45
That somehow never quite charted
Out of his mouth spews vinyl and wax
The return of the golden guitarist

It’s time to come clean, to come back this way
Time to come back in the harness
You’ve stolen our lust, now he has found
The return of the golden guitarist

What gives him the right to talk that way
Pray silence, now don’t get me started
You got freedom of speech, but you got nothing to say
So welcome the golden guitarist

His eyes are as flat as an old 45
That somehow never quite charted
Out of his mouth spews vinyl and wax
The return of the golden guitarist