Folk Goes to the Dark Side

This has nothing to do with Star Wars, although, plenty has been said of how this epic science fiction film is contemporary folk lore. The title is really about folk songs with themes or horror, crime, and in this case, murder.  

The murder ballad is a legitimate sub-genre of folk music, and has permeated and influenced other genres as well. Before the internet and 24 hour news agencies, folk music ballads borrowed from real events, often written shortly after the event itself. Francis James Child anthologized a 305 of them in 1882. The Twa Sisters is one of the oldest, dating back to 1656, but it is thought that some of these date back to the 1400s.

Contemporary examples would be The Toadies's 1994 song Possum Kingdom, Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen, and Johnny Cash's Delia's Gone. Nick Cave also released an album in 1996 called Murder Ballads which had a mix of traditional and original tunes, much like Cold as the Clay by Greg Graffin.

The story of Omie Wise is a great example of this. Based on the real-life relationship between a Naomi Wise, and Jonathan Lewis and subsequent unsolved murder of Naomi in North Carolina in 1808.

This song had been made popular by Doc Watson, but also recorded by Pentangle, Greg Graffin, Dock Boggs, and Shirley Collins. Another famous murder ballad, Pretty Polly, has very similar themes, Dylan's Ballad of Hollis Brown is based on it. The lyrics are as follows: 

Come listen to my story, I'll tell you no lies, how John Lewis did murder a little Omie Wise,
He asked her to meet him at Adams's spring, said he'd bring her money and other fine things,
So fool-like she met him at Adams's spring, no money he brought her nor other fine things

John Lewis, John Lewis, won't you tell me your mind, do you intend to marry me or leave me behind?
Little Omie, Little Omie, I will tell you my mind, my plan is to drown you and leave you behind,
Have mercy on my baby and spare me my life, I'll go home as a beggar and never be your wife

He hugged her and he kissed her and turned her around and threw her in deep water where he knew that she would drown,

It was on one Thursday morning the rain came pouring down and they searched for Omie's body but it
Nowhere could be found,

Two boys went a fishin' one fine summer day and they saw little Omie's body go floating away

They called for John Lewis to come to that place so he could see her body and they could see his face,
though he made no confession they threw him in jail, no friend nor relation would go on his bail

Blues Behind Bars

BB King

Live in Cook County Jail

1971, MCA

produced by Bill Szymczyk

BB King - Lucille, vocals

Wilbert Freeman - bass

Sonny Freeman - drums

John Browning - trumpet

Louis Hubert - tenor sax

Booker Walker - alto sax

Ron Levy - piano

Apparently known as "the Chairman of the Board of Blues Guitarists", BB King kills it in this performance at Cook County Jail in Chicago. Another fine live album recorded with the incarcerated (Live from Folsom Prison and at San Quentin both by Johnny Cash), BB King rolls out a few classic tracks, and even "goes back a little further".

I read a review that Jon Landau wrote in 1971 on this album. And I've come to the conclusion that Landau is an idiot. His least favorite part of the album is the best part (Someday Baby) and pretty much highlights how much Landau doesn't understand the blues.

Chicks Can Rock

Dead Sara

Dead Sara

2012, DIY

Emily Armstrong - vocals, guitars

Siouxsie Medley - guitars, vocals

Sean Friday - drums

Chris Null - bass

singles -

• Weatherman
• We are What you Say

I love this album. I would go as far as to say it is the best hard rock album of the year. Not only is it good, but the band is also not signed to a label. This band, fronted by two women (guitars and vocals) and backed up by an all male rhythm section (bass and drums) rocks the roof off with tracks like the Weatherman, Lemon Scent, and We are What you Say. I discovered them right after a DJ for my favorite radio station discovered them and started playing their single.  

The sound is a blend of hard rock and punk, much like Paramour and Garbage. On top of this, the band has been endorsed by the legendary Grace Slick, who stated that Emily Armstrong was the female singer whom she admired most. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters (and Nirvana too) said this band should be the next biggest band in the world. Those are some pretty big endorsements, but this band certainly lives up to them.

Not Welcome Here

I have one of those cases for CDs. It has only my punk rock music in it. There was a time where I moved around often, and decided that I couldn't stand carting around all of these hard plastic CD cases, one for each CD. So, I put many CDs into CD wallet cases and threw out the individual plastic cases. This particular CD case has only punk music in it, everything from Anti-flag to X-Ray Spex.

This post though is all about Bad Religion. I love this band, and I don't think they get enough credit for a pretty excellent career. Greg Graffin (the singer), Brett Gurewitz (Mr. Brett), and Jay Bentley (the bass player) started the band in 1979 in high school. Mr Brett started Epitaph as a DIY record label and grew it into one of the most successful indie labels of all time. One of the albums I wish I had, but don't, is Suffer, and since I don't own it, it won't appear here.

Bad Religion

How Could Hell be any Worse?

1982, Epitaph

Greg Graffin - vocals
Brett Gurewitz - guitar
Jay Bentley - bass
Pete Finestone - drums
Jay Ziskrout - drums

This is Bad Religion's debut album, recorded and distributed by their own record company, Epitaph, one of the most successful DIY labels ever. This album has the sound and feel of earlier American Hardcore groups like Black Flag and Bad Brains, however, Greg Graffin's pedantic vocal and the subject material are unique. Over time, the sound becomes more refined, but the Bad Religion sound has its beginnings here. This is the last recording with original drummer Jay Ziskrout, and has a guest appearance by Greg Hetson from the Circle Jerks. He would join the band full time in 1985. Fuck Armeggedon... this is Hell and We're all Gonna Die are the most famous tracks. Sublime covered We're all Gonna Die on their 1992 album 40oz to Freedom.  

Bad Religion

Recipe for Hate

1993, Epitaph

produced by Bad Religion

Greg Graffin - vocals
Brett Gurewitz - guitar
Greg Hetson - guitar
Jay Bentley - bass
Bobby Schayer - drums

singles-

• American Jesus
• Struck a Nerve

A lot of people credit Green Day and The Offspring with bringing punk to the mainstream, where it has clowned around ever since in cookie-cutter mediocrity, like most pop music. I disagree, however. This album came out a year before, scored radio hits and MTV play. Really the credit should go to Nirvana, but no one likes to call them a punk band.  Not only is this my favorite Bad Religion album, it ranked number 14 on Billboard's Heatseeker and features Eddie Vedder as a guest vocalist for a verse on Watch it Die, and a back-up for Greg Graffin on American Jesus. It would take Bad Religion until 2002 (Process of Belief) to make an album this good.  Every track is good, nothing to skip over, except the last "hidden track" Stealth, which is just weird-ass gobbly-gook and noise anyway. Some would argue that Bad Religion doesn't really count for culture revival, since they were making music since 1981 and never really left the scene. But this is a departure from early '80s American Hardcore, and British Punk. Plus it went mainstream for the first time.

Bad Religion

Process of Belief

2002, Epitaph

produced by Mr. Brett and Greg Graffin

Greg Graffin - vocals
Brett Gurewitz -guitar
Greg Hetson - guitar
Brian Baker - guitar
Jay Bentley - bass
Brooks Wackerman - drums

singles-

• Sorrow/ Who We Are
• Broken
• The Defense
• SuperSonic

This is the first Bad Religion album I bought, shortly after seeing the video for Sorrow and shortly before I saw them at the Avalon in Boston with Less Than Jake and Hot Water Music. This is the first album with Brett Gurewitz since 1994, and the first album ever with new drummer Brooks Wackerman from Suicidal Tendencies and the Vandals. It also marks the band's return to their own label Epitaph after spending 8 years on Epic and Atlantic. It's fast paced, loud, melodic... a call back to earlier '90s stuff.  My favorite track is Evangeline. This album marks the second coming of a band that had been around since the early '80s and had drifted into irrelevance, and it does a great job of reinvigorating and reinventing a classic group.  

Bad Religion.  

Empire Strikes First

2004, Epitaph

produced by Mr. Brett and Greg Graffin

singles- 

• Los Angeles is Burning/ Empire Strikes First

Aside from the We're all Gonna Die Sublime cover, and sometimes 21st Century Digital Boy, Bad Religion was never heard on radio. However, with this album, I started hearing their stuff all over the place.  Lakers games played Los Angeles is Burning, Empire Strikes First was played on ESPN during commercial spots for the Yankees. They blew up for a moment in 2004. This album is a great follow up to Process of Belief. If this was the beginning of their career, these two albums would make the band instant legends.

Bad Religion

New Maps of Hell

2007, Epitaph

produced by Joe Barresi

singles-

• Honest Goodbye
• New Dark Ages

This album at first glance appears like a sappy nostalgic trip to the past. The name and the artwork are both throwbacks to How Could Hell be any Worse in celebration of the 25th anniversary. This third release since the 2002 reboot continued mainstream popularity by contributing to downloadable content for the video game RockBand and debuted at number 35 on Billboard's 200. In my opinion the last two albums were better.    

Bad Religion  

The Dissent of Man

2010, Epitaph

produced by Joe Barresi

singles-

• The Devil in Stitches
• Cyanide
• Wrong Way Kids

This album is great, and more than makes up for New Maps of Hell. I love Wrong Way Kids, and the video has fan involvement, relying on fan submissions featured in the video, much like Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects. Bad Religion's music relies on themes of religion, and politics unlike any other punk band. Greg Graffin's lyrics are intelligent, and thought provoking, and although his writing style is better suited to folk music, it makes Bad Religion's sound unique and easy to identify. I hope this band continues to produce solid punk rock albums in the future.  

Roy's Bluz

Roy Buchanan

Livestock

1975, Polydor

produced by Jay Reich Jr

Roy Buchanan - guitars, vocals

Billy Price - vocals

John Harrison - bass

Byrd Foster - drums

Malcom Lukens - keyboards

Roy Buchanan is the best and most tragic guitar player no one ever heard of.  A master of the telecaster, his sound is unique and astounding.  This album is live, as its name suggests, and is a must listen for anyone curious about this particular guitarist.  Buchanan battled with alcoholism, and ended up hanging himself in jail after an arrest for public intoxication.  Details are pretty sketchy.  He was 48.  His guitar playing has been called a clinic; gritty, beautiful tonality.  This is certainly someone that deserves to be better known.  Oh, and he named his guitar Nancy.  If you enjoy the blues as much as I do, this is a must listen.