GOD DON'T NEVER CHANGE

Listen to GOD DON'T NEVER CHANGE by Blind Willie Johnson.

One more bit of ancient Americana before the week kicks off in earnest.

"Blind" Willie Johnson was an American singer and guitarist whose music straddled the border between blues and spirituals. While the lyrics of all of his songs were religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. Among musicians, he is considered one of the greatest slide or bottleneck guitarists, as well as one of the most revered figures of depression-era gospel music. His music is distinguished by his powerful bass thumb-picking and gravelly false-bass voice, with occasional use of a tenor voice.

I'LL BE RESTED (WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED) and WOKE UP THIS MORNING (WITH MY MIND ON JESUS)

Listen to I'LL BE RESTED (WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED) by Blind Roosevelt Graves.
Listen to WOKE UP THIS MORNING (WITH MY MIND ON JESUS) by Blind Roosevelt Graves.

A "joyful noise" for you this Sunday morning. Happy Mother's Day!

THE NEST

Listen to THE NEST by Jimmie Spheeris.

I was tricked into listening to this album a few years ago by my Dad, who insisted Jimmie Spheeris was a native son of Oklahoma. At some point I heard he was from California, which disappointed me to no end.

But then not too long ago somebody updated his wikipedia page, and check this out how he got out west:

"Jimmie (James) Spheeris was born in Phenix City, Alabama, to Juanita 'Gypsy' and Andrew Spheeris, who owned and operated a traveling carnival called the Majick Empire. . . . After his father was murdered by a 'belligerent carnival-goer,' Gypsy Spheeris moved the family to San Diego, California."

Whoa! Pretty heavy. Which is not how I'd describe The Nest. It's just...pretty. But I like it usually, it's another one that sounds so time-bound that you can't help but like it sometimes (and be put off by it at other times).

At home I edit out the first 14 seconds or so, but I'll leave it alone for yous guys. Just be patient if you don't hear anything but some tinkling piano for a few seconds.

Photo: Fun Fronts (4).

HELLO SUNSHINE

Listen to HELLO SUNSHINE by Relatively Clean Rivers.

This song title alone would be enough to put me in a great mood, er, well, no it wouldn't.

On the other hand, the band's name is a gas. What self belief they must have had! "Decently Nice Rock Group." And that's about all this song is. It's never really jumped out at me, until I checked my iTunes one day and realized I had played it about 20 times in a month. So, I thought, who cares if I thought this was nothing more than a decent tune? My ears are telling me it's great!

It's called trusting the data. That's why, when you watch the debate tonight, don't pay any attention to who the experts say won, just check the polls they pipe in from the slowundecided voters. Just gotta trust the data.

Photo: Fun fronts (3).

BLUE RIVER

Listen to BLUE RIVER by Eric Anderson.

Blue River is a song that is capable of getting stuck in my head for days at a time. Frankly, I'm not sure that's any sort of qualification for posting it here, and in fact it means I've been pretty annoyed with this little tune more than once.

Here's another thing that might sound like a good thing: "Along with Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and Joni Mitchell's Blue, it is a defining moment for the singer/songwriter genre." That's from Amazon. Frankly, I'm not so sure. There's something about that statement that's annoying to me. Like the whole "singer/songwriter" genre, and that they've put Bob in it. I think maybe they should put James Taylor, Jim Croce, and Eric Anderson in a singer/songwriter bottle and only let them out once a year. I guess today will do for this year.

Photo: Fun fronts (2).

CHRIST, HOW EASY IT COULD BE

Listen to CHRIST, HOW EASY IT COULD BE by Curt Newbury.

If by chance you thought the title was the best thing about this song (and really, who could blame you? It's as good as Champagne Supernova or You Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Around), you're in for a pleasant surprise.

First, he's from Dallas, which should please all you nasty longhorns out there. Second, the album cover from which this is taken is equally awesome. Third, the tune is quite engaging, if very obviously from the Sound Factory in 1970. Fourth, and I don't know how plausible this is (mind you he is from Texas), but "Hopefully this is not the same Curt Newbury who became a child erotic photographer! All over google all you can find is information about this guy Curt Newbury who is this freaky child photographer and nothing about this album. Maybe it is the same guy, some of those hippies got into some really freaky stuff after that movement dissolved."

Photo: Fun fronts (1).

'TIL THE CHRIST COME BACK

Listen to 'TIL THE CHRIST COME BACK by Bill Fay.

This is another obscure British folkie, though when this album was reissued a year or two ago, you may have seen his name bantered around. The key to the obscure British folkie reissue marketing game is to compare your offering to Nick Drake, and so the "uncompromising starkness" of Bill Fay's 1970 album, "Time of the Last Persecution," got compared to "Pink Moon" more than a few times.

The problem is, for me, is that the music isn't that bleak at all. It's stripped down (read: slashed recording budget) but nothing like Nick Drake. The lyrics are on the dark side, poetical, metaphorical, and (here literally) apocalyptic, but don't really evoke the submerged turmoil of "Pink Moon." It's a little more surface. Frankly, he sounds more like Cat Stevens with a thing for Black Sabbath.

These aren't meant to be criticisms! 'Til The Christ Come Back is definitely one of my favorites in my current rotation, and if telling you it was just like the song in that famous Volkswagen commercial would get you to listen to it, I would.

Photo: In repose (4).

SEEING THROUGH

Listen to SEEING THROUGH by Rick Hayward.

This is about as obscure as I can get. I downloaded this Rick Hayward album on a lark and I like it quite a bit. Let me quote a little:

"A beautiful solo debut from Rick Hayward -- a guitarist who'd played on numerous blues and rock sessions for the Blue Horizon label as a session musician, but who steps out here with a gently folksy voice of his own! The set's almost all acoustic -- and features Rick on sitar, mandolin, bass, bongos, and a bit of drums as well -- sometimes instrumental, with a lyrically jazzy inflection to his sound -- sometimes with a bit of vocals, which have a fragile quality that's quite different than Hayward's more confident guitar."

That bit of "difference" is key to the success of this song. The playing is totally confident and professional. ...And the singing is classic sideman-gets-a-song. Just like Ringo's vocals are charming in their limitedness, Mr. Hayward's vocals here are likeably modest.

Photo: In repose (3).

LITTLE HANDS

Listen to LITTLE HANDS by Skip Spence.

Skip Spence nudges a little higher up the obscurity scale, often being called the "American Syd Barrett" or maybe the "Bay Area Roky Erickson." I kid! Still, he certainly fits the template of the sixties seeker who burned out and faded away.

"Oar," Spence's solo album after leaving Moby Grape (who were super-famous for a period of time, now only among the cognoscenti) is a touchstone for many. Little Hands is the opening track, and it's in that folkie singalong anthem style I'm known to prefer.

Little Hands is one of those songs where, if you like it on the first listen, be careful because it's not actually a Hey Jude-style crowdpleaser, but if you don't like it immediately, give it a few more spins because there's a lot more going on than the simple arrangement would have you believe.

Photo: In repose (2).

MOUSE

Listen to MOUSE by Lambert & Nuttycombe.

There's a long back story with this track that will be of very little interest to anyone, but this album by this duo, Lambert & Nuttycombe, landed in my iTunes a year or two ago and I've been champing at the bit to post something from it for a long time. The thing is, I wanted to do it as part of an ambitious two-week series on Northern Californian folk rock, but I haven't been able to put it together. On top of that, Corbett was aware of this album too, and wanted to do his own series. But he couldn't fill it out either. Meanwhile this fantastic song (one of many) wasn't being shared.

So I give up, I'm playing it for you today. Despite the exciting buildup, there are no fireworks on this song. It's very short, and very soothing. But like the album it's taken from, "At Home," it's so well-constructed and so out of nowhere (Dennis and Craig were also alums of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, itself not exactly a world-famous band) that I really root enjoyfor it.

Photo: In repose (1).