Lucinda Williams has recorded a cover of Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe,’ as a contribution to Mercury Rev’s adventurous re-imagining of Gentry’s largely forgotten (until now) 1968 sophomore album, ‘The Delta Sweete.’ RS Country describes it as “Set within darkly atmospheric production elements, Williams’ vocal is tinged with pain and echoes with hints of anger and regret throughout, deepening the classic tune’s enigmatic nature. Continue reading “Lucinda Williams covers Bobbie Gentry with Mercury Rev – Listen”
In the nice “sail on a boat” sense. Rolling Stone reports, for all of you moneybags out there: “Nothing says “outlaw” like a Caribbean cruise, and for the fourth year running the Outlaw Country Cruise will set sail in January 2019. When it does, it will have a stacked lineup including Drive-By Truckers, Margo Price and Lucinda Williams all onboard. Run in conjunction by Steve Van Zandt’s Renegade Circus and Sixthman – organizers of the Americana- and country-heavy Cayamo Cruise – the Outlaw Country Cruise sails from Tampa, Florida, to Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau in the Bahamas. Also leading the bill are Bobby Bare, Steve Earle & the Dukes, the Flatlanders, Nikki Lane, Old 97’s, Shooter Jennings and Elizabeth Cook. 
She’ll probably never reach the heights or depth of Anthea Turner’s “Fools Rush In” (the “forthright, emotive and inspiring account of the life of a great survivor on planet fame” – that’s Anthea!) but Rolling Stone reports on a new autobiography Lucinda Williams has just announced: “Due out in 2020 via publishers Henry Holt and Company, [it] will chart the singer’s life and career from her Louisiana childhood to her Grammy-winning success of 1998’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road to “her experience navigating the unfriendly record industry,” the New York Times reports. 
Sometimes records seem to be the obvious culmination of everything that has gone before, so it is with this first solo record from the Mount Moriah frontwoman. The journey from indie-rocker to consummate Country star is completed. She’s assimilated generic tropes and has managed to create songs that pay homage and also sound fresh. Everything is in place from the very beginning. A Lamb, A Dove contains elements of gospel with the massed backing vocals – it’s a graceful song, the backing gentle, the voices really setting it apart: you can hear each backing singer individually and they all fall together beautifully. 
Or listen to a bit of it anyway. A nice piece on RS Country this morning about a classic record getting a new lease of life: “Lucinda Williams had a one-word response when her husband and manager Tom Overby suggested that she re-record her 1992 album Sweet Old World: “Really?” Although Williams has consistently performed a few songs from the album over the years in concert, including the title track and “Pineola,” she felt that she had outgrown most of the others and was reluctant to revisit it. That was until she listened to the songs with fresh ears. 
Two of Americana UK’s favourite Americans spoke to Rolling Stone about their mutual admiration which may have been sparked by Jesse Malin’s tribute to Lucinda Williams on his 2007 album, Gutter In The Glitter. They spoke about their common ground, the songwriting process and their political leanings (both supported Bernie Saunders) amongst other things. While the pair have shared a stage at various times in the past they’ve never played together and Rolling Stone asked them if they would ever collaborate with both saying that this was a distinct possibility. Whether this was tongue in cheek is not known with Malin telling the magazine, “We’ll do like, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas.” You can read the whole interview