It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian continue talking about Waylon Jennings and his unique brand of "outlaw country" by discussing his duet with Willie Nelson "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)." A listener wrote in, giving us a lot of insight on this song and how it shows off Waylon's "big brass balls." We also read some tweets that corrected our British slang, challenged our perception of fandom, and lead us to talking about "who's in" and "who's out." We also read another email in which a listener heartily disagrees with some of our assessments on the La's album!
Joining Brian and Bill on the podcast this week is trunkworthy.com writer and co-founder David Gorman to talk about Waylon Jennings' Dreaming my Dream (1975, RCA Victor), a key album at the start of his "outlaw country" years. Tired of the Nashville machinery, Jennings was able to wrestle creative control away from his label and into his own hands, sparking a legendary run of albums. David talks about discovering Waylon through recommendations and his live albums before lauding him with accolades for his DIY ethic and unique vocal delivery. Bill, Brian, and David discuss how Waylon challenge the Nashville industry, his rapscallion ways, David's hatred for harmonicas, a theory for the concept of the record, the greatest cheatin' songs bracket, and more as we make our way through the album track by track!
Brian and Bill take a little time to discuss one of the tracks from the deluxe edition of the La's set titled album, "I Am the Key." After Bill tells a wedding story that he forgot to tell on the main episode and Brian fawns over the songs harmonies, the two take a really deep dive into two of Bill's favorite subjects: data sifting and Pearl Jam. A listener challenged our claim that Pearl Jam's Ten outsold Nevermind. We accept the challenge and take it to the mat. We discovered some surprising facts, including how the RIAA and Nielsen Soundscan work, what labels have to do to receive gold and platinum certifications, and of course which album really outsold which (on both US domestic and international levels)!
Bill and Brian dive into a wonderful, under-appreciated and under-discovered set of songs by Brit-pop forebears the La's with their self titled album (1990, Polydor/Go!). Best known for their single "There She Goes," which is perhaps better known Stateside as the 1999 hit for Sixpence None the Richer, the band has only put out this single album to date. But in the time since its release, the band has gone on to become a cult favorite. Bill and Brian discuss the evolution of this album under the guidance of several producers, how frontman Lee Mavers is still unsatisfied with the eventual Steve Lillywhite helmed version, the economical songwriting, how re-amping basses works, the intelligence and depth imbued into simple lyricism, the conundrum of tracking an album with so many great songs, how the heck to play the lead to "There She Goes," what great British rock band a particular song sounds like, what other great British rock band another song sounds like and how Brian is wrong about not liking a particular song, how a bit of contention and friction helps shape songs to be their best, and more in our track by track review!
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian keeping diving into the vast catalog of great French artists by discussing Daft Punk and their super massive 2013 hit "Get Lucky." With a little help from Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, the electronic duo churned out a danceable tune. While discussing it we talk about tangentially vs. tangentally, Pharrell's career resurgence at about the time this song hit, disco music, we read a listener email that helps us clarify that a slide was indeed used on Foo fights "Oh George," and we discuss which Pavement albums are our favorites!