Lucinda Williams was working on her 18th studio album last spring when inspiration struck. She scraped the original idea and decided to write about the state of frightening world events. Williams, her band, and a few high profile guests dug into new topics and World’s Gone Wrong was completed quickly. The title of the record states exactly how Williams is feeling during these troubling times.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by George Possley playing "Workingman's Blues #2"
Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this song: One of Dylan's late career highlights, "Workingman's Blues #2" first appeared on Modern Times and was a stunning reminder of how Dylan can just completely nail it sometimes. The ease with which the piano and song flows out reminds of Dylan's best work, as if the song has always been there and he is just breathing it into existence at this time and place. It owes a debt to Merle Haggard, the Civil War, poet Henry Timrod and thousands of others, but is perfectly Dylan when it comes to the lyrics which bounce all over. A folk song, mistitled a blues song, for the workingman that feels aloof, pure Dylan
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing). This week...Art Hirahara Trio!
It's Jazzy January again here at RtBE, so get ready to kick off 2026 with some different styled shows every Friday. For this series we skew into new (or more recent) jazz lands. Keeping it current proves there is amazing live jazz still being performed no matter what Ken Burns says.
We wrap up Jazzy January with a trip to the west coast back in 2022. The Art Hirahara Trio (Art Hirahara, piano, John Wiitala, bass, Tim Bulkley, drums) play a small book shop in San Fran for your pleasure.
Thanks for hanging out this month, next month it is back to normal programming.
For his newest project Don Was assembled a crack team from Detroit, titling the outfit the Pan-Detroit Ensemble as he states "we are on a mission to promulgate the music of our hometown". Groove In The Face of Adversity allows the laid back musicianship of all involved to shine through.
The debut release, titled Sing On, from the newly formed Colossus Brass Band is a hefty slice of traditional hymns and original music steeped in the vibrant history of New Orleans Brass Band's and the city's unique Second Line culture. The album mixes older classics and new originals that fit right into the brass band tradition. Released on the Old Saw Music label, the album is chockful of musical veterans and is a must own for any fans of New Orleans traditional sound.
With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is a catch-up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2025 that shouldn't go unnoticed.
What a year! Lots of reviews and live shows attended. Thanks for reading and following along on Instagram and Bluesky or wherever
Also thanks to Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue to write for them, working on a wide variety of reviews.
Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2025 series of posts:
As part of Craft Recordings Original Jazz Classics series, Art Pepper's 1959 album Surf Ride gets a remastered release. These twelve tracks, originally recorded for the Savoy label, display Pepper in some of his earliest sessions as a band leader and the results are electric.
Third Man Records is set to release a very special expanded edition of How Sad, How Lovely, the landmark first compilation of previously lost recordings from groundbreaking cult singer-songwriter Connie Converse.
The unreleased "House" is available to hear today.
In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by The Gene Norman Groupplaying "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Jazzy January has invade Mondays! All this month we will check out various artists covering Dylan with a jazz vibe.
Thoughts on Original: From the first time we posted a cover version of this tune: One of the most iconic songs from Dylan's most famous period and a very early showing of how powerful a music video could be. Dylan nods to beat poetry, current events, Chuck Berry's "No More Monkey Business", paranoia, and the Vietnam War all in around two minutes of linked lyrics over one of his earliest electric recordings. There is also the sly sense of humor which Dylan never gets enough credit for, while raging against the proverbial machine. A classic '60's tune in all respects and one non-Dylan fans usually love as well.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist: This is the first time RtBE has come across The Gene Norman Group and honestly there isn't much out there on them. The players on this album were: Jim Horn - saxophone, flute, Glen Campbell - guitar, Al De Lory - piano, Lyle Ritz - bass, Hal Blaine - drums.
Thoughts on Cover:
This is such a strange cover, it has almost zero connection to the original. It isn't bad, but as a huge Dylan fan, I am not sure I would even know what the song was if I heard it blind.
I am kind of fascinated by it and a little upset we found this album so late in the month. Maybe next year we will cover this weird album in full for Jazzy Januarys. Until then, thanks for listening and next month will return to regularly scheduled programming.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing). This week...Olivia Trummer Trio!
It's Jazzy January again here at RtBE, so get ready to kick off 2026 with some different styled shows every Friday. For this series we skew into new (or more recent) jazz lands. Keeping it current proves there is amazing live jazz still being performed no matter what Ken Burns says.
Today it is the Olivia Trummer Trio live in CUBO, 20222.
For his most recent album Nicholas Payton recruited a rhythm section he originally worked with back in 2010, delivering a smooth slice of modern jazz on TRIUNE. The cosmopolitan, tranquil outings contained on the record are easy on the ears, as the players deliver refined tunes.
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