Merry Christmas From the Corner

I just wanna say ... merry Christmas baby and happy new year too... (Bruce Springsteen - Merry Christmas Baby)

From the Corner ...I just wanna say merry Christmas to everyone and happy new year!!!

Winter Song

And late December can drag a man down; You feel it deep in your gut; Short days and afternoons spent pottering around in a dark house with the windows painted shut... (Foutains of Wayne - Valley Winter Song)

It seem like over the past few Christmas seasons a new/really good version of a Christmas tune or a new seasonal song pops up. Last winter I discovered Fountain of Wayne's Valley Winter Song. The song really takes me back to those "snow days" of my youth for some reason.

Robert Plant's Band of Joy

It's like a radio turning way down low, telling me things I do not know I know; Tonight you will be mine; Tonight the monkey dies... (Robert Plant - Monkey)

I'm still taking in all the new Springsteen stuff and I will blog about it soon. In the meantime I wanted to talk about another CD that is great but maybe under the radar a bit. Robert Plant's new one is Band of Joy.

Robert Plant is one of the great voices of rock and roll. Led Zeppelin's music still sounds vital today. However, since the 70's Plant's music has been spotty. In the 80's & 90's he turned out an occasional solo record or a collaboration with some of his chronies like Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck (Honeydrippers) with mixed results.

Recently Robert Plant has reinvented himself; starting with his 2007's Raising Sand, the duet album with Alison Kraus and produced by super producer T Bone Burnett. That collaboration was a beautiful mix of 2 unique voices, a clever choice of covers, and an earthy production and playing that led to one of 2007's best releases.

Plant's latest release Band of Joy follows in that vein. Production credit for the CD goes to Buddy Miller along with Plant and once again the result is an earthy sounding collection of songs; almost all covers from the likes of Los Lobos, Richard Thompson, Townes Van Zandt and others. The band featuring Buddy Miller on guitar/vocals, Patty Griffin on vocals/guitar, Darrell Scott on vocals/mandolin/guitar/accordion/pedal/lap steel/banjo, Byron House on bass and Marco Giovino on percussion bring a rich sound perfectly suited for Plant's brilliant vocals.

The CD opens with Los Lobos's Angel Dance (from their great album Kiko); this version is unique enough to sound fresh without taking anything from the original; You Can't Buy My Love sounds like the long lost Elvis record from Viva Las Vegas or Little Less Conversation era; Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday and Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down, old tradional songs, Plant and Miller make them relevant for today; Silver Rider and Monkey, by Alan Sparhawk and others from the band Low, sung with Patty Griffith are hauntingly beautiful.