I am nominating the following titles simply because they have been released only on CD. There are others, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind:
- The Houston Kid by Rodney Crowell. A perfect album. Johnny Cash makes a guest appearance on one song: "I Walk The Line (Revisited)".
- The self-titled album by The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a supergroup comprised of Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, and Tony Brown. Great songwriting, singing, and playing.
- When The Clock Strikes 12 by Slo Leak, a collaboration between Danny Kortchmar (his name should sound familiar) and Charlie Karp. An album of VERY unusual, highly original music.
- Greetings From Planet Love by The Fraternal Order Of The All. A parody of psychedelic music by Andrew Gold and Graham Gouldman. Brilliant!
- Well Of Mercy by Michael Kelsh. Kelsh is an excellent singer/songwriter, this album featuring production by Bill Halverson (and executive production by Rodney Crowell) and musical accompaniment by Rusty Young, Joy Lynn White, and John Cowan.
Rodney’s liner notes read "Townes Van Zandt and Jackson Browne come to mind when I think about Michael’s particular brand of romantic truism." The album’s credits include these details: "We recorded these songs at Rodney’s house. Halverson used his favorite 1940’s Neuman." (his mis-spelling, not mine ;-). That Neumann is of course the legendary tube microphone, each surviving example worth a small fortune.
- Bowl Of Surreal by Chewy Marble, an L.A. Power Pop Group. Members included: Brian Kassan---original bassist in The Wondermints, Brian Wilson’s road band; Derrick Anderson, The Bangles road bassist (a fantastic musician!); and yours truly on drums (only half the album. The album’s recording was delayed, and prior commitments called me away before it’s completion).
- Moontan by Evan Johns and The Hillbilly Soul Surfers. A 13 song romp through American Roots music, including Hillbilly, Blues, Surf, and Rock ’n’ Roll. Evan played his Telecaster plugged straight into a blackface Fender Super Reverb cranked to 10. Evan preferred the Deluxe Reverb, but his was stuck in Austin, so he used the studio’s Super. When the recording engineer opened the amp’s isolation booth with Evan playing, it sounded like a jet taking off!
- Toad Of Titicaca by Gurf Morlix. Gurf was for years Lucinda Williams’ guitarist, harmony singer, and band leader. He has made a number of good solo albums, including this one.
- Bakersfield Bound by Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen. Chris and Herb have long collaborated, including their time together in The Desert Rose Band. This album is at least as good as any of that excellent band.
- Wires & Wood by Johnny Staats. An incredible Bluegrass album, singer and mandolin player Staats receiving musical accompaniment by a who’s-who of Bluegrass masters: Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, John Cowan, Tammy Rogers, and Jerry Douglas (you know him from Alison Krauss’ band Union Station.). Another perfect album!
- Last but not least, Down To The Well by Kevin Gordon. I learned of Kevin in an interview with Lucinda Williams, and boy am I glad I did. Kevin is a fantastic songwriter and singer, and this album is absolutely fantastic! If you like John Hiatt (who doesn’t? ;-), you will also like Down To The Well.