Various: Wounded Heart of America; Tom Russell Songs (Hightone)

 |   |  <1 min read

Tom Russell: Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?
Various: Wounded Heart of America; Tom Russell Songs (Hightone)

Some weeks ago I was invited to give a talk about some of my favourite music to a group of people in someone's home.

It was a very pleasant night and the first few things I played were either by the American singer-songwriter Tom Russell or his songs sung by others (notably Joe Ely covering the dramatic Gallo Del Cielo which I said I could envision as a film by John Huston).

Russell is a hard-edged writer whose style is often cinematic. He conjures up a sense of location and mood through simple but resonant imagery -- and he has a raw voice which brings the songs alive.

This collection pulls together others covering his songs (Johnny Cash, Dave Alvin, Ely doing that epic Gallo del Cielo, Doug Sahm, Ian Tyson with Nanci Griffith, Eliza Gilykson and others) with some tracks by Russell himself.

Given the calibre of those who have covered Russell's material it's fair to say he is one the finest songwriters around, and here is further evidence.

The poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti says this of Russell: "[He] is Johnny Cash, Jim Harrison and Charles Bukowski rolled into one. I feel great affinity with Tom Russell's songs for he's writing out of the wounded heart of America".

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

B2KDA: Rising (b2kda.com)

B2KDA: Rising (b2kda.com)

New Zealand's Batucada Sound Machine were rightly hailed -- that is, danced furiously to -- by audiences across the globe for their well oiled take on horn-driven upbeat party music with a South... > Read more

Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victime (Matador/digital outlets)

Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victime (Matador/digital outlets)

Remarkably, it has been more than 15 years since Elsewhere started to write about what has been called “desert blues” or “Sahara blues” out of the Tuareg (and beyond)... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

GUEST WRITER SARAH JANE ROWLAND gets all at sea with Hitchcock

GUEST WRITER SARAH JANE ROWLAND gets all at sea with Hitchcock

With the remarkable story of survival at sea by the Salvadoran fisherman Jose Alvarenga – more than a year in an open boat across the Pacific – the new Robert Redford film All is... > Read more

Downliners Sect: The Sect (1964)

Downliners Sect: The Sect (1964)

Some people live interesting lives . . . but when it comes time to check out their timing is appalling: the author Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, The Doors of Perception) died the same day John F... > Read more