GO-GO BOOTS
RELEASE DATES: Feb 14, 2011 (Europe) / Feb 15, 2011 (U.S.) ATO Records
GO-GO BOOTSTrack Listing:"Go-Go Boots" is our new album. I count it as our eleventh, although I've seen it counted as our tenth and twelfth, We began recording it at the same time we started "The Big To-Do" but it's always been it's own thing and in many ways the polar opposite side of what we do as a band.
If "The Big To-Do" was an action adventure summertime flick (albeit with some brainy and dark undercurrents) this one is a noir film. Think Night of the Hunter only with some weird colors to it.
It's the album where we finally fully embrace the music of our original hometown area of Muscle Shoals, exploring the waters of country/soul and that mystical intersection between to two dominate poles of our shared musical heritage. It's also definitively a Drive-By Truckers album and an album that benefits heavily from the work we did backing up Bettye LaVette and Booker T. Jones a few years back.
For the record savvy, this one is a pay-off as it sounds extra great in it's intended vinyl configuration.
The vinyl sequence features Shonna's great new song "I Hear You Hummin'" which is a stellar and beautiful performance and is only available in that format.
The gatefold sleeve has some of Wes' greatest artwork ever and the mastering this time out was to perfection.The album will be available from ATO Records on Feb. 15th. In Europe it's coming on the 14th from Play It Again Sam Records.
In the meantime, check out The GO-GO BOOTS Episodes.
- Patterson Hood (Jan. 5 2011)
A series of short films by Jason Thrasher and myself about the album, the songs and the band at this point in time.
I'm really proud of them and hope you enjoy them.
1. I Do Believe
2. Go-Go Boots
3. Dancin' Ricky
4. Cartoon Gold
5. Ray's Automatic Weapon
6. Everybody Needs Love
7. Assholes
8. The Weakest Man
9. Used To Be A Cop
10. The Fireplace Poker
11. Where's Eddie
12. The Thanksgiving Filter
13. Pulaski
14. Mercy Buckets
15. I Hear You Hummin'(Vinyl Only)
THE MOVIE VERSION (GO-GO BOOTS LINER NOTES)
It's The Movie Version.
Names were changed, storylines simplified, characters unified and plotlines streamlined.
It might have happened.
Might even be a true story, but we're not calling it that.
It's The Movie Version.
Real life might be stranger than fiction.
It's certainly messier.
A fact is a fact (or so I heard).
That might have been a lie.
But the lighting is impeccable and the camera angles sublime
and The Set Decorator did a stunning job.
The parts were all well cast and the dialogue was snappy.
The Actors all won Oscars and the Director was a sadistic tyrant
but the DP's bloodshot eyes were unfailing
And the audience was stunned and amazed.
It's The Movie Version.
It's not better than 'real life'
But for a couple of hours, 'real life' stops and we get to tell this story.
Not quite how it really happened.
But hopefully a little more entertaining.
Patterson Hood - Friday 13th August, 2010 (en route to Atlanta Airport).
We lost two very dear friends during the making of this album.
Byron Wilkes was an artist, collector and local guru from my hometown of Florence, AL. I met him at nursery school (in his mama's basement) when I was three. My house has several paintings of his on the walls and he was a lifelong friend. He drew the "Wallace" illustration that adorns the Southern Rock Opera booklet and has a cameo in our documentary. He passed away rather unexpectedly last summer and we all sure miss him. His sense of humor was unstoppable and his mind relentless.
Vic Chesnutt passed away on Christmas Day last year and our whole community has been devastated by the loss. He was a good friend and possibly the greatest songwriter of his (our) generation. His artistry was an inspiration on so many levels that I can't even begin to go into it here. Let's just say he was one of a kind and I am honored that I got to spend a little time with him and get to spend the rest of my life with his amazing recorded legacy.
We Lovingly Dedicate Go-Go Boots to Vic Chesnutt and Byron Wilkes.
PLAY LOUD!
CREDITS:
Produced, Engineered and Mixed by David Barbe
Chase Park Transduction Studios Athens, GA
Recorded in 2009 and 2010 on glorious 2" analog tape
Assistant Engineer - Drew Vandenberg
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, NYC
Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals, Bass and Drums, Banjo, Pedal Steel, Lap Steel, Dobro, Fender Stringmaster, Hammond B3, Piano, Wurlitzer, Accordion, Melodica, Harmonica and Saw tracked mostly live to 16 track two inch analog and mixed down to ½ inch analog with tubes-a-glowing and plates shimmering with reverberated bliss.
Drive-By Truckers 2011:
Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, Brad Morgan, Shonna Tucker, John Neff and Jay Gonzalez
Special Guests:
David Barbe - Bass on "Dancin' Ricky"
The Bottom Feeders (USA) - Jordanaires Styled Backings
Jack Logan - Singing with The Bottom Feeders on "Pulaski"
Supertramp Sanchez - Accordion on "The Weakest Man"
Art Direction - Lilla Hood - www.hoodcreate.com
Artwork and Paintings - Wes Freed at Willard's Garage, Richmond, VA
Willards Garage maintained by Jyl Freed - www.wesfreed.com
Go-Go Boots Episodes - Jason Thrasher - www.thrasherphoto.com
Management - Kevin Morris and Christine Stauder at Red Light Management
Agent USA - Frank Riley and Matt Hickey at High Road Touring, Sausalito, CA and Austin, TX
Agent World - Neil Warnock at The Agency Group
Press and Publicity - Traci Thomas at Thirty Tigers, Nashville, TN
Legal - J. Reid Hunter and David Gold for Serling Rooks and Ferrara, NYC
Web - Jenn Bryant at Knuckle Sammitch, Athens, GA
Business Management - Tom Scott CPA and Robert Bachman CPA at Trinity Accounting Group, Athens, GA
Chase Park Interns - Drew Carroll, Thomas Johnson, Scott Lee and Matt Tuttle
A&R - Jon Salter for ATO Records
Road Manager and Chief Mule Wrangler - Matt DeFilippis (The Mattador)
Live Sound Engineer - Matt DeFilippis (The Mattador)
Monitor Engineer and Archiving - Colin Cargile
Lighting and Mule Maintenance - Cole Taylor
Stage Production, Guitar World and Equipment Management - Damon Scott
Road Merch and Additional Support - Craig Lieske
Merch Development and Officiation - Matt Etgen
Bus Driver - Ricky Presley and Tom Sackett
Office Help - Kelly DeFilippis
Scott Baxendale has been building some incredible guitars for us for a few years. They are amazing handcrafted instruments made with love and care (and only the finest of woods). Scott works out of The Baxendale Guitar in Athens, GA, and can be reached at www.baxendaleguitar.com.
Brad has pretty much always played Ludwig Drums and would like to thank Kevin Packard and all the folks there for treating him so well. Brad also wants to send special thanks to Chris Brewer and Meinl Cymbals for all they have done on our behalf.
Johnny Neff uses Slides by Tom McLaughlin.
Shonna uses an Ampeg Bass Amp.
Jay uses Nord and Yamaha Keyboards (as well as vintage Wurlitzer and Hammond B-3).
Patterson uses a Fender Vibro King and Deluxe Reverb (1972 and a 1966 reissue).
DBT Proudly Uses:
Rapco Cables, Seymore Duncan Pickups, D'Addario Strings, Gibson Guitars (Patterson and John), Voodoo Lab Power Supplies, Ludwig Drums, Nord USA, Meinl Cymbals, Fender Amps
DBT Proudly Supports Nuci's Space Artist Resource Center. Please read all about this great organization at www.nuci.org.
MERCI BEAUCOUP:
Ansley, Ross, Luke and Delilah Cooley; Rebecca, Ava and Emmett Hood; Kimberly and Ruby Morgan; Jeff, Patrice, and Randy Tucker; Katey and Billy Gonzalez; Kelly DeFilippis; Buck, Eddie, Sweet Tea, Louie (RIP) and Dexter; and Doug.
Jenn Bryant, Wes and Jyl Freed; Amy, Annabelle, Winston and Henry Barbe; Traci Thomas and all at Thirty Tigers; Chris, Lilla, Reed and Duncan Smith.
Thanks to our beloved Road Crew for hard labor and handling above and beyond (way beyond) any reasonable call of duty. Matt DeFilippis, Damon Scott, Colin Cargile, Craig Lieske, Cole Taylor, Matt Etgen, Ricky Presley, Tom Sackett and Dick Cooper (retired, but never forgotten).
Kevin Morris and Christine Stauder and all the folks at Red Light Management; Frank Riley and Matt Hickey and all at High Road Touring; Neil Warnock and all at The Agency Group; Robert Bachman, Mary Gilbert, Joni Rinke, Tom Scott and all at Trinity Accounting Group; BMI; J. Reid Hunter, David Gold and the folks at Serling Rooks and Ferrara NYC.
Coran Capshaw, Will Botwin, Jon Salter, Sharon Lord, Rick Brewer, Carlyn Kessler, Kirby Lee, Dave McClain and everyone at ATO Records. Edwin Schroter, Tim Hall, Jo Horton, Juan Vandhervoort, Mark Meyer and everyone at PIAS Recordings.
Drew Vandenberg; Garrie Vereen and the fine folks at Widespread Panic, Athens GA; Dewitt Burton and the fine folks at REM, Athens GA; Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey; Jay Nakashi for the use of his Moog; Marty Gelhaar and Atlanta Vintage Keyboards; Mike Luba; Chris Grehan (Thanks for the use of the accordion); Elliot Colbert; Phoebe Gellman; Will Johnson, Scott Danbom and the Centro-matic Family; Barr Weissman and Family, Jimmy and Krissie and the Secret to a Happy Ending; David and Judy Hood; Jim and Linda Wright; Andy Kaulkin, Donnie Fritts; Bettye and Kevin; Booker T. Jones and Nan; Spooner and Karen Oldham; Mark Bowen and Roxanne Oldham; Jay Leavitt and Deep Groove Records; Ed and all the folks at Musician's Warehouse; Danny Clinch; Barrie Buck, Velena, Josh, David, Joseph, Zack, Stephanie, Leslie, Jeff, Chris, Asa, Bartenfeld, Mikey and all the other fine folks at The Fabulous 40 Watt Club; Linda Phillips, Will, Bob and Laura and all at Nuci's Space; Jason and Beth Thrasher; Bloodkin, The Decoys, The Hold Steady, Don Chambers and GOAT, Andy Baker, Andy LeMaster; Greg Calbi and all at Sterling Sound; Steve Ager and Jakub Blackman; The NYC Jomos; Jason Wilson and Alabama Ass Whuppin'; Mark Lynn, Ol Wiggum and Jonicont and all at Three Dimes Down; Beth Dickson; Tom McLaughlin; Jack, Sharon, Henry and Charlie Logan; William, Debbie, Sara and Ben Tonks; Charles Attal and C3; The Dickinson Family; Ray McKinnon and Lisa Blount; Walton Goggins and Scott Teems; Dean Neff; Marc and Khrysia; TmcB and Shayne, Jim Wilson, Tim Facok and Caroline; Scott Baxendale and Pam; Dancin' Ricky Poss and the Brooklyn Bowl; Christine Jepsen; Grimey's; Mercy Lounge and Cannery; The Fillmore; 9:30; Chunklet; Caledonia; Flicker; Wyatt and Amy; Neko Case and Kelly Hogan; Justin Crockett; Shake It Records and the Eddie Hinton Project; Laura D. Perkins; Peter Thompson and Zane Records; Billy Reid and Alabama Chanin; Jimmy "Cheese Man" C; Wilmot Greene and The Georgia Theatre (REBUILDING!); The wonderful Athens GA community and of course our beloved families and friends.
David Barbe Thanks Amy, Annabelle, Winston and Henry Barbe.
LYRICS
I DO BELIEVE
I do believe I saw you standing there
Sunlight in your hair
Reflecting in your eyes
I was only five years old
Riding in your top-down Mustang
Taking me out to the beach
Your eyes matched the skies
I believe I saw your shadow looking like 1967
Percy Sledge on the radio
Or maybe Spanish songs
All my troubles swept away
The ocean on my scraped up knees
You could never stand to be away from me too long
I do believe I do believe I know that you would never leave me
And when you slipped the earthly binds you still live in my mind
And when I'm gone, again I'll find
My way back into your kitchen
And see you standing there in the window's shine
I do believe I do believe
You're standing there in emerald green
In the afternoon
Oh so long ago
For Sissy!
Lyrics: Patterson Hood /Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Kay Guitar and SG and Lead Vocals / Mike Cooley - Teisco Electric Guitar / Johnny Neff - Silvertone Lead Guitar / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - B3 and Harmony Vocals
GO-GO BOOTS
He drove the Cadillac she drove the Oldsmobile
Every Friday he shacked up with his mistress
Doing things that he'd never do with the Mrs.
Who was back at home cooking dinner for him
They had a son who never had the calling
He went all over town drinking and balling
Got some girl pregnant when he was still a teen
Working at McDonalds and pumping gasoline
Driving that Camaro fast with all his friends
Daddy's been preaching the word ever since he was twelve
All about a merciful savior and the fires of hell
I know he meant it, so what's a little straying
He got everybody singing and a praying
"That devil better not come back down here again"
Missy wore them go-go boots; it did something for him
Made him think his wife back home was homely and boring
He met these guys who didn't mind getting dirty
He was a pillar and his alibi was sturdy
It only took a little bit of cash and the deed was done
Stained glass windows, Jesus looking down
Organs playing music to the middle aged crowd
His wife's in the ground the devil's in his head
Them go-go boots are underneath the bed
But it's a small town and word gets around
Gossip is a flying and his son starts to thinking
He see's his Daddy's new wife driving around in a Lincoln
There's a lot he'd like to ask if he could get the chance
But he's scared he might have to kill the old man
He wonders what the Lord will say when he weighs it all out
It's a small town. Go-Go Boots.
Lyrics: Patterson Hood / Music: Cooley, Hood, Tucker, Morgan, Neff and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Guitar and Vocal / Mike Cooley - Guitar / Johnny Neff - Slide Guitar / Shonna Tucker - Bass and Backing Vocal / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Hammond B3 and Wurlitzer
DANCIN' RICKY
What you gonna do about merchandise?
Ricky Boy, You got the money, you got somethin' left to do
What you gonna do about countin' right?
Your shirts too damned small for your body
You got your freedom out in the open
We got to figure out how to quit all your dancing
And go and check out the swag
Ricky Boy, Oh Dancin' Ricky,
You've got plenty of moves left to do
Hey Ricky, don't let the Diabetes get you!
Dancin' Ricky, Oh Dancin' Ricky,
You've been spinnin' just like a ride
What you gonna do about actin' right?
Lyrics: Shonna Tucker / Music: Cooley, Hood, Tucker, Morgan, Neff, Barbe and Gonzalez
© Something Heavy Publishing (BMI)
Shonna Tucker - Piano and Lead Vocal / David Barbe - Bass / Mike Cooley - Electric Guitar / Patterson Hood - Electric Guitar and Harmony Vocal / Johnny Neff - Pedal Steel / Jay Gonzalez - Hammond B-3 / Brad Morgan - Drums
CARTOON GOLD
I just count on knowing when I'm high enough
A mule with only two legs counting steps toward dangling carrots don't add up
I think about you when I can and even sometimes when I can't I do
Once the driver knows you got good sense he takes away the carrots too
Getting all excited finding nothing that was never there before
Is like bringing flowers to your Mama and tracking dog shit all over the floor
Jesus made the flowers but it took a dog to make the story good
I think about you when I can and sometime when I don't I probably should
Tending bar in LA after dark must be like mining cartoon gold
Rocks that won't cooperate and tools that drive you crazy must get old
I think about you when I can and sometimes when I do I still get caught
sitting in a bar in LA after dark with my sunglasses on
Lyrics: Mike Cooley / Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Wayward Johnson Music (BMI)
Mike Cooley - Acoustic Guitar, Banjo and Vocals / Patterson Hood - Acoustic Guitar / John Neff - Dobro / Jay Gonzalez - Piano / Brad Morgan - Drums / Shonna Tucker - Bass
RAY'S AUTOMATIC WEAPON
You got to take that gun back
Cuz these things that I been shooting at are getting all too real
Don't want to hurt nobody, but I keep on aiming closer
Don't think that I can keep it feeling like I feel
Ray I know I told you
That I'd keep it for you
I know I said I trusted me with it more than you
But something happened last night that made me reconsider
I need you to drive out here and relieve me of it too
I figured after forty years, I wouldn't still be having nightmares
You'd think that now that we're older, that war would finally be over
Ray, I'm in my sixties and the nights ain't getting shorter
Only my patience and checkbook and fuse
Ray I got to tell you
You got to come take that gun back
Cuz these things that I been shooting at are getting all too real
Lyrics: Patterson Hood / Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Guitar, Vocals / Mike Cooley - Guitar / John Neff - Lap Steel / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Piano and Hammond B3
EVERYBODY NEEDS LOVE
Lyrics and Music by Eddie Hinton
© Eddie Hinton Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Guitar and Lead Vocal / Mike Cooley - Lead Guitar / Johnny Neff - Dobro / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Piano and Hammond B-3 / Backing Vocals by The Bottom Feeders (USA)
ASSHOLES
Talk about records that you know
Lay the friendship card upon me and out the door
Somebody said we hurt your feelings with our little dirty jokes
Then you accused us of stealing back our soul
Then you say that we're the assholes
Cause we bitched about the hassles
While you're sleeping in your castles
And we're still riding down the road
I hear you're all offended by the letters that I wrote
It's just a shame it hadn't ended long ago
Then you sicked your lawyers on me
Told them to go for the throat
And you just sat back and watched them have a go
Then you say that we're the assholes…
But I never would deny we have our share of the blame to absorb
But when you say that you're the reason for the things that we've achieved
I want to kick down your door
You like to say that we're the assholes
As if we somehow done you wrong
We just do what we have to, to carry on
I'm sure you'll find another asshole
To replace us for a song
You'll keep your office and expense account and we'll keep traveling along
When you say that we're all assholes
Guess it'd be useless to deny
I'm just saying you're the reason why
Lyrics: Patterson Hood /Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Guitar and Vocal / Mike Cooley - Guitar and Banjo / Johnny Neff - Pedal Steel / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Wurlitzer and Harmony Vocal
THE WEAKEST MAN
Making me put you down before I was through
You tempted me and tried me and I kept you right beside me
You ruined me for everyone but you
It's easy to love a thing so warm and soothing
That gets you through the night so tenderly
but after all these nights with you all I remember
Is forgetting just how cold your heart could be
Leaving you wont be any harder than walking out the door and leaving town
but I'll be leaving knowing surviving you don't make me stronger
Than the weakest man who ever turned you down
The body in that pretty dress you wore dear
Fit my shaking hand just like a glove
but trembling's for the fearful old and crying
Getting old and sad and scared ain't worth your love
so will you let me go just like I came babe?
Willful clear of mind and free to see
Clear enough to see the others like you
and mindful my will breaks so easily
Leaving you wont be any harder than walking out the door and leaving town
but I'll be leaving knowing surviving you don't make me stronger
Than the weakest man who ever turned you down
Lyrics: Mike Cooley / Music Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Wayward Johnson Music (BMI)
Mike Cooley - Acoustic Guitar and Vocals / Patterson Hood - Silvertone Guitar / John Neff - Guitar / Jay Gonzalez - Wurlitzer / Brad Morgan - Drums / Shonna Tucker - Bass and Harmony Vocal / Backing Vocals by The Bottom Feeders (USA) / Accordion Solo by Supertramp Sanchez
USED TO BE A COP
I used to like to party till I coughed up half a lung
But sometimes late at night I can hear the beat a bumpin'
And I reach for my holster and I wake up all alone
I used to have a wife but she told me I was crazy
Said she couldn't stand the way I fidget all the time
Sometimes late at night I circle around the house
I look through the windows and dream that she's still mine
I got scars on my back from the way my Daddy raised me
I used to have a family until I got divorced
It's too far to turn back so I just keep turning round in circles
I used to be a cop but they kicked me off the force
Used to have a car but the bank came and took it
I'm paying for a house but that bitch lives in it now
With the children that we had who now won't even look at me
Guess there's nothing left to lose, nothing matters anyhow
Got a scar on my arm from that bullet that once grazed me
I keep it in a box to remind me where I've been
That thin blue line was the only thing that could save me
I used to have a badge but they made me turn it in
I used to play football but I wasn't big enough for college
But I passed the entrance exam, first try and on my way
The Police Academy gave me the only thing I was ever good at
But my temper and the shakes and they took that thing away
Used to have a wife but she just couldn't deal with
The anger and tension that was welling inside me
Sometimes late at night I circle round the house
I look through the windows and I remember how it used to be
Lyrics: Patterson Hood /Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Guitar and Vocals / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Mike Cooley - Lead Guitar / John Neff - Guitar and Sitar / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Wurlitzer and Piano
THE FIREPLACE POKER
He and a friend should do her in and make it look like a robbery
"Here's money son, go buy a gun and shoot her in the head
No one who dies, testifies, make sure that she is dead"
The heathens were paid a thousand bucks to eliminate someone
Plus they were paid five hundred more to get themselves a gun
The guy I knew had a hunting knife, "Why bother with a gun?
She'll still be dead, why sweat details, as long as it gets done"
The Bible said that Jesus bled for the sins of the rest of us
The Reverend has his wife done in for fifteen hundred bucks
They knocked upon the door and said their car broke down
and asked if they could use the phone for a ride back into town
They stabbed her several times and left her there for dead
Bleeding and crying out and gasping for breath
and they went out the very next night and bragged about it
The Reverend came home from work and found the Mrs. dying
Life was falling from her grasp but still she lay there trying
No one will ever know what she told him or know what he told her
Cause the Reverend did his wife in, fifteen whacks, fireplace poker
The headlines screamed out "Brutal Murder, small town preacher's wife"
The crime rocked all of Colbert County as each new fact came to light
It seems the Preacher had a girl he counseled on the side
Now the shit was coming down and she was scared to lie
The preacher came home from the funeral and found Policemen waiting
The heathens, it seems, got coked up and drunk and did a lot of communicating
Life is cheap for a couple of creeps but this here is the smoker
Their prints were found all around the room but not on the fireplace poker
The Preacher's son brought his father home and followed him inside
Shots rang out in the Tuscumbia night. Was he alone when he died?
"Don't call the son for questioning, that bullet was deserved
Better call it suicide, justice has been served"
Better call it suicide, justice has been served
Lyrics: Patterson Hood / Music: Cooley, Hood, Morgan, Neff, Tucker and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Lead and Backing Vocals, Baxendale Acoustic Guitar / Mike Cooley - Lead Corvis Guitar / Slantbar Johnny - Fender Stringmaster and feedback howlaround / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Piano and Accordion
WHERE'S EDDIE
© EMI Blackwood / Eddie Hinton Music (BMI)
Shonna Tucker - Bass and Lead Vocals / Mike Cooley - Lead Guitar / Patterson Hood - Electric Guitar / John Neff - Pedal Steel / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Piano and Hammond B-3
THE THANKSGIVING FILTER
We all sure love her, but the little ones avoid her
Cause she's gray-haired and wrinkled and her burden looks heavy
Ninety years of survival can look awful scary
Papa's building something and has since history
But what he's building is still a mystery
It's big and it's twisting and shaped convoluted
It don't have a function but you better salute it
And it will never be finished but I guess that's the point
It just gives him a filter and psychological ointment
He woke up real early but he's late for his appointment
And I sure wish that I had smoked me a joint
It's Thanksgiving and Jesus, I'm thankful
For abundance and bounty and a big tall stiff drink-full
And the love of your mother and the love of mine too
Thanksgiving's almost over and Christmas is soon
Mama is trying to live in the present
Don't let him have a heart attack before I pay off the presents
Granddaddy's gone but she still feels his presence
He tried to call but he didn't leave a message
It's Thanksgiving and Jesus I'm thankful…
So put the food on the table and Papa says a blessing
They're cutting up some turkey and gobbling some dressing
My Aunt's praising Palin and my niece loves Obama
My uncle came to dinner wearing his pajamas
Thank God for the filter that enables some distance
From the screaming and crying and the needs of assistance
You wonder why I drink and curse the holidays
Blessed be my family from 300 miles away
It's Thanksgiving and Jesus I'm thankful…
Lyrics: Patterson Hood / Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Silvertone Guitar and SG, Lead Vocal / Mike Cooley - Lead Guitar / John Neff - Lead Guitar / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Piano and Hammond B3 and Harmony Vocals
PULASKI
The first one in her family to go
and California seemed like heaven,
Pulaski, Tennessee was her home
She worked on losing her southern accent
and turned her back on her Baptist ways
She bought some clothes that barely covered her fair skinned body,
Went to Nashville and caught a plane
The clouds rushed beneath her as the LA smog filled the air
She smiled when the airlock opened
and the Pacific breeze blew through her hair
She thought about the boys from Alabama
Who came into town every Friday night
and drank beer out of big glass quart bottles
and left their trail of blood and tears behind
She thought the men from California would be different
She'd grown up watching them on her TV
But the men she came to know in California
Left her longing for Pulaski, Tennessee
Good ideas always start with a full glass
and just breathing here can make a girl's nose bleed
Dreams here live and die just like a stray dog on a dirt road somewhere in Tennessee
The storefronts all filled up with eyeballs
As the policemen clear out the street
For a line of cars with their headlights burning
Driving slow through Pulaski, Tennessee
Lyrics: Mike Cooley / Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Wayward Johnson Music (BMI)
Mike Cooley - Acoustic Guitar and Vocals / Patterson Hood - Acoustic Guitar / John Neff - Pedal Steel / Jay Gonzalez - Accordion / Brad Morgan - Drums / Shonna Tucker - Bass / Backing Vocals by The Bottom Feeders (USA) featuring Jack Logan on this track
MERCY BUCKETS
When you're about twenty-cents shy of a quarter, count on me
When you just need a place to hide out for a while
I'll help you hide the bodies in a little while
I will bring you buckets of mercy
And hold your hand when you're crossing the street
Play a song if you want it
When you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, call on me
If you're feeling that freight train running through your head, call on me
If you just need a friend to talk to or maybe not talk at all
I will bring you buckets of mercy
And put a smile back on your pretty face
Bring a shovel if you want it
Carry your secrets to my grave
When you're down and out
I'll pick you up down at the station
Give your hard times some vacation
Get you headed on your way
I will bring you buckets of mercy
And hold your hand when you're crossing the street
Pay your bail if you need it
I will be your saving grace…
Lyrics: Patterson Hood / Music: Cooley, Hood, Neff, Tucker, Morgan and Gonzalez
© Soul Dump Music (BMI)
Patterson Hood - Guitars and Vocals / Mike Cooley - Lead Guitar / John Neff - Slide Guitar / Shonna Tucker - Bass and Harmony Vocal / Brad Morgan - Drums / Jay Gonzalez - Hammond B3, Piano and Backing Vocals
I HEAR YOU HUMMIN'
I hear your fingertips on the steering wheel keeping time
We're almost there so I guess we better go inside
Maybe that dude will be there, that dude that helped last time
He's got good stories, He knows a hell of a lot about wine
He told us things we never heard about purple and dying
I hear you hummin', hear you hummin' all the time
You got a lot of words yet you opt for hummin' everytime
Lyrics - Shonna Tucker / Music - John Neff, Jay Gonzalez, Shonna Tucker and Brad Morgan
© Something Heavy Publishing (BMI)
Shonna Tucker - Acoustic Guitar and Vocals / John Neff - Melodica / Jay Gonzalez - Accordion and Saw / Brad Morgan - Drums
COMMENTARY
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS - GO-GO BOOTS SYNOPSIS
We began tracking GO-GO BOOTS, our eleventh album, in January 2009 at David Barbe's Chase Park Transduction Studios in Athens, GA.
This time we went in without a specific game plan about the album, just planning on tracking all of the new songs we had acquired over the past couple of years with the intention of letting the recordings lead us where they might. The sessions were among the most productive and fun times we've ever had in the studio and soon it became apparent to all of us that we were indeed making two very distinctly different albums.
After 2008's BRIGHTER THAN CREATION'S DARK album, which was stylistically all over the map, we wanted to come out with a concise and straightforward Rock Album first. THE BIG TO-DO, which came out last March was of course that album. In the studio, we recorded songs, based on what or how we felt with no regard for where they might end up until the summer of 2009 when we began finishing up the first release in order to make our release day deadlines. The plan was then to re-convene whenever possible to work on GO-GO BOOTS.
Country - Soul / Murder Ballads
We've always tried to avoid a lot of sub-genre-ization of our music. When people ask me what we sound like (the worst thing you can ever ask an artist) we always say Rock and Roll. The fact that Rock and Roll has been divided into so many sub-genres only reinforced our desire to not hem ourselves into one stylistic ghetto or another. What kind of Rock and Roll? All kinds.
That said, we have always had a lifelong love affair with Soul Music and R&B (as well as with old-timey Country Music) and over the last few years, getting to work with Bettye LaVette and Booker T. Jones (as well as making a couple of albums with Spooner Oldham) only strengthened our desire to one day delve further into those genres. A few years ago, a small label in Europe released Country Got Soul, a great compilation of Country/Soul classics including many of our all-time favorite artists including Eddie Hinton, Tony Joe White, Dan Penn and Bobby Womack. With GO-GO BOOTS we have ventured further into those sounds than ever before.
We also have always loved Murder Ballads, and this time I wrote a bigger than usual share of such things. "Go-Go Boots" and "The Fireplace Poker" both tell (from differing perspectives) of a rather sensational murder that took place in my hometown back in the late 80's. A preacher who was having an extra- marital affair hired two men to murder his wife and make it look like a robbery. The job was botched and he found his wife, badly injured but still alive. He finished the job with a fireplace poker. One thing quickly led to another and soon the entire house of cards came crashing down. The two hired assassins were soon arrested and convicted (one was recently put to death in Alabama), a third party who was the go-between was sentenced to life in prison and the preacher ended up dead of a gunshot to the head (most likely self-inflicted). I'm not totally comfortable with the depth of my morbid fascination with this murder story. I have an unfinished screenplay and book about it as well as an earlier, abandoned song called "Heathen's River" that morphed into the two songs on this album.
The recording of "Go-Go Boots" and "The Fireplace Poker" nearly bookended our sessions for this album. The title cut was recorded on the first week of tracking and sort of set the tone for the songs that followed. I had honestly shrugged off the idea of recording the other one, but it kept calling out to us and we finally decided (on the final weekend of recording) to at least give it a shot. The resulting track was such a magical take that it was instantly assured its place in the sequence.
Don't Fear the Tangle
As we rounded the corner into the 25th year of Cooley and I playing together, the chemistry of our band was at an all-time high. This is our second album with keyboard player Jay Gonzalez. His mastery of piano, Wurlitzer and Hammond B- 3 (as well as accordion and saw) has added many new dimensions to our band's sound and his interplay with Cooley, Neff and I have taken the band in many new directions. John Neff was a founding member and has been back with us for five years now. He possesses a melodic center that makes him the perfect counter- part to Cooley on the other side of the stage.
I also love the compositional elements that Johnny and Jay bring to the table. Johnny's playing is never flashy, always tasteful and the counter-melodies he plays add depth and atmosphere to the stories we tell. Jay also sings some of the most beautiful harmonies imaginable, sometimes countering the brutal imagery of some of the songs.
Shonna Tucker and Brad Morgan have become one of the very best rhythm sections in Rock, taking things they learned doing the Booker T. and Bettye LaVette albums and applying it to where we're going. The tracks on this album are easily the best played in our band's history with everyone's parts weaving in and out of each other, creating a tangle of melody and harmony.
"The things that I've been shooting at are getting all too real"
Years ago, I worked a job that had me in direct daily contact with many members of my hometown's police force. Many of the policemen I met were good, honest hard-working men (and women) but there were a couple that would give pause. One in particular ended up losing his job due to some criminal activities. He later got into some real trouble for stalking his ex-wife and that became my inspiration for writing "Used To Be A Cop". Since the song takes place in the late 70's or early 80's, we set it to a faux-Disco beat.
"Ray's Automatic Weapon" was written in a club parking lot in New Mexico on the same afternoon that I wrote the song "Santa Fe". It was inspired by a visit from a friend that day who told me a chilling tale about a couple of Vietnam vets and a very powerful gun. I was literally about halfway finished writing "Santa Fe" when the visit interrupted me. I wrote "Ray's Automatic Weapon" five minutes after he left; then finished the other one. That kind of thing doesn't happen very often but it is a joyous thing when it does. I recorded demos of both songs that afternoon on Garage Band in the back of the bus before going to sound check.
"The Movie Version"
As a band of movie fanatics, we've always thought of some of these records we make as small films without the film. There has always been a cinematic quality to what we do and how we view our albums. A lot of times when people ask me about the stories we tell and if they are true or made up, I say that a lot of them are certainly based on true stories but we tell "The Movie Version" of things. I'm thrilled that so many of our songs play out like little movies.
"Pulaski" is a great Mike Cooley song that falls into that category. A recording of him playing it at a solo show, some years ago has been floating around the internet for a while, even getting the attention of Pulaski's Mayor, who contacted us to compliment it. We ended up with a beautiful take of it, featuring backing vocals by The Bottom Feeders.
Shonna Tucker is premiering a brand new song called "Dancin' Ricky" that doesn't sound like anything we've ever done before. We're really proud of it. She's also singing her ass off on "Where's Eddie", a song that Eddie Hinton and Donnie Fritts originally wrote for Lulu's 1969 Muscle Shoals Sound album New Routes. We originally cut our version for Shake It Records' incredible Eddie Hinton Tribute Singles Series last year and became so attached to it that it made the album. The same goes for that single's other side "Everybody Needs Love". It has always been one of my favorite Eddie Hinton songs and the recording of it actually had a profound affect on our band and the making of this new album.
(BTW: Eddie Hinton was an incredible artist, singer, songwriter, guitar player, producer and arranger from the old Muscle Shoals heyday. If you've ever seen our band, you've no doubt heard lots of his music playing on the PA system before and after our show. He passed away back in 1995 leaving behind a legacy of so many great records, most of which most people have never heard. I wrote "Sandwiches For The Road" about him for our first album shortly after his passing. It should be mentioned that we've never included a cover song on a DBT album (not counting live or outtake releases) and we're including two of his songs on this new album. It's that big of a deal to us).
"Mercy Buckets" is a song of mine. It's about as close to the Sweet Soul Music I've always loved as I'm capable of writing and I'm thrilled with the direction the band took it in the recording. The music and title both came from a song I wrote a long time ago. After recording the Eddie Hinton tracks, we decided to pull it out and write new lyrics to it and give it a go. Cooley and John Neff's guitar interplay has never been better than the crescendo of this track.
"Jesus made the flowers but it took a dog to make the story good."
As usual, my favorite line on the album comes from Mike Cooley. It occurs somewhere during the second verse of the song "Cartoon Gold". The song, destined to be a new Cooley classic, features some nice rambling banjo and some fine Floyd Cramer style piano playing from Jay Gonzalez.
Other songs include "The Thanksgiving Filter", our ode to surviving the one's you love; "The Weakest Man" another ode to surviving the one's you love; "I Hear You Hummin'"(bonus track on the vinyl), Shonna's ode to surviving a trip to the wine store; and "Assholes" which we love but probably just shouldn't talk about.
Finally, just as we were wrapping up the album, I wrote one more song that not only fit the album, it became the lead track. "I Do Believe" kicks off this album so full of murder and deceit with possibly the sweetest song I've ever written. A tale of a little boy's love for his Grandmother and a memory that will make me smile forever.
In the end, our recording sessions produced nearly 40 new songs, the best of which make up THE BIG TO-DO and now GO-GO BOOTS. It's been a joy recording these songs and we're all really excited to go out and perform them Live all over the world.
Long Live Rock and Roll and Sweet Soul Music.
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers