Tom Russell’s release Folk Hotel has been in my music rotation for a week or so now, and I like the album more and more each time I listen to it. There are few songwriters whose songs send me to Wikipedia to look up references the way Tom’s does. In fact, I was sent scurrying on the first track: “Up in the Old Hotel.”
The first reference I chased was Joseph Mitchell, whose ghost wanders the halls of Tom’s Folk Hotel. Here’s what I found:
Joseph Mitchell and Up in the Old Hotel
(July 27, 1908 – May 24, 1996) was an American writer best known for his work in The New Yorker. He wrote careful portraits of eccentrics and people on the fringes of society, especially in and around New York City. His book Up in the Old Hotel collects the best of his writing for The New Yorker. Mitchell’s last book was Joe Gould’s Secret (1964). From 1964 until his death in 1996, Mitchell went to work at his office daily, but never published anything significant again. Read More
Dylan Thomas and the Hotel Chelsea
The second reference in the song points to the death of poet Dylan Thomas and his infamous final days:
On 3 November 1953, Thomas spent the day drinking in New York. He returned to the Hotel Chelsea declaring, “I’ve had 18 straight whiskies. I think that’s the record!” Later that week, he fell gravely ill and was admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he died on 9 November 1953 of acute alcohol-related complications. Read More
One Song, Countless Stories
I love that about Tom Russell’s songs. One verse can send me looking up a writer I’d never heard of, while the next leads me to a poet, a painter, or some forgotten corner of American history. His songs aren’t just stories—they’re invitations to keep exploring.
I’ll have more to say about Folk Hotel in another post, but for now I’ll leave you with Tom performing “Up in the Old Hotel.”
More Tom Russell Stories
If you’d like to read more about one of my favorite songwriters, continue with:
Folk Monday: Old Friend Slaid Cleaves and Tom Russell – How Mesabi first entered my music rotation and led to plans for a special concert.
Tom Russell Live at Jammin’ Java – My memories of seeing Tom and Thad Beckman perform many of these songs live in an intimate setting.
So what’s been playing on the iPod over these last few days. A couple of the albums are the latest albums for two old favorites.
Slaid Cleaves – Sorrow and Smoke
The first is a two disc live album from Slaid Cleaves titled Sorrow & Smoke: Live at the Horeshoe Lounge. I’ve been a Slaid fan since I first heard him one Sunday night on Gene Shay’s folk show. We’ve been to many of Slaid’s shows here in Philly and this album does a good job of capturing the spirit of his show
.The album was recorded at two shows one in April 4 and the other in September of 2010 at the Horseshoe Lounge in Austin. Helped out by frequent bandmates Michael O’Connor on acoustic lead guitar and vocals and Oliver Steck on accordion, harmonica, trumpet and harmony vocals,
Slaid also covers some Don Walser songs, where Slaid’s yodeling prowess is showcased. One new track “Go for the Gold” closes the show.
There’s really not a bad track on the album highlights for me always include” “Broke Down”, “No Angel Knows” the touching “Lydia” and the audience participation song “Breakfast in Hell” the story of a logging disaster featuring the brave Sandy Gray and this one “Black T Shirt”, Slaid Cleaves co-wrote this song with his bestchildhood best friend Rod Picott.
Tom Russell – Mesabi
The second album is Tom Russell new album Mesabi. This is another great album from (for me) the best Americana songwriter out there!
Looking Forward to Seeing Tom Russell Live
I am going to hold off writing about this album right now and will write a full review later in the week!
This year Elizabeth decided that rather than go to William and Mary’s family weekend (Sept 23-25) we will go to Washington go to the Braves- Nationals game. So when Mesabi came out a few weeks ago I went to Russell’s website and saw he was touring and will be in Vienna, Virginia on Sunday of that weekend.
So I quickly went and purchased tickets and Kathy and I will be going to see Tom on Sunday September 25 at Jammin’ Java!
Tom Russell Performs”Mesabi”
Here’s a Video of the title track Mesabi from 2014 and it looks just like i remeber that night at the Jammin’n Java Check Out my6 post from that night here!
Continue the Journey
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
Tom Russell Live at Jammin’ Java – My memories of finally seeing one of my favorite songwriters perform Mesabi, “Blue Wing,” “Navajo Rug,” and more in an unforgettable evening of music.
Following Tom Russell into the Old Hotel – How one song from Folk Hotel sent me down another Tom Russell rabbit hole filled with writers, poets, and history.
Do you remember that old saying… Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue? Well, over the weekend my music listening mirrored that saying.
I’ve been listening to a variety of music — something old, Phil Ochs’ Pleasures of the Harbor; something new, Notorious’ The Road to Damascus; something borrowed, Tom Russell; and something blue(s), Coco Montoya.
Something Old: Phil Ochs – Pleasures of the Harbor
I think that somewhere along the line I had a copy of Phil Ochs’ album Pleasures of the Harbor. Actually, I think it was on eight-track tape!
Anyway, it was good to hear the complete album again. I say “hear the complete album” because several of the tracks have been part of my listening rotation over the years — songs like “Flower Lady” (one of my all-time Ochs favorites), “Outside of a Small Circle of Friends,” “Pleasures of the Harbor,” and “The Crucifixion,” all of which have appeared on other compilation albums such as There But for Fortune.
But it was great to revisit songs like the opening track “Cross My Heart” and “The Party” for the first time in a long while — “and I crawled beneath the rug and re-tuned my piano.”
Notorious is primarily a duo — Eden MacAdam-Somer (violinist, fiddler) and Larry Unger — though they sometimes expand to a trio or quartet with Sam Bartlett on mandolin and Mark Hellenberg on percussion or banjo/uke. From their website:
“Eden MacAdam-Somer is a remarkable musician. Violinist, fiddler (there’s a difference), clogger, and vocalist, she bowed, plucked, and danced up a storm, Unger contributing harmony, rhythm, musical ambiance and style. And style there was – in abundance… MacAdam-Somer has mastered it and Unger hung on for the ride. Heartrending vocals poured through ‘All Night Long’ and a Jewish wedding song. Singing and fiddling at the same time is her specialty, but her rendition of a Vaughan-Williams piece for soprano and violin was truly extraordinary.” – Michael Huebner, Birmingham News
Notorious plays a lively mix of folk, Celtic, Gypsy, and Eastern European styles. “Hora Miresii” is a Romanian tune, and “Caje Sukaarije” was made popular by Macedonian singer Esma Redžepova. The album is full of great instrumentals like “Blues at Daybreak,” “Hangman’s Reel,” and “Planxty Eden,” along with vocal gems such as “Wild Rose of the Mountain” and a beautiful rendition of “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.” All in all, a fine album that I know I’ll be returning to often.
Something Borrowed: Tom Russell – Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia
After revisiting Ochs and discovering Notorious, it seemed only fitting to borrow from another era. Tom Russell’s Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia is just that — a heartfelt collection borrowing twelve songs from Ian and Sylvia Tyson. Russell had been thinking about making this record for twenty years before its release. It includes twelve tracks plus two previously unissued demos sung by Ian and Sylvia themselves: “The French Girl” and “Grey Morning.”
Russell’s versions, recorded with Cindy Church and Grant Siemens, feature “Wild Geese,” “Rio Grande,” “Play One More,” “Red Velvet,” “These Friends of Mine,” “The Renegade,” and several surprises — including two co-writes with Ian and Sylvia that Tom had never recorded before.
For those unfamiliar with Ian & Sylvia: they were a celebrated Canadian folk duo of the 1960s and ’70s, best remembered for Ian’s “Four Strong Winds” and “Someday Soon,” and Sylvia’s “You Were On My Mind.” They also covered Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain” and Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game.”
I confess I was never a big Ian & Sylvia fan, but Tom Russell’s interpretations may change that. This is a wonderfully consistent collection — Russell’s voice and storytelling bring fresh life to these classics. My current favorites are “Wild Geese” and “Rio Grande,” though “Play One More,” “Sam Bonnifield’s Saloon,” and “Red Velvet” aren’t far behind.
Anyway, check it out!
Something Blue(s): Coco Montoya – Hard Truth
The something blue(s) that completes the weekend playlist is the album that’s spent the most time in my rotation lately — Hard Truth from Coco Montoya. This is one damn good album, and the proof is in the pudding: it hit number one on the Roots Music Blues Chart last week and is still holding strong this week.
My first encounter with Coco Montoya was in the 1980s when he played lead guitar with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Since then, a few of his solo releases have caught my attention — including his 1997 release Just Let Go, which is in my music library.
For me, though, Hard Truth may be his best album yet — or at least my favorite. There isn’t a weak track here, and throughout the album both Montoya’s guitar work and vocals shine.
My favorite tracks include “Before the Bullets Fly,” “I Want to Shout About It,” and “Old Habits Are Hard to Break.” I added these three to the playlist below — the finishing touches to this first “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” musical journey.
Both Phil Ochs’ Pleasures of the Harbor and several Ian & Sylvia albums — plus an Ian Tyson solo record — now sit proudly in my vinyl collection. Not a bad soundtrack for a weekend that covered the old, the new, the borrowed, and the blue.
