Saturday, June 21, 2008

Morning Wood


We have a special place in our hearts for all things wood here. Driftwood. Roy Wood. Ron Wood. Into the Woods. Wooden riffs. Wooden beats. Wooden Wand. Wooden Indians. Wooden ships on the water. And so, the Wood Brothers.

If I’m honest with myself, opening up to the Wood Brothers took some mental house-cleaning to overcome the vestigial quick-draw judgmental baggage, the instinctive, ingrained, dismissive reflex triggered by the Medeski, Martin and Wood connection, the Norah Jones effect, the artfully distressed textures, fear of the Epcot Center jukejoint exhibit factor (complete with fake outsider art paintings of old blues men, washboards and BBQ kitsch as decor), the redolent spiced-tea jam-band emanations, the made-for-Bonnaroo suspicions. But once I purified myself of bad thoughts, I was able to see the beauty of the Wood Brothers, and the ugliness in me (never difficult).

This is for Dewey Dell and Lefty. The title track from the Wood Brothers record always conjures the best old Bonnie Raitt and early Little Feat for me. And, just because all things seem connected, here’s a link to a great story about hunting wild hogs in Texas. And, speaking of wild hogs, here’s a link to A.O. Scott’s review of the Tim Allen/John Travolta movie Wild Hogs, from last year. One of the greatest take-down reviews I’ve ever read.

“Loaded” - The Wood Brothers

2 comments:

Lefty said...

Was this dedicated to us because we're such drunks?! True enough. Funny, this disc landed on my desk and I gave the first track a spin and ejected after about 20 seconds. You're a better man than I for letting it ride and finding a good song. Heartier constitution. More Christ-like. Less drunk?

Mr. Poncho said...

no, no, I thought it was very Bonnie Raitt/Litte Feat-ish, both Dewey Dell touchstones. You two are ossified though.