I guess "Frisco Mabel Joy" is probably his classic album, which apart from "Trilogy" also contains one of the great London songs, "Swiss Cottage Place."
― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 7 October 2002 13:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 October 2002 15:36 (twenty-one years ago) link
― debden, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 15:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ergotnaut, Wednesday, 16 February 2005 00:09 (nineteen years ago) link
as i say, i've only heard the one album, but it's great. i think he just decided not to bother becoming famous as a performer and off he went to oregon to live off his songwriting royalties.
― debden, Wednesday, 16 February 2005 09:40 (nineteen years ago) link
"I'm only one man sometimes I wish I were three I'd take a .44 pistol to me Put one in my brain for hurtin' you, Marie One more for my heart and then I'd be free..."
RIP great songwriter.
― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 15:32 (fifteen years ago) link
listening to Frisco Mabel Joy and Heaven Help The Child a lot this week.
― ian, Sunday, 29 November 2009 00:12 (fourteen years ago) link
man, it's a bit hard to track down some of his albums, no?
have liked what i've heard. "why you been gone so long" is a great song.
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 00:57 (fourteen years ago) link
which one or ones are ya lookin for, Am?
― Joint Custody (ian), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 01:04 (fourteen years ago) link
i think i'm looking for: harlequin melodies, lovers, rusty tracks, his eye is on the sparrow, sailor...
maybe live at montezuma hall (any good?)
i've got: looks like rain, frisco mabel joy, heaven help the child, i came to hear the music
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 01:10 (fourteen years ago) link
i think newbury bought back the rights to his albums and his estate might be holding up reissues.
there was a boxed set of most of his '70s stuff which is way out of print, and it's mastered from vinyl anyway.
when the LPs do turn up it's usually easy to get them for cheap, but some of 'em just never turn up.
see also: hoyt axton (ian, you know him?)
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 01:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Have really loved the little bit I've heard by Newbury, though unfortunately don't have a single LP! The situation is really a load of crap.
Have not heard Hoyt Axton.
― Miss Bannister (╓abies), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 01:16 (fourteen years ago) link
someone online said the masters for the albums don't exist which is why they were mastered from vinyl.
i seriously doubt this, i imagine that whoever was responsible for the reissues was just lazy or didn't want to pay to make new digital masters.
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 01:45 (fourteen years ago) link
i love hoyt axton!
― Joint Custody (ian), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 02:08 (fourteen years ago) link
tell me more.
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Tuesday, 19 January 2010 02:40 (fourteen years ago) link
!!
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 19:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Damn, I Came To Hear The Music is an incredibly beautiful record. Damn.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 18 October 2010 20:04 (thirteen years ago) link
this guy! holy smokes.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 5 April 2011 19:02 (twelve years ago) link
yeah dude he's amazing
― Bleeqwot the Chef (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 5 April 2011 19:08 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i've just heard this sampler of the reissues drag city is putting out this year -- can't believe i haven't heard him before!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 5 April 2011 19:12 (twelve years ago) link
It's crazy - I have every reason in the world to love this guy - on paper, it's the kinda music I am all about - but I could never - NEVER - get into this dude. Lord knows I have tried. I think it's a problem on my end, seriously. Just don't connect with his songs at all.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 6 April 2011 03:33 (twelve years ago) link
for years i didn't think i liked mickey newbury, largely cuz i'm not a fan of lush orchestral production for the most part, but over the last year or so i've really gotten into it. weird that drag city is reissuing these records, cuz they're not super hard to find, but they do deserve to be in print. if they're not available on CD that's criminal. in fact i was listening to Frisco Mabel Joy (the album) just this evening, and it's still sittin on the turntable. "The Future's Not What It Used To Be" holy smokes!
― one dis leads to another (ian), Thursday, 7 April 2011 05:24 (twelve years ago) link
Drag City is reissuing him?? Really? Why would Drag City reissue Mickey Newbury? I haven't been keeping up with the label for many years now, have they changed their roster. Damn I might have to take down the albums I posted on my blog. I love him. Yeah Friso Mabel Joy kills me, my favorite is Heaven Help The Child.
― JacobSanders, Thursday, 7 April 2011 05:35 (twelve years ago) link
I've always thought of Heaven Help the Child as a sappier, less witty variation on what he was doing on Looks Like Rain and Frisco Mabel Joy, but maybe I need to spend some more time with it. it's strange that he included the song "San Franciso Mabel Joy" on all three of those albums, and iirc it's the same version with maybe some slight changes made to the intro and outro. even though that's the only track those albums have in common, they're all so similar in tone, arrangements, and lyrical themes that it seems like he was trying to achieve a certain vision but got it wrong the first couple times and just kept trying to revise it.
― administratieve blunder (unregistered), Thursday, 7 April 2011 05:57 (twelve years ago) link
I like the story of how he did so many overdubs on Looks Like Rain that the tape hiss became unbearable, and he tried to cover it up with the sound effects of rain, chimes, and thunder that you hear during fade-outs and fade-ins. I guess liked the result so much that he repeated it on later albums.
― administratieve blunder (unregistered), Thursday, 7 April 2011 06:01 (twelve years ago) link
("I guess heliked", I mean)
― administratieve blunder (unregistered), Thursday, 7 April 2011 06:02 (twelve years ago) link
Heaven Help The Child is my favorite because of 'Sunshine.' But all three albums are great. They sound similar because they were all recorded at Cinderella Sound Studio with Marlin Greene and Denis Linde producing them. Barefoot Jerry was essentially his backing band on all three too. Maybe Heaven Help The Child is slightly more sappy, but for me it comes close to being a more stripped down George Jones. I love Billy Sherrill's production of grandeur, but I've also wanted a more somber sound to match George's vocals. For me that's what Heaven Help The child is.
― JacobSanders, Thursday, 7 April 2011 06:09 (twelve years ago) link
here's the pr schpiel from drag cityDRAG CITY TO REISSUE MICKEY NEWBURY AN AMERICAN TRILOGY MAY 2011
Mickey Newbury. The name may not be familiar to everyone, but the songs and the performers they are associated with should be: “An American Trilogy,” (Elvis Presley) “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In),” (Kenny Rogers and the First Edition) “She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye,” (Jerry Lee Lewis), “Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings,” (Tom Jones) are just a few of the songs in the Newbury catalog.
He was a songwriter’s songwriter at the dawning of the era of the singer-songwriter, yet he was also an unknown name on the Billboard charts. His early success writing in Nashville and his selfless and relentless championing of his friends and contemporaries paved the way for Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and David Allen Coe. Newbury songs have, to date, been recorded over 1300 times by more than 1000 performers including Johnny Cash, Scott Walker, Ray Charles, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, the Box Tops, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Nick Cave. He is the only songwriter ever to have number one hits (with different songs) in the pop, country, R&B and easy listening charts within the space of one year (and three of those songs were in the charts simultaneously!). But Mickey Newbury himself was by far the best interpreter of his own songs. A visionary album in the vein of Love’s Forever Changes and Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, Looks Like Rain immerses the listener into a vividly-painted emotional landscape of heartbreak, madness and despair tracked by the sound of wind chimes and rain. Mickey followed this masterpiece with another, 1970’s ‘Frisco Mabel Joy—recently voted number 6 in an Uncut reader’s poll of the 50 greatest ‘lost’ albums. Here he broadened the palette, incorporating the sound of the Nash philharmonic, an ‘orchestra’ consisting of electric and steel guitars, to produce what Mojo described as “an hallucinatory suite of sad, soulful songs”. The cycle of Cinderella Sound albums ended in 1973 with a third epic, Heaven Help The Child, by which time Mickey’s increasing confidence in the studio was clear and he had definitively laid out his stall as a recording artist.
Grammy winning engineer Steve Rosenthal and mastering engineer Jessica Thompson have restored the original analog master tapes believed for many years to have been destroyed in a fire but recently re-discovered in the Elektra records vault and created stunning new remasters of each album specifically for this release, making this the first ever CD issue of these landmark albums using the original tapes.
An American Trilogy provides a rich and compelling trip to the deep space of Mickey Newbury, one of the most extraordinary and unique artists in American popular music.
― tylerw, Thursday, 7 April 2011 12:12 (twelve years ago) link
Jacob, Drag City has been doing a few cool reissues in the last few years. Gary Higgins's "Red Hash." 3 Bert Jansch records. "Corky's Debt To Our Father." And they did the last Larry Jon Wilson record, which is really great despite being a very spare affair (as compared to his Monument LPs.)
― one dis leads to another (ian), Thursday, 7 April 2011 19:01 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, they've been doing a lot of reissues, though this one seems a little more high profile than the usual private press beardo kinda stuff. dunno, will oldham is probably a newbury fan or something.
― tylerw, Thursday, 7 April 2011 19:03 (twelve years ago) link
playing "Heaven Help The Child" right now.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Thursday, 7 April 2011 19:42 (twelve years ago) link
Yes. Liking this guy after reading about him in the latest MOJO (yipes!) and tracking down those first three albums.
― Winky Dinky Dawgz (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 03:50 (twelve years ago) link
looks like rain is pretty much my favorite album ever right now.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 03:55 (twelve years ago) link
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/9325/newbury.jpg
This record is also worth seeking out, and can usually be found for very cheap. Also his live records are as lonely as heartbreaking as his studio records. I love this guy!
― JacobSanders, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 08:54 (twelve years ago) link
Will Oldham did indeed cover I Came To Hear The Music a few years back
― reallysmoothmusic (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 10:36 (twelve years ago) link
Vinyl reissues ot next week, cd's hopefully before the end of the month: can't wait!
― Marco Damiani, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 13:06 (twelve years ago) link
so the cd versions are only available via the boxset as opposed to each album being made available individually ?
― mark e, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:25 (twelve years ago) link
huh, looks that way. kinda lame!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:28 (twelve years ago) link
Apparently yes!
― Marco Damiani, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:31 (twelve years ago) link
yup. having not heard anything bar a few sample streams on the site and liking what i've heard, i would still prefer to dip in with one album first and then go from there ..
― mark e, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:31 (twelve years ago) link
yeah ... and the LPs are way pricey, $20 a pop. At least straight from Drag City.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:36 (twelve years ago) link
Has anyone ever heard Harlequin Melodies, his first album?
― JacobSanders, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:29 (twelve years ago) link
well, the whole thing might be pricey, but it's very nicely packaged. sounds like it's the people behind some of the revenant box sets ...http://img2.ymlp96.net/mtmv_DC485All.jpg
― tylerw, Friday, 6 May 2011 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
have to say it looks that the box aint going to take much wear and tear
― mark e, Friday, 6 May 2011 15:33 (twelve years ago) link
"Has anyone ever heard Harlequin Melodies, his first album?"
I like it: it is a bit patchy and some of the most "psychedelic" stuff doesn't work completely, but there are several gems: "Just dropped in" is plain great.
― Marco Damiani, Friday, 6 May 2011 15:54 (twelve years ago) link
Harlequin Melodies is a very mixed bag.. I never listen to it really; it's a very different approach than his later work.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Friday, 6 May 2011 16:10 (twelve years ago) link
it looks like there's an lp of unreleased stuff as part of the drag city deal.
If You Want Me To I'll Go 3:37Sunshine 3:02Sad Satin Rhyme 3:14Why You Been Gone So Long 3:18I Don't Wanna Rock 1:55Let Me Stay Awhile 2:25Flower Man 4:10Good Morning Dear 2:11On Top of Old Smokey 3:27Interlude: How Many Times (Must the Piper Be Paid For His Song) 2:03Better Days 3:20How I Love Them Old Songs 2:09I Don't Wanna Rock 2:27I Don't Want Me No Big City Woman 2:07You're Not My Same Sweet Baby 4:51
About this record
Demo Mickey, Radio Mickey, Mono Mickey and never-before-released Mickey, all in one package. Fresh and new as the day it was first picked, "Better Days" is.
― Thus Sang Freud, Friday, 6 May 2011 16:49 (twelve years ago) link
That box set looks nice, though I still think it's odd for drag city to release these. This is available thru his website, http://www.mickeynewbury.com/nebucart/boxset.htm. But I guess most kids aren't about to drop 100 for a 8 cds.
― JacobSanders, Friday, 6 May 2011 20:13 (twelve years ago) link
never heard of this guy before reading this thread, been listening to Looks Like Rain all week. Great stuff :)
― Ludo, Saturday, 7 May 2011 13:55 (twelve years ago) link
so, has anyone bit on the demos/unreleased collection yet? wanna make sure it's good before i buy.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Saturday, 14 May 2011 01:52 (twelve years ago) link
i'm new to newbury, so i might not be the best source, but the Better Days demos/outtakes disc seems pretty solid overall. first song, "if you want me to, I'll go" is wonderful. definitely some more tossed off/less ambitious stuff here, but overall quite good.
― tylerw, Saturday, 14 May 2011 19:22 (twelve years ago) link
What a discovery (for me, at least). Not sure how I missed this guy, being as partial as I am to the troubled troubadour thing. Reminds me of the early work of Terry Callier, somehow managing to seamlessly blend folk, blues, country, soul and easy listening in the same songs.
― henry s, Sunday, 22 May 2011 13:52 (twelve years ago) link
this seems a bit unusual for drag city who don't usually license stuff from big labels. i mean, this is kind of high-profile for them. and the deluxxxxe box set seems sort of apart from drag city's usual minimal aesthetic (latest joanna newsom record aside). i gots all of these records on vinyl but i might see what's up with that outtakes thing.
what's up with this dude recording frisco mabel joy about 800 times?
i think he might be a little... limited as a solo artist. (it's like, almost all lugubrious ballads, even though he was capable of writing kickass raveups, e.g. why you been gone so long) -- but i still like him a lot.
― by another name (amateurist), Sunday, 22 May 2011 23:37 (twelve years ago) link
and yeah, early terry callier is kind of spot on.
― by another name (amateurist), Sunday, 22 May 2011 23:39 (twelve years ago) link
i got and really enjoy the odds n ends collection. suggested listening. it's nice to hear the songwriting demos particularly--they're well-recorded and neatly arranged for that sort of thing.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Monday, 23 May 2011 01:04 (twelve years ago) link
re: why drag city is doing this, there's an interview with rian murphy over yonder: http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/drag-citys-rian-murphy-on-the-labels-new-amazing-m,56202/
― tylerw, Monday, 23 May 2011 01:24 (twelve years ago) link
that's a really nice interview.i guess i hadn't realized that these albums have NEVER been in print on CD, aside from the privately issued ones from the family's website? making a lot more sense, then. i guess if yer paying for the rights to put 'em out on CD you may as well press up some LPs too.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Monday, 23 May 2011 01:57 (twelve years ago) link
have to say it looks that the box aint going to take much wear and tear― mark e, Friday, May 6, 2011 5:33 PM
The box / packaging is actually sturdy. I wouldn't let that put you off getting it. A lovely thing.
I know Newbury was a friend of Townes Van Zandt, so maybe my mind is making unnecessary associations -- but does anyone else hear Tecumseh Valley in bits of San Francisco Mable Joy?
― Duke, Monday, 23 May 2011 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Tuesday, April 5, 2011 11:33 PM (9 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Just tried again. Nope. Not for me.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Saturday, 21 January 2012 18:34 (twelve years ago) link
i still listen to that demo disc all the time. my favorite thing from last year.
― Moreno, Saturday, 21 January 2012 19:11 (twelve years ago) link
i am listening to Looks Like Rain AT THIS VERY MOMENT. i gotta be in the right mood for mickey. he's heavy and can be cheesy and the arrangements on his 'classic' trilogy don't inspire toe-tapping.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Saturday, 21 January 2012 21:23 (twelve years ago) link
was just listening to that yesterday, still heavily in love with it. there are some toe-tappers, though - "why you been gone so long," "sunshine"... love the drumming on a lot of the trilogy --is it kenny buttrey? but yeah, mainly heavy heavy heavy.
― tylerw, Saturday, 21 January 2012 21:50 (twelve years ago) link
It's jacob using T's computer. Listening to looks like rain and haven help the child all afternoon. This guy devastates me a little each time I listen to these records. Cheesy doesn't even come to mind, just lonely whiskey nights. Anyone heard Lovers or any of his other records? Think I need more. Words can't really do justice for how I feel about this guy
― *tera, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 02:17 (twelve years ago) link
'33rd of August' fading over into 'When the Baby in my Lady Gets the Blues' is one of my favorite pieces of music.
― Mule, Friday, 4 October 2013 15:06 (ten years ago) link
i ended up getting the non-box edition.really gorgeous stuff ... however, i can no longer listen as the mood/songs are so connected to the death of bh that i literally end up in bits whenever i put them on.
― mark e, Friday, 4 October 2013 15:48 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, there's real beauty to his songs. The arrangement, everything really, is very layered, heavy, but, at least in my opinion, avoids being heavy-handed or cheesy.
I'm sorry for your loss, Mark.
― Mule, Friday, 4 October 2013 16:24 (ten years ago) link
my own fault as this boxset soundtracked that whole era of my world .. i should have held back but the music was perfect for what i needed at the time.his vocals. the ambiance. the songs.such wonderful wonderful songs.
― mark e, Friday, 4 October 2013 16:40 (ten years ago) link
But isn't that what music is supposed to be? I guess it's easy for me to say, but if Newbury's songs provided some sort of comfort or support throughout what must have been a horrible and devastating experience, then that has great value in itself, hasn't it? Even if that means you can't go back to them.
I don't know.
― Mule, Friday, 4 October 2013 16:49 (ten years ago) link
totally.you are spot on.the albums became very special and helped me through the tough times.just wish i could listen to them again without having the heavy groove kick in as they are soo good.(also, whoever sorted out the non-box edition did an amazing job re the packaging .. )
― mark e, Friday, 4 October 2013 17:08 (ten years ago) link
Sure, I definitely get that. They really are wonderful records.
― Mule, Friday, 4 October 2013 19:15 (ten years ago) link
a couple of nights ago i made it through frisco and did not crack too much .. time to reclaim these.i really want to be able to listen to these albums again without the surge in emotions.they are soooooooo good.truly wonderful records.
― mark e, Monday, 17 February 2014 23:16 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dXR5Dk8YNw
― In Walked Sho-Bud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 17 February 2014 23:34 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv2WM74s8PA&feature=youtu.be
― mark e, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 00:14 (ten years ago) link
^^^ 2 songs.
mickey gets the tacky one out of the way, and then hits the mood hard with a classic from the trilogy.
very different to the album version, but still absolutely gorgeous.
― mark e, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 00:17 (ten years ago) link
If you haven't heard it, his last album, Long Road Home, is really good. The emphysema has definitely taken it's toll on his voice, but it's all heart breaking, gorgeous stuff. Lots of reflecting on the past from a guy that probably knows he doesn't have much time left. "So Sad" is just a perfect Newbury song. It's his only studio album on Spotify at the moment.
― Heez, Tuesday, 4 March 2014 14:03 (ten years ago) link
Totally coincidentally I recently discovered A Long Road Home and yes it's fantastic.
I'm fascinated by late era reflective-on-aging adult oriented soft rock/pop of this stripe. It feels of a piece to me with stuff like Leonard Cohen's 10 New Songs and Joni Mitchell's Night Ride Home.
― Tim F, Saturday, 19 April 2014 13:30 (nine years ago) link
Plus John Martyn's Grace and Danger and Blue Nile / Paul Buchanan's last three albums, though this is probably better than any of those?
― Tim F, Saturday, 19 April 2014 13:31 (nine years ago) link
The box is way too twee at times, but then swooping or swooning to a peak on the next track, sometimes the next verse. He's like a Super-Donovan, from the Texas fields and Marine Corps to Music Row and home studio, where he keeps everything low but lit, cos this rain and this session might last all night. "The American Trilogy" is truly inspired, and the heart of what Elvis was doing from the late 60s on, in his live shows. Tim, I hear some of Pet Sounds fitting what you mean, like "Caroline No," and the atmosphere overall, despite "Good Vibrations." Also some songs from subsequent BB sets,and maybe the early autumn reflections, more than trippiness per se, slowed their sales---the kids didn't want no couples therapy! On the other hand, worked out for Jimmy Webb, Glenn Campbell, Richard Harris (ditto for Bacharach/David and Dionne Warwick, the Carpenters, Johnny Rivers).
― dow, Saturday, 19 April 2014 14:22 (nine years ago) link
except that the beach boys' "i'm gettin old" stuff was written when they were in their 20s!
― espring (amateurist), Saturday, 19 April 2014 16:30 (nine years ago) link
Yep. That's the way it works sometimes. Bobby D., age 21, wrote 'bout"a funny ol’ world that’s a-comin’ along...It looks like it’s a-dyin’ an’ it’s hardly been born."
― dow, Saturday, 19 April 2014 19:35 (nine years ago) link
looks like the american trilogy - drag city release - is up on spotify now.
― Heez, Saturday, 31 December 2016 04:25 (seven years ago) link
Kinda obsessed with The Future’s Not What It Used To Be. The lyrics and his vocal delivery of course carry the song but the arrangement and backing music takes it up another notch. The way the slow everything down in the last verse is just devastating.
― that's not my post, Thursday, 14 September 2023 05:34 (six months ago) link
Hank William’s pain songs Newbury’s train songs
― The Thin, Wild Mercury Rising (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 14 September 2023 06:36 (six months ago) link
― Tim F, Saturday, April 19, 2014 9:31 AM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink
Tim F dropping knowledge as usual
― Heez, Thursday, 14 September 2023 12:34 (six months ago) link
now i really want to hear Paul Buchanan doing Mickey's "I don't love you"
― Heez, Thursday, 14 September 2023 17:23 (six months ago) link