Carla Bozulich - Red Headed Stranger

I'll be seeing them live again this saturday night, hurray!

Willie's version is more cohesive. The songs all flow together to create the feeling that he’s telling you a story. Carla's version drifts into atmospherics and various styles, becoming more of a performance of the story. Her full-on barn dance version of "I Couldn't Believe It Was True" misses the shock and pain of Willie's acoustic rendering, which is more true to the story. But then, Carla's "Time of the Preacher" Themes are drawn out to expose the horror of the subject, while Willie’s themes just state the story as plain fact.

I felt some minor annoyances when Carla insists on calling the horse a "bay pony" instead of just a "bay" during the “Yellow Haired Lady” part of the tale, wrecking both the meter and the rhyme of the song. And her take on "Down Yonder" is tossed off like Sonic Youth's take on the Simpson's theme while Willie, or his sister Bobbie actually, makes this song a old-timey saloon piano rag that puts you in the time and place of the story. Then the stupid whistling at the end of Carla’s "Can I Sleep in Your Arms" undercuts any emotion the song has built.

But I'm being hypercritical. Carla and Nels seem to play up the mental instability of the preacher and make the story darker and creepier. And it works, it is after all the story of broken-hearted preacher going on a killing spree, and that's pretty dark. Willie offered redemption to the preacher, through the piano hymn “Just As I Am” and then through finding a new love. But Carla doesn’t seem to match Willie’s sincerity on the second halves of the albums. The duets with Willie are strained, but duets with Willie often are. He's pretty much in his own world when it comes to singing.

So, the overall effect of listening to both albums is like sitting around a campfire and having an old cowboy tell you a story with his guitar, then wandering off into the desert and seeing an Indian Shaman do an interpretive dance of the same story. You get a completely different feeling from it. The story has already been told and this time through, the emphasis is not on the words/songs themselves, but on an interpretation and performance of them.

http://www.midheaven.com/labels/dichristina.html

So, Carla Bozulich, the most amazing woman in Los Angeles. Has anyone heard Evangelista and been wowed by it?

Just can't let a good Carla Bozulich thread die.

http://www.carlabozulich.com/Evangelistasongclips.html

She opened for Wilco here some weeks ago, got totally ignored by the audience and got quite pissed off about it, then irritated that she got pissed off and blamed it on a friend being ill.
I can sort of understand the audience, because she played mostly stuff from evangelista, which aside from the earth-shattering cover of "Pissing" seems quite soundscape-y bland. Then after the gig she came up to the front, and I started cheering her on, but then noticed she seemed quite upset and my cheering felt out of place. Which was weird.
So now I'm on a carla bozulich-binge, playing all geraldine fibbers/solo stuff and even reconsidering Evangelista (or at least steal away and prince of the world and how to survive...)

yeah, even though, as this thread proves, I'm a ridiculously big fan of Bozulich/the Fibbers, I really didn't like Evangelista much and have little desire to see her perform that material live, I'm kinda waiting for her to move onto her next phase or sound. I made a megamix of my favorite Carla stuff a few months ago, I really love how it turned out:

disc 1: original works

1. The Geraldine Fibbers - "The Small Song"
2. Carla Bozulich - "Here Comes Another One" (demo)
3. Ethyl Meatplow - "Ripened Peach"
4. Scarnella - "The Most Useless Thing"
5. Carla Bozulich - "Lonesome Roads"
6. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Seven Or In 10"
7. The Geraldine Fibbers - "234"
8. The Night Porter - "Monkeys"
9. Scarnella - "Dandelions"
10. Carla Bozulich - "Blue Boys"
11. Mike Watt - "Sidemouse Advice"
12. Ches Smith/Carla Bozulich - "Elements Ascending"
13. Two Dollar Guitar - "Bozo Shoes"
14. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Richard"
15. Scarnella - "Untitled New Song"
16. Carla Bozulich with John Talaga - "1014C"
17. Carla Bozulich - "Prince Of The World"
18. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Lilybelle"
19. The Geraldine Fibbers - "The Smaller Song"

disc 2: interpretive works

1. Mike Watt - "Tuff Gnarl" (Sonic Youth)
2. Scarnella - "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)" (James Brown)
3. Ethyl Meatplow - "Close To You" (Bacharach & David)
4. Carla Bozulich - "On The Nickel" (Tom Waits)
5. Scarnella - "I Thought About You" (Johnny Mercer)
6. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Jolene" (Dolly Parton)
7. The Geraldine Fibbers - "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me" (George Jones)
8. The Geraldine Fibbers - "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (George Jones)
9. The Geraldine Fibbers - "The Grand Tour" (George Jones)
10. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Hands On The Wheel" (Jerry Jeff/Billy Callery)
11. Carla Bozulich featuring Willie Nelson - "Can I Sleep In Your Arms?" (Jeannie Seely)
12. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Pills" (New York Dolls)
13. The Scott Amendola Band - "Masters Of War" (Bob Dylan)
14. Carla Bozulich - "Pissing" (Low)
15. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Yoo Doo Right" (Can)
16. Carla Bozulich - "Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets)" (Neil Young)
17. Scarnella - "Times Square" (Marianne Faithful)

where'd you get all those Fibbers' covers from - live stuff? bootlegs?

That mix seems swell for my binge :) Is it up anywhere?

most of them are from What Part Of Get Thee Gone Don't You Understand? (plus "Yoo Doo Right" from Butch) but "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a live mp3 I came across years and years ago.

(xpost I posted some mp3s of on my blog last year but the links are all expired by now. if there's enough demand I might re-upload some stuff for people here, though)

I would be very interested in that Alex and furthermore if you'd be willing I could send you a couple bucks and you could send me the mix provided ONE you don't come hack my family to death with an axe once you get my name and address and TWO you admit that I am the small cat.

Hello, Voyager?

hello?

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9212/292coverko5.jpg

Red Headed Stranger is one of my favorite albums of the decade, but I've never really been able to get into Evangelista.

Go Carla!

I saw Evangelista last month. They were great. Saw guitarist Ava Mendozza's other band Mute Socialite (featuring ex-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum drummer Moe! Staino) just a few days ago.

I've been stalking Carla for years. Ethyl Meatplow, Geraldine Fibbers (x5), Scarnella, Red Headed Stranger, in-stores. I can never get enough of her voice or charm.

I actually brought her flowers at a Fibbers show once. She did not marry me though :(

disc 2: interpretive works

1. Mike Watt - "Tuff Gnarl" (Sonic Youth)
2. Scarnella - "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)" (James Brown)
3. Ethyl Meatplow - "Close To You" (Bacharach & David)
4. Carla Bozulich - "On The Nickel" (Tom Waits)
5. Scarnella - "I Thought About You" (Johnny Mercer)
6. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Jolene" (Dolly Parton)
7. The Geraldine Fibbers - "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me" (George Jones)
8. The Geraldine Fibbers - "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (George Jones)
9. The Geraldine Fibbers - "The Grand Tour" (George Jones)
10. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Hands On The Wheel" (Jerry Jeff/Billy Callery)
11. Carla Bozulich featuring Willie Nelson - "Can I Sleep In Your Arms?" (Jeannie Seely)
12. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Pills" (New York Dolls)
13. The Scott Amendola Band - "Masters Of War" (Bob Dylan)
14. Carla Bozulich - "Pissing" (Low)
15. The Geraldine Fibbers - "Yoo Doo Right" (Can)
16. Carla Bozulich - "Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets)" (Neil Young)
17. Scarnella - "Times Square" (Marianne Faithful)

Any chance you could Leonardo this?

I don't have all those trax on my computer right now, maybe if I have the time this weekend I'll try and rip/upload what I need to. I haven't listened to Hello Voyager much lately but the Evangelista show I saw a couple months ago was awesome, I might have to see them again when they swing back through the area in a couple months.

Thanks. Even just the George Jones ones and "Hands on the Wheel" (which I'm assuming is different than the solo RHS one) would be great.

i'll just pop in here and say that the new Evangelista record is really, really good. Intense stuff.

yeah that "Hands On The Wheel" (and most of the other Fibbers c&w covers) are from What Part Of Get Thee Gone Don't You Understand?, except "He Stopped Loving Her Today," that's a live mp3 I came across.

I forgot about all this!

Evangelista was hot at their recent pdx show. Carla has my undying love dating back to the Ethyl Meatplow show I was fortunate to catch in '94.

Also caught Evangelista guitarist Ava Mendoza's project Mute Socialite (with Moe! Staino ex-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) not long afterwards. Their track "Killing Time" gets stuck in my head for days and days.

I mean not long after the Evangelista show, not the Meatplow one...

i recently heard the evangelista song 'the blue room'. can anyone recommend songs/albums/material like this in carla bozulich's discography? her output seems pretty large and varied so i don't really know where to begin....

"The Blue Room" is the one song on the new album that features Nels Cline, and it's not too different from a number of previous Carla/Nels collaborations, mainly the Geraldine Fibbers' Butch, the self-titled Scarnella album and her live solo EP I'm Gonna Stop Killing. The Scarnella probably has the most stuff that's close to that particular song's vibe.

You guys know about the new one?

http://www.cstrecords.com/releases/cst061

i mentioned it in passing on the Rolling Nels Cline Thread and i saw Whiney blurb it on his twitter, but since the release date's still a few weeks off i have not heard it. excited, though, Hello Voyager was great.

There's a track up on that linked page - The Slayer! Sounds great.

Great news! Was only listening to Hello, Voyager again last night.

They were just devastating live.

I just discovered this record and I love it. Can anyone recommend anything recent that has a similar feel?

have you heard the the follow-up EP I'm Gonna Stop Killing or the Geraldine Fibbers' first album Lost Somewhere Between The Earth And My Home? those are probably the closest things Carla's done.

as for other artists, I'd recommend Eleni Mandell, probably starting with Miracle of Five (which Nels Cline also plays on)

Thanks for the suggestions. I've already been checking out Carla's other work. I'll give Eleni Mandella listen. I'm looking for more recent stuff.

new Evangelista is v good all around -

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61OQ029JjtL._SS500_.jpg

thanks for bumping the thread! didn't know the album even existed before this morning and now i'm listening to and enjoying it

nice!!

yeah hey everyone else, it's streaming in full at the Constellation site -

http://cstrecords.com/inanimaltongue

also on spotify, which was a pleasant surprise

haven't given this my undivided attention yet, but after a couple of plays it sounded like their best one yet

I've always had to make an effort to get into her Evangelista material, but it's usually worth it. However, the first time I put on Lost Somewhere... I fell in love immediately. God, I miss the Fibbers.

yeah the Fibbers were so amazing that i'll listen to anything Carla does for the rest of her life, although sometimes it's hard to not keep comparing the new stuff to that bad. i like that Evangelista is very much its own thing now, though, i kinda never thought i'd see the day when she kept with the same project for 4 albums straight. Hello Voyager is definitely my favorite but this new one is good too.

Thoughts on Boy?

I think it's amazing. Her best work yet.

oh man, I didn't know this was out, thanks for reviving this thread!

'her best work' is a really really high bar to meet for me personally, but it's definitely good, feels like it goes off in a different direction from the Evangelista stuff that's kind of exciting and unexpected. "Lazy Crossbones" sounds like the immediate standout for me.

Boy probably deserves a thread of its own. People need to hear it. Drowned To the Light and Danceland are my standouts but there's really not a bad track on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOkCu_hbN_A

New album 'Quieter' is fabulous.

gotta hear this, big fan of evangelista etc

A Twitter comment the other month from Christina Carter about Evangelista and its brilliance made me realize that she really still hasn't gotten her due, has she. So for Shfl, I did this:

https://theshfl.com/guide/carla-bozulich

yayyyy

just did a relisten of the full Fibbers catalog and god damn is that some top tier stuff, Evangelista was next on my list!