Ironically but not surprisingly John Lincoln Wright's few surviving recordings are now going through the roof. I only hope as commenter Pat said "... Rounder or some other outfit will release all of John's music on CD."
Pat pointed me to some good YouTube links. If you don't have time for the whole list, "I'm too old to die young now" from his later years shows he still had the magic even then. And number five has some of the best classic stuff, including "Pull away" which showcases his voice and in my opinion out- Haggards Haggard. Tom Russell said that he was "...the real thing-- sort of Johnny Paycheck meets Merle." And even that apt description doesn't quite capture the magic of his voice at its best.
Good memorial essay here:
"Wright’s debut album “Closed for Alterations” helped break the band all over New England. Wright could pen affecting music that also didn’t take itself too seriously. “Takin’ Old Route One” in ’73 kept the ball rolling, but Nashville was never going to completely warm to the cowboy from Maine.
“John’s songs would never contain a pickup truck reference to try and sell himself in Nashville,” [former Sour Mash Boy Larry] Flint said. “I think instinctively he knew he was never cut out for that scene. We’d go to Nashville a couple times a year in the early days, but he was never a schmoozer. He had his own style.”
“I would think, in retrospect, John and I are both essentially Americana,” said Flint. “We were both not quite folk music, and not all country.”
If anyone out there has any old Lincoln Wright they can convert to CD I'd appreciate knowing. I sure would like to hear “Closed for Alterations” one more time!
11 comments:
Someone just sent me his first album (Takin Old Route One) on MP3. I'd be happy to send it to you if I can figure out how. One of the sides opens with "Closed for Alterations," a great listen.
Pat
Pat-- I haven't any idea, but I sure love that song and some others there. Any readers know how?
I'll also forward to my stepson Jackson (Peculiar of that blog) and "Dr Hypercube" (John Pittman) of Diary of a Mad Natural Historian, who is not only techno- savvy but a New Hampshire New Englander. Ideally I'd like it on CD--??
You can email me at "ebodio- at- gilanet- dot- com".
Pat: John Pittman writes:
Yes!
Moving the audio files: I've had great luck using Dropbox. It's a file sync/file sharing application - I'll send you an invite and if it's OK for you to send me Pat's email address I can send an invite there as well. Then it's just a matter of sharing a folder (I can do that) and Pat copying the JLW mp3s in.
CD: if step 1 happens, I can burn a CD and post it to you easy as can be.
Cheers - John
Dropbox would work quite well, I'm sure, but you could probably just e-mail the mp3 files as attachments. Probably not all at once, but I've received mp3s for my work without problems.
A friend of ours just got a machine to digitize LPs, was asking us for help figuring it out. So we may be able to make that happen eventually.
I'll first try just emailing the files to you, Steve. That should work, since that's how I received them. I'll do this tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Is it possible to get a copy of the mp3's?
I use dropbox.
This is a great link if you don't already have it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot4SoN2JI1Q
Thanks, Mobus-- will put it up on the blog. Possibly my favorite song, and he looks like he did when we first met (actually about ten years before that, before the Sour Mash Boys!)
Pat,
Is there any way you could please send me the mp3 of the title song "Takin' Old Route One" ? I have had that song stuck in my head for many years, but cannot find it anywhere. The last time I saw JLW was at Scituate Harbor Heritage Days, some years back.
Thanks,
Greg Zappolo
Scituate, MA
ZAP1957@aol.com
Pat,
Could you please send me an mp3 of JLW's title track
"Takin' Ole Route One" ? That song has been stuck in my head for many years, but I cannot find it anywhere. The last time I saw him was at Scituate Harbor Heritage Days, some years ago. Many thanks!
Peace,
Greg Zappolo
Scituate, MA
zap1957@aol.com
Greg, email your snail mail and I will have somebody copy the disk that Pat sent, which has all the greats, including Rte 1, Closed for alterations, Too old to die young, etc. My email is "ebodio at gilanet dot com"
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