Sometimes a song will make you do foolish things.
Over the years I've driven many American roads making photographs. Partially inspired by Robert Frank's
The Americans and partially by Jack Kerouac's
On The Road, which I'm currently re-reading for the first time since I was a teenager in its "restored"
single paragraph scroll version. Not to mention my favorite film genre-
the road movie. On all of these drives, music has been central to my relationship to wherever I am - sometimes by accident and sometimes quite deliberately.
One of my favorites for California has always been the first Little Feat record, which contains two truck driving songs by the late Lowell George: "Truck Stop Girl" and "Willin,'" the latter of which inspired me last week to drive from Tehachapi to Tonopah. I know, I know.
I don't know yet if the photographs are gonna be any good, but I do believe I've exorcised from my obsessive self the need to do this again. I found some lovely scenery out there in the empty spaces between Tehachapi, CA. (quaint small western town) and Tonopah, NV. (decrepit dying one-horse casino town,) but quickly found myself hightailing it to Yosemite to cleanse my palate.
Anyway, below are a few versions of each of these numbers. Little Feat recorded "Willin'" twice in the studio on each of their first two records. The first version features Ry Cooder on guitar, and the second is anchored by Bill Payne on the piano and Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel. Also, a radio broadcast of Lowell George joined by Linda Ronstadt on harmony vocal, and Steve Earle's version with the Bluegrass Dukes. Then, It's "Truck Stop Girl" by Little Feat, Kelly Willis, and my favorite version by the Byrds, who also have a live version of "Willin''' but I've excluded it because I've always found the vocals to be a little weak.
Okay, here goes...
Download:
"Willin'" mp3
by Little Feat
from
Little Feat, 1971.
"Willin'" mp3
by Little Feat
from
Sailing Shoes, 1972.
"Willin'" mp3
by Lowell George with Linda Ronstadt
from WHFS-FM Radio Broadcast, 1974.
"Willin'" mp3
by Steve Earle
from
SideTracks, 2002.
"Truck Stop Girl" mp3
by
Little Featfrom Little Feat, 1971.
"Truck Stop Girl" mp3
by Kelly Willis
from
Rig Rock Deluxe, 1996.
"Truck Stop Girl" mp3
by The Byrds
from
Untitled, 1970.
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Download:
"The Heart of California (for Lowell George)" mp3
by Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band
from
Smokin' The Dummy, 1980.
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