Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses: Junky Star
2010
Lost Highway Records
Format I Own it on; Vinyl
Track listing: 1. The Poet 2.The Wandering 3. Strange Feelin' In The Air 4. Junky Star 5. Depression 6. Hallelujah 7. Yesterday's Blues 8. Direction Of The Wind 9. Lay My Head On The Rail 10. Hard Worn Trail 11. Self-Righteous Wall 12. All Choked Up Again
Just the other day, I was checking my mailbox and there was a notice in there stating I had a box that was too big to fit in the mailbox...The office was closed so I couldn't pick it up, but I wondered all night what it could be...
...Could it be the box of balonies I ordered? Naww...I just put in that order last night...There's no way it's here already...
I know! Maybe it's a new puppy! Or...
...Maybe "Ninja" magazine is doing a special double-sized issue this month! Maybe it's an issue packed so full of throwing-star tutorials that it couldn't possibly fit into an average mailbox...
The real answer was even better than any of those imagined scenarios...The next day I was able to finally find out what the package was...My friend Joe sent me a beautiful vinyl copy of Ryan Bingham's "Junky Star." Joe's one of my faqvorite people on Earth...Here's a photo of me, Joe and a bunch of my other favorite people...This was taken in the early 90's...
This was taken in the early 90's...
Here's a picture of us rocking out in the late 90's...
Anyway, thank you very much, Joe!
The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the plastic sleeve had a cool logo for some place called "Sweets Records."
Man! I want to go to Sweets Records and Tapes! If they still sell tapes, then this could be the coolest place ever! I looked them up online but couldn't find a single mention...Oh well, their logo is great...I seriously contemplated using the sleeve for one of my Sweet records...Just to see how sweet something could be...
But I decided not to, since my copy of "Desolation Boulevard" has a cool "Licorice Pizza" sticker on it that I don't want to cover up...
So I think I'll keep the sleeve on the Ryan Bingham record...
...I was looking at the track listing and noticed it was a three-sided vinyl record...I love three sided records! I wonder what was on side 4...Was it blank?
No...It turns out it has a bad-ass etching of the airplane on the album cover! Today is Sunday afternoon...I try to always keep Sunday open, so I can always have at least one day devoted entirely to watching monster movies, drinking a few beers and listening to records...I decided to start with "Junky Star" and a Sierra Nevada...
Looking at Ryan's picture on the back, you totally don't expect him to sound like he does...
Look at him...Young, good-lookin' kid in a Han Solo suit, right? But he has a croaky voice that sounds like he's been smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey for the last 40 years...Which is a good attribute when you're doing this kind of music...
I really love the songs like "The Poet" and "Lay My Head On the Rails," where everything is so stripped down...Just some lovely acoustic guitar and some gravelly vocals detailing dive bars, dusty highways and unexpected murders...I also like "Direction Of The Wind" where it sounds like he's taking on Bob Dylan circa "Bringing It All Back Home." Very happy I got a chance to check this out..I'm already contemplating which album of his I'm going to check out next...
Also in the box was a mix CD!
I'm always so damn excited to get mix CD's...I try not to look at the track listing before I play it for the first time...I like the element of surprise! It really is a lost art these days and God bless the people who keep the practice alive...I think I'm gonna save this to listen to tomorrow at work...
Man, what a nice way to spend a Sunday...You can join me and listen to "The Poet" by Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses...Actually, I don't see any dead horses in this video...It only appears to be Ryan Bingham...He does have a dog, but it's alive...Anyway, enjoy...
