this one might seem a little off the beaten path for my usual musical tastes, but i heard about this on outlaw country and was intrigued by the lineups and the interview he did for them. essentially he wanted to revisit the gibb brothers songbook and do it with some of the country and americana artists he had come to admire over the years.

it is produced by grammy award winning producer dave cobb and was recorded at the legendary rca studios in nashville. contributing artists include keith urban, jason isbell, brandi carlile, alison kraus, dolly parton, miranda lambert, sheryl crow, and david rawlings with gillian welch.

his idea for the record was to have the artists pick the songs, and he would do some cameos. but cobb convinced him to have more of a duet approach, and most of the songs fit into that category. although barry might not have the same vocal chops as when the brothers were at the top of their game in the seventies, he can still bring it. the duet of him and alison kraus doing ‘too much heaven’ is downright ethereal.

and although this is on the charts as a country offering and chock full of nashville artists, i would be hard pressed to describe it as such. cobb does an excellent job as usual, but he is not afraid to add some string arrangements and stay reasonably true to the pop feel of the originals. this is just ear candy and a bit of a guilty pleasure (and i mean that in a positive way). i grew up in a household in the seventies where the soundtrack to ‘saturday night fever’ was a constant in my parent’s 8 track tape player.

it really is just a feel good story.

speaking of stories, by a bit of a coincidence, a documentary about the bee gees came out on hbo last month, and it is worth checking out as a complement to this new album. i learned quite a bit about them.

it is usually a pretty good indicator when i have numerous loyal readers turn me on to something they think i might be interested in. i can think of no better example of this recently than the new album by steve earle. most people know that i am a huge fan of steve earle, but also his less well known son – justin townes earle. tragically we lost justin last year way too soon, and this is his father’s tribute to his life and music. steve and justin’s brother handpicked ten songs from justin’s songbook, and steve wrote one to add to the list.

when asked why he decided to do it now, he mentions that it was a cathartic process, but that he also wanted to get out in front of any potential tribute album that might come down the pike. he was quite frank in his reasoning for the latter. he felt that some of the artists who might participate in such a venture would be some of the same people who had enabled justin’s habits over the years, and as such directly or indirectly contributed to his death. steve wanted no part in that project.

all proceeds from this album go to a trust fund for justin’s daughter.

the songs here were all done with steve’s band. his interpretations of justin’s songs are not in any way an attempt to replicate the originals, and clearly have the father’s stamp on them. as one who is on record for my deep appreciation of justin’s career, i mean that as a compliment, and i think it works really well.

this is the third in steve’s tribute series. the first was to townes van zandt (whom justin is named after), and the second was to one of his other influences – guy clark. but this one was clearly very personal. the last song is called ‘last words’. it is steve’s reflection on his son, including their last phone call, which was the day that justin died. if you are a fan of both of these guys, you will find it difficult to not get choked up at the end. i for one failed in that endeavor.