Hotwalker: Charles Bukowski & A Ballad for Gone

Amazon.com
Veteran troubadour Tom Russell's most conceptually ambitious (and audacious) release to date is less a collection of songs than an intensely personal travelogue through a bohemian America that no longer exists. It's like a postmodern spin on an old-time supernatural radio series, conjuring ghosts from thin air. With Russell as tour guide and circus midget Little Jack Horner riding shotgun, the narrative channels the voices of Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, and Lenny Bruce, while connecting the cultural dots between the Greenwich Village of folk legend Dave Van Ronk, the Bakersfield of Buck Owens, the American southwest of environmentalist Edward Abbey, and the border cantinas of Tijuana. Russell subtitles the album A Ballad for Gone America, and it's plain he means "gone" as both the highest hipster's praise ("real gone," "outtasight") and a celebration of a wild strain of outsider artistry that has disappeared. By reminding the culture how much it has lost--how safe and homogenized it has become--Russell enriches the creative spirit with these echoes from the underground. --Don McLeese

Product Description:
Tom Russell's Hotwalker CD is a portrait of a segment of American culture in a time gone by. Through original songs, narration, and the actual voices of literary and historical figures, Tom constructs a recollection of the outsider voices of American popular culture, literature and art of the 1960's. It is Tom Russell's second foray into photographing a piece of America's past, the first being the critically acclaimed The Man From God Knows Where CD.

Tracks:

Pilgrim Land
Old America
Hotwalker
Border Lights
Beat Folk
Van Ronk
Bakersfield
Grapevine
Woodrow
Benediction: Edward Abbey
Honky Jazz
Swap Meet Jesus
Bukowski #1
Harry Partch, Jack Kerouac, Lenny Bruce
Bukowski #2 "On the Hustle"
Bukowski #3
Requiem
Coda: Little Jack Horton
America the Beautiful

Amazon.com

Veteran troubadour Tom Russell's most conceptually ambitious (and audacious) release to date is less a collection of songs than an intensely personal travelogue through a bohemian America that no longer exists. It's like a postmodern spin on an old-time supernatural radio series, conjuring ghosts from thin air. With Russell as tour guide and circus midget Little Jack Horner riding shotgun, the narrative channels the voices of Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, and Lenny Bruce, while connecting the cultural dots between the Greenwich Village of folk legend Dave Van Ronk, the Bakersfield of Buck Owens, the American southwest of environmentalist Edward Abbey, and the border cantinas of Tijuana. Russell subtitles the album A Ballad for Gone America, and it's plain he means "gone" as both the highest hipster's praise ("real gone," "outtasight") and a celebration of a wild strain of outsider artistry that has disappeared. By reminding the culture how much it has lost--how safe and homogenized it has become--Russell enriches the creative spirit with these echoes from the underground. --Don McLeese

Album Description

Tom Russell's Hotwalker CD is a portrait of a segment of American culture in a time gone by. Through original songs, narration, and the actual voices of literary and historical figures, Tom constructs a recollection of the outsider voices of American popular culture, literature and art of the 1960's. It is Tom Russell's second foray into photographing a piece of America's past, the first being the critically acclaimed The Man From God Knows Where CD.

Customer Reviews:

Some will understand....maybe........2007-05-28

Track 9, Woodrow, is pure spiritual, PURE spiritual. After listening to this in a dark room, alone or with friends, then going outside and looking at other people...they look like pale ghosts (a reflection of the life we mostly live)..just going through the mundane actions of being alive. This CD is for only those that have the insight and experience that most people will never know. It is based on the lives of modern American philosophers, those that travel a different path. Tom Russell, PLEASE keep up this work and never make a song that is played on the radio. But you may not want my opinion, I'm just a drunken Indian.

Tom Russell's Masterpiece!!!.......2006-09-27

My best friend introduced me to this extraordinary CD about two years ago while driving up California Highway 101 at 4 in the morning. And for a solid hour I was captivated and enraptured by the story-telling of Tom Russell and Little Jack Horton. Backed by some amazing music, we hear the story of "old, outside America," when the likes of Bukowski, Guthrie, and Kerouc dominated the iconoclastic, "Beat" scene. This is a CD to own if you have even an ounce of appreciation for the aforementioned artists, not to mention the sonorous voice of Tom Russell. I must be honest; I faithfully listen to this CD at least once a month while driving to work early in the morning. It is so enjoyable to hear that it has become a regular part of my life. It's that good.

"Carny" Time.......2006-02-23

It's "Carny" time folks. Tom Russell explores another music style blending story telling, talking blues and biographies in this album. "Van Ronk" tells the behind the scenes story of hanging out with Dave Van Ronk, talking music, political and drinking white wine. The West Coast and the beat generation is introduced as well as the hard times in Bakersfield on "Grapevine" The stories are spell-binding. It's an album that you need to sit down and listen to...there's just so much that if you drive and listen you'll miss out.

labor of love.......2005-05-28

tom russel has outdone himself,planting a flag on a high peak.hotwalker, his latest exploration of americana resonates with joy sorrow and longing for the gone world of beat america.for those of us of a certain age and attitude he evokes and celebates our icons and heroes;bukowski,kerouac,guthrie and ed abbey and recreates them for a young audience in need of old wisdom.buy this unique and beautiful disc

GREAT.......2005-05-25

To answer the reviewer below, I have listened to this CD five times already. It still rules. What does the "test of time" mean? You can pretty well forget how this album sounds like and be amazed by it ten years later. One listen could be well enough as well. It's great, that's all. It's not a usual collection of songs, it's something else - for the better. I have a lot of records in my collection, and for a change, I'm really happy to own something different. At least *this* record is unique in its own way. Also, it's one of the best tributes to American roots, and especially to the Beat Generation, that I've ever heard. Musically and spiritually. This record is the work of an artist and of a human person willing to express something in the best way possible. Got it.

Music Album:

Music Album