The Executioner's Last Songs

Amazon.com
The Executioner's Last Songs is an album with a political purpose--artists' proceeds benefit charitable organizations working to end the death penalty--but by and large it doesn't preach. Instead, Jon Langford, his Pine Valley Cosmonauts, and a bevy of guest vocalists--many of whom also appeared on the Cosmonauts' cowboy-jazz covers record, Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills--simply sing "songs of murder, mob-law, and cruel, cruel punishment." Although "stars" like Steve Earle and Neko Case chip in, the best cuts come from lesser lights deploying a range of tactics: Some are faithful, including Edith Frost (who covers Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home") and Brett Sparks of the Handsome Family ("Knoxville Girl"), while others take chances that pay off--in particular Diane Izzo, who does justice to Ralph Stanley's nearly impossible-to-cover "Oh Death." Then there's the creepy (Janet Bean of Freakwater skipping through the Mel Tillis tune "The Snakes Crawl at Night"), the unexpected (Jenny Toomey's take on Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets"), the oddly nonchalant (Rosie Flores doing the Hank Williams standard "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive"), and the downright weird (the little-heard Chris Ligon's "Great State of Texas"). --Anders Smith Lindall

Product Description:
This album has songs by the Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams, Charley Pride, Johnny Paycheck, Cole Porter, Merle Haggard, Stanley Brothers, Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, that lost country juggernaut The Adverts, and more. Helping PVC out with the vocals are, as usual, a dazzling array of guest stars. Let’s see who we have here: Steve Earle, Brett Sparks of the Handsome Family, the Rockabilly Filly Rosie Flores, Deano from the Wacos, Janet Bean of Freakwater, Lonesome Bob, Neko Case, Johnny Dowd, Edith Frost, Diane Izzo, Rick Sherry of Devil in a Woodpile, Sally Timms, Paul Burch, and more.

The Executioner's Last Songs,Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts,Bloodshot Records,Alternative Country,Country,Pop

Average customer rating: An Outstanding Follow-Up to Volume 1 not up to the 1st volume's standards

Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 + 3 Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Manufacturer: Bloodshot Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music Honky-Tonk | Country | Styles | Music Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: The Executioner's Last Songs Down to the Promised Land: 5 Years of Bloodshot Records All the Fame of Lofty Deeds Making Singles, Drinking Doubles Insurgent Country, Vol. 2: Hell-Bent ASIN: B00009B8BY Release Date: 2003-06-17

Tracks:

1. Gallows Pole - Tim Rutili
2. Louis Collins - Dave Alvin
3. The Fall of Troy - Kurt Wagner
4. Banks of the Ohio - Otis Clay
5. Homicide - Skid Marks with Sally Timms
6. Green Green Grass of Home - Kelly Hogan
7. Death Row - Rico Bell
8. Gulag Blues - Lu Edmunds
9. Horses - Chris Mills
10. Strange Fruit - Diane Izzo
11. One Dyin' & A Buryin' (live) - David Yow
12. Delilah - Jon Langford
13. Willie O'Winsbury - Charlotte Grieg

Tracks:

1. Bad News - Alejandro Escovedo & Jon Langford
2. The Ballad of Billy Joe - Rebecca Gates
3. Dang Me - Rhett Miller
4. Forever To Burn - Rex Hobart
5. Death Is Where Thy Sting - Pat Brennan
6. Long Black Veil - Sally Timms & Edith Frost
7. God's Eternal Love - Mark Eitzel
8. Hangin' Me Tonight - Gurf Morlix
9. John Hardy - Meat Purveyors
10. Pardon This Coffin - Jon Rauhouse
11. Saviour - Kevin Coyne
12. Green Green Grass Of Home - Dave Alvin
13. Angel Of Death - Tom Greenhalgh
14. Tom Dooley (live) - The Sundowners

Album Description

Here's the The Pine Valley Cosmonauts playing their old death card and raising a little more hell and cash to help wean America off its life threatening death penalty dependency. Since the completion of Volume One, we invited more of our favorite singers and songwriters to contribute voices and reputations and were pleasantly trampled by herds of willing collaborators (hence the double disc). They suggested deathly ditties unknown to us, wrote site-specific new ones or quietly bent our cruel and unusual will. Songs of death, murder and mayhem to help drag the dark beast to closure. We think you'll agree, this is one tremendous collection regardless of where you stand in the ever so colorful political spectrum.

Contributing artists include: Tim Rutili (Califone), Dave Alvin (Blasters, Knitters), Kurt Wagner (Lambchop), Otis Clay (smoooth soul singin' legend), Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, Rico Bell, Chris Mills, Deano (Waco Brothers), English folk heroine Charlotte Greig, Alejandro Escovedo, Rebecca Gates (Spinanes), Rhett Miller (Old 97's), Rex Hobart, Edith Frost, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), Gurf Morlix, The Meat Purveyors, English folk-rock weirdo genius Kevin Coyne, Jon Rauhouse, a classic track from The Sundowners, and much more.

This 2 record set is bargain priced, and all artists' proceeds benefit the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

Customer Reviews:

An Outstanding Follow-Up to Volume 1.......2006-02-16

Bloodshot Records, Jon Langford and his various musician friends have done it again. The Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 & 3 are a very worthwhile follow-up to Volume 1. Of particular worthiness are the countrified cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Gallows Pole' by Tim Rutli, Sally Timms and the Skid Marks covering 'Homicide' and Jonboy Langford himself covering fellow Welshman Tom Jones 'Delilah'. There are also many other great songs on these two discs by the likes of the Old 97's Rhett Miller, Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, Tom Greenhalgh of the Mekons, etc.

Not only is it great music, but the anti-death penalty cause is a very worthy one to support. As Ghandi once said "An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind".

I recently had the opportunity to see Jon Langford's multimedia presentation of 'The Executioner's Last Songs' (also including Sally Timms and other musicians) in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Museum and it was mesmerizing. Not only is Langford a great singer, songwriter and artist...he is also one hell of a story teller.

Fans of the Mekons, Waco Brothers, Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Bloodshot Records and great alt.country music in general should do themselves a favor and pick up these discs. You won't be sorry.

not up to the 1st volume's standards.......2005-12-02

The 1st Executioner's Last Songs was a surprise hit, full of a great mix of various "alt-country" styles all dealing with various aspects of criminals being put to death. The kind of album that you don't expect much from, but due to its superior group of songs & songwriters becomes a regular in your CD rotation. But... this particular 2-disc comp does not reach those heights. Maybe it's due to Volume 1 being so spectacular that one assumes these 2 volumes would also deliver the goods... not so. The tunes here are mostly dull, lifeless, and a pale imitation of those brave souls on Volume 1. In fact, THIS set kind of fulfills the meager promise one would associate with a compilation of this nature, and it's hurt all the more by its older & more developed sibling. Kudos for the cause and all, but if it's the music you're after, you can skip these and invest in Volume 1 instead.

Average customer rating: an interesting comcept-an alright album So mediocre, it's criminal. Among the best releases of 2002 An Excellent Collection of Country Death Songs

The Executioner's Last Songs Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Manufacturer: Bloodshot Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 + 3 Making Singles, Drinking Doubles The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Salute The Majesty of Bob Wills Insurgent Country, Vol. 2: Hell-Bent Down to the Promised Land: 5 Years of Bloodshot Records ASIN: B000060MOI Release Date: 2002-03-19

Tracks:

1. Knoxville Girl - Brett Sparks
2. I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive - Rosie Flores
3. Gary Gilmore's Eyes - Dean Schlabowske (with Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, and Tracey Dear)
4. The Snakes Crawl at Night - Janet Bean
5. Tom Dooley - Steve Earle
6. The Hangman's Song - Puerto Muerto
7. Pardon Me (I've Got Someone to Kill) - Lonesome Bob
8. Poor Ellen Smith - Neko Case
9. Miss Otis Regrets - Jenny Toomey
10. Judgement Day - Johnny Dowd and Jon Langford
11. Great State of Texas - Chris Ligon
12. Sing Me Back Home - Edith Frost
13. Oh Death - Diane Izzo
14. Hanged Man - Rick Cookin' Sherry
15. The Plans We Made - Jom Langford and Sally Timms
16. 25 Minutes to Go - Frankie & Johnny Navin
17. Idiot Whistle - Tony Fitzpatrick
18. Walls of Time - Paul Burch

Amazon.com

The Executioner's Last Songs is an album with a political purpose--artists' proceeds benefit charitable organizations working to end the death penalty--but by and large it doesn't preach. Instead, Jon Langford, his Pine Valley Cosmonauts, and a bevy of guest vocalists--many of whom also appeared on the Cosmonauts' cowboy-jazz covers record, Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills--simply sing "songs of murder, mob-law, and cruel, cruel punishment." Although "stars" like Steve Earle and Neko Case chip in, the best cuts come from lesser lights deploying a range of tactics: Some are faithful, including Edith Frost (who covers Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home") and Brett Sparks of the Handsome Family ("Knoxville Girl"), while others take chances that pay off--in particular Diane Izzo, who does justice to Ralph Stanley's nearly impossible-to-cover "Oh Death." Then there's the creepy (Janet Bean of Freakwater skipping through the Mel Tillis tune "The Snakes Crawl at Night"), the unexpected (Jenny Toomey's take on Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets"), the oddly nonchalant (Rosie Flores doing the Hank Williams standard "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive"), and the downright weird (the little-heard Chris Ligon's "Great State of Texas"). --Anders Smith Lindall

Album Description

This album has songs by the Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams, Charley Pride, Johnny Paycheck, Cole Porter, Merle Haggard, Stanley Brothers, Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, that lost country juggernaut The Adverts, and more. Helping PVC out with the vocals are, as usual, a dazzling array of guest stars. Let's see who we have here: Steve Earle, Brett Sparks of the Handsome Family, the Rockabilly Filly Rosie Flores, Deano from the Wacos, Janet Bean of Freakwater, Lonesome Bob, Neko Case, Johnny Dowd, Edith Frost, Diane Izzo, Rick Sherry of Devil in a Woodpile, Sally Timms, Paul Burch, and more.

Customer Reviews:

an interesting comcept-an alright album.......2005-02-08

I had heard several cuts off of this album on accuradio's americana station, including the heavy take on oh death by Diane Izzo and Gary Gilmour's Eyes, so I was excited when I found it at Hastings. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a very uneven album with some of the songs being very entertaining, and some just sounding like filler. This could be partially because almost everyone is a guest, but I think that it has more to do with just trying to find a bunch of people to do this album. It seems like this album could have been made with less songs and it would have been a better album.

So mediocre, it's criminal........2003-01-15

Jon Langford's latest outing with the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, The Executioner's Last Songs, had large, large shoes to fill. Indeed, the previous releases by the band, '94's Misery Loves Company and '98's ...Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills were two of the finest records released by the top-notch insurgent country label, Bloodshot Records. Where Misery Loves Company was a basic, albeit very accomplished, band affair, ...Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills had the Cosmonauts serving as the house band for some of the genre's brightest stars and though serving double-duty as a tribute record and sampler for Bloodshot's artists, it still succeeded to the point of being one of the finest releases ever from the label and of 1998, for that matter.

Why, then, is The Executioner's Last Songs so disappointingly blah? It serves again as a fine sampler of talent, Bloodshot and otherwise, with artists such as Steve Earle, Neko Case, Edith Frost, Johnny Dowd, and, of course, Jon Langford and Company represented in top form and it presents some wonderful interpretations of songs of murder, mob-law & cruel, cruel punishment, highlights including Rosie Flores on "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive," Janet Bean on "The Snakes Crawl at Night," Edith Frost on "Sing Me Back Home" and Diane Izzo's great cover of the otherwise uncoverable Ralph Stanley classic, "Oh Death." Still, despite the vast array of great songs performed by incredible artists, The Executioner's Last Songs still comes across as a disjointed hodge podge. The difference, then, seems to lie in the glue that holds the songs together (or doesn't, in this case). On Misery Loves Company and ...Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills, the Cosmonauts were working with songs from single sources (Misery... covering the songs of Johnny Cash). Even Beneath the Country Underdog, on which the band backed Kelly Hogan, was a greater success, again due to the singular source material.

The Executioner's Last Songs, while in theory an incredible thematic idea, just comes across as disjointed due to the widely differing styles demanded by the variety of songs and vocalists. The record, then, is all over the place and while none of the directions it takes are particularly bad, it certainly doesn't make for a very satisfying listen, especially compared with the admittedly incomparable track record set by this band. Subtitled Vol. 1, though, we can probably expect Vol. 2 to follow sometime soon. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's going to take something like a Lefty Frizzell tribute to get this listener excited about the Pine Valley Cosmonauts again.

Among the best releases of 2002.......2002-12-06

An outstanding collection -- every bit as great as their Bob Wills tribute CD. Each song is good, but Chris Ligon's "The Great State of Texas" is worth the price of the disc alone.

An Excellent Collection of Country Death Songs.......2002-06-13

An excellent collection of songs sure to please any fan of traditional country music. Stand outs from this CD include the chilling "Gary Gilmore's Eyes", "The Hangman's Song" and "Oh Death". The proceeds from the purchase of this cd benefit the Illinois Death Penalty Morturium. Every song on here is an absolute gem and a delight to country fans with a bent sense of humor and a sense of justice about the inhumanity of the death penalty. The linear notes for this CD promise a volume 2, and I can't wait to purchase it!

Music Album:

1. The Hill
2. The Key [Enhanced]
3. The Little Darlin' Sound of Don Williams
4. The Magnificent Music Machine
5. The Man Who Would Be King: The Best of Orion
6. The Season for Romance
7. The Texas Fiddle Collection
8. The Truth About Men
9. Theatre of the Unheard
10. This Side [Hybrid SACD]

Music Album