File under: Rough hewn, blue-eyed, vintage Southern soul. Tracked in a single night in 1973, with producer Bob Johnston and the same Nashville session cats that cut Blonde on Blonde, Bill Wilson’s Ever Changing Minstrel was originally released on CBS subsidiary Windfall Records that same year…to little fanfare.
Now, some four decades later, it’s back in print remastered from the original tapes — rescue courtesy of the Tompkins Square label. Townes, Kristofferson, Guy Clark and a host of other early 70s trade luminaries come immediately to mind — as do more esoteric contemporaries, such as David Ackles and fellow Vietnam vet turned songsmith, F.J. McMahon. “Ballad Of Cody“, below – an autumnal taste (and favorite).
Amazing guitar!
1 | Talent4Free October 29th, 2012 at 5:46 pmLove this
2 | Aaron October 30th, 2012 at 7:16 amHot damn! Is the rest of this album even half as good as this song? Instant buy if so.
3 | Kaley October 30th, 2012 at 10:34 amYes, the rest of the album is just as good
4 | johnny November 15th, 2012 at 4:55 pmHow have I never heard this song? Mentions my ol hometown San Antonio. Perfection. Thanks!
5 | Chris Parish November 27th, 2012 at 4:58 pmOh man, it’s been years, if not DECADES since I’ve heard anything by Bill Wilson. Got the original pressing of this album around somewhere; thanks for the reminder to find and play it again. My copy’s signed by Bill. Our band shared the bill (so to speak) with him several times when I was living in Bloomington, IN. Good times, great musician. Thanks for giving him some attention.
6 | Wiley Prybar December 29th, 2012 at 7:14 pmI never saw this fine piece of wax until it hit the cut-out bins. In the early ’80s, I saw one copy at K-Mart in Beaufort, SC for 67 cents. I thought it looked interesting, so I bought it, listened to it, and knew it was a keeper. It’s found its way back to my turntable many times over the years. The 1983 New Rolling Stone Record Guide dismissed it with a one-star rating and the “review”, “Aren’t you glad the folk boom, not to mention the singer/songwriter boom, is over? What a pompous pud.” I disagreed, but we all have different tastes. When I recently saw the news of its re-release in the latest Rolling Stone (referring to it as a “country-rock classic”), I just had to dig out my vinyl copy and give it a spin. It still holds up.
7 | Derrick Phillips May 3rd, 2013 at 7:34 am