A Joe South tribute...

I met Rob Douglas many years ago, though it seems like yesterday. He came to work for me as many musicans seem to these days. I fear word's gotten out that I'm a big softie for letting guys leave and come back when it comes time for them to tour. Well, Rob was one fine bassist and eventually landed a gig working with Chuck Prophet. He played bass on tour for Prophet as well as doing recording work. Eventually Rob let on to me that he was working on a tribute to Joe South. South is a guitar slinger from Atlanta, Ga who's probably best known as the writer of "(I never promised you a) Rose Garden" made famous by Lynn Anderson as an inescapable AM radio hit. But South runs much deeper as I would find out. He was indeed a fine singer/songwriter probably in the class of contemporaries like Tom T Hall and Jimmy Webb.

Well, Rob has since moved to LA and makes a living as a full time musician. I no longer have to deal with him calling in sick (hungover?). But we've stayed in touch and he just gave me the completed The Joe South Tribute Record. It's good stuff. Filled with alt-country luminaries (Kelly Hogan, Chuck Prophet) as well as a who's-who of the San Francisco music scene (Oranger, Kelley Stoltz, Jesse Denatale, Stephanie Finch). The record is released on SF's Jack Pine Social Club. This is a great tribute record (I'm no big Joe South fan but the performances and bands are great) and ranks with some of my favorites like Real: The Tom T Hall Project and Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons. I'm posting 2 tracks by the ladies on the record. The Jack Pine Social Club doesn't yet have the record up for sale but keep an eye out they should soon. Amazon has some info about the record and the March 15 release date.

I can't commend Rob enough on all the hard work he put into bringing this project to fruition. Great music, great record.

Children - Stephanie Finch

The Greatest Love - Kelly Hogan