My Music Monday

John Mellencamp.  Stephen King.  T. Bone Burnett.  Rosanne Cash.

An odder combo of co-workers for sure, but workable, if not interesting.

At least for the first three artists, their work on Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is being billed as a "supernatural thriller of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge".

Honestly, I don't know if this is just a recorded project, a play, a movie....or what.

I'm not a King fan.  But the story is by him, music and lyrics by Mellencamp and production by Burnette.  There are a plethora of artists on the record - Dave Alvin (X), Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Kris Kistofferson....and one song by Rosanne Cash.

Cash is a really good songwriter, essayist and vocalist, but I will concede that her contribution, "You Don't Know Me", is potentially the best song she's recorded in the last two decades.  She might want to consider working with this team a little more often.

The instrumentation and arrangement is simple, the vocal is strong.   But you know me and most female artists - you're not getting peppy or very hard rock.  No - this is pure Americana.

Oddly enough, the notes when she sings "you don't know me" are a little too familiar in progression to Leslie Gore's "you don't own me".   I don't think there is any plagiarism going on here, but there is a coincidence perhaps.

I've been digging the song for a month or so now.  The individual track was released two weeks ago and the entire disk is out tomorrow.......not that I have any intent of getting it.  The collaboration might have worked with Cash, and even possibly the others, but they don't interest me enough to shell out the dough.

While I know Burnett has a good production style (O Brother Where Art Though soundtrack,  Sam Phillips, Alison Krauss, etc), I think that a lot has to do with Mellencamp's writing style.  I think it would have been a good song had he recorded it himself, but Cash really makes it her own.

Right now, almost half-way into the 2013, "You Don't Know Me" is my favourite individual track of the year.

There is no video - just the song in the embedded player.