Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates (1981)

02/13/22 • 138 min

Rickie Lee Jones' 1981 album Pirates emerged on the other side of what had been a complex period for the artist. Her 1979 self-titled debut charted top five on the Billboard Album Charts and her single "Chuck E.'s in Love" performed similarly well.
Touring extensively, her popularity continued to rise as additional media exposure, including a performance on Saturday Night Live, further elevated her profile. She would face challenges both personally and professionally as she began planning for her sophomore album.
Singer-songwriter Steve Poltz joins Jeff and Matt to look back at Pirates and everything surrounding the album. He goes deep with rock and roll war stories from his own career and we discuss Stardust and Satellites, his newest solo album.
As we get started, Steve shows us a bunch of personal memorabilia that he has on his walls. Here's a video of that portion so you can actually see what he's showing us!
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Cassingle: Eddie Vedder

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Another week has come and gone and Jeff and Matt are back to try to make sense of it all. There's plenty for you to listen to and read, as you'll hear (and read in the show notes below).
The guys preview the next two episodes that are on tap for this week.
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Cassingle Notes:
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Songs from HomeMike Campbell's Instagram (his videos breaking down classic Petty songs are so good!)
Matt's unintentional flex. Apologies about that.
Mary Chapin Carpenter - One Night Lonely
Before I Go (2021)
The Guest House by Rumi
Jason's mother.
Jeff is participating in the annual February #MWE (Music Writing Exercise)
Eddie Vedder - Earthling (featuring contributions from Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Ringo Starr)
The Pearl Jam guys are music fans and deep cuts guys at heart. They respect their musical elders (except Motley Crue).
Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs - External Combustion (watch the great video for "Wicked Mind")
Pearl Jam - "Love Boat Captain"
Jules Shear - Dreams Don't Count
Mike Watt is awesome
The time that Mike Watt barged into a Cleveland sports talk station and just started talking sports.
Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat
"Against the '70s" is the tune you probably know by Mike Watt
Oh, we realized after we finished this, that it's actually Andrew Watt. Oops.
Rax King's new book, Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer
Dana Carvey and David Spade's new SNL podcast, Fly on the Wall
Two podcasts this week! Steve Poltz talking about Rickie Lee Jones and Michael Elliott talking about Little Village
Michael Elliott's new book, Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story
Justice for "Spies Like Us" (the song, not the movie)
My Friend: A Tribute to Rusty Young, being released by Blue Elan Records.
Cimarron 615 (with our latest guest, Bill Lloyd) - "Rough Edges" (from the Rusty Young tribute album.
Poco -

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Little Village - Little Village (1992)

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We weren't planning on venturing back to Hiatt Country so soon (after our initial episode on John Hiatt's Bring the Family), but we got an email from Michael Elliott, author of the new book, Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story with an interesting idea.
He pointed out that February 18 is the 30th anniversary of the release of Little Village by Little Village, featuring John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner. Would we be interested in discussing the album? Hell yes.
If you enjoy what you hear on today's episode, nab yourself a copy of Michael's book. He spoke with all involved with Little Village to get the definitive story behind the album for the first time. It's a great read (and if you're a Hiatt fan, you already know this is an essential acquisition).
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Show Notes:
Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story
The birth of the book
What was the alternate plan if Hiatt didn’t participate?
Interviewing Hiatt
Ry Cooder
Little Village in the book
Initial thoughts on the Little Village album
How those initial thoughts changed with time
Traveling Little Village Wilburys?
Nick Lowe’s Party of One
The catalyst for Little Village
The tour for the Little Village album
What could it be holding up a Little Village reunion?
Collaborating by fax
It’s a good time to be these guys -- they can call their own shots.
The second generation of Little Village
The Bodyguard and Nick Lowe
Bring The Family Again.....The Little Avengers
30 years later..what do you really love about this album?
What should people listen to in order to get into this album?
The importance of believing in yourself and the ideas that you have.
Michael's John Hiatt playlist/soundtrack to the book