Tune of the Day

Once in a great while I hear a song so special I just keep coming back to it, sometimes listening to it multiple times in a row. "West" by Lucinda Williams is one such song. It closes the album of the same title, and is the most hauntingly beautiful song I’ve heard in a long, long time.

The whole album is very strong, one of my favorites of hers, and was produced by Hal Willner. Musical accompaniment is provided by the likes of Bill Frisell, Doug Pettibone, Tony Garnier, and Jim Keltner (I knew it was Jim playing drums before I read the album credits; his style is that unique and identifiable), musicians as good as they come. Gary Louris of The Jayhawks provides vocal harmonies.

In the liner notes, Lucinda mentions that all the songs on the album were written at The Safari Inn in Burbank. I had to laugh; that’s a 2-level motel right on Olive Avenue, just down the street from NBC Studios (where The Tonight Show is taped) and a quarter mile from where I lived from ’93-’03. I used to drive by The Safari Inn all the time, but as the West album came out in 2007, in all likelihood she was holed-up there writing songs after I had moved up into the foothills above Glendale.

As I was just again listening to "West", its’ hearing brought to mind another song, one I have loved from the first time I heard it at the time of it’s use in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s: "Moon River", written, orchestrated, and conducted by Henry Mancini, sung by Andy Williams. So I put it on, and, just as when I listen to ’West", was brought to tears.

There is a video on You Tube of Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck doing a nice version of the song live. As good as it is, I can’t help but long for a version by Ry Cooder.