I do believe the man’s music changed my life. Since his CD’s have lately been released on small and even smaller labels, like In the Red and Soul-Tay-Shus, it takes a little effort to get his stuff.

Your efforts will be duly rewarded though, because after fifty years of hard times and HARRRD records, this guy’s still demonstrating a creativity as sinewy as his body. (This guy’s constitution is comparable to Keith Richards, only Andre can probably drink MORE, especially when it’s free, like at SXSW.)

Out of my nine or so Andre CD’s, I recommend beginning with these:

1. Movin’ on With… This is the closest thing he has to an in-print comprehensive greatest hits. Wall-to-wall solid, but some of it is far from radio-friendly (Kevin Buist is talking about “Chicken Thighs” in FilmCouch #61).

2. Red Dirt Andre’s backed by the Sadies, Toronto-based country rock mofos, laying down tracks that would be country standards in Bizarro World. You’ll see what I mean if you sample “Hey Truckers,” “Psycho,” “Weapon of Mass Destruction,” or “My Sister Stole My Woman.”

3. Bait & Switch This isn’t country, but it was created in a very Johnny Cash American Recordings way—Andre’s joined by guests like Ronnie Spector, saxist Lonnie Youngblood, and even the Bad Bad Dolemite, Rudy Ray Moore! “Put that Skillet Away” is Andre doing irresistible mid-sixties British invasion. “Detroit Michigan” features veteran singers the Four Dollars, who were like the Temptations of Detroit’s underbelly.

4. Whip Your Booty Seventies recordings from Andre’s group the Velvet Hammer. This stuff is like P-Funk plus the Bee-Gees—a hammer with a velvet handle. Dig one of my favorite couplets EVER, taken from “Whip Your Booty.” – “If the teacher catch you, and she gives you a ‘D’ \ Show her how to whip her booty, I bet you’ll get a ‘C’”

http://blog.spout.com/2008/03/20/sxsw-video-andre-williams-eric-matthies/#comment-84619

I do believe the man’s music changed my life. Since his CD’s have lately been released on small and even smaller labels, like In the Red and Soul-Tay-Shus, it takes a little effort to get his stuff.

Your efforts will be duly rewarded though, because after fifty years of hard times and HARRRD records, this guy’s still demonstrating a creativity as sinewy as his body. (This guy’s constitution is comparable to Keith Richards, only Andre can probably drink MORE, especially when it’s free, like at SXSW.)

Out of my nine or so Andre CD’s, I recommend beginning with these:

1. Movin’ on With… This is the closest thing he has to an in-print comprehensive greatest hits. Wall-to-wall solid, but some of it is far from radio-friendly (Kevin Buist is talking about “Chicken Thighs” in FilmCouch #61).

2. Red Dirt Andre’s backed by the Sadies, Toronto-based country rock mofos, laying down tracks that would be country standards in Bizarro World. You’ll see what I mean if you sample “Hey Truckers,” “Psycho,” “Weapon of Mass Destruction,” or “My Sister Stole My Woman.”

3. Bait & Switch This isn’t country, but it was created in a very Johnny Cash American Recordings way—Andre’s joined by guests like Ronnie Spector, saxist Lonnie Youngblood, and even the Bad Bad Dolemite, Rudy Ray Moore! “Put that Skillet Away” is Andre doing irresistible mid-sixties British invasion. “Detroit Michigan” features veteran singers the Four Dollars, who were like the Temptations of Detroit’s underbelly.

4. Whip Your Booty Seventies recordings from Andre’s group the Velvet Hammer. This stuff is like P-Funk plus the Bee-Gees—a hammer with a velvet handle. Dig one of my favorite couplets EVER, taken from “Whip Your Booty.” – “If the teacher catch you, and she gives you a ‘D’ \ Show her how to whip her booty, I bet you’ll get a ‘C’”