Good morning Don! How are you? Belated Merry Christmas😊 I couldn't click this one fast enough. Jason is unique. He is such a wordsmith and beautiful musician. He was born 50 miles from me. My Alabama man, I call him. I am so proud for him!! I listen to him everyday. " Children of Children" is such a bittersweet, beautiful song. I saw an interview where he speaks about it. I love his music!! Blessings Don!! Got to see Jason at Vets Aid a few months ago. Phenomenal ❤
By God it's songs like this that make listening to music worth it. Jesus. This guy can fuckin right a song. From "Maybe It's Time" to "Alabama Pines" to this.. my God. He in my mind is a top 3 if not number 1 songwriter in today's time.
The "clapping on the 1 and the 3" line, I have implemented in my life to describe people I meet who I don't jibe with. "Naw, that guy? Nuh-uh he claps on the 1 and the 3."
The part about the family farm being "a parking lot for Walton's 5 and Dime" references Wal-Mart & how Sam Walton's super-duper store swallows everything in it's path. Great line. Lots of kill-shots like that in this song. This song is like another one of his songs, "Different Days"....it takes no prisoners. Will there be anyone like him? Nope. But that's nothing to worry about. I used to worry there would never be another Bruce Springsteen until I heard Jason's song "Hope the High Road". (Then heard everything else Jason did!) Springsteen has a quote about musicians taking what they hear...the template their heroes use...and taking it in a direction that is completely new. Someone will take Jason's music in a direction he never thought of and could never go. Maybe it'll be female artist. Molly Tuttle is making waves with her bluegrass style alt-country sound . Rachel Laven is...well...she's a young artist that is good and may someday be great...but she's moved to England. Probably because she can't get a record deal here in the states. Someone should figure it out. If not one of them, then a 12 year old kid in their room, playing the guitar, laying the groundwork to take Jason's music to a totally different place.
Jason has quickly become a favorite of mine. One of my favorite songs from him is the live version of Danko/Manuel from Austin City Limits. I can't stop watching it!
You are correct that Isbell is from Greenhill, AL. He is opening Mars Music Hall in Huntsville on 1/3 and I will be seeing him live for the fourth time. He puts on a great live show. As for the song, it is my favorite Isbell song musically. I could listen to the end of the song on loop all day. Also, if you want to venture a bit deeper into the Americana genre give a listen to Brandi Carlile. Another great storyteller and has a phenomenal voice. “The Story” would be a great place to start with Brandi.
Awesome choice to react to. This is one of my favorite Isbell songs for sure! Another singer/songwriter that may be the last of his kind is Darrell Scott. Love to hear you react to one of his masterpieces. Your pick.
I love what you said about the instruments the arraingments... when I hear the piano begin stairsteping chords lower at the beginning of the chorus it's like I can almost feel the rain.....makes me picture a rainy lonely city night. Jason Isbell is one of the most interesting lyrical writer of all time. Love listening to this.
Beautiful...in a mournful, haunting sort of way. I feel these lyrics in my bones - I'm getting too old for this world. Too many changes and none of them good.
I saw them in a 1600 seat theater in Indianapolis, best live performance I have ever heard, the sound was mixed perfectly , Jason and the band were engaging, and well rehearsed
Hey Don, I have performed music publicly since I was a kid. I've also been blessed with some level of talent to write lyrics. Nothing great but usually do okay. Been following Jason for awhile now. I don't know what "IT" is but this guy has it!!! 9.6 was a good rating for this art.... Another great job brother... Keep RN2C!!
Ironic that you just did a reaction to Drive-By Truckers since he was with them for years. Listen to "Super 8" to get a taste of his life with them before he left them and before his wife and friends arranged an intervention with him. He is so much better now and I'm so glad that you continue to be as amazed by him as I do. Such a genius like his friend John Prine. (I am going to continue to bug you to do a reaction to Craig Morgan's "The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost." Please do the official video and not one of his live performances of it. I feel like he felt more freedom to show his emotion in the video than he dared show in a live performance in order to get through it. Such a wonderful tribute and I'm sure it has helped others in their grief, too. Please?) Would also like you to react to Jason Isbell's "White Man's Country."
Another great one to do would be the songs Dreamsicle, Only Children, River, St. Peter’s Autograph, It gets Easier, and Letting You Go. They’re all off his new record
Such a beautiful song. Happy new year RockN2Country! (PS, as you liked the instrumental you have to listen to the live from Ryman version. Isbell, Sadler and Amanda does a mean ending on that one.
Hey, Don, try American Aquarium - Reidsville. They're friends of Jason and Jason produced one of their albums and this tune in particular is a great working class tale that I think you'd enjoy!
I'm in the minority who didn't like "Nashville Sound", it was all over the place and dare I say generic. But not this song. This is phenomenal. From "Goddamn Lonely Love" and "Danko/Manuel" through "The Magician" and "Streetlights" to "Live Oak", "Speed Trap Town" and "Last of my Kind" Jason Isbell has proven to be one of the great poets of dislocation, of feeling somewhere not quite where you should be, or maybe where others think you should be. This song would seem to be about a hillbilly who loses his bearings in the big city and longs for home, but when asked about the meaning Jason flipped it on its head and said the inspiration for it was the way growing up in a tiny town people can make you afraid of the world outside and make you feel helpless. You can go in so many different directions with his songs, depending on frame of reference. Thats something he learned in his time with the Drive by Truckers, who would write multiple songs about the same event from different perspectives. This song was the one on the album that felt like quintessential Jason Isbell to me. Sounds a bit like James Taylor, but I don't think he could've gotten that sense of deep, haunted confusion
@Simeon Teitelbaum Great analysis and perspective. From reading your posts, you've got me curious as to how you've accumulated such a body of knowledge about so many artists and their histories. If you and I did a channel together I have a feeling we'd become the two biggest nerds on camera, and that people couldn't get enough of the 4-1-1. Ha!
@@RockN2Country I can be obsessive to the point of crazy and I've got a steel trap memory. I've got a similar level of knowledge about several other topics, none of them useful but there we are lol. I've thought about getting a youtube channel but I'm pretty shy about putting myself out there
@Simeon Teitelbaum If you decide to do it, I'd be happy to share some tips to help you along. It's work, but it's also an adventure. Where you start isn't where you middle or where you end, and the learning experience along the way is part of the trip (think: what a long, strange trip it's been). :-)
Great reaction! I prefer to think of him as the first Jason Isbell, rather than the next James Taylor, although JT ain't bad. The song rings true to me, I feel the same sometimes.
Don, I'd like for you to do something. Look up Dave Cobb. He is a producer in Nashville. Look at the music that you and I really love and look at how much of it Dave had his hand in. He is as much responsible for this new resurgence of actual country music as the artists, themselves. You talked a lot about the instrumentation. Amanda Shires on violin on this song, made the music.
I couldn't be happy in the city at night You can't see the stars for the neon light Sidewalk's dirty and the river's worse Underground trains all run in reverse Nobody here can dance like me Everybody's clapping on the one and the three Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind? So many people with so much to do Winter's so cold, my hands turn blue Old men sleeping on the filthy ground They spend their whole day just walking around Nobody else here seems to care They walk right past them like they ain't even there Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind? Daddy said the river would always lead me home But the river can't take me back in time And daddy's dead and gone And the family farm's a parking lot for Walton's five and dime Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind? I tried to go to college but I didn't belong Everything I said was either funny or wrong They laughed at my boots, laughed at my jeans Laughed when they gave me amphetamines Left me alone in a bad part of town Thirty-six hours to come back down Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind? Mama says, "God won't give you too much to bear" Might be true in Arkansas but I'm a long, long way from there That whole world's a lonely, faded picture in my mind Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind? Am I the last of my kind?
Chuck Turner When I get on a JI kick, and listen to a lot of his music, I’ve noticed particular songs remind me of other songs. I don’t know if he’s paying homage to those singers, or was maybe listening to a lot of their work when he wrote the song, or if it’s just a riff that sounds familiar. It’s all good, though; the man and his music is a so satisfying.
Kelly Hudson His song “Relatively Easy” sounds a lot like “Skyway” by the replacements. Both brilliant songs and I know The Replacements were a huge influence on Drive By Truckers. 👍
To me the long instrumentation is the culmination of one's life and at the very end is the person's death. I might be nuts and reading too much into it but when it comes to music this good I just get so involved in the lyrics and what the instrumentation may mean.
I'm going to rant a little. How long does it take to do a request, you said mine was on your to do list that was 5 months ago. I like hearing your reactions but starting to lose faith.
@huckaby 01 I looked into reacting to Casey Donahew, and according to the notes I took the music was either too new, which means it would be much more likely to be blocked, or it was too rock oriented. Do you have something that is older and perhaps is a bit more traditional, for lack of a better way of wording it?
@@RockN2Country hmm. Ok. Well that stinks. Thanks for clarifying. How about Aaron Tippin that's as close as I'll get to loving you. I can remember feeling what this song talks about in my early years.
@@PapaFixit yeah, I like Casey's sound, yes some of their older stuff had some more rock sound to it, some of the new is a little poppy. I know one thing, they put on a heck of a show
![Jason Isbell -- Elephant [REACTION/RATING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fH6uDU_DSWE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Jason Isbell -- Elephant [REACTION/RATING]](/img/tr.png)
![Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit -- Outfit [REACTION/RATING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zqp3HPMTcNY/mqdefault.jpg)
“Nobody here can dance like me. Everybody clapping on the one and the three.” Such a great line
Absolutely brilliant.
Good morning Don! How are you? Belated Merry Christmas😊
I couldn't click this one fast enough. Jason is unique. He is such a wordsmith and beautiful musician. He was born 50 miles from me. My Alabama man, I call him. I am so proud for him!! I listen to him everyday. " Children of Children" is such a bittersweet, beautiful song. I saw an interview where he speaks about it. I love his music!! Blessings Don!! Got to see Jason at Vets Aid a few months ago. Phenomenal ❤
I’m from Muscle Shoals!! About the only thing I still like about this town is our musical history
Yay for more Isbell reactions! ❤
So many great country singers out there but I do feel like Jason is on another level. Children of Children is another good one.
By God it's songs like this that make listening to music worth it. Jesus. This guy can fuckin right a song. From "Maybe It's Time" to "Alabama Pines" to this.. my God. He in my mind is a top 3 if not number 1 songwriter in today's time.
Thanks for doing this! Great review and glad you liked it!! Would love to hear “If it takes a lifetime “ next!! Another great Jason Isbell song!
Pure Gold. All the time. Thanks for posting. Love your reviews
The "clapping on the 1 and the 3" line, I have implemented in my life to describe people I meet who I don't jibe with. "Naw, that guy? Nuh-uh he claps on the 1 and the 3."
Love it! I am now including this in my descriptions of people who don't fit in my world. Thank you.
Merry Christmas to me! I love your Jason Isbell reactions. He’s so good.
poohbearwhitty Me too. Love JI’s magical music.
Coming up with the Walton's 5 & Dime line is brilliant
The part about the family farm being "a parking lot for Walton's 5 and Dime" references Wal-Mart & how Sam Walton's super-duper store swallows everything in it's path. Great line. Lots of kill-shots like that in this song. This song is like another one of his songs, "Different Days"....it takes no prisoners.
Will there be anyone like him? Nope. But that's nothing to worry about.
I used to worry there would never be another Bruce Springsteen until I heard Jason's song "Hope the High Road". (Then heard everything else Jason did!) Springsteen has a quote about musicians taking what they hear...the template their heroes use...and taking it in a direction that is completely new. Someone will take Jason's music in a direction he never thought of and could never go. Maybe it'll be female artist.
Molly Tuttle is making waves with her bluegrass style alt-country sound . Rachel Laven is...well...she's a young artist that is good and may someday be great...but she's moved to England. Probably because she can't get a record deal here in the states.
Someone should figure it out. If not one of them, then a 12 year old kid in their room, playing the guitar, laying the groundwork to take Jason's music to a totally different place.
Jason has quickly become a favorite of mine. One of my favorite songs from him is the live version of Danko/Manuel from Austin City Limits. I can't stop watching it!
You are correct that Isbell is from Greenhill, AL. He is opening Mars Music Hall in Huntsville on 1/3 and I will be seeing him live for the fourth time. He puts on a great live show. As for the song, it is my favorite Isbell song musically. I could listen to the end of the song on loop all day. Also, if you want to venture a bit deeper into the Americana genre give a listen to Brandi Carlile. Another great storyteller and has a phenomenal voice. “The Story” would be a great place to start with Brandi.
Awesome choice to react to. This is one of my favorite Isbell songs for sure! Another singer/songwriter that may be the last of his kind is Darrell Scott. Love to hear you react to one of his masterpieces. Your pick.
I love what you said about the instruments the arraingments... when I hear the piano begin stairsteping chords lower at the beginning of the chorus it's like I can almost feel the rain.....makes me picture a rainy lonely city night.
Jason Isbell is one of the most interesting lyrical writer of all time. Love listening to this.
Beautiful...in a mournful, haunting sort of way. I feel these lyrics in my bones - I'm getting too old for this world. Too many changes and none of them good.
almost like it gives you the space to think for yourself. A lost art these decades.
love your channel, man!
I saw them in a 1600 seat theater in Indianapolis, best live performance I have ever heard, the sound was mixed perfectly , Jason and the band were engaging, and well rehearsed
The comment about James Taylor actually makes so much sense to me.
Great tune .... your right on with your comments and your rating
@Bob Kirkpatrick Glad you liked the song AND the rating!! :-)
Hey Don,
I have performed music publicly since I was a kid. I've also been blessed with some level of talent to write lyrics. Nothing great but usually do okay.
Been following Jason for awhile now. I don't know what "IT" is but this guy has it!!! 9.6 was a good rating for this art....
Another great job brother...
Keep RN2C!!
@Lone Wolf 63 I'm glad you like it, especially given your performing experience! Thank you for the kind words, and have a Happy New Year!
@@RockN2Country Happy New Year to you and your family as well Don!!
Ironic that you just did a reaction to Drive-By Truckers since he was with them for years. Listen to "Super 8" to get a taste of his life with them before he left them and before his wife and friends arranged an intervention with him. He is so much better now and I'm so glad that you continue to be as amazed by him as I do. Such a genius like his friend John Prine. (I am going to continue to bug you to do a reaction to Craig Morgan's "The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost." Please do the official video and not one of his live performances of it. I feel like he felt more freedom to show his emotion in the video than he dared show in a live performance in order to get through it. Such a wonderful tribute and I'm sure it has helped others in their grief, too. Please?) Would also like you to react to Jason Isbell's "White Man's Country."
Terry Kindley Yesssss, I second the motion.
Another great one to do would be the songs Dreamsicle, Only Children, River, St. Peter’s Autograph, It gets Easier, and Letting You Go. They’re all off his new record
I was just coming here to make the same request!
Such a beautiful song. Happy new year RockN2Country! (PS, as you liked the instrumental you have to listen to the live from Ryman version. Isbell, Sadler and Amanda does a mean ending on that one.
Hey, I love listening and hearing your thoughts when listening to country music. Could you react to '1000 miles' by Dwight Yoakam?
Dwight has a song, 1000 miles.
And a song, a thousand miles from nowhere. 2 very different songs. I prefer 1000 miles.
@@PapaFixit Yeah the one that is titled '1000 miles' is the one I would like Don to react to
@rockn2country did you hear that Don????
1000 miles by Dwight Yokum.
more isbell! Dress Blues is killer.. listen to the live version where he tells the whole story at the beginning .. just awesome
Also...I'd love to see reactions on Amanda Shire's songs. (Pale Fire and Eve's Daughter are two to think about). 😊
Hey, Don, try American Aquarium - Reidsville. They're friends of Jason and Jason produced one of their albums and this tune in particular is a great working class tale that I think you'd enjoy!
' and the family farm's a parking lot for a walton's five and dime'
I'm in the minority who didn't like "Nashville Sound", it was all over the place and dare I say generic. But not this song. This is phenomenal. From "Goddamn Lonely Love" and "Danko/Manuel" through "The Magician" and "Streetlights" to "Live Oak", "Speed Trap Town" and "Last of my Kind" Jason Isbell has proven to be one of the great poets of dislocation, of feeling somewhere not quite where you should be, or maybe where others think you should be. This song would seem to be about a hillbilly who loses his bearings in the big city and longs for home, but when asked about the meaning Jason flipped it on its head and said the inspiration for it was the way growing up in a tiny town people can make you afraid of the world outside and make you feel helpless. You can go in so many different directions with his songs, depending on frame of reference. Thats something he learned in his time with the Drive by Truckers, who would write multiple songs about the same event from different perspectives. This song was the one on the album that felt like quintessential Jason Isbell to me. Sounds a bit like James Taylor, but I don't think he could've gotten that sense of deep, haunted confusion
@Simeon Teitelbaum Great analysis and perspective. From reading your posts, you've got me curious as to how you've accumulated such a body of knowledge about so many artists and their histories. If you and I did a channel together I have a feeling we'd become the two biggest nerds on camera, and that people couldn't get enough of the 4-1-1. Ha!
@@RockN2Country I can be obsessive to the point of crazy and I've got a steel trap memory. I've got a similar level of knowledge about several other topics, none of them useful but there we are lol. I've thought about getting a youtube channel but I'm pretty shy about putting myself out there
@Simeon Teitelbaum If you decide to do it, I'd be happy to share some tips to help you along. It's work, but it's also an adventure. Where you start isn't where you middle or where you end, and the learning experience along the way is part of the trip (think: what a long, strange trip it's been). :-)
I agree with most of this analysis. Although I loved this song, Cumberland Gap, and Chaos and Clothes.
Awesome
If you think this version is great, you MUST listen to it live. Perfection.
Thanks for the JI song. Always a treat.
I have only heard 2 or 3 songs he has put up. NOW I'M HOOKED. HE'S funny too and some of us NEED that laugh everyday. THANK YOU GOD FOR DAVE
Love this. 💞
I didn't look at all the comments but this song sounds like something John Prine would write and sing. Catchy tune and lyrics, well done.
Spot on with this one
Great reaction! I prefer to think of him as the first Jason Isbell, rather than the next James Taylor, although JT ain't bad. The song rings true to me, I feel the same sometimes.
Don, I'd like for you to do something. Look up Dave Cobb. He is a producer in Nashville. Look at the music that you and I really love and look at how much of it Dave had his hand in. He is as much responsible for this new resurgence of actual country music as the artists, themselves. You talked a lot about the instrumentation. Amanda Shires on violin on this song, made the music.
Great Video!! You should review Ian Noe's Irene. A debut album produced my Dave Cobb👍
I couldn't be happy in the city at night
You can't see the stars for the neon light
Sidewalk's dirty and the river's worse
Underground trains all run in reverse
Nobody here can dance like me
Everybody's clapping on the one and the three
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
So many people with so much to do
Winter's so cold, my hands turn blue
Old men sleeping on the filthy ground
They spend their whole day just walking around
Nobody else here seems to care
They walk right past them like they ain't even there
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
Daddy said the river would always lead me home
But the river can't take me back in time
And daddy's dead and gone
And the family farm's a parking lot for Walton's five and dime
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
I tried to go to college but I didn't belong
Everything I said was either funny or wrong
They laughed at my boots, laughed at my jeans
Laughed when they gave me amphetamines
Left me alone in a bad part of town
Thirty-six hours to come back down
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
Mama says, "God won't give you too much to bear"
Might be true in Arkansas but I'm a long, long way from there
That whole world's a lonely, faded picture in my mind
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
Am I the last of my kind?
Jason isbell “sunstroke” you have to do that one.
Ty Johnson nice name
That tempo really reminds me of John Prine and Iris Dement's In Spite of Ourselves.
Chuck Turner When I get on a JI kick, and listen to a lot of his music, I’ve noticed particular songs remind me of other songs. I don’t know if he’s paying homage to those singers, or was maybe listening to a lot of their work when he wrote the song, or if it’s just a riff that sounds familiar. It’s all good, though; the man and his music is a so satisfying.
@@Caperhere we'll end up sittin' on a rainbow
@ Ronnie :🎶Against all odds
So, do y'all hear that, too?
Kelly Hudson His song “Relatively Easy” sounds a lot like “Skyway” by the replacements. Both brilliant songs and I know The Replacements were a huge influence on Drive By Truckers. 👍
There hasn’t been a better artist/producer pairing than Isbell and Dave Cobb.
This song shows John Prines influence on Jason
Jason and Amanda are young versions of John Prine
I live about 5 minutes from Green Hill!
To me the long instrumentation is the culmination of one's life and at the very end is the person's death. I might be nuts and reading too much into it but when it comes to music this good I just get so involved in the lyrics and what the instrumentation may mean.
Chris Knight has new album. Try The Damn Truth
Watched him with Tyler Childers last night in Pikeville Ky great show
Lucero I'll just fall
I'm going to rant a little. How long does it take to do a request, you said mine was on your to do list that was 5 months ago. I like hearing your reactions but starting to lose faith.
@huckaby 01 I looked into reacting to Casey Donahew, and according to the notes I took the music was either too new, which means it would be much more likely to be blocked, or it was too rock oriented. Do you have something that is older and perhaps is a bit more traditional, for lack of a better way of wording it?
@@RockN2Country hmm. Ok. Well that stinks. Thanks for clarifying. How about Aaron Tippin that's as close as I'll get to loving you. I can remember feeling what this song talks about in my early years.
Casey's ,
Still ain't made it home.
And , drove me to the whiskey.
They are new but DAMN.... hard hitting emotional country music.
@@PapaFixit yeah, I like Casey's sound, yes some of their older stuff had some more rock sound to it, some of the new is a little poppy. I know one thing, they put on a heck of a show
@huckaby 01 Thanks--I just put it on the list, and moved it up a bit. Stay tuned!! Happy New Year, and thank for your patience!
Sry but sounds like the bar song by shabozzey
Not even the best songwriter in the Drive by Truckers (in my opinion)