In Rotation: A Little Bit of Country, A Little Bit of Rock 'n Roll

Three months?  Boy, I have some catching up to do.  So first off, here are three songs that keep bringing me up short when they pop up on my playlists, each fooling with -- and merging -- country and rock traditions.

Peter Wolf,  Nothing But the Wheel
Peter Wolf?  Mr. "Whammer Jammer, let me hear you Dickey"?  Same guy, long past his J. Geils gig.  Still making music -- better now if you ask me -- including this gem from his "Sleepless."  And yes, that's Mick Jagger singing backup in his best "Sweet Virginia" drawl with Waylon Jennings thrown in for good measure.

John Doe and the Sadies,  Are the Good Times Really Over For Good

Doe, the frontman for the classic Los Angles punk band X, is a country traditionalist who gave that band it's uniquely American edge.  He's still recording great music like this ironic number that has Merle Haggard written all over it.  

Dwight Yoakum, Heart Like Mine
If you heard this tune streaming out of a roadhouse somewhere when you drove into the parking lot, you'd go right in.  A Bakersfield tune with a classic rock fake fadeout -- you think it's over and then it comes back.  It's a goddam rockabilly Helter Skelter. (You can thank producer Beck Hansen for that touch.)

Keep on rockin' in the free world.