Americana Highways is honored to present this video premiere of Peter Case’s interpretation of Leadbelly’s song “When I Was A Cowboy” from his recent album The Midnight Broadcast, just quietly released on March 12 via Bandaloop Records. The Midnight Broadcast was produced by Ron Franklin in The Old Whaling Church, Martha’s Vineyard. It’s Peter Case’s first release in 6 years.
Midnight Broadcast is a concept album: “You’re alone, or maybe with one other person, at night, on a long journey in a car, far away from the nearest town, driving in the darkness. Your eyes are on the headlights and the road, as the dashboard faintly glows, and the radio is on but only receiving static. A radio station begins to tune in. A broadcast is coming in and out of focus, of a DJ who’s announcing records, a rock n’ roll DJ with a voice from Finnegans Wake. The music starts, but what is it? A very strange and wild song is playing, strange, but familiar too. One song after another, all different, but all of a piece, like a transmission from the other end of world. Songs of cowboys, lovers, fighters, and shipwrecked sailors, hope, laughter and despair, ancient blues, gutbucket jazz, and singing machines, songs that sound like one microphone is listening in on a roomful of maniacs. Or on someone in the loneliest blue motel in the West. It’s the Midnight Broadcast. Hypnotized, obsessed, radiant, you want to pull over and listen, but that might cause an accident.”
“When I Was A Cowboy” here is Peter Case, Cindy Wasserman, Bert Deivert, Ron Franklin, and Lee Fortier.
The video was created by Logos http://www.euthlogo.com. Peter Case is a folk legend, and this creative album needs to be on every quality music connoisseur’s shelf. It’s a performance piece with a whole lot of cosmically great playing.
A song by Lead Belly, that I’ve been playing since I was a kid in my first band, 1968, always performed in this Tex-mex style… — Peter Case
Order link: https://bandalooprecords.bigcartel.com/
For our previous show review of Peter Case, check here: https://americanahighways.org/2018/05/11/show-review-peter-case-this-is-your-life/