Speaking of Bjork has anybody picked up one of the slew of live albums she recently released?

I'm on a seventies country kick at the moment - listening to a Hoyt Axton collection on Raven. Raven is an Aussie company, sort of like Rhino in that they specialize in reissues and compilations. They have a real soft spot for those musicians who slopped around at the nexus of country, blues, folk and pop in the late sixties/early seventies. Of the several Bobbie Gentry compilations out, I prefer the Raven. Also picked up Willie Nelson's Phases and Stages (Mr. Boucher has written about it for the book), and a David Allan Coe twofer on Bear Family ( Once Upon a Rhyme/Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy - we wrote about Coe in the book too).

Hoyt is best known for the songs which Three Dog Night covered ("Joy to the World" and "Never Been To Spain") and, as an actor, for being the dad on the ship in the movie The Black Stallion.

He came up folkie (his first hit was recorded by The Kingston Trio) and while he obviously knew how to write a pop hook, his own stuff is rootsy and wry.

Essential Hoyt Axton Trivia Tidbit: His mother, Mae Axton, is one of the co-writers of "Heartbreak Hotel."

I haven't heard it yet, but Bjork may have gone too far into the ether for me to follow with this latest effort.

Essential Hoyt Axton Trivia Tidbit: His mother, Mae Axton, is one of the co-writers of "Heartbreak Hotel."

And he wrote Ringo's hit "The No No Song".

And he scared the crap out of Dr. Johnny Fever.

Speaking of Bear Family and 70s fringe country, try their James Talley twofer that combines his first two albums, Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got a Lot of Love and Tryin' Like the Devil. You'll especially like the former's western swing homage "W. Lee O'Daniel and the Light Crust Doughboys". (O Brother, Where Art Thou? fans will recognize many of the real-life characters.)

Enjoy the Willie... uh, you know what I mean.

Didn't Hoyt also play Zach Galligan's dad in GREMLINS?

Didn't Hoyt also play Zach Galligan's dad in GREMLINS?

Yep. He was on Bonanza way back when, too.

Bjork may have gone too far into the ether for me to follow with this latest effort

yeah, I kind of got that impression from the New Yorker article.I loved "Debut" and "Post," but it sounds like she's gone even more experimental than she was on "Vespertine," which I didn't like.

I'm with you, Lyra. Vespertine didn't do it for me, either, and I love all of the Bjork releases prior to that one. I read an article in Vanity Fair on the newest record and it sounds very iffy to me.

Crazily enough, I chose to listen to it before I passed judgment on it. (And it's out there on the interweb thingy, yes.) It's quite lovely: both spare and lush at once. Definitely not "easy listening" music, since there is so much going on -- but worth a concerted listen.

Oh, Michele, I plan on giving it a listen but I don't see anything wrong with discussion based on reviews (from listeners as well as from Bjork herself). I haven't seen anyone dismiss it out of hand.

Did anyone else find it weird that Bjork was singing at the opening Olympics ceremonies?

I mean, on the one hand, yay for having someone other than the Whitneys and Glorias, but on the other hand ... the only memorable thing about the song was the line "your sweat is salty." And really, that just made me giggle.