She'll Grow Back: Long-overdue Mike Doughty post

Friday, August 1, 2008

Long-overdue Mike Doughty post

So it's been four weeks now since LebowskiFest, and I just couldn't seem to get these posts up. Sorry 'bout that. (There were a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of strands in the ol' Duder's head.)

Mike Doughty was by no means the only artist playing at LebowskiFest. However, he was certainly my favorite (and he seems to have enjoyed himself). He used to be in a band called Soul Coughing -- maybe you've heard of them? -- but left to pursue his folk-rock troubadour muse.

I've heard a few live recordings of Mike Doughty, and they were all with a full rock and roll band, but for this show he only brought his exquisitely talented guitarist Andrew "Scrap" Livingston, which was just fine with me. The show had a real intimate vibe to it, odd considering it was attended by hundreds of fans, outside a bowling alley. Sadly, I didn't get to hear a few of my five favorite Mike Doughty songs (for example, "Fort Hood," which you can hear by clicking to his MySpace page via his name above), but he did play my two favorites, and even his cover of "The Gambler." He also played his song "I Hear The Bells," which contains possibly the funniest rhyming couplet in the history of pop music, even better than Frankie Laine's line from "High Noon:"

"He made a vow while in state prison,
Vowed it would be my life or his'n..."

(I won't tell you what Mike's line is, but you'll recognize it when you hear it.)

Here are a few studio cuts from Mike Doughty, songs I particularly liked the live performances of. Come back Monday for about nine versions of "Dead Flowers," which'll be my final LebowskiFest post this year.

3 comments:

CD said...

"You snooze you loose
Well, I snost and lost"

Is that the line to which you were refering?

Mark H. Besotted said...

Absolutely. I freakin love that.

CD said...

You are in good company, sir, as that's my favorite Doughty line, too. My Grandfather used to have a similar line:

"You snooze, you lose
You snore, you lose more"

MD put that snost line on his tour tee a few years back. i have it in the closet somewhere.