Paul Thorn is one of those musicians that an early album is found in my collection but then somehow you lose track of their career. Does the saying “too much music, too little time” sound familiar! But after listening today to his new album Pimps and Preachers I got some catching up to do, since Ain’t Love Strange the album in my collection is his second release, and Pimp and Preachers is number nine! I downloaded the album the other day and listened to the title track “Pimps and Preachers” an autobiographical songs about Paul’s upbringing and the dichotomy he faced between his father the preacher and his father’s brother the pimp! (Depicted by Paul’s painting on the cover of the album) So this morning I loaded the album up and gave it a listen at the store and my mind was not on the groceries I was buying, but the great songs that kept coming on song after song! The songs that really caught my attention on the first listen included “Better Days Ahead”, ” You Might Be Wrong” a song about religion that asks the some questions that I do!
Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Jew,
Got their own version of the truth,
There’s a line in the sand, there’s a war goin’ on,
They forgot to remember, you might be wrong,
Carry your faith everywhere you go,
mix it with love and let it show,
But keep you mind open and move along
and always remember you might be wrong.
“I Don’t Like Half the Folks I Love” also echoes some of my sentiments concerning family. With the chorus:
God they are all dear to me, bu if the truth be told,
I like it when they come, but I love it when they go,
I’m sure they got good qualities, but the bad ones cover them up
I don’t like half the folks I love
So these songs coupled with other songs like “Love Scar” a story of a girl who got a tattoo after a one night stand. The song grew out of a conversation Thorn had with a woman backstage at London’s Royal Albert Hall shortly before he opened for Sting “I Hope I’m Doing This Right” a great look life with the great line “Hank Williams was in the darkness when he sang “I Saw the Light”, I believe there’s good in everyone I hope I’m doing this right” all combine to make this the best album I’ve heard so far (not saying much for someone who’s really only heard two out of nine albums), by this native of Tupelo, Mississippi! The album is getting a lot of play on Americana and Roots radio and is currently number 4 on the Americana Music Charts, number 8 on the FAR Chart and number 12 on the Euro-Americana Chart so we all can’t be wrong. So check him out! If you hurry over to Amazon you can get the mp3 album for $5.00! Here
Here’s an acoustic version of “Pimps and Preachers” from MusicFog
