Photos and video: 'Peace Town,' the late Jimmy LaFave's final album of recordings, out today
“Peace Town,” the collection of final recordings by iconic Oklahoma-Texas singer, songwriter and song interpreter, Jimmy LaFave is out today on his Music Road Records.
As previously reported, LaFave, a pioneer of the influential red dirt music scene who came of age in Stillwater and went on to become an Austin, Texas, music icon, died after battling a rare form of cancer. He was 61.
“Peace Town” consists of 20 tracks he was able to record before he died from myxofibrosarcoma May 21, 2017 - out of a target list of some 100 songs he hoped to complete - as a parting gift to his fans and followers. It can be ordered as both a two-disc CD and digital download from Amazon.com as well as LaFave's website and official Facebook page. It also is available digitally on iTunes.
The album includes the Oklahoma Music Hall of Famer’s heart-wrenching take on "It Makes No Difference," the Robbie Robertson song recorded by Americana pioneers The Band. It's one of the tracks on the set that reflect the depth and breadth of his seminal musical inspirations, including his takes on Chuck Berry's "The Promised Land" and "Let My Love Open the Door" by Pete Townshend of The Who.
Foremost among the artists LaFave admired was Oklahoma folk icon Woody Guthrie. A stalwart performer at Okemah's Woody Guthrie Folk Festival and later Tulsa's Woody Guthrie Center, LaFave was hailed by Oklahoma Today as "a true link between Woody Guthrie and the rock tradition." He performed at the 1996 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to Guthrie and at his induction the following year into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, where LaFave also spoke.
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As previously reported, LaFave produced a touring Woody Guthrie tribute show called "Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway" that featured a rotating cast of fellow noted singer-songwriters, including such luminaries as Judy Collins, Jackson Browne, Odetta, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Steve Earle and Woody's son Arlo Guthrie. It was later released as a live double album of the same name on LaFave's Music Road label with performances by Pete Seeger, Eliza Gilkyson, Kevin Welch, Slaid Cleaves, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Ellis Paul and Michael Fracasso.
LaFave had been given some 20 copies of Guthrie’s lyrics by his daughter, Nora Guthrie, to set to music. One of the projects he hoped to complete before passing was a full album of Guthrie material. “Peace Town” includes three songs LaFave composed to Guthrie Lyrics: the title track, “Salvation Train” and “Sideline Woman.”
LaFave’s affection for other musical artists from Oklahoma is also heard on the album in his versions of Leon Russell's "Help Me Through the Day" (best known in the version by Freddie King that Russell produced) and J.J. Cale's "Don't Go To Strangers," plus "My Oklahoma Home (It Blowed Away)" by siblings Bill and Sis Cunningham -- the latter of whom co-founded the famed topical folk song journal Broadside, where some of Bob Dylan's most famed protest numbers enjoyed early wide exposure.
“I just kind of relate to Okies. There’s a different spirit to Oklahomans than there is even to people from Texas,” LaFave told The Oklahomanin a 2015 interview. “And the music from that state from Woody Guthrie on has always just been incredible. You know, Jimmy Webb, JJ Cale, there’s just something so special about Oklahoma music. It’s very noticeable even nationwide.”
Hailed by Folkwax as "one of the finest Dylan interpreters ever," LaFave brings his distinctive touch to "My Back Pages," "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome" and "What Good Am I?" on “Peace Town.” He also revisited two of his own previously recorded songs, "Minstrel Boy" and "Ramblin' Sky," bringing to them the perspective imbued by time and countless live performances. The set is rounded out with songs by such other writers he admired as Butch Hancock, David Ball and Bob McDill, and two instrumentals cut during the sessions.
The album closes on a poignant note with "Goodbye Amsterdam" by folk singer-songwriter Tim Easton, according to the news release.
"Jimmy had a very strong and loyal fan base there and in the rest of Holland where he drew devoted crowds and where the people, hospitality, and respect for him and his band was wonderful," explains Ashley Warren, who worked with LaFave on his career, label and tours and now administers the Jimmy LaFave Intellectual Property Trust, in a statement.
"Jimmy loved Amsterdam, and they returned the love.”
LaFave’s photography also is featured in the packaging for the new album, according to a news release.
“I remember when he finished his Butch Hancock song (‘Already Gone’), he quipped that if there's ever a Butch tribute, there's his contribution," says Warren.
"He wasn't thinking about himself" as he made his last recordings, she says, "he was thinking about other people."
Fittingly, today’s “Peace Town” release date falls the day after LaFave’s birthday and the day before Woody Guthrie’s. On Thursday, several performers paid homage to LaFave during a legacy tribute at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah. The festival continues through Sunday in Guthrie’s hometown. For more information, click here or go to www.woodyfest.com.
Jimmy LaFave’s “Peace Town” track listing:
Disc One
1. Let My Love Open The Door - 4:47
2. Minstrel Boy Howling At The Moon - 4:39
3. Peace Town - 5:15
4. What Good Am I - 4:20
5. Help Me Make It Through The Day - 6:54
6. I May Be Used (But I Ain’t Used Up) - 4:21
7. My Back Pages - 6:57
8. My Oklahoma Home - 3:41
9. A Thousand By My Side - 4:03
10. Already Gone - 7:21
Disc Two
1. It Makes No Difference - 6:53
2. Don’t Go To Strangers - 5:04
3. When The Thought Of You Catches Up With Me - 5:30
4. Salvation Train - 4:06
5. Ramblin’ Sky - 5:06
6. Sideline Woman - 4:31
7. The Promise Land - 2:41
8. You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go - 5:21
9. Untitled - 4:45
10. Goodbye Amsterdam - 2:44
-BAM