11700 - WILLIE NILE - WORD WAR WILLIE (2016)

WILLIE NILE
''WORLD WAR WILLIE''
APRIL 1 2016
47:52
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01 - Forever Wild 03:46 (Frankie Lee, Willie Nile)
02 - Let's All Come Together 03:17
03 - Grandpa Rocks 03:52
04 - Runaway Girl 03:56
05 - World War Willie 04:34
06 - Bad Boy 03:38 (Jefferson Grizzard, Willie Nile)
07 - Hell Yeah 03:13
08 - Beautiful You 04:07
09 - When Levon Sings 02:37 (Jefferson Grizzard, Willie Nile)
10 - Trouble Down In Diamond Town 04:58 (Frankie Lee, Willie Nile)
11 - Citibank Nile 05:09
12 - Sweet Jane 04:39 (Lou Reed)
Tracks By Willie Nile, Except 01, 06, 09, 10, 12
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Alex Alexander/Drums, Percussion
Matt Hogan/Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
James Maddock/Vocals (Background)
Leslie Mendelson/Vocals (Background)
Willie Nile/Glockenspiel, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Piano, Vocals
Johnny Pisano/Bass, Vocals (Background)
Christine Santelli/Vocals (Background)
Steuart Smith/Glockenspiel, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Harmonia
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richard Skelly
A rock & roll singer and songwriter whose music is at once literate and passionately heartfelt, New York singer/songwriter Willie Nile was born in Buffalo, New York on June 7, 1948. Nile came from a musical family -- his grandfather was a vaudeville pianist who played with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor, and his uncles played boogie-woogie. Nile's older brothers, meanwhile, brought home the music of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino, all of whom he heard from the time he was three or four years old. Nile himself began playing piano at age eight and took classical music lessons until he was a teenager, when he taught himself his first rock & roll song. He soon began to compose short songs and continued the habit into his college years, when during the summers he made trips into New York City to frequent hootenanny clubs like Folk City and the Gaslight. After graduation, Nile took an apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village; however, during his first winter in New York, he contracted pneumonia, which put him out of commission for about a year, although he continued writing songs while recuperating. After regaining his health, he began hanging out at clubs like CBGB, where he would see acts like Patti Smith, Television, the Ramones, and Talking Heads.

Golden Down
Upon establishing a residency at the Village club Kenny's Castaways, Nile began drawing ever-growing crowds, which in turn led to his first record deal. Following a flurry of critical acclaim, he found himself courted by representatives from close to a dozen record companies; he chose Arista Records, and went into the studio with a band that included Jay Dee Daugherty from the Patti Smith Group. After two acclaimed albums, a self-titled 1980 effort and 1981's Golden Dawn, Nile fell prey to protracted legal problems that derailed his career for a number of years; although he continued to write, he did not perform live or record again until a 1987 performance in Oslo, Norway with Eric Andersen.

Places I Have Never Been
A videotape of Nile's performance in Norway prompted a Columbia talent scout to sign him to the label in 1988. Production on Nile's album didn't start for two more years; issued in 1991, Places I Have Never Been featured guest appearances by Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Roger McGuinn, and members of the Hooters and the Roches. The album received strong reviews but sales were unimpressive, and Columbia dropped Nile. The independent Polaris label issued the four-song EP Hard Times in America in 1992, but Nile didn't release another studio recording until Beautiful Wreck of the World in 2000. (In the interim, Nile issued Live in Central Park, a document of a 1980 performance in New York, in 1997.)

Streets of New York
Nile played Europe and toured the East Coast while he waited until the time was right to go back into the studio. He finally emerged re-energized on 2006's Streets of New York, with guest appearances by Larry Campbell and Jakob Dylan, which marked the beginning of a regular recording schedule. He issued two concert offerings in 2007, Live at the Turning Point (his first release for River House Records, which would become his steady label) and Live from the Streets of New York. In 2009 Nile released a new studio set, House of a Thousand Guitars, and beefed up his touring schedule. Nile issued the acclaimed The Innocent Ones in 2011 and followed it two years later with the rocking and street-smart American Ride in 2013. Early 2015 brought a change of pace for Nile with the release of If I Was a River, a primarily acoustic set dominated by his piano work.
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WEBSITE
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8415 - WILLIE NILE - IF I WAS A RIVER (2015)

WILLIE NILE
''IF I WAS A RIVER''
JANUARY 19 2015
33:14

1 If I Was A River/Frankie Lee, Willie Nile 04:08
2 Lost/ 04:00
3 Song Of A Soldier/Frankie Lee, Willie Nile 02:55
4 Once In A Lullaby/Frankie Lee, Willie Nile 03:26
5 Lullaby Loon 03:00
6 Gloryland/Frankie Lee, Willie Nile 02:33
7 I Can't Do Crazy (Anymore)/Danny Kortchmar, Willie Nile 03:38
8 Goin' To St. Louis 02:30
9 The One You Used To Love 03:45
10 Let Me Be The River/Frankie Lee, Willie Nile 03:14
Tracks By Nile, Except As Indicated

Willie Nile – piano, vocals
Steuart Smith – acoustic and electric guitars, baritone guitar, Elbow, bass, pump organ, Hammond organ, Rhodes, backing vocals
David Mansfield – mandolin, acoustic guitar, violin, viola
Frankie Lee – backing vocals

REVIEW
by Mark Deming, AMG
Willie Nile's style has never been monochromatic, either as a songwriter or a performer, but over the course of a recording career that was launched in 1980, two things have been consistent -- the guy clearly loves rock & roll, and he sure likes guitars (Nile even released an album called House of a Thousand Guitars). So was anyone out there expecting Nile to make an entire album of contemplative, midtempo acoustic numbers built around the guy playing piano? In many respects, If I Were a River upends the average fan's expectations about a Willie Nile album (especially after 2013's decisively rockin' American Ride), although the dramatic force of Nile's songwriting and the passion of his vocals should be more than familiar to anyone who has been listening to his music over the years. Nile has never been afraid to write on a broad emotional scale, and some of the tunes, such as "Song of a Soldier," "Let Me Be the River," and "I Can't Do Crazy (Anymore)," sound a bit overdone when the spare arrangements allow all their melodramatic nooks and crannies to be revealed, which might not be the case with a full band kicking up a fuss behind him. Nile has dressed up a few of these tracks with discrete overdubs -- acoustic guitar, mandolin, synthesizer -- but little here distracts from Nile's voice and piano, and If I Were a River feels like the singer/songwriter album (or MTV Unplugged performance) Nile didn't get around to making in the '80s. The songs allow Nile to indulge his warmer and more sentimental side, though the results seem more like a change of pace than a radical reappraisal of his style, and if he's not afraid to play to the upper balcony, he sounds comfortable on these sessions, with plenty of heart and soul backing up his work. If I Were a River doesn't sound like a typical Willie Nile album, but it certainly has the stamp of his talent and his personality, and it shows he's not afraid to try new things, which isn't often the case for an artist more than three decades after they began making records.

OFFICIAL BIO
In his three and a half decades as a recording artist, Willie Nile has earned a reputation as both a fiercely committed rock ’n’ roller and a singularly insightful songwriter. It’s Nile’s introspective side that fuels If I Was A River, a deeply compelling ten-song collection that diverges from his usual sound, while affirming the remarkable melodic and lyrical skills that have long endeared the artist to his passionately loyal fan base.

In contrast to the rousing, guitar-based rock ’n’ roll that’s been the focus of the dozen albums that he’s released since 1980, If I Was A River — which will be available on CD at willienile.com, and available as a digital download after November 11 — features ten stirring original compositions on which Nile accompanies himself on piano, with sparse arrangements that keep the focus firmly on the songs and Nile's deeply felt performances.

That stripped-down, piano-based approach is one that Nile has explored on various tracks over the years, but never for the length of an entire album. However, in the wake of the warm public reception that greeted his 2013 release American Ride —which won some of the most enthusiastic reviews of his career and was voted Best Rock Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards — Nile was ready to explore some new creative options.

“I’ve wanted to do an album of piano songs for some time,” he says. “I’ve got drawers full of songs of all kinds, but these piano songs are close to my heart, and it felt like it was the right time to let them out. I love the simplicity of just sitting at a piano and singing a song, and I first started out in music playing the piano. Sometimes less is more, and this just seemed like one of those times.”

Working with Grammy-winning producer Stewart Lerman (Boardwalk Empire, Antony and the Johnsons, Loudon Wainwright III, Dar Williams), who’s worked on seven of Nile's prior releases, Nile recorded the material in an appropriately spare environment that helped to capture the songs’ intimacy and immediacy. He also employed the same Steinway Grand piano that he'd played 34 years earlier on the evening of the death of John Lennon, while both Lennon and Nile were recording at Manhattan’s Record Plant. When Nile was working on If I Was A River, the legendary piano was residing at Hobo Sound in Weehawken, NJ, where he recorded the new album with a minimum of embellishment or trickery.

“I wanted it to be intimate and reflective, and I wanted to keep it simple and let the songs speak for themselves,” the artist explains. “So I just sat down and played the songs. There was no click track, nothing strained or forced, and for most of the sessions there was no one around other than Stewart and Sean Kelly, the engineer. I wanted to feel and hear the pure heartbeat in every song, and I think we succeeded. There are moments that are so intimate that I can't believe we got them on tape.”

If I Was A River also features some subtly-applied contributions from guitar master Steuart Smith (of Eagles/Rosanne Cash/Rodney Crowell fame) and multi-instrumental stringmaster David Mansfield (whose voluminous credits range from Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash to Yo La Tengo), along with backing vocals from singer-songwriter and frequent Nile co-writer Frankie Lee.

Such indelible new tunes as “Lost,” “Song of a Soldier,” “Gloryland,” “I Can’t Do Crazy (Anymore)” and the haunting title track rank with the artist’s most powerful compositions. Meanwhile, Nile’s self-deprecating sense of humor fuels “Lullaby Loon," a tongue-in-cheek takedown of idolatry and pretentiousness whose narrator finds something to dislike about nearly every musical genre.

“No doubt there’s a lot of me in these tunes, but there’s also some characters in there as well,’ Nile notes. “It’s not a concept album by any means, but there are some common themes in these songs: love, loss, passion, ecstasy, joy, war, peace, sorrow, hope, the journey.”

It’s hard to think of many other artists who are doing some of their best work in the fourth decade of their careers, but Willie Nile continues to seek out new creative challenges and conquer new musical territory.

“Doing this album was liberating in many ways,” he states. “I learned that it’s fun to change horses and take different roads from time to time as one travels through life, and I think I'll carry that lesson with me in the records that I make in the future.

“I think I’ve grown more confident, as a writer and in the recording studio, as the years have gone by," Nile concludes. “But one thing that hasn’t changed is my passion for the music. I’m having more fun with it now than I ever have. The fire still burns deep in me, and making music has more meaning for me now than ever.”

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

5252 - WILLIE NILE - American Ride (Special Edition) (2013)

WILLIE NILE
''AMERICAN RIDE (SPECIAL EDITION)''
JUNE 25 2013
52:07

1/This Is Our Time
Willie Nile/2:45
2/Life on Bleecker Street
Willie Nile/3:23
3/American Ride
Willie Nile / Mike Peters/4:51
4/If I Ever See the Light
Frankie Lee / Willie Nile/3:05
5/She’s Got My Heart
Frankie Lee / Willie Nile/3:08
6/God Laughs
Willie Nile/3:12
7/People Who Died
Jim Carroll/3:50
8/Holy War
Willie Nile/4:01
9/Say Hey
Willie Nile/2:54
10/Sunrise in New York City
Frankie Lee / Willie Nile/2:49
11/The Crossing
Frankie Lee / Willie Nile/3:10
12/There's No Place Like Home
Willie Nile/3:23
13/Occupy
Willie Nile/3:22
14/The Motel Life
Willie Nile/4:01
15/One Guitar V2.0
Frankie Lee / Willie Nile/4:13

Alex Alexander /Drums, Percussion
Matt Hogan /Guitar
Lee Hogans /Trumpet
Matt Janiszewski /Saxophone
James Maddock /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background)
Leslie Mendelson /Vocals (Background)
Rob Morsberger /Harmonium, String Arrangements
Willie Nile /Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Suzanne Ornstein /Viola, Violin
Johnny Pisano /Bass (Electric), Bass (Upright), String Arrangements, Vocals (Background)
Oli Rockberger /Organ, Piano
Steuart Smith /Banjo, Guitar, Harmonium

REVIEW
by Thom Jurek
A hell of a lot has been written about rock & roll singer/songwriter Willie Nile since he made his Arista debut in 1981. Musicians and press alike have sung his praises across the globe, yet mainstream success has always proved elusive. It hasn't deterred him, however; he's continued to issue new recordings -- albeit sporadically -- that have been lyrically consistent, and contain enough deft, melodic hooks, to justify his unrepentant swagger. The recording of American Ride, the follow-up to his killer Innocent Ones from 2011, was funded by a successful Pledge Music campaign; it was to be issued independently. Loud & Proud's Tom Lipsky intervened after hearing it, and made Nile the signature signing for the label's new distribution deal with Sony's RED. This is his first album to have major-label distribution in 22 years. The band on American Ride is his road group -- guitarist Matt Hogan, bassist Johnny Pisano, drummer Alex Alexander -- with some holdover guests from Innocent Ones: co-producer Stewart Lerman, Frankie Lee, and guitarist Steuart Smith. Nile wrote or co-wrote 11 of the album's original 12 tracks, and all three of its special edition bonus numbers. The lone cover is a wailing version of the late Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," sung in tribute to the author and Nile's brother John. There isn't a weak track in the bunch, but you could stack up its first six against almost anything in this vernacular that's been released since 1975's Born to Run. The anthemic punch and roll of "This Is Our Time" opens the set, followed by the bittersweet portrait "Life on Bleecker Street," with its infectious chorus and a glorious string arrangement by the late Rob Morseberger. The title track is an homage to American music with acoustic and electric guitars, touches of banjo, and B-3, threading country, folk, blues, and rock through the mix. "If I Ever See the Light"'s piano is inspired directly by the E Street Band, but the lyric and melody are pure Nile. The love song "She's Got My Heart" melds his indefatigable romanticism with his keen eye as a lifelong observer of the human condition. The stutter-stop "God Laughs," with its slamming drum kit, chunky guitar vamp, and Nile's strutting snarl is backed by a joyously shouted male chorus. Other standouts include the bluesy rockabilly of "Say Hey" and the poignant ballad "The Crossing." American Ride is every bit as strong as Innocent Ones, if not more so. Nile may wear his influences on his sleeve, but as a songwriter, he's always been his own man. He has stubbornly, even fiercely, clung to the gritty mantle of roots rock & roll; and why not? When you write songs this well, there's no reason for compromise.

BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York singer/songwriter Willie Nile came from a musical family -- his grandfather was a vaudeville pianist who played with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor, and his uncles played boogie-woogie. Nile's older brothers, meanwhile, brought home the music of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino, all of whom he heard from the time he was three or four years old. Nile himself began playing piano at age eight and took classical music lessons until he was a teenager, when he taught himself his first rock & roll song. He soon began to compose short songs and continued the habit into his college years, when during the summers he made trips into New York City to frequent hootenanny clubs like Folk City and the Gaslight. After graduation, Nile took an apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village; however, during his first winter in New York, he contracted pneumonia, which put him out of commission for about a year, although he continued writing songs while recuperating. After regaining his health, he began hanging out at clubs like CBGB's, where he would see bands like Patti Smith, Television, the Ramones, and Talking Heads.
At establishing residency at the Village club Kenny's Castaways, Nile began drawing ever-growing crowds, which in turn led to his first record deal. Following a flurry of critical acclaim, he found himself courted by representatives from close to a dozen record companies; he chose Arista Records, and went into the studio with a band that included Jay Dee Daugherty from the Patti Smith Group. After two acclaimed albums a self-titled 1980 effort and 1981's Golden Dawn, Nile fell prey to protracted legal problems which derailed his career for a number of years; although he continued to write, he did not perform live or record again until a 1987 performance in Oslo, Norway with Eric Andersen. A videotape of Nile's performance in Norway prompted a Columbia talent scout to sign him to the label in 1988, and production on his album didn't start for two more years; issued in
1991, Places I Have Never Been featured appearances by backing musicians including Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Roger McGuinn, and members of the Hooters and the Roches. A four-song EP titled Hard Times in America followed in 1992. Nile didn't release another recording until Live in Central Park in 1997.
While he played Europe and toured the East Coast, Nile took a decade-long hiatus from recording. He finally emerged energized on 2006's Streets of New York in 2006 with guest appearances by Larry Campbell and Jakob Dylan, which marked the beginning of a regular recording schedule. He issued two offerings in 2007, Live at the Turning Point, and the studio offering Beautiful Wreck of the World. Live from the Streets of New York appeared in 2008, followed by the studio set House of a Thousand Guitars in 2009. Nile's touring schedule picked up considerably after its release. He issued the acclaimed The Innocent Ones in 2011 and followed it two years later with American Ride.
DoWnLoAd