Thursday, December 23, 2010

Artist: Colin Linden, Album: When The Spirit Comes, Song: When The Spirit Comes

Colin Linden is a singer songwriter from Toronto.  He started out playing coffee houses and folk festivals in the early seventies.  He toured the US south around the same time and played with a number of blues musicians.  His first recording was with 80 year old Mississippi blues man, Sam Chatmon.  By the mid eighties he decided to release his first solo album and in 1987, he released When The Spirit Comes, his sophomore album with A&M Records.  The album featured guest appearances by Rick Danko and Garth Hudson of The Band as well as a blazing cover of the Band's song, Chest Fever.  I have fond memories of listening to this album over and over and I especially enjoy the title track.  Colin has to be one of the most credited musicians in Canadian history.  He has produced, worked and toured with a ton of artists on both sides of the border.  His resume includes a who's who of rock and blues.  In the nineties, he formed a successful band called Blackie And The Rodeo Kings.  He also contributed to the movie score of O' Brother Where Art Thou with T Bone Burnett.  He has recorded and toured with Keb' Mo', Lucinda Williams, Colin James and Bruce Cockburn.  His latest album, From The Water, was released in 2009 and you can follow him at http://www.colinlinden.com/.  You can purchase the album, When The Spirit Comes, on Itunes.  The song, When The Spirit Comes, is also on a new compilation entitled, Colin Linden: The Columbia Years which is available from Amazon.  You can hear the song, When The Spirit Comes, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByfFTAPrw5E).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!