“A Boy Named Sue” alone would be enough to justify a Shel Silverstein tribute album in my book, but given the fact that he also wrote dozens of wonderful songs, including Loretta Lynn hit “One’s on the Way,” soundtracks to both the Dustin Hoffman film Who I Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? and Ned Kelly, “Marie Laveau”, and loads more, makes this project long overdue, I’d say. Sugar Hill Records are gearing up to release Twistable Turnable Man, a tribute to the great word/songsmith that features covers by My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird, John Prine, Billy Bob Thornton’s band the Boxmasters, Dr. Dog, Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams, Black Francis, and seven other well-known artists.
Produced by former Silverstein collaborators Bobby Bare Sr. and Jr., the record will drop on June 8. You can, however, stream snippets of the songs here in the meantime. Check out the full tracklist below:
Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein
01 Lullabys, Legends and Lies - My Morning Jacket 02 The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns - Andrew Bird03 This Guitar Is For Sale - John Prine04 The Unicorn - Dr. Dog05 The Winner - Kris Kristofferson06 Queen Of The Silver Dollar - Sarah Jarosz w/ Black Prairie07 Daddy What If - Bobby Bare, Jr. w. Isabella Bare08 The Cover Of The Rolling Stone - Black Francis w/ Joey Santiago09 Sylvia's Mother - The Boxmasters10 Me And Jimmy Rodgers - Ray Price11 A Boy Named Sue - Todd Snider12 The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan - Lucinda Williams13 The Living Legend - Bobby Bare, Sr.14 The Giving Tree - Nanci Griffith15 26 Second Song - My Morning Jacket