I called the greatest steel guitar player alive and said, "Lloyd, I've got these songs that I need some help with." And then Lloyd Green - the guy who played on The Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo as well as major works by Paul McCartney, Charley Pride, Johnny Paycheck, Nanci Griffith, Don Williams and so many others - went to work. I gave Lloyd a batch of songs, most of which I wrote, and he transformed them. Then we called in the best players and singers we knew to round the thing out. Todd Snider plays harmonica and sings. Bill Lloyd plays a whole lot of electric guitar and contributes a bunch of harmonies. Jen Gunderman (formerly of The Jayhawks and currently of Last Train Home) plays some remarkable piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes and accordion. Pat McInerney and Paul Griffith play percussion, Dave Roe (yeah, the guy who played with Johnny Cash for years) is on the bass, Nanci Griffith and Fayssoux McClean do some singing and other luminaries show up as well. I mean, that's Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers playing harmonica on "They Hate Me." There are plenty of things that bother me. Living in Nashville is not one of those things.
This is my first full-length album, and I hope you like it. I must give thanks and credit to Todd Snider, who insisted that this was a good idea. And also thanks to Kris Kristofferson and Tom T. Hall, two people to whom I've always looked up, who ratified the whole deal in the end. Had Kris and Tom T. not liked it, I would have kept it to myself.
Mission Door was engineered by Richard McLaurin and Adam Bednarik, and it was mastered by Alex McCollough at YES Master. I hope it's good for a laugh, a tear or a whistle.
If you want to know more, click on the individual song titles. I'll tell you the stories behind the stories.
- Peter Cooper |
