Duets I'd Like To See

This new album combining Led Zep's Robert Plant with bluegrass/country fiddler Alison Krauss has got me thinking....could we see more of these seemingly oddball pairings (a blues howler and an Appalachian yodeler taking on the Everly Brothers?!? It's one of their new tunes)? You can be certain that NPR hounds and roots-music aficionados would like the idea. It's the same M.O. that no doubt helped fuel the recent collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris.

I don't have any SoundScan numbers, but I'm betting that these discs go deep within a profitable and extremely enthusiastic niche of listeners. So maybe some smart record-company executive figures he can hit about 100,000 fans or something and with that in mind, plans the budget accordingly.

With that in mind, here are some pairings I'd like to see in the near future (and for whole albums, not just one shots):

*John Hiatt and Bonnie Raitt (she covered his "Thing Called Love" to great acclaim and he provided backing vocals for another song of his that she covered, "No Business")

*Neil Young and Emmylou Harris (Think "Star of Bethlehem," a wonderful Young selection -made so by her backing vocals)

*Elvis Costello and Diana Krall (it's going to happen sooner or later)

*Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams (it'd be thick with Southern accents, but it's worked before; they've got a great duet on his album, "I Feel Alright" called "You're Still Standing There." Plus. they're great songwriters - who knows what might come out of such a collaboration?)

*Bob Dylan and Joan Osborne (OK, I'm just spitballing here, but she's covered some of his songs and Lord knows he could use some backing vocals now and again)

*Van Morrison and Maria McKee

*Gary Louris and Tift Merritt

Any other suggestions?

Jailhouse Tears

Another tune that's been floating thru my brain for the last few weeks is "Jailhouse Tears," a duet Lucinda Williams has been performing with everyone from David Johansen of the New York Dolls to Steve Earle. It's hard-core country, not the folksy wordsmithery that Lucinda usually turns out - and it's got profanity and drug use at its core.

Funny that she gets Steve Earle to sing it. No matter how long it's been since his drug bust, the guy still seems to have an addiction to something - whether it's getting married or just work-work-working his tail off - and I can't help but wonder what goes through his head when he has to sing something like that.

The lyrics - you can see some of them here - are a little silly, but for some reason (probably Lucinda's thick-as-molasses Southern accent) I can't seem to stop humming this song. Whether or not she ever commits it to disc, given her current predilection for lustful internal monologues over character studies, is anyone's guess.