# Is T Bone Burnett An "Acquired Taste"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299 "2011-03-03T01:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/1 "2011-03-03T01:59:00Z")
My very first exposure to this very talented man’s work was a song y’all might consider a novelty tune. I wish I could link you to it, but I haven’t been able to find it on YouTube. It’s called _The Mysterious Case of Frank Cash and The Morning Paper_. As I said, it was my first time knowing anything about him until _O Brother Where Art Thou?_, which of course, he produced musically. Recently, though, in looking for music for my blog, I thought of him again and found this: [T-Bone Burnett River of Love - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFZTBYE-kM), and Oh. My. God, that song just rang so many of my bells, I played it over and over. So… are his talents so multi-faceted that one just needs to “follow” (for want of a better word) him across the genres? Because, honestly, the last time I remember being this affected by a musician was when The Beatles were together. Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/2 "2011-03-03T03:18:44Z")
Apologies: I’ts called The _Strange_ Case… Sorry! Q ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/3 "2011-03-03T05:05:39Z")
I had never heard of him until it was announced that he was producing Elton John’s new album, a collaboration with Leon Russell. It’s called _The Union_, and it is absolutely unbelievably amazing. Obviously that’s not _all_ T-Bone’s doing… Elton, Leon, and Bernie Taupin wrote the songs and both Elton and Leon play piano and sing on it, but if T-Bone can produce something like that, then he’s got a fan in me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/4 "2011-03-03T06:33:52Z")
I’m very fond of T-Bone Burnett’s album _The Criminal Under My Own Hat_. I’m also very fond of Sam Phillips. She and T-Bone were married for a number of years, and he produced several of her albums. You can hear her singing “River of Love” (the song in the OP’s link) [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0NE-AUen6s&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/5 "2011-03-03T06:51:57Z")
Thanks, **Thudlow** :). " And I almost made you happy…" Everytime I think I’ve seen or heard it all… It’s stuff like this which makes me keep hangin’ on. I really have missed out on a whole bunch of life, haven’t I? Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/6 "2011-03-03T13:45:53Z")
He’s great. I acquired a taste for his music when I picked up his first album, _Truth Decay_. ([Here’s the CD](http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Decay-T-Bone-Burnett/dp/B000PY2VLW).) Not sure why I bought it but I was blown away by the songs–& the production of his tunes. Note to self: Fire up the turntable tonight… Not long afterward, he toured through Houston. At the time, the little company I worked at handled the mailing list for the club & often got free tickets. I told everybody that they had to see the show. It was badly attended (“who’s T-Bone Burnett?”) but he & his band–with Mick Ronson on guitar–blew everybody away. Back in 1968, he played drums on [Paralyzed](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOnzjmZaxhA&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=MLGxdCwVVULXectOdB7L6ZanPEN9yfTKMX), by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. It was actually played on AM radio! (A few times.) But he got better. His involvement with a record or movie always piques my interest. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/7 "2011-03-03T15:14:13Z")
With the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss CD Raising Sand, T-Bone has become a brand name… ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/8 "2011-03-03T17:04:41Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > With the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss CD Raising Sand, T-Bone has become a brand name… He does seem to have the Midas touch as a producer. Those two CDs are incredible. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-t-bone-burnett-an-acquired-taste/573299/9 "2011-03-03T17:08:43Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > He does seem to have the Midas touch as a producer. Those two CDs are incredible. What’s interesting is that he, like other producers, are ALWAYS working. In the past few years, he’s done a TON of stuff, the Elton John / Leon Russell CD, John Mellancamp’s latest, the new Robert Plant, etc.