John Wesley Coleman - A Clown Gave You A Baby (off "The Last Donkey Show" on Goner Records)

The Last Donkey Show is the latest album from everyone’s favorite freaky Texas troubadour John Wesley Coleman. While Coleman’s particular madman swerve still recalls Doug Sahm and Roky Erickson, this collection covers more territory than his earlier work. Does this mean the half-mad misfit has grown up? Not quite—but the songwriting chops are all there, from carney kookiness to fuzz rockers to barstool tearjerkers to dustbowl pop. In his own words: “That’s right. My new album is called The Last Donkey Show. It is a fucking roller-coaster recorded in Oakland, California, at Greg Ashley’s studio The Creamery and also in the country near Lockhardt, Texas, at my good buddy’s childhood home. Aaron Blount is his name. He is a bad-ass songwriter friend of mine. We ate BBQ all day and shot BB guns and had a bonfire. There is a cast of characters on this record... It’s a floodgate of memories. Every song has a crazy story. I will tell them to you some time. The donkey is a symbol of hard work, humor and death. I love it! See you at town near you. Eat Gus’s Fried Chicken!”