Drive-By Truckers have announced a new reissue of their 2004 album The Dirty South. Titled The Complete Dirty South, the LP will arrive on June 16th via New West Records, and it includes a remixed version of “Puttin’ People on the Moon” with new vocals that’s now available as a first listen. Stream it below.
The Complete Dirty South resequences and expands the album to its originally intended 17-song tracklist with three bonus songs and includes four remixes — two of which feature newly updated vocals. The LP was remastered by Greg Calbi, who’s known for his work on classic albums by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie, and more.
Plus, it comes with a 32-page booklet featuring original and new liner notes written by Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood; track by track descriptions written by Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell; never-before-seen photos; and new artwork by the late Wes Freed. Pre-orders are ongoing. See the artwork and tracklist below.
The reworked version of “Puttin’ People on the Moon” features a new recording of Hood’s vocals that he nailed in one take. “We recorded it in Muscle Shoals (in one take) in January 2004, but by the time the record came out, I had already begun to regret the vocal take, which attempted some things I hadn’t yet really learned how to do at that time,” he said in a statement. “As the years have passed, it is one of two on that album that has always really bothered me when I hear it played, while live it has morphed into a truly powerful song for me to sing.”
He continued, “When we were given the opportunity to do a ‘Directors Cut’ version of what many consider to be our masterpiece, I wanted to take another stab at that vocal and nailed what I believe to be a definitive version of it in one take. One that truly captures the inherent anger and despair of the song as written and played by the band. The scream at the end might be the most primal recording of my voice anywhere in our catalog and I’m very proud to have this version out there after all these years. The Complete Dirty South might indeed be DBT’s masterpiece.”
Get Drive-By Truckers Tickets Here
Drive-By Truckers are currently on a North American tour in support of their 2022 album Welcome 2 Club XIII. Tickets are available to purchase via StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
The Complete Dirty South Artwork:
The Complete Dirty South Tracklist:
01. Where the Devil Don’t Stay
02. Tornadoes
03. The Day John Henry Died
04. Puttin’ People on the Moon (Remixed and featuring new vocals)
05. Goode’s Field Road (Remixed)
06. Carl Perkins’ Cadillac
07. TVA
08. The Sands of Iwo Jima (Remixed and featuring new vocals)
09. Danko/Manuel
10. The Boys from Alabama
11. The Buford Stick
12. Never Gonna Change
13. Cottonseed
14. The Great Car Dealer War (Remixed)
15. Daddy’s Cup
16. Lookout Mountain
17. Goddamn Lonely Love
