Rickie Lee Jones' 13th full-length studio disc The Other Side of Desire is a marvel of perseverance (it was fan-funded) and originality. Jones has long been one of the most compelling yet mysterious of singer-songwriters. Arriving at the tail-end of the 1970s, a decade in which singer-songwriters bloomed, she has moved in many unexpected directions over the course of her lengthy career. What makes The Other Side of Desire (Thirteen Tigers) distinctive is that while Jones incorporates new musical influences (a New Orleans sound), the songs are unmistakably hers, from her distinguished vocal delivery to her idiosyncratic writing style.
Gregg Shapiro: You have a long history as an artist who makes what could be described as concept albums, from the electronic Ghostyhead to the spiritual The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard to cover albums of standards from various periods: Pop Pop, It's Like This and The Devil You Know . Would it be fair to say that The Other Side of Desire is a New Orleans concept record?
Rickie Lee Jones: I guess you could. Somebody once characterized them as little films. It's like the clay I use is a totally different clay than I used on the last one. New Orleans is the setting of this film, but it's more of a film about those people who are alone, lost and left behind, and their eternal courage. They don't leave, even though the floods come and wash them away. When the waters recede, they're still standing. That's somehow the theme.
How would you describe the impact of New Orleans on your life and music?
Everywhere you go, people are making music for a dollar, and they're going to make that music whether or not they get paid. When I take a walk around the block, I hear people practicing the trombone. We don't have that much tradition here in America, where it's passed on from a grandparent. We're not about tradition here, we're about the new world!
I come from Los Angeles. Everybody that I know there is a professional. There's a kind of prostitution thing about it. They won't play unless they're going to get paid. Here, everybody wants to play all the time. I'm sure there are opportunists, but it's a whole different thing. Sure, I like the horn section and I like the swamp pop, but what has really gone in for me is a revitalization of my confidence for playing with other people.
You've written songs that would qualify as tearjerkers, like "Company" and "Skeletons." "Feet on the Ground" from Other Side of Desire would also qualify.
I could agree with that. I'm thinking of those other songs as ballads, and I guess this is a ballad, too. It's about addiction, people losing their children to addiction, or their sister or whomever.
Your song "Juliette" about your dog was extremely moving to me.
Juliette's 13 years old. We've had her since my daughter brought her home on New Year's Day when she was six weeks old. She's got a big vocabulary, 300 words easy. She's one of those pit bulls who help people who are afraid of pit bulls pet pit bulls. I have a picture of her in my guitar case. When I'm recording, she likes to lie on the microphone stand and be part of all that energy. She's my best friend, she really is.
You're going to be out on tour with these wonderful new songs,. How do you put together a set-list? Is it important to get every new song in, or do you try to mix it up?
I definitely mix it up. One of my hopes when I wrote this new collection was that I could play them all live for a long time and would stay interested in them. People want to hear certain old songs. I gave the band a really eclectic list. It depends on how we play them together what actually ends up being performed. The only time I did one record was when I did Pirates in its entirety a couple of years ago, or on the very first tour when I had only written one record.
You have acted in some movies, including playing the mother in the gay-themed Dream Boy. What was it about that part that made you want to play it?
To be honest, I didn't know the character. The director said, "I'd like you to play the mother," and he gave me a synopsis of the story. As I watched it unfolding, I realized I was in deeper water than I knew going in. I had not read the book. It was pretty moving.
We're speaking a few days after the SCOTUS decision on same-sex marriage. Have you had the opportunity to attend any same-sex weddings?
No, nobody ever invites me to weddings. I've only been to one wedding, my cousin's, when she was 16.
If you were invited to a same-sex wedding and you were asked to sing a song, what song would you choose?
The first thing that comes to mind is "Second Time Around." Because by the time anybody gets married, they've probably been through a lot of stuff. I like the lyrics, and it's got a sultry melody, too.