NO LONGER A DOGG, SNOOP REINCARNATED A LION FOR ROARING RASTA PARTY RECORD

Reincarnated
2013

690 Miles To Go

Snoop Doggy Dog is dead.

Tha' Doggfather is resting in peace.

And, Snoop Dogg has been left on the porch.

Snoop Lion has been Reincarnated a Rastafafian and I don't think he's lyin'.

It's not a huge leap to imagine Snoop jumping into the Jamaican jam, but Reincarnated is as surprising for what's not on it as what is.

No "Parental Advisory" label. No N-words. No F-bombs. No bitches. No gangstas. No pimps. No ho's. No body parts bravado.

The Fruit Juice song doesn't even include any gin, just all natural ingredients depending on how you count electronica backing tracks.

This is remorseful Snoop (Tired Of Running featuring Akon, Ashtrays And Heartbreaks featuring Miley Cyrus) with a new set of rules (Rebel Way, No Guns Allowed featuring Drake & Cori B.)

This is the Lion in love (So Long featuring Angela Hunte, The Good Good featuring Iza).

This is him heading into heartbreak (Torn Apart  featuring Rita Ora).

And, of course, it's Snoop getting high (Lighters Up featuring Mavado & Popcaan, Smoke The W**D featuring Mr. Vegas.). After all, it is Snoop and a reggae record, so there has to be ganja, lots of ganja.

He's here to love, be loved and play at the Reincarnated party all summer long.

Because of the variety of musical styles (most at dance beat) and the song-to-song spotlight given to the guest stars, Snoop's Reincarnated reggae comes premixed for those who want to get their Lighters Up whether carrying a real one or just the imaginary Smartphone version.

Everyone is invited: "East side/West Side/North Side/South Side/Unified/Come On And Ride With Us/Put Your Lighters Up."

It's too electronic to be Bob Marley & The Wailers, but this is Snoop Lion reggae fun for the whole family from coast to coast.

If any of the senior listeners are offended by the marijuana references, just remind them that Willie Nelson has been a member of the legal or not club for decades. According to legend, he even smoked dope on the roof of the White House during a visit in the Jimmy Carter years.

Countryman
2005

In 2005 Willie did a reggae record of his own - Countryman - that was 10 years in the making.

Rather than go "The Willie Way" on a collection of reggae standards. He plants an island stamp on nine of his own songs and includes only three covers - Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come and Sitting In Limbo, along with I'm A Worried Man written by Johnny and June Carter Cash.

The later was previously released as a Willie/Johnny duet on their stellar Storytellers set.

Produced by Don Was, Countryman is an easy listen even when it drifts and provides further proof that Willie and Trigger may be music's all-time best interpreters.

My recommendation is to mix a little Snoop Lion Reincarnated with Countryman and add some Marley to roll a sunny day play list that won't be completely twisted without Willie's Roll Me Up (featuring Snoop Dogg, Jamey Johnson and Kris Kristofferson) from 2012's Heroes.

Heroes
2012

Roll Me Up was the inspiration for this long run combination and it provided Heroes' hilarious novelty - Snoop singing with a country twang and the idea of Willie being rolled and smoked by his friends after he dies - but it is far from the only highlight.

Look at this album as a campfire gathering that only can exist in "Willie World".

In addition to our host, Snoop, Jamey and Kris, the circle includes Merle Haggard, Sheryl Crow, Billy Joe Shaver, Ray Price, and Willie's sons Michah and Lukas. Tom Waits, Pearl Jam and Coldplay, or at least their songs (Come On Up To The House, Just Breathe, The Scientist), are here as well.

Though honky tonk heroes and legitimate legends abound at this hootenanny, Lukas Nelson grabs the torch from the stars on Heroes.

He sings with a warbled drawl that combines Hank III, Wayne "The Train" Hancock and Willie.

Whether it's on the duets with Dad (six of the 14 songs) or part of a power trio (Come On Up To The House with Willie and Sheryl Crow, Cold War With You with Willie and Ray Price), Lukas' singing is a perfect pairing whether on lead or harmony.

The gospel reinvention of Waits' Come On Up To The House is a revelation, not a re-do.

But, the Shotgun Willie moment comes when reading the Heroes songwriting credits and realizing that the best of the road woes and lows, highs and goodbyes come not from the father, but the son.

On No Place To Fly, Lukas sings: "The road is like a river that sings when I'm alone/I'm sitting beside a window of light that floods in my eyes and keeps me from finding my way."

Then a song later on Every Time He Drinks He Thinks Of Her, "But the party life is dangerous when you left your love behind/Because it hides in every bottle that you find."

Call it a coming out party if you like.

Back at the campfire, Willie, Lukas and Micah plead: "Come on back Jesus/And pick up John Wayne on the way."

Let's just say Jesus does and John Wayne sits down on the log next to Snoop.

Does The Duke toke, pass or deck the Dogg?

Reincarnated Song For The Soundtrack: Lighters Up

Countryman Song For The Soundtrack: The Harder They Come

Heroes Song For The Soundtrack: Every Time He Drinks He Thinks Of Her

Running Data for Sunday, April 28:
11.81 Miles
2:17:36

Mileage In The Change Jar: 0.29 Miles