Five Records with… Owen Temple
Posted on | November 20, 2009 | 2 Comments
I recently spoke with Owen Temple after shooting some upcoming video with him at Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas. He released the fantastic (and underrated) Dollars and Dimes this year. Five Records is an occasional feature of artists talking about the music that inspires them. Read more of these posts here.
“Jerry Jeff chose some great songs here and introduced me to some great writers. Everything from the album cover on, I thought “This looks fun”. This record is like an anthology of Texas songwriters. Viva Terlingua is the same thing as well.”
“A masterpiece — all stories, set around Lubbock, where he is from. He reminds me that that’s what music is for me — stories about these places and the characters that inhabit these places. As far as his career, he records things that interest him, even when people say ‘you can’t do that!’. He always makes me say ‘Wow‘”.
“Like Terry Allen, they have always been experimental, and only wanting to make music that makes them say ‘wow’. They push the envelope sonically and made the record they wanted to.”
Leon Russell and the Shelter People
“A song I wish I had written — ‘Stranger in a Strange Land‘. I love the simplicity of the chorus – its a song that everyone can identify with. We’ve all felt like we were the only person on the planet feeling that way at that time. The pre-chorus, where the baby looks around and feels just as out of place as the wise man, is profound. Also, he managed to include the word burro in the song.”
“I first met him at a songswap at Cheatham Street, and I admired what he was doing. He has put out a few great EP’s, including 4 of No Kind. I love the song “Sunset”. One of my favorites.”
Owen Temple – Dollars and Dimes
Hayes Carll – “Waiting On The Stars To Fall”
Posted on | October 28, 2009 | 1 Comment
1. Hayes Carll’s voice contains an ache that gives even makes his happier songs a bit of a silver lining. Playing the same role of lovable loser that Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker filled decades before him, Carll fits together a rocking roadhouse band with delicately crafted songs that have placed him at the head of his class in the next generation of Texas songwriters. Though “Waiting On The Stars To Fall” was a b-side on the vinyl version of his last record Trouble In Mind, Lost Highway recently released it on a free compilation entitled T For Texas, T From Tennessee, bringing together the best of their artists from the Lone Star State.
2. “Waiting On The Stars To Fall” was produced by Brad Jones, known more for his Nashville pop productions (Josh Rouse, Garrison Starr) than his country engineering work. Jones stretches Carll’s sound a bit on this track, giving him a shimmering bed of keyboards for his voice and gently plucked guitar. Though a baritone guitar and drums enter later, they are subtle enough that they don’t overshadow Carll’s creaking voice, undoubtedly the star of the song.
3. This song finds Hayes wondering what happened to the old version of himself after his lover leaves to “live wild and free”. He finds himself on the other side of forever, not enjoying it within a relationship, but suffering from it, remarking that it is “a long ol’ time”. In the chorus, he repeats that he “want[s] to let go, but [he] can’t.” Carll doesn’t say he doesn’t know how to move on, since knowing how and being able to do something are two entirely different things. He reveals more self-awareness by noting that he used to be “running with the bulls and chasing down stars” instead of “waiting on the stars to fall”. Since she left, though he used to live “like New York City”, he “hardly makes a sound”. Like Tom Waits, Hayes invites the listener to sit down on the curb with him and share in his incredulity at who he used to be and how far he has fallen.
4. “Waiting On The Stars To Fall” is an unfiltered slice of reality, delivered in Carll’s usual steadfast way. Like the outstanding “Take Me Away” from his second record Little Rock, this song lopes along at a slow, shuffling pace that accentuates every drawl in his voice to maximum effect. I think the most promising thing about Hayes Carll is that he gets better with each release. This song isn’t a new one to many, but roars with potential and increases the desire for more from Hayes.
Hayes Carll – Waiting On The Stars To Fall
Throwback Thursday – Jerry Jeff Walker – Ridin’ High
Posted on | October 1, 2009 | 5 Comments
1. If there is one thing of emphasized throughout Jerry Jeff Walker’s music, it is the importance having a good time. Though he is probably best known for his Viva Terlingua live record (and its recording of Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother”), 1975’s Ridin’ High might be the best representation of his freewheeling style. Recorded live in the studio, Walker’s underrated Lost Gonzo Band provides an unmistakably boozy sound, epitomizing the carefree lifestyle that ran through Austin in the 70’s. Part cowboy, part hippie, and full time philosopher, Walker and his band created a record that still evokes the same feeling today.
2. “Public Domain” (written by Gonzo members Bob Livingston and Gary P. Nunn) sets the tone for the record in both sound and lyrics. A wheezing mix of saxophone, dobro and group vocals surrounds Walker’s assertion that all music is public domain – and that “your policies will kill you.” Strong words from a songwriter, but knowing Walker’s attitude, his stance is not too surprising. Seguing into a hard-charging version of Willie Nelson’s “Pick Up The Tempo”, the song reads almost as a self-critique of Ridin’ High, though not quite as curiously as “Pissing in the Wind”, which finds Walker and his ne’er-do-well bunch of friends wondering if he “should have ever put the record out at all”.
3. I have no doubt that Jerry Jeff would love to write a real serious song, if he could manage to keep it together that long. His rambling lifestyle bleeds into every part of this record, even affecting the track sequence. A regal reading of Guy Clark’s “Like A Coat From the Cold” reads as mostly sincere, though it sits next to Walker’s own “I Love You”, where he promises his new wife Susan both “diamond earrings for your fingers” and “big sparkling rocks for your nose.” Knowing where to point the finger for his lack of ambition,”Pot Can’t Call the Kettle Black” finds Walker acknowledging that he is just like his old man, from his wandering eye to his gambling ways. Jerry Jeff is wise enough to know that nothing gold can stay, as the groovy “Goodbye Easy Street” mourns the inevitable passing of good times.
4. One thing that Jerry Jeff will commit to is the fact that he won’t conform to any rules or limitations. His ability to pick and write great songs and his understanding of the exuberant feeling that music should create all come together on Ridin’ High, summoning a brilliant, drunken snapshot of an long-gone era.
Jerry Jeff Walker – Public Domain