Bill Kirchen. The Proper Years. Last Music Co.

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88Bill Kirchen earned his epithet, “Titan of the Telecaster” primarily due to his stalwart duties in Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, the infamous Austin based longhaired hippies who roared into life in the late ‘60s. Their mix of boogie-woogie, trucking songs and wild country swing wig outs, fuelled by various substances, reinvigorated country rock with Hot Rod Lincoln, from their first album, even hitting the US charts. Mid seventies, the band broke up and Kirchen moved into a successful second chapter which continues to this day. Oddly enough, many of the highlights of this career have seen him closely involved with UK artists, a liaison which grew from Nick Lowe producing Kirchen’s band, The Moonlighters in the early eighties.

The Proper Years  comprises three albums Kirchen recorded in London for Proper Records  (Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods, Word To The Wise and Seeds And Stems) from 2006 until 2013, all crammed into an excellently priced two CD set. Aside from Kirchen’s Telecaster wizardry, there are appearances from a host of luminaries including Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Paul Carrack, Commander Cody, Dan Hicks, Maria Muldaur and Butch Hancock. As he did in the Cody band, Kirchen barrels from rip-roarious honky tonk workouts to tear filled beer fuelled country laments, all the while injecting a healthy dose of humour as he delivers what he calls “Dieselbilly.”

With 38 songs to choose from we’re not going to do a blow by blow account. Suffice to say that there’s oodles of Kirchen’s picking skills from the opening Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods  to the turbo charged and refuelled version of Hot Rod Lincoln (where he can be accused really of just showing off as he mimics several guitarists’ styles). He also revisits his Lost Planet Airmen days on grand versions of Down To Seeds And Stems and Mama Hated Diesels and digs into the well of country despair on Skid Row On My Mind, a song which could give Willie Nelson a run for his money. The songs from Word To The Wise, essentially a duets album, are particularly joyous as Kirchen parries with his collaborators in fine style with Elvis Costello glowering on Man In The Bottom Of The Well and Dan Hicks on great form on Word To The Wise. We do have to give a special mention to the magnificent Rockabilly Funeral which slouches along as if The Fabulous Thunderbirds were the pall bearers as Kirchen gets increasingly absurd and lascivious as he details his demise.

It would be remiss of us not to mention Austin de Lone, once of Eggs Over Easy, progenitors of pub rock and the one musician (aside from Kirchen) to appear throughout the cuts here. He’s the conduit from Austin to London for Kirchen’s voyage and the set ends with three bonus songs from their 2016 Transatlantica album which is well worth investigating.

All in all, The Proper Years is the best retrospective release we’ve heard this year and it really should reside in any self respecting album collection.

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Proper Music Distribution · Bill Kirchen – Rockabilly Funeral

Bill Kirchen. Seeds and Stems. Proper Records.

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If you’re of a certain age the name Bill Kirchen will drag you back to the days when Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen acted as a gateway drug into country music, a Texas alternative to Gram Parson’s cosmic American music. Kirchen was the guitar gunslinger and occasional vocalist in Cody’s band and responsible for some of their finest songs. As a solo artist he’s kept the Austin freak flag flying with his truck filled boogies for the past 40 years and his latest album, recorded in London in a pell mell fashion sees him revisit his back catalogue with an energy that belies his vintage state.
Selected songs from his solo years and vintage Airmen classics are retooled with Kirchen in fine voice and twanging away on his telecaster. Whether he’s rocking the joint or jerking teardrops on the supreme title song or the ultimate sad trucker lament, Mama Hated Diesels all the cuts here are magnificent fun retaining the irreverence of the Cody crew but with an undeniable love and affection for the genre he inhabits. The band are tight, Kirchen’s solos are top notch country twang and he remains a fine singer. Cody classics such as Too Much Fun, Seeds and Stems, Mama Hated Diesels and Semi Truck (full title-Here I Sit, All Alone With a Broken Heart, I Took Three Bennies and My Semi-Truck Won’t Start) reignite a spark for anyone who hankers after those halcyon days and his signature song, Hot Rod Lincoln is transformed into an epic pastiche of numerous country and pop/rock icons as Kirchen adopts their various guitar styles.
The later songs are just as good with Rockabilly Funeral ploughing a great blues rhythm while Womb To The Tomb slinks with a Southern vibe that is somewhat akin to the Drive By Truckers. Truck Stop at the End of the World just about sums up Kirchen, it’s a smoking hot truck driving song with tremendous guitar fills as he tells a fantastical tale of how truckers will survive World War 3. The veteran SF guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, ex Jefferson Airplane adds some fine acoustic guitar to the country picking of Talkin’ About Chicken while Kirchen sneaks in an excellent laid back version of Dylan’s It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry. All in all an excellent album and well recommended whether you were ever high in the ozone or just interested in a master craftsman setting out his wares.

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