Tim Henderson. Gone To Texas: The Legacy Collection (Vol.1)

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timhenderson6For anyone interested in Texan folklore and the songs of Townes Van Zandt, Butch Hancock and Guy Clark this album is an intriguing listen. Tim Henderson, who died in 2011, was from West Virginia but moved to Austin, Texas when in his 30’s. Influenced by his grandmother who played mountain dulcimer Henderson took up music at an early age but once in Texas he joined in the budding musical scene there releasing his first album in 1978. While his fame never expanded much beyond the State’s borders, at home he was feted with Townes Van Zandt championing him as he won a best song award at The Kerrville Folk Festival in 1977 while he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Texas Music in 2011 for his “timeless contributions to Texas music.”

Gone To Texas is the first volume of a six album set which gathers Henderson’s recording together and, as the title hints, it concentrates on the songs he wrote about Texas history, culture and people. Released last year in The States it’s coming to our attention now due to the ministrations of promoter Rob Ellen who heard about Henderson when he was on the road with an artist Henderson mentored, Chuck Hawthorne. Ellen attended a concert celebrating the album release and was knocked out and amazed at the galaxy of Texas artists who turned up to pay homage and undertook to try and spread the word further. For that we say, Thanks Rob.

Listening to the album I was struck time and again as to why Henderson isn’t better known. His songs range from vibrant retellings of pivotal moments in Texas history to songs packed full of humour and wit. His Ballad Of Whiskey John (one of the songs that helped him win the Kerrville New Folk Competition – Van Zandt was a judge that year) is a folk tale, almost a talking blues, which recalls Loudon Wainwright and Kinky Friedman. Witch Of West Lynn, written in revenge against getting a ticket for running a red light, cackles with an absurd humour with Henderson roaring like Shel Silverstein while Jesus Would Have Loved El Paso is a sly dig at television pastors such as Jerry Falwell who delighted in calling Texans sinners and it’s delivered with a passion similar to that of Tom Russell.

Russell comes to mind again when Henderson dips into the border territory as on La Dona Maria and Maria Consuelo Arroyo, both replete with Hispanic sounds and the latter leading us into another comparison, this time with the rawness of Terry Allen’s Juarez. There really is so much treasure here (some not so polished, the living room recording of Texas Morning Ride gains from its lo fidelity) with songs such as Dust and Texas In His Ways truly embedded in the Texas tradition but our favourite is the magnificent Miss Amelia Harris, Spinster, a song which sounds as if you had bundled together all of the artists we’ve mentioned here and added a dollop of John Prine.

Gone To Texas is a tremendous listen and it whets the appetite for the accompanying volumes. Hopefully it and the other five discs serve to spread Henderson’s legacy further afield, we’d certainly love to hear more of the man. Thanks again, Rob.

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Here’s some vintage footage of Tim Henderson…

And here’s Chuck Hawthorne singing Miss Amelia Harris, Spinster (just for good measure)

 

 

Dick LeMasters. One Bird, Two Stones

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If you’ve been overdosing on Texas country music recently then Dick LeMasters is the guy to remind you that there’s a lot more going on in the Lone Star State. Texas has a very fine blues history stretching all the way back to Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lightnin’ Hopkins up to The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan while the late Doug Sahm and blues boogie champs, ZZ Top were the main flag bearers for the musical soul of Texas.

LeMasters is no spring chicken. He grew up in Texas with his teen years in the seventies, the glory days of the World Armadillo Headquarters when Austin was supplanting San Francisco as “head city” and every long hair was into country rock. He scuffed around with music taking second place to earning a living and it wasn’t ’till he was in his 40’s that he got serious with his band Longneck Road who earned a fine reputation locally. However it’s been a long road to his solo debut, One Bird, Two Stones, which hits stores this week and has been eagerly anticipated by the European Americana contingent with some rave reviews coming in.

One Bird, Two Stones is a solid album that would snuggle nicely beside the likes of Ray Wyllie Hubbard with a raw boned electric edge to many of the songs while there is a definite ZZ boogie apparent especially on the opening song, Big Ol’ Buick, with its Gibbon’s guitar licks and Power In The Snake which has a wicked fuzz lead. While LeMasters’ might not win any awards for originality there’s no doubt that the songs sizzle and burn for the most part while there are moments when he kicks over the embers and lets the fire burn down. River Blues is a slow burning blues with slashing guitar licks while Need Your Lovin’ Baby actually recalls the minor chord style of David Crosby and the blissed out atmosphere of If I Could Only Remember Your Name, a great little number.

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Penny Jo Pullus. Through The Glass

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A respected Austin, Texas singer, Penny Jo Pullus opens a window here to some of her favourites on an album that comprises eight cover songs from a total of 11. Backed by a stellar cast of Austin musicians the primary feel here is of a southern soul and rock groove with guttural guitar, sweet organ and occasional fiddle. Covering the likes of Neil Young, Doug Sahm and Mac Rebbenack and accompanied by the aforementioned stellar line up of Austin musicians including Ian McLagen, Will Sexton and Jimmy LaFave, Pullus sings her heart out in a very attractive manner. While most of the attention might go to the covers including a great version of Give Back The Keys To My Heart and a muscular rendition of Look Out For My Love her own songs hold their own in this exalted company. Nowhere To Go is a tough slice of a tough life with some fine guitar while Baby Please stands out with its masterful mix of guitar and fiddle and southern soul on a heart rending hard luck story that is simply magnificent. Rounding off the album with fiesty versions of Son Of A Preacher Man and the Stones’ Dead Flowers this is cracking little listen. Pullus comes across as someone who would be fabulous to see in person. As it is her personality crackles across these songs.

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Victor Camozzi. Roadside Paradise.

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Victor Camozzi is yet another one of those wonderful Texan troubadours who for years have been one of the mainstays of Americana. Think of Steve Earle or Robert Earl Keen or even Kris Kristofferson and you’re halfway there to hearing him already. With a distinctive drawl in his voice Camozzi’s vocals effortlessly conjure up visions of drugstore cowboys and truck driving men, laconic, hard living, world wise. The fact that for most of us we experience this vicariously via movies and music leads us to imagine Camozzi as a cross between Sam Shephard and Sam Elliott as The stranger in The Big Lebowski.
So, scene set, what does the album sound like? Camozzi writes all the songs but all of the music is played by producer Matt Downs with the songs ranging from dust stained ballads to muscular roots rock workouts. The subjects are all well trodden paths, love songs, scenes from small town life, regrets and reminiscence all feature. Reading the lyrics one is struck by the thought that each one could easily be a short story or could morph into a screenplay. John 4:20 is a pot smokers’ response to a Christian call to heed the Word preferring to see the plant as a gift and offering an alternative to what to do with a burning bush. Sweetened with a superb pedal steel it’s a fine example of the sly humour here. The Mercy is a snapshot of a brief motel encounter that offers joy and guilt while The Homecoming Waltz is a stark portrayal of the emotional impact on a young wife coming to terms with her husband’s injuries on his return from the war with Camozzi wringing out every ounce of sadness from what one presumes to be a real life dilemma for numerous young Americans. While the uptempo A Lifetime In One Lifetime could be considered lightweight in term of its neighbours it’s a great celebration of living for the moment and is delivered with a rousing Tom Petty type pop drive. Mention should be made of two songs that stand out. Roadside Paradise is a brief note of a diner and a waitress therein that is atmospheric and evocative with a delivery that could have come from an early Little Feat album. Marlboro Morning evokes a similar feel to Kristofferson’s Sunday Morning Coming Down with its description of a fairly aimless response to the dawn of a new day. The slide guitar, harmonica and lazy delivery all add up to a what could become a radio staple if enough folk pick up on it.

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Marlboro Morning

Kimmie Rhodes. Miracles On Christmas Day.

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So it’s that time of year again when cashpoints ring and Christmas music comes tumbling out of everywhere. Here at Blabber’n’Smoke we’re a little bit curmudgeonly when it comes to these seasonal offerings. With the exceptions of the granddaddy of all Christmas albums, Phil Spector’s a Christmas Gift To You and John Fahey’s The New Possibility there’s not a Christmas album that we’d really sit down and listen to. In fact with the vast majority of them we’d rather stuff our ears with stuffing and hunker down with the turkey and hope it all goes away.
So here we have Texan singer and songwriter Kimmie Rhodes’ Miracles On Christmas Day. First thought on reading the bio and finding out that it was originally released in November 2010 and that it is re-released next week is either that this is cashing in or an astute awareness that this time last year most of us in the UK were snowbound. No matter, what does it sound like?
Well, for a Christmas album it’s not half bad. Of the 12 songs nine of them are composed by Rhodes and she certainly captures that child like sense of Christmas wonderment so beloved of Hollywood and TV admen. Semi devotional and glistening with sparkling guitars and keyboard songs like the opening Miracles On Christmas Day and The Toymaker’s Hands drip with seasonal sentiment and as such wouldn’t really be listened to outwith the Christmas window. Indeed it does beg the question of what to do with a Christmas album as one is unlikely to grab one from the shelf mid summer and stick it on. However, as Christmas songs go these are immaculately played and Rhodes actually manages to fit in a few that veer away from the template. Wake Up Sleepy Town is a superb Tex-Mex ballad with Joel Guzman of Los Super Seven doing his best Flaco Jiminez impression. Her version of Patty Griffin’s Mary is given a powerful interpretation while her rendition of What Child Is This with wintry sound effects and set to the music of Greensleeves is very evocative. Listening to this reminds us that while many folk might never have known of the late Bert Jansch his version of Christina Rosseti’s In The Bleak Midwinter is now a staple of many family Christmases due to its inclusion on numerous Christmas compilations.
So who would buy this? Kimmie Rhodes fans for sure. For anyone else that’s looking for some music to get into the spirit it does conjure up a Christmas feeling and it’s a million miles better than the usual retreads.
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Wake Up Sleepy Town