Tag: country music

Picking Five Songs From 1993

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year6 Comments

So now I’m spamming out these “songs by year” posts twice a week. I was supposed to post this yesterday, but oh well. This will help me get through this series by or near the end of the year, it’ll probably bleed a hair bit into 2026 but it will accomplish my goal just the same.

We are now to 1993. For me I was in the middle of high school and now more used to the massively changed music landscape since 1991 blew everything up. Alt rock was the new normal and heavy metal was going in several directions, some weird and some that would shape the genre for decades to come. I was in the thick of it and I was in an odd place where I was both enjoying the stuff I’d see on MTV and also exploring heavy metal’s underground, mostly shaped by this point at what we now call the old school death metal scene.

Essentially the music of the 1990’s was an adverse reaction to the music of the ’80’s and I was more so along for the ride on the side of the 1990’s. As I got older I would come to re-embrace the ’80’s music of my childhood, but at this point I was a 1990’s teenager. Like many dumb teenagers at the time, I felt like Mike Judge was spying on me and my friends when he came up with the concept for Beavis and Butthead. In reality he came up with it a few years before this but let’s not let the truth get in the way of my awesome narrative.

Anyway, enough of long-winded horseshit, as much as I engage in it on a weekly basis on this site. Let’s get into five of the songs I love from 1993.

Dwight Yoakam – A Thousand Miles From Nowhere

I have to keep this short so I won’t get huge into it, but most of my appreciation for 1990’s country came many, many years later as I let go of old biases and learned to appreciate the medium. The particulars of this would take too long to discuss, but one song I did really love at the time was this cryfest of a breakup song from Dwight. This cut from his mega hit album This Time hit with me the first time I ran into it. I can’t remember for sure because this was all over 30 years ago, but I kind of think MTV even played this a bit, but whatever the case I was exposed to it and became a fan of Dwight’s through this song. Fantastic stuff.

Tool – Sober

Now for what I was more into at the time, the concept of alt-metal showed up in full force by 1993. This was the introduction to Tool for most of us and it was a whale of a hit. This has crushing riffs and a hypnotic beat as the lyrics weave a tale of someone caught in addiction and not getting out. The video was also a massive talking point, with claymation figures made by guitarist Adam Jones and an eerie stop motion approach to the flick. People can say whatever they want about Tool and they often do, but this was a total mindfuck back in the day.

Cracker – Low

This was the year Cracker came around with what became their big hit. This song was all over MTV and other airwaves and has endured years later. This song is interesting because it fits the “woeful dirge” style but also has a massive amount of swagger to it, it is far more powerful than its mournful tone would imply. I also don’t know what in the hell they’re talking about in the lyrics, things were very obtuse in music around this time but the song rocks so that’s all I really need.

Carcass – Heartwork

This year Carcass chose to continue their evolution away from their grindcore past and fully embrace the strains of melodic death metal. It was great timing, as that scene was emerging out of Gothenburg, Sweden at the same time. Carcass put their own English stamp on the scene and delivered a clinical, precise and still brutal set. The title track of this album sees a tortured artist and, well, a tortured art piece, as the artist tries to assemble his masterpiece from the dismembered remains of his muse. This song had a bit of an extra kick in the ass along with it.

Sepultura – Refuse/Resist

The Brazilian masters of heavy released their seminal Chaos A.D. In 1993. The opening track is a brutal and noisy offering that showcases political and social unrest alongside a more groovy and tribal-oriented musical style in contrast to Sepultura’s thrash and death metal past. It remains as one of the band’s standout tracks to this day.

That wraps up 1993. Next week we’ll continue to plumb the depths of the mid-1990’s and cover when I exited school and entered the “real” world.

Picking Five Songs From 1986

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year10 Comments

Ok, so quick update first – just as I was getting ready to start blogging again last month, we wound up buying a house so that took up a bunch of my time. We are now moved and things are getting settled so I have time to get rolling again. Hopefully I can get going here again now that I’m mostly settled. It might take a minute but I should be fine.

We move on now into the later 1980’s with this long-running series. Things were getting bigger and bigger for rock music, though it could be argued that the quality was starting to wane in comparison to the absolute gold of the early decade. Rock was going hair, hair, hair; while heavy metal was getting heavier and heavier. And pop was starting to get weighed down by pale imitators of the sound that was a goldmine a few years prior. But this year was pretty good, as many acts who were “off cycle” the year prior are back and cranked out some quality music.

As usual, this is simply five of my favorite songs from the year. It is not a definitive “top five,” this is a pretty fast and loose exercise.

Iron Maiden – Stranger In A Strange Land

Maiden came back off their world-conquering campaign to kick off their “synth” arc. The results were splendid and this single is one of my all-time favorite Maiden tracks. The song is about an Arctic expedition that discovered a long-dead explorer, it is not related to the famed novel of the same name. While this one keeps the pace reigned in, it doesn’t lack for intensity as the power and melody combine to offer up the long-frozen explorer’s tale.

Queensrÿche – Screaming In Digital

This is almost a rock opera type song about man versus machine, and the now suddenly relevant topic of AI. The lyrical fare might be fresh nearly 40 years later, but the music on this is ungodly and timeless. The instruments and samples are a mesh of chaos, and Geoff Tate delivers while might honestly be his finest vocal performance ever as he handles the tradeoff “arguments” between man and machine. One of my favorite songs of all time.

Motörhead – Orgasmatron

Up next is the venerable legends with one of their many signature offerings. This is a slow, doom-laden marcher that explores the world of war, religion and political power, those dark masters that have taken the lives of many over the centuries. It’s all distilled here in the raw, primal form that only Motörhead can muster. As with the first two offerings, this ranks among my all-time favorites of the band’s catalog.

Metallica – Damage Inc.

1986 was a banner year for the band that would go on to become heavy metal’s biggest act. They released Master Of Puppets, which is often hailed as the quintessential thrash album. The album’s final track is a blistering slab of thrash, and again a song aimed at the bloody power corporations wield over rank and file citizens. The song serves as the final testament of Cliff Burton, mortally departed but always looming immortally over the metal scene he helped shape.

Dwight Yoakam – Guitars, Cadillacs

A bit of a curveball here, given the sheer amount of other heavy music that was released in ’86. But this cut from Dwight’s debut album has long been a favorite of mine. This was a good bit of barroom twang in a time when country was in a bit of a stale, pop-oriented direction. It remains one of Dwight’s top songs from a long and storied career.

That covers 1986. Next week we’ll see what’s up with one of rock music’s biggest ever years.

Picking Five Songs From 1975

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year2 Comments

My job has been absolutely kicking my ass this past week or so. Between it and me desperately trying to find a new job, I haven’t had as much time to work on the site. But I can bang out these five songs from 1975 real quick.

Nothing much to note here, I was still two years away from being born so I have no great memories of ’75. Let’s check out the music.

Heart – Crazy On You

I’m altering the timeline again with this one. This song was released on album in 1975 – in Canada. It wasn’t released as a single or in the US until ’76, but here it is on my list for this year anyway because guess what – 1976 is when things get super crowded on these lists.

Anyway – great blast of a song here. Heart were at times part folk, part psychedelic and part heavy metal – this tune fits the first two more. Very groovy guitar and keyboard passages here and Ann Wilson gives a super smooth performance throughout. Plus a great mix of acoustic and electric guitars here, not something you get all the time, at least to this great of effect.

As we go through these, you’re going to find out that Heart is one of my favorite bands, in all their phases. We’re just getting started here.

Led Zeppelin – Kashmir

So Robert Plant drove through the desert in Morocco and was inspired to write this song about a disputed region between India and Pakistan. Regardless of the geographic blasphemy, it helped Zep record one of their most epic movements. This song is totally majestic and awe-inspiring. Not much else for me to say about it.

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

While this song is full of subtle twists, especially the full album version (which should be posted below), this one is actually pretty straightforward for a Pink Floyd track. It is a somber affair looking back on lost dreams, set against minimal acoustic passages. The song is popularly regarded as being about troubled former bandmate Syd Barrett, though Roger Waters has discounted that idea before. Regardless, it’s a masterpiece of a song.

Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion

We’ll just ignore all of the things this song could possibly be about and focus instead on how kick ass of a tune it is. Aerosmith added a few psychedelic elements to their hard rock groove and came out big winners for it. An electric jam all the way through.

What I posted is the 1991 remix video, which brought Aerosmith up straight up against grunge, and Aerosmith won that unlikely battle.

Waylon Jennings – Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?

Every genre of music has its formulas for success and acts that were herded into the spotlight, used for a hit, then discarded for the next. But no music scene had its formula down quite like Nashville and country. While that machine keeps plugging away today, it was a group of artists in the ’70’s, spearheaded by Waylon and the creative freedom afforded to him contractually, that sparked a whole new movement in country. The outlaws were riding, and they would reshape country through the decade.

Here Waylon pokes fun at the establishment and highlights how far they’ve drifted from the spiritual father of their genre, Hank Williams. It’s not a comedy tune but some of the lyrics are low key pretty funny, like the one about the five piece band looking at his backside. But the song does carry its weight and then some, directly targeting the tired old formula of Nashville and offering a refreshing change.

That’s all for 1975. Next week will be ’76 so I’ll have to pick some really patriotic stuff to celebrate the bicentennial of my great nation. I’ll get right on that.

Picking Five Songs From 1974

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year7 Comments

I press on with my look at songs from a particular year, this time we’ve hit 50 years ago exactly as it’s time to look at 1974. And this year offered up something a bit different – I’ve previously been able to easily reference Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin albums for songs I absolutely love, but both bands did not offer up any recorded material in ’74. Not to be deterred, it was honestly pretty easy to locate five songs I like a lot from the year.

We do see a few debuts from acts now legendary, and in the next several years things really get different with all the debuts. And also these lists get really hard to compile, to this point I haven’t had to “bump” a song from a list due to finding another I like better, but that is coming very soon. And we’re just a few years removed from where I was actually around.

But that’s all for later – for today, let’s enjoy a few choice cuts from 1974.

Kiss – Strutter

Here we have the first track from the first album from the group that would take over the world with their stage shows and theatrics. But out of the gate we get a fairly simple yet quite ass kicking rock track. Even up against the music of the time, there was something a bit different in what Kiss had on offer. And just listen to Paul Stanley’s voice from 50 years back, damn that dude could carry a tune.

Rush – Working Man

The debut surge continues with Canada’s greatest export. Rush were still not in their final form here as Neil Peart had not yet joined the band, but this first album did feature this choice cut that helped the band get their break when it got played on FM radio. This isn’t the crazy, prog-driven music of Rush to come, but it’s a nice and loud ode to the existence of the rank and file worker, which I can totally identify with in my late 40’s with shit prospects of upward mobility. But hey, great song.

UFO – Doctor Doctor

This next one came to me from less conventional means, as to this day I’m woefully uneducated on the music of UFO. But this early contribution from new and then young guitarist Michael Schenker slowly became a fan favorite after years of live performances. It starts with an epic intro but the song itself is a pretty lean and mean rock track.

What led me to this song was its use as intro music – since 2000, Iron Maiden have played this song over the PA just before taking stage. Maiden also did cover the song during the Blaze Bayley years just prior. But that’s how I came to know this song and I should get off my ass and get into more UFO.

Dolly Parton – Jolene

This time there’s no debut as Dolly had already been around. I’m also playing with the timeline a bit since this song was released in ’73 as a single, but the album of the same name was released in early ’74 so I’m running with that. It’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe in here, I just play with time to suit my needs at any given moment.

Jolene is one of country music’s all time songs, as Dolly laments that the title character seems to be making moves on Dolly’s man. Nothing is entirely clear – Dolly thinks Jolene is on the prowl, but it’s never said if that’s really the case. But Dolly’s insistence that Jolene keep away is one of country’s crown jewels.

Queen – Stone Cold Crazy

If you had “Queen would invent thrash metal” on your 1974 bingo card, well I guess you cashed in. This short hyperblast of frantic rock featured everything that would come along in the early ’80’s – ripping guitars, pounding drums and rapid fire vocals. I didn’t hear it at the time of course, but even going back to music from before I was around, this one really sticks out as something out of the ordinary. I bet it was crazy to hear when it was released.

That does it for 1974. I guess that means there are either 49 or 50 more of these to do, I don’t know because I don’t have enough fingers to count it all. See you next week.

Picking Five Songs From 1969

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year5 Comments

On again with this long-running series where I pick five songs from a year. As always, this list should be taken as “five of my favorite songs from 1969,” as opposed to “my five favorite songs from 1969.”

1969 was apparently a hell of a year. I wasn’t personally around for it, I still have eight years before I showed my pretty little face. But this was the big one – the Summer of Love, Woodstock, all of that jazz.

Now, I don’t know if music from ’69 really leapt out and grabbed me the same way stuff from ’67 did. But that could be more about that year than this one. It was no real problem finding five songs for this year.

Led Zeppelin – Communication Breakdown

First off is one from Zep’s debut. I do very much love the album and this song specifically is a huge selling point. A short blast of heavy metal from them, which is honestly a rare treat as they influenced the genre for sure but didn’t actually play it much. I’ve always loved the power and insanity of this track.

Credence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son

I guess one way to achieve musical immortality is to release three freaking albums in one year, which CCR did in 1969. This track was a shot at the elite, who kept their children out of the Vietnam War while the sons of the working class were shipped off to face death. It’s a fantastic song and an enduring protest anthem to this day. While CCR had a number of great songs in their career, which was apparently mostly in 1969, this song stands out to me as their magnum opus.

The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog

What would become punk rock took shape in no small part thanks to this track from Iggy Pop and company. This is a pretty groovy track with piano from John Cale of The Velvet Underground and the simple, distorted three chord guitar structure which would become the anchor of punk. The song isn’t literal, Iggy Pop doesn’t want to be a dog. In part it’s the word God turned backwards because Iggy was bored one day and came up with it. The other part is naughty stuff, I’ll let you dwell on that.

Merle Haggard – Okie From Muskogee

Up next is a song written as a counter to the Vietnam protests. Haggard was in full support of the US troops and composed this ode to American life. Haggard later said his views changed after learning new information about the war but the song was an enduring hit and also a tribute to the small town folks of his home state so the song remained in play through his life.

And, while the song is politically charged and in a way I’m not personally inclined toward, it is a fair assessment of that “simpler” kind of life. I can appreciate that side of things, especially the more “small town” stuff. I also fondly recall Willie Nelson playing this live in tribute just after Merle died in 2016, nothing says irony like Willie playing this song.

The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter

And this year caps off with yet another song about the Vietnam War, though Keith Richards actually started it based on a far more mundane thunderstorm. But the anti-war sentiment rings strong through this excellent song. I’m not a massive Stones fan, I don’t have any of their albums or anything, but their top tracks do stand out and this is certainly one of them.

That does it for this edition and also wraps up the 1960’s. Things really kick off once I get rolling into the ’70’s. See you then.

Picking Five Songs From 1968

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year5 Comments

Back again to pick songs from a year. This time it’s on to 1968, which again I’m not radically familiar with the time period. This was nine years before I was born so this is me going back to songs I’ve heard in the years since.

And as always, this is more of a “five of my favorite songs” kind of thing as opposed to “my five favorite songs” of any year. Nothing radically definitive here, just me going through stuff. Let’s get to it.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower

Up first is something definitive, this being the definitive cover song. Hendrix worked on this before Bob Dylan even released his version and Hendrix’s cover was out only six months after Dylan’s original. And Jon Bon Jovi’s cousin was the recording engineer in with Hendrix for long sessions of recording guitar tracks over and over again.

But in the end what came out was a masterpiece of a song. Hendrix did such wonders with the song that Dylan wound up working some of the cover into his performances. The song is a crazy, mind-melting trip through what sounds like an apocalyptic wasteland. There’s really nothing more I can say, the song is just flat out amazing.

Johnny Cash – Cocaine Blues

Another cover song here, as Cash pulled out this old time song for his famous set at Folsom Prison. A twisted tale of Willy Lee, who gets messed up on the white powder and shoots his woman for having other lovers. Lee runs off to Mexico buts gets caught and put away for life in Folsom (it was San Quentin in older versions).

This is one hell of a heavy song for a country performance, though also one fitting for the audience Cash was playing for. Cash said he almost “did himself in” playing it, it’s a pretty hard hitting tune to play out with basic country instruments. And it’s a magnificent highlight of a landmark performance.

The Beatles – Back In The USSR

For a bit of a spoiler alert – this is the only Beatles song to appear on my lists. And the one I pick is essentially a joke song, this one mocks up the Beach Boys and Chuck Berry and clowns around with their takes on the USA. And Ringo was pissed off during this time so Paul had to do the drums, or something, I’m not entirely sure.

But this is a fantastic boogie, it’s both funny and also a really good song on its own merits. And it was a great way to open an album, especially one with all the crazy shit that the White Album had on it. Paul and company took some flack for recording this back then but the song outlived the Soviet Union and it’s been a widely played and celebrated track.

Cream – White Room

One more Cream song for the list before the group bowed out. This one is another crazy psychedelic offering but was actually just about Jack Bruce’s poet friend who had just got an apartment or something. It’s also probably about drugs, I don’t know that but it has to be because these lyrics are totally crazy. Another fine jam from a group that did more than they probably want credit for to get heavy metal off and running.

Merle Haggard – Mama Tried

A little more country to wrap this one up. But this is not just a country song, Mama Tried was a huge hit for Merle and has been all over the place since its recording over 50 years ago. The song is partially a look at Merle’s own early life – he was a petty criminal growing up and wound up doing a stretch in San Quentin. A series of events with other inmates led to him turning his life around, and also he happened to catch a Johnny Cash performance while locked up.

This song is far more tragic than Merle’s own life, though. The guy here gets put away for life, even with his mother doing her damnedest to keep her son from going astray. It’s a sad, sad tale that gets to just about anyone who listens to the song. This was 18 And Life long before Skid Row was a thing.

That covers it for 1968. Just eight more of these and we’ll actually get to years that I was around for.

Speaking of years, a quick note – today marks the third anniversary of this site. I’ll have a more in-depth acknowledgment of that some time next week. Until then, enjoy your weekend.

Picking Five Songs from 1967

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year8 Comments

It’s time for a new series. This one is really quick and easy but it’s also going to run for a long time.

This is a very simple premise that I’ve seen several other people hammer out on their blogs. I’m simply going to pick five songs from a year. It should be thought of more as “five of my favorite songs from that year” as opposed to “my five favorite songs from that year,” this isn’t terribly definitive. It’s just a fun thing to do.

I decided to start this off with 1967 as it’s where I find stuff that really sticks out to me music-wise. Bear in mind that I wasn’t around until ten years after 1967, but it’s a year that has stuff in it that resonates so it’s where I’ll start.

I know a lot of other people ended their runs at various points. For me, it’s honestly not that tough to keep this going all the way through 2024. I’ll go ahead and run this for, uh, 58 weeks or however many posts I need to get to that point, so obviously this will run well into next year.

Enough about that, this is pretty simple and doesn’t need a ton of exposition to get it going. Here are five of my favorite songs from 1967.

Johnny Cash and June Carter – Jackson

This one was written a few years earlier but got famous off of the Cash-Carter duet. Like many I was at one time not into country music at all, but Johnny Cash was always an exception to that. This hellraising song about a guy who wants to go wild because he’s bored in his marriage is always a welcome listen.

Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love

It’s not hard at all to include this hit track from Cream. The band were massively influential in hard rock and what would become heavy metal just a few years later. The psychedelic edge to rock from this era really caught my ear, as you’ll clearly see just looking down this list. The song is a trip but it also pulls no punches, jamming all the way through.

This was also important based on who the song was inspired by. Jack Bruce came up with this after seeing Jimi Hendrix live. Hendrix himself played the song as tribute to Cream after the troubled trio announced their breakup a year later, Hendrix was not aware the song was an ode to him.

Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit

This ode to Alice In Wonderland is world famous so there’s not a ton I have to really bring up about it. Another crazy, trippy song that’s insanely memorable and also over just as soon as it starts. Just an awesome song to crank up and I wish it was about ten minutes longer, honestly. But it’s also perfect just the way it is.

Procol Harum – A Whiter Shade Of Pale

Another monolithic entry to the list. This song is a sad dirge but also, again, quite the trip. And while England is clearly spoiled for great music, this is actually one of the biggest songs to ever come from the country. It conquered more of the world than the British Empire did. The crazy organ piece along with the sad tale of a guy and girl splitting up is just mind blowing.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Purple Haze

This is why I started at 1967 – this was what got me into music. I was a 5 year old kid staying over and my grandparents’ place overnight, my uncle was out at prom so I was sleeping over in his room. I spent the evening playing his tapes and 8 tracks, and when I got to the first Hendrix album my puny little mind was absolutely blown.

Hendrix has been one of my favorite artists since this early point in my life and Purple Haze is perhaps my favorite song of his. This song is crazy, electric and just amazing. And another, perhaps largely uncredited, contribution to the development of heavy metal.

That’s all for 1967. This damn thing will run all the way into September of ’25 I think, so buckle up and enjoy this and the next 57 Fridays of songs.

Johnny Cash – New album Songwriter coming

On By bigbadburchIn Upcoming Music2 Comments

2024 has been fairly hot with releases so far and that tone isn’t changing as the year winds on. News dropped recently that none other than the Man In Black himself, Johnny Cash will have a new album hit stores on June 28th. Songwriter will mark Cash’s 72nd studio album (!) and 5th since his death in 2003.

Songwriter is an album that Cash recorded demos for in early 1993 and then shelved, as it was not long after when he was approached by Rick Rubin. The Rubin collaboration launched a late-career revitalization with the American Recordings series that grew Cash’s legend up to and beyond his death, so the Songwriter demos remained an afterthought.

These demos would be discovered many years later by Cash and June Carter’s son John Carter Cash. The younger Cash presented them to engineer David Ferguson, who had worked in that role on the American Recordings series. Cash and Ferguson stripped down everything from the demos but for Johnny’s vocals and guitar (with one exception) and then set about finding a new cast to reshape the music.

Joining in to help flesh out the album were Marty Stuart and Harry Stinson, as well as guest spots from Vince Gill and Dan Auerbach. There is also another posthumous presence on the record, as Waylon Jennings had dropped in to sing on a few songs with Cash on the original recordings.

One other interesting quirk of Songwriter – many of Johnny Cash’s albums featured a hefty dose of cover songs. This upcoming album is different in that it features all original material. Two of the songs, Ride On and Like A Soldier, were re-recorded and used on American Recordings.

With the news of the album also came the first single, a quick two-minute tune called Well Alright. The song is upbeat and pretty amusing, it’s simply about meeting up with a gal at a laundromat. It’s a song that easily puts a smile on your face and is maybe just ever so slightly suggestive in a phrase or two, but nothing out of bounds. It also sounds really good – merging Cash’s 1993 recording with 2023 musicians worked out great and the production is crystal clear without being too sterile.

I know posthumous releases can be a touch subject in the music world, and Johnny Cash is reported to have enough unreleased material to release an album a year for eons if his legacy caretakers so desired. But Songwriter is filling in a gap from a moment in time just before Cash had his last big break and I consider it an important offering for the Cash catalog. I’m also totally fine with posthumous releases, I honestly just want to hear the music so bring it on. I’m looking forward to the end of June and the rest of this album.

Charley Crockett – $10 Cowboy

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week5 Comments

My song pick this week is hot off the presses and the advance single for a new album from an act in country music who has been building a ton of momentum in the 2020’s and has arrived on the grander stage.

Yesterday on January 22, Charley Crockett made the announcement of his new album $10 Cowboy. The album will release on April 26. Along with the album information, Charley also released the album’s first single which is the title track. He also performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live on the 22nd.

The name $10 Cowboy takes its inspiration from when Charley was busking on street corners years before transitioning to a “proper” recording artist. Each bill hitting the tip jar was a hard-won victory for the street kid, and today he shows that he maintains his perspective even after becoming the talk of country music.

And this song has a bit of a punch behind it. Charley has always shown capable of writing a smooth tune, but this one comes with the kind of grit you’d associate with the subject matter. Of course, a guy who’s recorded 13 studio albums in 9 years would surely venture into other territory, but this one is a very welcome entry in the catalog.

This song also isn’t entirely “new,” it has appeared at times during Crockett’s tours in 2023. And it’s also not even the first new music for Charley this year – right as the year turned, he released a duet with his hero and friend, the venerable Willie Nelson. It’s going to be yet another busy year for Charley.

In a few months we’ll see what the album $10 Cowboy holds, it automatically becomes one of country’s most anticipated albums of 2024. If the title track is anything to go by, Charley is adding even more depth to his arsenal and may be poised to conquer even beyond the heights he reached with 2022’s The Man From Waco. While a number of detractors pop up to fling accusations of “hipster” when Charley is mentioned, he’s also grown his fanbase by leaps and bounds in the past few years, and 2024 may be yet another “Year of Charley.”

Justin Townes Earle – Yuma

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

This week I’m having a look at the debut offering from a second-generation artist who would embrace the independent spirit of music and leave a mark matched by few in his career. His career and life were tragically cut short, but his music still resonates today, just days after what would have been his 42nd birthday.

Justin Townes Earle – Yuma

Released February 8, 2007

My favorite tracks – Yuma, I Don’t Care

Justin Townes Earle was born in the country mecca of Nashville, Tennessee in 1982. He was the son of Steve Earle, who was just getting his alt-country career rolling when Justin was born. Justin’s middle name Townes was Steve’s tribute to good friend and mentor Townes Van Zandt. Justin would get his start in music early on, performing with a few Nashville bands as well as his father’s group the Dukes.

By 2007 Justin was ready to venture out on his own and he decided to cut an EP to have for sale while on tour. Yuma was the result. This was recorded entirely by Justin, simply him with his guitar. The release was initially self-funded and distributed, though Justin would soon sign a deal with Chicago-based Bloodshot Records and Yuma would be repressed by the label. Bloodshot would become a major player in the alternative and independent country scene and Justin would be one of its most prolific artists.

This will be a brief rundown today, as we are dealing with a pretty simple premise – 6 songs in 19 minutes. Justin recorded it over a weekend and it won’t take long to go through the particulars, though there are some noteworthy moments here.

The Ghost Of Virginia

The opener kicks off with a tall tale about a ghost train. In this case the train was Virginia, which apparently hauled Confederate troops during the US Civil War between North Carolina and Virginia. Ghost train sightings were something of a phenomenon in early railroad America and other countries. It’s an older thing of course but it’s a pretty interesting twist on the ghost thing. Train songs are literally a dime a dozen in country music, but Justin does a nice job here specifically describing the haunting visage of the ghost train.

You Can’t Leave

The second tune sees Justin strum fairly upbeat on the guitar, but the song is pleading with his woman not to leave him. Can’t have a country album without some heartbreak between couples, it’s pretty well mandatory. Hopefully it worked out for all involved in this likely hypothetical situation.

Yuma

The title track is the EP’s centerpiece and is a very sad and heartbreaking tale. In it a young man had tragically lost his girlfriend and the pain of the loss, as well as the man’s own vices, lead him to jumping from a ledge and claiming his life. Yuma recounts the man’s last hours as he has some drinks, phones home one last time, mails a postcard to home which is confirmed to be Yuma, and then succumbs to his pain and leaps off of a building.

Yuma is a very tragic song, spelling out in detail the man’s struggles against a backdrop of mundane happenings. At one point Justin remarks that “it wasn’t so much the girl, as the booze and the dope.” While Justin’s 2020 death would be due to an accidental overdose, it does feel sadly prophetic in a way hearing the song after Justin’s death.

I Don’t Care

Here Justin takes up the role of a drifter, someone with nowhere to go and looking to be anywhere but where he is. It’s a solid tale of being stuck where you’re at with no way to get where you want to be, which is anywhere else. The drifter’s lament is another highlight of this studded EP.

Let The Waters Rise

Now we get to a bit of a funny tune, at least funny in how it’s worded. Here the guy’s gal is apparently two-timing, so he wishes for the waters to rise and flood the place out. It’d be a bit overkill if applied literally but it’s quite nicely done in figurative speech here.

A Desolate Angel’s Blues

The EP wraps up with a solemn story of a person “going home.” While the imagery comes off like someone being baptized, this guys seems like he is preparing to actually drown to death. It’s a haunting yet fitting way to cap off the album.

Yuma was exactly what Justin Townes Earle wanted – a record to sell at his shows and it was a vehicle for a quickly rising star. He would soon have a record deal and also very soon be swept up in the issues of country music at the time – that is, a disdain for mainstream Nashville offerings and a desire for a savior from the independent ranks. While the anti-Nashville crowd had a figurehead in Hank Williams III, it was JTE who was often pegged as the messiah of the new country movement.

Justin did not seem pleased by or suited for such a christening. He would record 8 full-length albums, most well-regarded and praised, but it would not be JTE who would deliver a new, purer form of country that would gain mainstream attention. Not that any of us knew this in 2008, but the savior’s name was Sturgill Simpson and he was still a few years away.

For Justin, his career would be noted for his blending of country, folk, blues and soul influences at various points through his albums. He wasn’t the savior a lot of independent country fans wanted, but he was more than good enough to be regarded as a songwriter and storyteller often without peer. Yuma was the start of 12 years’ worth of releases that would carve a legacy that lives on even after Justin’s tragic demise.