Whiskeytown

Stranger’s Almanac: Deluxe Edition

Geffen/Mood Food/Outpost/Ume

originally published May 14, 2008

Very seldom is a band’s coming apart at the seams channeled to such successful degrees as on Stranger’s Almanac, the major label debut and eventual demise of late, Ryan Adams-led unit Whiskeytown. Stories of the Raleigh, NC band having to hire studio session players to step in for a departed and disgruntled rhythm section shortly before the album’s recording, as well as those about the departure of group guitarist Phil Wandscher shortly after the record’s release, have since become the stuff of insurgent country fan forum lore. The album still gets serious mileage from its steady, emotionally bruised sound, and it’s turned out to be an oft-forgotten though relevant entry that foreshadowed Adams’ gossip-churning solo career.

Expanded into an official Deluxe Edition, now available are the guts laid bare that define the record, as well as live cuts, studio castoffs and other assorted flotsam attaching over an additional hour to Almanac’s original 13 tracks. However, it’s well worth wading through the silt here to reach the hidden gems.

Disc one of Almanac Deluxe features the original album with several edits and rehearsal tracks tacked on. From the warm opening chords of "Inn Town," a woozy, deliberate tempo is established. One can almost envision Adams, Wandscher and Caitlin Cary signaling the session players through. That’s not to say the accompaniment is lacking, though, as Almanac presented a more direct, more polished and less ramshackle version of the group than had surfaced on previous indie releases, well suiting the material at hand.

Adams may have been Whiskeytown’s eventual breakout success, but Cary’s harmony vocals and Wandscher’s instrumental turns go a long way in boosting the record and creating some of its most tender moments. Though songs like "Dancing with the Women at the Bar," "Inn Town" and "Losering" come across as the weary, next-morning lamentations of noted hellraiser Adams, there’s still plenty of tenderness, confusion, and possibly, regret at play - particularly within "Avenues" and the gorgeous, lost-love ballad "Houses on the Hill."

The reissued Almanac’s additional disc suffers from too many treads through the same basic song, which has since become another Adams calling card (three versions each of album tracks like "Turn Around," "Somebody Remembers the Rose," and others). However, session chestnuts like the Springsteen-inspired "Indian Gown" and a revved-up run through the Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris duet "Luxury Liner" greatly help to redeem the bonus disc.

Whiskeytown was one of many alt-country or Americana groups that crumbled shortly after signing on with a major label. The original Wilco, Son Volt, Six String Drag and others met similar fates. Though most know Adams from either his unpredictable reputation for throwing tantrums and releasing a dozen albums a month, certain songs from the Stranger’s Almanac era still speak the loudest; and without a Stonesy sneer or weepy piano ballad in the bunch.

Michael Andrews

Stray Cats

Rock Therapy & Blast Off

Hepcat/EMI

originally published May 14, 2008

Though the Stray Cats’ time in the mainstream spotlight was almost over by the time frontman/guitarist Brian Setzer split the band in 1984 (and two years later released his first solo album), the later-reformed rockabilly revivalists still continued to record until the decade’s end. Rock Therapy, from 1986, and Blast Off, from 1989, are two Cats releases that are mostly devoid of punch-powered singles like "Rumble in Brighton" or "Stray Cat Strut." But, a double helping of curdled milk, they ain’t.

Rock Therapy may not have actually "invented psychobilly" as the new liner notes by Cats bassist Lee Rocker suggest. The Cramps, Charlie Feathers and Link Wray hold a more substantial claim to sparking that subgenre. Therapy did, though, present a more raw and less harmony-driven version of the band. Setzer, Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom rip through the cover-heavy set like no bad blood was ever shared among the three. The record’s brevity and stout versions of Buddy Holly’s "Looking for Someone to Love" and Feathers’ "One Hand Loose" make it, though inessential, a then-return to form well worth coming back to now.

Follow-up Blast Off came three years later and was the final Cats release for some time, before the group reunited to even less fanfare during the early 1990s. One may ask why this record wasn’t titled Rock Therapy, instead, as four out of its 10 tracks have some variation of "rock" in the title ("Rockabilly Rules," "Rockin’ All Over the Place," "Rockabilly World," etc.). The lesser of the two reissues, Blast Off, nonetheless, has its share of repeat-worthy moments including a dust-off of the old jukebox romper "Gina" and the bass-slapping original "Bring It Back Again." At this point, the Stray Cats may have been low on original tunes, hooky singles and lacking the production/guidance of Dave Edmunds, but their passion for greaser cool and vintage licks had yet to run its course.

Michael Andrews

Ronnie Hawkins

Mojo Man / Arkansas Rockpile

Collector’s Choice

originally published May 14, 2008

Ribald Arkansan-turned-honorary-Canadian bandleader Ronnie Hawkins may not have been much on writing his own songs or finely polishing those of others, but he sure knew how to pick one hell of a backing band. It’s the background presence of Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson - all future members of Bob Dylan’s backing crew, and eventually, The Band - that makes the CD twofer release of Hawkins’ Mojo Man and Arkansas Rockpile LPs a noteworthy occasion.

Though Hawkins’ renditions of such well-worn fare as "Matchbox," "Summertime," and "My Gal Is Red Hot" don’t exactly give the listener goosebumps, his stylistic mishmash (from country to doo-wop to jazz to blues) obviously had a lasting effect on his young protégées. Elsewhere, Hawkins delivers some of his longtime (to this day) concert staples, including powerful stabs at Chuck Berry’s "Thirty Days" and Bo Diddley’s "Who Do You Love," that enforce The Hawk’s liner notes-quoted crack, "I hope the Canada Pops can play in E and A. I play ‘Forty Days’ and ‘Bo Diddley.' I don’t change songs, just bands!"

Michael Andrews