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Hard drinkin’, hard livin’, hard lovin’ country
is not an easy thing to find these days. There are plenty of
pretenders out there riding Uncle Tupelo’s coattails or claiming to be the
second coming of Waylon. But the good ones are few and far between.
It’s no simple thing to walk the warrior poet path - - too easy to fall
into the “hell I got me some whiskey and a woman in every town” mentality
that hamstrings the Kevin Fowlers of the world. So when an artist
comes along who can walk the line, it’s time to listen. Jackson
Taylor’s one of those.
Easy Lovin’ Stranger is the fifth outing for Taylor and band.
(There’s also a live album recently recorded at Longhorns Saloon in
Kansas, as well as a greatest hits type compilation disc). As with
the first four, this one covers a lot of ground. There’s always a
drinking song or two on a JTB album, and this one gets it out of the way
right up front with “Whiskey.” It’s a hard-driving country rocker
that sets toes tapping. The trademark Ronnie Bellaire guitar work
simply screams.
But from here on, the record takes a path Jackson Lee and the boys have
not often traveled to date. There’s always been something of an
introspective bent to the band’s offerings, and Taylor’s never been shy
about leveling with his (sometimes fragile) emotional soul. But
while the ballads have always been there, and at times have been stellar
(see “Broken,” from Goin’ Down Swingin), the previous records have
generally been rockers. With Easy Lovin’ Stranger, the
tone shifts. It’s as if last call has come, and the Denny’s crowd
has cleared out, and the last cup of coffee as sunrise tints the edges of
the eastern sky is a pathway to someplace….. else. You’ve been there
yourself, so you know what I mean. Thoughts intertwine like lovers,
and emotions grow wings. Exhaustion gives way to mental adrenaline,
and just like that perspectives change. “Tear Me Down” asks the girl
just exactly why she’s got to be the way she is. The title track up
and decides hell, maybe it’s just time for a change. But then with
“Old Habits,” you remember:
"I used lifesavers to help me get off
cigarettes
But you know for your love
I ain’t found no lifesavers yet
I’ve gone cold turkey there ain’t even one kiss a day
Cause old habits like you are so hard to break"
It’s a stone-cold country waltz, drenched in
pedal steel and yearning. You already know that if you’re a Hank Jr.
fan, since it’s his song. But Taylor breathes a life into that Jr.’s
daddy would be proud of. Odd that such a critcal step in the
maturation of Jackson Taylor as a bonafide country artist comes on a cover
song, but it’s an evolution nonetheless.
There’s another cover on this record, too. Willie this time. There’s some
cojones, eh?
Hey, guys, I got an idea – let’s sing us a Willie Nelson song!
Shut up, man. You’re drunk.
Naw, serious. Let’s do it.
You know what? They pulled it off. Made “It’s Not Supposed To
Be That Way” sound like something they dreamed up. And that,
friends, is impressive.
But at the end of the day, success as an artist boils down to more than
picking good material (George Strait being the obvious exception to this
otherwise universal rule). To really make an impact, you’ve got to
touch lives . Mend souls. Preach truths. And to do all of
that, you’ve got to learn some things first. It’s been said that good
choices come from wisdom, and that wisdom comes from experience, and that
experience comes from bad choices. Songwriters tend to know that all
too well. And maybe that’s why they can often teach us a thing or
two about the things that matter. Take “Easter Last Year” as Exhibit
A. It’s an unconventional love story, where the man holds a job in
an office and the woman keeps hours holding, um, men. But it
underscores the core truths about love that have been told as far back as
the Biblical story of Hosea:
"Cause love it don’t know any boundary
And love it don’t know any shame
And love it don’t know any sin
He’ll forgive all she’s ever been
Unfortunately, though, even love can fail to save a soul. At the end of
the day it’s about the choices we make. The love remains, but sometimes
the object just fades away. And that’s why the track list ends with
“Tragic,” essentially Part II of the song just discussed.
Well she don’t give a damn about tomorrow
She don’t care at all about today
She just holds on to that old sorrow
She won’t let go of yesterday
And it’s all so tragically common
And it’s all so tragically cruel
In life so much is given
In us so little comes through"
Easy Lovin’ Stranger is an exclamation
point in the story that Jackson Taylor’s career is composing. The
musicianship is, as always with the JTB, tight and spot-on. In
places it’s almost stunningly beautiful (listen to the simple acoustic
work on the hidden track and you’ll see what I mean). And when the
band’s in full swing, the world’s in full motion. It’s an aural
buffet, but it never overshadows the lyrics, or the vocal delivering them,
that comprise the real treat on this menu. When you’ve got Billy Joe
Shaver on record in your liner notes saying you’re the real deal, it means
something. When you back it up with a record like this, it means a
lot. This is a band on a path that, even if it misses stardom in
today’s mass-appeal commercial milieu, will bless some lives. And that’s
the only goal any musician ever really can aspire to with any credibility.
Jackson and the boys get it. Go visit them at
www.jacksontaylorband.com,
and see for yourself.
Written by Dave
Pilot, June, 2006
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