Hayes Carll- Flowers And Liquor

	Hayes Carll "Flowers And Liquor" By The Recordman
Compadre Records 2002
There are so many talented young singer-songwriters in Texas that it’s hard to pick who might be the few that will pull out of the pack and actually make a living performing. Many have tried but few succeed due to various circumstances, luck and fate. Mr. Carll, in my opinion, has a great chance of being one of the fortunate few. This is his debut CD, and it is comprised of twelve great songs with lyrics that draw you into a story. He is a country / folk poet, not a cowboy poet but more of a horny drunk poet. Lord, can’t we all relate to that? He was recently named Best New Artist and Best Folk Artist at the prestigious Houston Press Awards. I won’t go into his background much other than to tell you he is originally from the Woodlands (near Houston) and currently resides in a beach shack in Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula across the bay from Galveston. I highly suggest you read his very entertaining bio on his website. It has more info than I can squeeze into this review and is filled with hilarious anecdotes about his life and music (i.e., his first guitar was a twelve string guitar with only six heavy gage strings that shredded his fingers). To keep from being repetitive, I’ll just say up front that the band on this CD is made up of great Texas artists that combine their talents to help make this album truly memorable. David Spencer plays electric and acoustic guitars and dobro among other instruments. David is the fret wizard heard on the first two Sisters Morales CD’s and has also recorded with Clay Farmer and others. Rick Richards plays drums and has recorded with Sisters Morales, Slaid Cleaves, John Evans, Mary Gauthier, Tom Russell, Warren Zevon, and even Guns ’n’Roses, as well as many others. David Carroll plays the bass and upright bass here, just as he has done for Doug Sahm, Billy Joe Shaver, Marcia Ball, James Talley, The Derailers and others too numerous to list. Bert Wills plays electric, slide and acoustic lead guitar on several cuts. Bert started in the sixties with his band, The Shadows, and has since become an internationally known blues artist and has garnered much recognition for his work with many blues awards and Grammy nominations. Jeff Plankenhorn adds his wonderful dobro playing to a couple of the tunes. The New Braunfels native has been sideman to Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves and Willis Alan Ramsey among others. Michael Ramos adds his sought-after accordion to a couple of the tunes as he did with the BoDeans and numerous other acts. Lisa Morales contributes some of her beautiful guitar playing and background vocals. She also produced the CD and did a wonderful job. The sound is simply excellent throughout. Roberta Morales pops in for several nice background vocal spots. And, oh yeah, Hayes plays acoustic guitar on every track and proves he can run with the big boys and girls. Folks, that’s a good band and their experience shines throughout the CD. But even a great band needs good material to work with. Hayes has come through for them in that department. The CD Starts with “Hwy 87”. That’s the road that runs through the Bolivar Peninsula but goes nowhere because it was partially destroyed by a hurricane in the 70’s and never rebuilt. A rockin’ number, reminiscent of Chris Knight, about a peninsula kid that has managed to piss off the local citizens (primarily made up of drug dealers and drunks) as well as the local cops. Not a great position to be in. Hayes describes it, “Ahh, the coast is disappearing as they line up on the beach, doing all the little things that Sunday school don’t teach. Jim Bean by the fire, Cocaine in the stash, baseball bat on the floorboard, shotgun on the dash. And you may lose your mind, go walkin’ round the bend. You may not know where you’re goin’ but you’ll sure know where you been”. Nice slide guitar adds to the adventure. “Heaven Above” is a gently rolling, bluesy tune with great lyrics sung by Hayes doing Steve Earle singing in a Bob Dylan style. It’s about Hayes wasting his life...happily. “Naked Checkers” is even blusier and has a nice slide dance beat with some great instrumental breaks. Sample lyrics: “Well you like checkers and I like chess. I like you naked and you like to dress. But it’s okay, it’s okay...everything’s gonna be fine. Naked checkers every Friday. I bet you beat me every time”. “Arkansas Blues” is one of my favorite songs on the album. Just Hayes and his guitar play a mournful song of being alone and out of your element. He effectively mumbles the vivid lyrics, and I bought his blues completely. “It’s A Shame” picks up the tempo and features some of Lisa’s unmistakable guitar work and an almost bluegrass style extended fade out. “Live Free or Die” is a great humorous song about a prisoner making license plates in New Hampshire with the state motto (see song title) stamped on every plate. It is the only song on the album not penned by Mr. Carll. It was written by folksingers, Bill Morrissey and Tigger Cook, and was on a 1977, now hard to find single, by Mr. Morrissey. The song fits Hayes’ style perfectly, and he definitely makes it his own. “Easy Come Easy Go” is a great song that tells a stunning story of two down on their luck people and has an ironic ending that doesn’t go as expected. The story jumps back and forth between Jamie, a Houston barmaid, and Davey, a Boston cab driver. Both decide to find a better life in Nashville. Sample lyrics: "Jamie grabbed a bottle, threw her apron on the bar Packed her whole world in a suitcase and tossed it in the car Woke up in Texarkana wondering how she got this far And on her own, on her own. Davey left his taxi in the bottom of a Beantown lake He said the whole world’s full of chances and this is one I gotta take So he caught the line to Nashville to finally find his break And make a home, make a home." Good songwriting paired with a good delivery. There is also some nice dobro by Jeff Plankenhorn thrown in for extra kick. “Flowers and Liquor” is another fine example of Hayes’ knack for humorous, ribald lyrics. The drunk singer is trying to entice a young lady to spend the night with him and he is none too subtle about it. Sample stanza: "We’ll go home and leave the lights on Wear g strings and see-through tights, oh We’ll make love and we’ll have a ball In the kitchen, against the wall I’m getting excited Hope I’m invited I want to spend the night with you." The title refers to the fact that she likes flowers and he likes liquor (her way’s nice, but his is quicker). You get the idea. This song made me laugh aloud several times AND it features the multi-talented Mr. Spencer on TUBA. Good country tunes with tubas are rare but some do exist. Add this one to the list. “Rickey Lee” is a very nice, melancholy song about a kid that spends his youth in a band and lives the good life of drugs, alcohol, sex and rock ’n roll. The band eventually fades away, and now he is older and all that’s left of those days are the drugs and alcohol. He too fades away “way to soon”. Mr. Spencer weaves a haunting steel guitar around the stanzas and Lisa’s vocals on the chorus are faint but add depth to the poignant lyrics. “Perfect Lover” blows away the melancholy mood in a hurry. It’s more rock than country but I’ve never minded some good rock music, especially when it’s combined with good lyrics. The story of a lonely guy that’s convincing himself that he could convince his ex that he could be her perfect lover. “There’s a mirror in my room with no reflection There’s a table where your friends have gathered round There’s a doorway that my heart could never walk through There’s a graveyard full of times I let you down." It’s got wailing guitar, big fuzzy bass and the beautiful sisters singing “I just wanna rock” in the background. It’s uumm...perfect! “Lost & Lonely” is a nice country tune that Hayes wrote to “do his part to glamorize alcoholism along with some wishful thinking about my love-making abilities". A good drinking tune. “A shot of Bourbon never hurt no one So I reckon’ two couldn’t do no harm. Well I know my eyes are red And I’m a little bit underfed But baby please believe me That ain’t no cause for no alarm.” It’s not all fun and games though as there is an undercurrent of pain and despair running through the song. “Barroom Lament” closes out the CD with pure honky-tonk that’s good enough to get you on the dance floor. It’s a simple song with repetitive verses that will have you singing along. A good ending for a great album. Hayes Carll’s “Flowers And Liquor” is as good and mature as any debut album that I have heard. It may seem a little premature to compare him to some of the all time great songwriters, but while I listened to this CD, names like Steve Earle, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt kept coming to mind. He definitely has the abilities to join their ranks if his future releases maintain this consistent quality. I have seen him perform and know that he seems rather unassuming, but he has a lot of charisma and you feel the varied emotions in his songs. It will be interesting to see him develop further as an artist. This is a great way to start. Of course, he could decide just to crawl back into his beach shack and party for the rest of his life. I hope he chooses the former route as I eagerly await his next release. Written by Jim Hughes, November 2002 E-mail me about this review Click here to read The Recordman's bio Visit Hayes Carll's web site
Spin the CD to go to Recordman Central
All content © 2002 Miss Lana's Texicana Music Central. All rights reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced or copied without the permission of the site owner. This includes html code.
Texicana Music Central