Americana Music Reviews

 

The Flatlanders
Now Again
New West Records

by David Miller

In 1972 three friends from Lubbock set out to record some music that was different from the sound coming out of Nashville. Thirty years later they got together to do the same thing. My, how time flies.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, and Joe Ely have each made their mark as individuals on the music we know today as Americana, but their greatest influence may be as the trio known as The Flatlanders. Artists ranging from the Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, and even legendary Nashville producer Tony Brown, have recognized the effect that the original 8-track recording simply titled "The Flatlanders" has had on the musicians of today. It set the bar for alt-West-hippie country that would follow.

If the success of an album is measured by its sales, Now Again will be considered a mild success. Not a Nashville-produced, multi-platinum homerun, but an Austin-made solid double. The CD has peaked at number 19 on the Billboard chart, no easy feat in this day and age of Keith-Chesney-McGraw Country.

If the success of an album could be measured by the level of support given it, this one is on its way to being out of the park. A national tour, visits with top-rated television and radio programs including Letterman, CMT and GAC showcases, Austin City Limits, and more have given exposure to this CD that has become a national phenomenon. Don Imus, host of the nationally syndicated "Imus in the Morning" radio program, has issued a challenge to any country station in a Top 10 market (current markets would include L.A., New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston) that elevates any Flatlanders' single into the Top 10 in their city. If one of these stations succeeds, Imus has pledged $10,000 to the charity of the station's choice. Imus, who had Gilmore, Hancock, and Ely on his show recently, fell in love with the album, calling it "the best album I've heard in 25 years."

If the success of an album is measured by critical success, this collection has been to the moon and back. A quick search on any search engine will turn up a large number of reviews, both national and regional, with the overwhelming majority offering the highest praises to this CD. USA Today, Washington Post, Austin Chronicle, Billboard, LA Times, Variety, and Rolling Stone...the list goes on and on.

But ultimately the success of an album is measured by the music, and this one succeeds where so many others fail. Poignant lyrics, soulful ballads, and rocking ditties, this CD lives up to the hype. The first song, Utah Phillips' "Going Away," quickly indoctrinates the listener to the familiar West Texas sound that is synonymous with the trio. Butch Hancock's "Julia" is a song by a lovesick fool, a fool who recognizes that the one he pines for is teasing him but who really cares when you're in love?

The more you need her help
The more she let's you down
The more you like the way she walks
The more she shakes her hips
The more you fall in love with life
The more she runs around
The more you fear the kiss of death
The more she licks her lips

I was on the mountain
There was thunder tumblin' down
All I's listenin' for was Julia

The other twelve songs on the CD are credited to the trio, a subtle nod to the unity of this group of old friends. Starting with "Wavin' My Heart Goodbye" and closing with "The South Wind Of Summer" (a song featured on the Horse Whisperer soundtrack and credited with getting the trio back together), this album has something the original never did...lead vocals by all three members. Gilmore has the lion share of the duty, but Hancock and Ely each take turns delivering in the styles that have made them famous in their own right.

One Ely-led song in particular, "I Thought The Wreck Was Over", is reminiscent of some of Ely's best work from the early 90's.

Livin' with her like t' killed me
Living without her might as well
At first I thought I'd died and gone to heaven
In fact I had lived and gone to hell

I thought the wreck was over
I thought the fire was out
I thought the storm had passed
And I was safe at last
I thought the wreck was over
But here she comes again

Now Again is an album three decades in the making, but the music is timeless. For fans who have been waiting thirty years to hear this CD, it's been worth the wait. Let's hope it doesn't take another thirty for the next.

* To find out more about the Flatlanders, visit http://www.theflatlanders.com



Contact David Miller at miller-at-rockzilla.net

 
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