Americana Music Reviews

 

Dale Watson
Live In London
Audium Records

by David Pilot

When you're officially able to list yourself as a global presence, even a small one, and get yourself introduced as "the man keeping country music alive" when you take the mic on stages from Austin to Sweden, sometimes you just have to stop and take a look at your catalog, do some things you want to do. With the albums you know behind him, some of which have reached a nearly cult status, Dale Watson stepped off the raging honky-tonk thoroughfare and got introspective and honest with 2001's Every Song I Write Is For You. Never intended to be a commercial success, the album was instead written and released as Watson's preferred method of self-healing after a life-altering loss. Naturally an album comprised of such personal musings and infused with beautiful vocals and sterling musicianship became an immediate favorite with fans. Now, as he makes his move back toward the studio after nearly-incessant touring both to promote Every Song and to get himself back in the saddle, Watson has had Nashville's Audium Records re-master and release a two-year-old live set from the Borderline club in London, England.

Talk about getting back to roots, even if defining honky-tonk in a London bar sounds like the worst of all contradictions. But from the opening slide guitar licks and driving snare drum of the Western-swing backed intro leading up to Watson's initial "Howdy, y'all," notice is served that it's South Texas night in the heart of the British Empire. If you're a fan of Watson and his Lonestars, you know the goosebumps that accompany his oft-used opener, "A Real Country Song." The only thing better than an artist bashing Nashville's polished pseudo-hat acts is an artist doing so by singing a song Lefty would have done if he'd have written it.

You also know, if you've seen Dale play live, that he's capable of and more than willing to go all over the map where country's storied traditions and history are concerned. For this set he chose to highlight obscurity (the Cash/Williams tune "I Got Stripes"), tradition ("In the Jailhouse Now") and a mainstay of the old guard, Merle Haggard's classic "Mama's Hungry Eyes." All are standouts, true to their writers' original intent, but immutably stamped with Watson's style and hardscrabble personality. The Haggard cut is particularly striking, as the Lonestars meld their instruments seamlessly behind one of the purest country voices heard since the Possum ran Nashville.

The tempo and mood change abruptly with another chestnut, Wynn Stewart's "Another Day, Another Dollar," and the between song banter from the stage to the crowd makes it clear the Brits know both songs and the artists behind them intimately.

Next up is a centerpiece track, one of the best anti-Nashville songs ever, if only for its approach which avoids antagonism in favor of loving tribute to the good ones. "Legends (What If...) sounds a bit more poignant these days, with Waylon having moved on earlier this year, and Ricky Davis' steel guitar brings every bit of poignancy in the track to brilliant life. Following up this cut we find another nugget, Eddie Kirk's "Bright Lights and Blonde-Haired Women," one of the songs Ray Price used to build his career before the countrypolitan movement took over and defined him. While the legacy of said movement is in question, Price's music was always a thing of beauty and this song gets the loving treatment an old classic deserves.

Watson being, well, Dale Watson, it's always safe to bet that some of what you'll hear isn't going to fit the politically correct mantra of the oughts or whatever it is we decided to call this century. But then that's part of what makes a country song to begin with, as evidenced by the heartbreak in tracks like "Heart of Stone" and "I Hate These Songs." Music City takes more pounding from Watson's classic "Nashville Rash," and some studio help from Hank III dials the venom up to respectable levels on "Country My Ass." Sounds like Dale got some ideas from songwriting pal Chris Wall and his searing "I Feel Like Singing Along" when the Lonestars lay down pure honky tonk gold behind lines like

He ain't even near twenty
But he says he's seen
Plenty of hard times
Cause he's been on this bus for five days
And in his hotel for five nights
And his new satellite dish is broke
And his new band
Is treatin' him mean
And there's still another week to go
He sure misses that karaoke machine

Hey that's country my ass. . .

Gets better from there, and the crowd participation on this cut is everything that's wished for in every live album but so often not quite achieved. Live In London closes out with "Call It A Night," your basic crowd-pleasing nod to the participation and attendance, vocalizing the band's appreciation for the payday and the good folks that made it possible. The band gets their props as Watson names them off in sequence, and you can damn near hear the longnecks being drained as the music winds its way on to the big finale and Watson finishes out with "Thanks a whole bunch. Good night, and God bless ya."

As a rule, live albums tend to suck unless you're a hardcore fan of the band or artist behind them. There have been some sterling exceptions over the years, of course, but in general the word "Live" in a CD title is a great reason to double your money by folding that bill and putting it back in your pocket. Not so here. If you're new to Dale Watson, or to what a real honky tonk is all about, this is your starting point. Forget that it's in London, what you'll hear on this disc is the hundred-proof real deal. And of course, if you're already a fan from the "Cheatin' Heart Attack" days or before, well, this is another one you'll be wanting to add to the CD rack. Seventy plus minutes of one of the purest, strongest voices to his country music in years. It's no understatement to say Dale Watson is the man keeping country music alive; we just need albums like this one to crack some playlists. Til then, he's ours, and he's happy about it. Live In London serves notice that Watson is back on track, remembering what it was about the music that drove him into the business to begin with. Here's hoping the next session in the studio delivers on the promise that the release of this old show implies.

Get the disc and info at www.dalewatson.com.

Contact David Pilot at: tailgunner-at-rockzilla.net

 
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