| Live - Charlie Robison | |
|
Reviewed by Jennifer Webb
It was inevitable that I would automatically like Charlie Robison's "Live" album, so I set my sights on enjoying the party and feeling like I was in the crowd - and all of the tracks took me to that great place I was hoping to "visit." The listener feels like you are at the bar or on the dance floor for every note of Charlie Robison Live.
As if the album was tailor-made for me, one of my favorite Charlie tunes ("Poor Man's Son") is the album's opener with a bit of an extended intro from the regular album version. Once the speed picks up even more, Charlie blasts through his story about growing up a poor man's son who was picked on, only to end up being the bully picking on other people later on in life. "I spent all my lifetime thinking what I should have done, while I worked my fingers to the bone."
"You're Not The Best," which in Charlie's words "Is a song about defensive dating" is up next and is the first song you can really hear the crowd starting to sing along with. The husband's eyes may wander and take some peaks at other girls but he tells his darling not to worry about feeling jealous, because even though she is not the most wonderful looking woman on the planet he feels like he is not good looking enough to catch anyone prettier. Later, the guy wants some lovin' so much so that he has to get drunk and pray that the kids will turn out to at least look as good as himself.
Lifting a song from his Step Right Up album, Charlie tackles "Right Man For The Job," another uptempo song, only this time the subject is of how great he thinks he is as he sings about how there is nothing that the right man cannot do. "When you're a man with a plan, got a hammer in your hand, there ain't nothing that you can't do when you're the right man for the job" is how the hook goes.
Before declaring that it was his birthday when the album was recorded, he says that his wife bought him a chicken fried steak and then he breaks into another Step Right Up song - "The Preacher," which has "Well I threw myself a party" as a first line. Charlie is great at writing story songs and this one ranks up there with the best because of the rare storyline, you do not usually hear of lust and infidelity at a small town church in as much detail as is provided in this song.
"Tonight" is a beautiful song written by Charlie's brother Bruce, and I have always loved hearing it but with the story of he, Bruce, and their buddies flipping a coin to see which one of the fifteen and sixteen year olds would have to go get the beer and cigs. He says that "San Antonio was a heavy metal town" so they would turn up the stereo system and play some Def Leopard or Judas Priest, but comments "If there was a girl with you, you might have to put in some REO Speedwagon," which gets a bit of a chuckle out of me. The story was told and then the actual song begins and once it is finished Charlie and the band slowly lapse into singing and playing an almost-ballad version of "You Shook Me All Night Long," the old AC/DC tune.
"Strangle Hold," most notably performed/written by Ted Nugent, happens to be the intro song to "Barlight," but when I really got into it was once the actual Charlie song started, because I am such a fan of it. "Barlight" is also one of the most immensely popular Texas Country songs in country music.
A group of girls come up to the stage to take Natalie Maines' place for "The Wedding Song," just as Charlie says that it does not matter if they can sing and sound good or not because it is the thought that counts. You can tell as you listen that it was a fun experience for Charlie and the girls and he thanks them as they leave the stage.
Do people really call Charlie a space cowboy? Of course not, but he sure sounds great singing the Steve Miller song called "The Joker." Continuing the medley with a reggae sound he plays "Three Little Birds," written by Bob Marley before breaking out into a round of "Luckenbach, Texas."
A fitting close to the concert is "My Hometown," which has undoubtedly become Charlie's personal anthem and very own biography in the form of a song. The crowd loves it and sings along to each lyric quite loudly.
Studio-recorded "Walter," however, closes the album on a high note, although I would have preferred a song written by Charlie himself instead of one written by Jay Rowles and Cory Mayo. The new song only makes me yearn for the day that my favorite musician will release a new album full of the kind of songs that only he could write.
Song List:
Album cover, used with permission of Sony Lucky Dog.
Click on the button below to find the best price for this CD and purchase it from a retailer on the Internet.
| More to do on this site |
|---|
| [ Country Photo Index | Garth Photo Index | Free Graphics Menu ] [ Content Index | Trivia Central | CD Releases ] [ Country Music Lyrics Trivia Index ] [ Country Audio/Video Index ] [ Guitar Tabs, Chords & Lyrics Index ] [ Top 500 Country Songs ] [ Top 100 Country Songs of the 1990s ] [ Top 100 Country Albums of the 1990s ] [ Top 200 Most Influential Country Albums ] [ Top 100 Country Artists of All Time ] [ Top 10 Country Artists of the 1990s ] FREE Country Music Courses [ Country 101 | Dose-a-Day Country Trivia ] [ How To Create a Country Fansite | Planning a Trip to Fan Fair ] [ Country Artist of the Day | Country Photo of the Day ] |
