| Live at Billy Bob's Texas - Deryl Dodd | |
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Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
Deryl Dodd has been through a lot since he went to Nashville in the early 1990's. Like everyone else who migrates to Nashville, Deryl was in search of a record deal. He signed with Columbia Records around 1995 and by 1996 he released his debut album, One Ride In Vegas. The CD featured three singles, "Friends Don't Drive Friends (To Drinkin')," "Movin' Out To The Country" and Deryl's first Top 40 single, a cover of Tom T. Hall's "That's How I Got To Memphis." primed audiences for Deryl's self-titled follow up album. Released in 1998, The lead single "A Bitter End" was racing up the charts when Deryl came down with viral meningitis. The disease forced Deryl to lie in a bed for many months and could have killed him, let alone his career. By 2002, Deryl was back and better than ever and released Pearl Snaps on Lucky Dog Records. The CD failed to produce a hit and Deryl left the label.
While many guys would've packed it in and give up on their passion for a "day job," Deryl went back to Texas and started to perform at Honkytonks and eventually played the legendary Billy Bob's Texas. Billy Bob's Texas is a large honky tonk that also happens to have a series of live recordings by up-and-coming and legendary artists alike. Deryl Dodd is the latest artist to record a CD from one of his shows and I'm here to tell you that the record is a treasure.
The CD starts with a song called "Bad For Good." Originally on Deryl's self-titled CD from 1998, the live incarnation is the perfect track to start a show off. This honky tonkin' song is about a guy who did the best he could to please his girlfriend only to realize he is better off where he started, in the bars. Montgomery Gentry also has recorded this song for their My Town CD.
"A Man Can't Help What He's Thinkin'" is a song that fits Deryl's style well. It's a song that talks about a singer who thinks about all the pretty ladies that are dancing to his songs. Sure, he has a wife at home, but he says, "A man can't help what he's thinkin', it ain't like smokin' it ain't like drinkin', yeah those big ole' brown eyes get to blinking', and a man just can't help what he's thinkin'." This is a classic honky tonk send up to beautiful women that reminds me of the great outlaw period in the 1970's.
Any Deryl Dodd show would be incomplete without "That's How I Got To Memphis." This smooth ballad tells the story of why the guy has gone to Memphis to find his old girlfriend. The live version gives the song fresh sound that was missing on Deryl's studio version.
One of the new songs on the CD is a stellar song that has a melody similar to Rodney Crowell's "Shame On The Moon." "Things Are Fixing' To Get Real Good" is a song that chronicles Deryl's Nashville struggles and how he decided to get out, "Things are fixin' to get real good, you know in those honky tonks I'm understood, been to the school of hard knocks and hard wood, things are fixin' to get real good." There is a studio version included at the end of the CD which is going to be released to radio. The song will also be used in a Truck commercial that features Deryl as well.
Rodeo fans love Deryl for a few of his songs that he has recorded in the past. "One Ride In Vegas" is such a song and it also has been recorded by Chris LeDoux. This is a rodeo song about a guy who would do anything for a ride in the Vegas rodeo, the World Series of rodeos.
"Movin' Out To The Country" is a song that is highly relatable. It's a song that's been written a million times yet Deryl's song has a bluesy honky tonk sound to it that gives the song enough meat to go with lyrics about a couple who are fed up with city life and decide to go to the slower pace of life in the country.
"A Bitter End" is probably Deryl's "signature song" and as such it's one that, like "That's How I Got To Memphis," is required to be played at each of Deryl's shows. This song has a chorus that gets in your head and doesn't go away wrapped in a musical package that brings so much emotion to the forefront that the listener can hear the pain of the song's lyrics.
"Drinkin' 'Bout You" is a wonderful honky tonk lament that tells a traditional story. It's a song that tells a story of a guy who goes to the local bar to forget his troubles with his old girlfriend.
Deryl introduces Clay Blaker's "Only Thing That I Have Left" as his all time favorite song and it has been recorded by Blaker and Tim McGraw (for his little heard 1993 self-titled CD). This song has a story that is poetic and any struggling country singer or worker can relate to this song.
Deryl ends his concert with a terrific cover of Elvis' "That's All Right Mama." Any Elvis fan will surely appreciate Deryl's rendition of a song that has been recorded by many people, including the Beatles.
Deryl Dodd's Live At Billy Bob's Texas is a wonderfully put together album that is sure to gain Deryl some more fans. While Nashville's labels may have misunderstood his genius as a songwriter and song interpreter, Deryl proves with this album that he's ready to show them a thing or two. If you like traditional sounds and the honky tonk sounds from Texas, you will surely appreciate Live At Billy Bob's Texas.
Song List:
Album cover used with permission of Smith Music Group
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