| CD Review: Texas Outlaws - Various Artists | |
|
Reviewed by Jennifer Webb
First it was Brewed in Texas, a collection of drinking songs, and then it was Texas Road Trip, an album full of songs that are about being on the road - now it is Texas Outlaws, containing songs about the law. Compadre Records has me hooked on each release because of the great songs, but especially with the fact that all of the compilations have Texas Country artists performing them.
You can't have a compilation of songs using Texas artists without having Pat Green somewhere on it and listeners are lucky enough to hear a live version of his song "Me & Billy The Kid," about how the two in the title never got along because, among other things, Billy never wore his gun properly. In the end though, he got the girl while Billy was blowing in the wind.
Drawn-out country with a little bit of rock attitude is how I would describe Jack Ingram's cover of "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line," which instructs the lady of the relationship to realize that he is about as good as she will ever get. When she packs his things for him to leave he knows that once his feet hit the driveway she will be asking him to come back.
"Guitar Town," originally by Steve Earle, sounds like it was written for Roger Creager's wonderful voice to sing along to its uptempo beat and lyrics about a "good rockin' daddy from Tennessee" traveling down to San Antonio to do what he can to achieve his dream of singing and playing a guitar - and it is a guarantee that the cops will not stop him as he keeps stepping on the gas.
Cooder Graw adds their style to the Waylon Jennings classic, "Ain't Livin' Long Like This," a song about how if a person keeps on living a hard, rough life, and doing things they are not supposed to, they are bound to kill them self sooner rather than later because people don't call it "the hard life" just for kicks.
"El Paso" sounds so authentic when performed by Max Stalling that you would be hard pressed to figure out that it was not the original version of the Marty Robbins classic story-telling tune about a man that fell in love with a maiden at Rosa's Cantina and how he fought to keep her only to end up dead at the end. As he is passing away, his love kissed him one final time before he drew his last breath.
Honky-tonker John Evans covers "Folsom Prison Blues," a song that any true country fan would recognize. He stays close to the original version, which is great because it was already as perfect as it could be with Johnny Cash singing it. The slight quiver in John's voice adds an extra element to the lyrics as well.
If you want to hear something really different, there is a rap duet with legend Willie Nelson and rapper Lil' Black that is called "Back on the Road" - which is something you would have to listen to yourself to believe and interpret. Though I don't care for rap, the other seventeen songs more than makeup for the duet that some may or may not like.
Song List:
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble
Album cover, used with permission of Compadre Records.
Click on the button below to find the best price for this CD and purchase it from a retailer on the Internet.
