Please Visit Our Sponsor
...Capitol-City A&E Zine...
Please Visit Our Sponsor
...Capitol-City A&E Zine...
Twisted Willie
(Various Artists)
(Justice Records 0009-2)
I've got to say up front, I'm a Willie Nelson fanatic, which might make one think that I'd either love this album automatically or loath it for the heresy of setting his brilliant songs into the Seattle grunge context. As it turns out, I've found some losers and some real gems in this appropriately titled tribute album, consisting primarily of contemporary alternative bands. But then, aren't most tribute albums full of hits and misses? Nelson's most recognizable classics ar#e ignored for the most part in favor of a number of his overlooked tunes, "Hello Walls" being the most notable exception. The Reverend Horton Heat's rockabilly version of the country standard features not only his own rough edged barroom voice but that of Willie Nelson, obviously good-natured enough to pay tribute to himself. All of Willie's fellow Highwaymen also turn up on the collection in unlikely arrangements. Johnny Cash turns in an effective version of "Time Of The Preacher," a song he should have covered long ago, while accompanied by Soundgarden's Kim Thayil and Nirvana's Kurt Novoselic. The result is a wall of grunge fronted by Cash's solid vocal that somehow works (though I'll admit that Cash could sing in front of the Depeche Mode and I'd proba##bly still like it). Waylon Jennings' "I Never Cared For You" works nicely, but would have fit more logically on one of his own albums. Jennings also pops up on L7's angry read of "Three Days," distinctive as one of Willie's finest lyrics ("Three days filled with tears and sorrow/Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.../It does no good to wish these days to end/'Cause the same three days start over again.") Kris Kristofferson finds himself as the eerie background vocalist on Kim Deal's disturbingly good "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground," her lead vocal being equally spooky, set against a monotonous sound effect. Willie also has the honor of accompanying Supersuckers' rocking take of "Bloody Mary Morning." Willie's trademark guitar sound still manages to stand o##ut in the chaos of the song that could have been written in the style taken here. Oddly enough, the better known of the alternative acts in the collection are responsible for the most lackluster performances. Underground hero Jello Biafra's frenetic version of "Still Is Still Moving To Me" does nothing for the recent Willie masterpiece and Exene Cervenka and the rest of X destroy all the poignancy and loneliness that belong in the little known 1962 Nelson track, "Home Motel." Some of the newcomers missed the point too. Tenderloin totally destroys "Shotgun Willie," and Gas Huffer's "I Gotta Get Drunk" does the song little justice. The much talked about Presidents Of The United States Of America have some harmless fun with "Devil In A Sleeping Bag," though it's# nothing to write home about (despite their clever lyric rewrite referring to Austin guitar wizard Junior Brown). New country artist Jesse Dayton is responsible for one of the best covers in the set. He nails "Sad Songs And Waltzes" with an imaginative vocal effect that sounds as though he's singing through a telephone and then broadcast on AM radio, making for a truly sad song that most surely makes Willie proud. Has this review bounced too much between the good and bad? Well, so does the album, but it's a fun listen for the most part, especially for Williephiles. And if it brings this living legend's songs to the modern rock audience, then it's providing a worthwhile service. If only Nashville's cookie cutter singers would pay tribute to this talent, then maybe we'd finally get some better records out of that town again.
by Rush Evans
 was created by musicians for musicians and music fans.Search their database by artist, city or venue. |
 |
|
Rock-n-Roll * Country * Punk/Metal * Folk * Comedy * Reggae * Pop New Wave-Techno * Tejano * R&B/Blues * Hip-Hop * Funk/Soul * Jazz |
copyright © 1996 Capitol City Publishing, L.L.C. (USA / EARTH) All Rights Reserved Capitol City A&E zine is a trademark of Capitol City Publishing, L.L.C. Other copyrights and registered trademarks in this document belong to specific companies and are used here with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
