Jeff McCord on the month’s new releases
Bob Wills
Legends of Country Music: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
Columbia Legacy
Texas without BOB WILLS? If you can even conceive of such a thing, you need to spend some serious time with the four-CD LEGENDS OF COUNTRY MUSIC: BOB WILLS AND HIS TEXAS PLAYBOYS (Columbia Legacy). Crowing his trademark “a-haaaa!” over this weird, ofttimes hokey music, Wills—bandleader, master fiddler, drunk, innovator, and hothead—led an ever-changing lineup of musicians who, from the thirties until the early seventies, fearlessly blurred musical borders. In an age where French deejays sample African musicians for American audiences, his Playboys might not seem so radical. But radical they were. Wills liked to emphasize that he was no Nashville hillbilly: He played what he called “Texas fiddle music,” though his amalgam of blues, jazz, minstrel, vaudeville, and pop came to be known as western swing. By blending horns with strings, electric guitars with country, and pedal steel with bebop, Wills reached out to a wide and appreciative swath of listeners on the dance floor; the Playboys, especially in the years fronted by Crosby-ish crooner Tommy Duncan, were a sensation on the radio. Included here are such Texas landmarks as Wills’s “New San Antonio Rose,” “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” and “Faded Love,” as well as his takes on classic Cindy Walker tunes, like “Bubbles in My Beer.” Rockabilly, bluegrass, Dixieland—sometimes in one song—roll by on these tracks, laid down by true pioneers who pointed the way for generations to come.
Sound Team
Movie Monster
Capitol
SOUND TEAM initially gained notoriety with their DIY work ethic: They gigged constantly, hawked cassettes, built their own studio. Like many young bands, their early music lunged from one direction to another, finally coalescing in their recently released major-label debut, MOVIE MONSTER (Capitol). The irony of a fiercely independent Austin band becoming subject to the whims of the suits in Hollywood is doubtlessly not lost on this sextet, most of whose members grew up in San Antonio. Their music doesn’t rock as much as pump. Undulating keyboards hammer and swirl; guitars ring white noise and rhythmic clatter over thunderous drums and all manner of found objects. It’s quite a din, and Sound Team, like virtually all bands who have gone before them, claim not to have made even the tiniest adjustments for the demands of a huge label. Yet admit it or not, the band has shifted its sound, and that’s not at all a bad thing. The serrated edges of their Work EP have been sanded and reshaped, the jams tightened up. For a band that calls itself experimental, there are actual songs here (“Born to Please,” “No More Birthdays”). The lyrics may be of a piece with a lot of overly ambitious rockers, yet Sound Team’s vocals can be buoyant and infectious, lightening the ponderous mood that bogs down many of their peers. Instead of sounding as if they’re under pressure, these guys play out like a group having a lot of fun.
George Jones
You’re about to be 75. Anything you’d do over? I never dreamed I would have the life that I’ve had. I’m in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I have loyal fans. It tears me up when people tell me they went to see me and I didn’t show. I regret the mess I made with some of my ex-wives and kids. But truth be told, I probably would do it the same if given the chance again.
You’re still playing a lot of dates. I love to go out and sing. I don’t know what I would do with myself if I stopped working. Plus, I love to buy expensive cars, so working allows me to indulge myself.
Tell us about your album with Merle. It’s the first one in 25 years. He’s going to cut five of my hits, I’ll cut five of his, and then we’ll do some duets. I’m excited about it. Merle is my favorite artist. In fact, I wonder about doing this, because what can I add to a song he’s already done?
So does country music have a future? I don’t know if it does—not in Nashville, anyway. The labels don’t want anyone to be real country. They want artists they can mold. Can you imagine me or Merle or Willie coming along now?
Kickin’ Out the Footlights … Again: George Jones, published by Bandit.
