Charley Crockett

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1IUfHpSPlAIVHekxbHiZLs?si=91164d942a994ee2

"Tennessee Quick Cash" stood out in the Pulse of Americana playlist on Spotify. That's what you're looking for, something that jumps out and grabs you, and this did, so I decided to dive deeper. And I found that Crockett had a new album, "Dollar a Day," that came out on August 8th, and his previous record, "Lonesome Drifter," had just come out in March.

"Tennessee Quick Cash" was on the new album, so I decided to fire it up and have been playing it ever since.

Kinda reminds me of Ry Cooder. Not the sound really, but Cooder started to get traction with his second solo LP, 1972's "Into the Purple Valley," which focused on songs from the past that became contemporary when remade by Cooder. "FDR in Trinidad"? Most listeners were completely unaware of Roosevelt's 1936 trip, but that didn't inhibit enjoyment of the music.

I purchased "Into the Purple Valley" unheard, and believe me, it didn't sound like anything I'd heard before, but it penetrated me, I got into it and played it incessantly, I can sing every word on the album. Even though the radio played none. But I went to see Ry in Jackson Hole in the fall of '74, and bought every album for a long while. But "Into the Purple Valley" was always my favorite, and I believe it's the best, but the slickly produced debut and "Paradise and Lunch" are close. Ultimately Ry got some mainstream press, with the supposed first digital album, "Bop Till You Drop," and entered the public consciousness with his movie soundtracks. But when Ry was making albums in the seventies, he was in his own lane, his own genre, he wasn't in the traditional music business, but I was a big fan and I wasn't the only one.

Now Charley Crockett's music is not as out of date as Cooder's, not as idiosyncratic, but this is not the kind of stuff you find in the Spotify Top 50, not even in the country chart, but it resonates more than all that stuff because there's an authenticity, an honesty not found elsewhere. Along with changes and...

At first you might be caught off guard by Crockett's voice. It's not traditionally radio friendly. More akin to a Texas troubadour, someone from the sixties and seventies. But the more you listen...

Which is what I did.

The opener, the title cut, "Dollar a Day," is a cover, but it's intimate, an introduction, just Crockett, a guitar and vocal. It's a prelude. Instead of hitting you over the head, it's an invitation, you get the sense something serious is going on here. And there's a delicious change in the middle and the song is not even two minutes long and the album segues into "Crucified Son," which sounds like the Dust Bowl. With background vocals akin to "O Brother."

"Caught a plane out of Austin
This morning in the drizzling rain
Bluebonnets line the highwayside
Let me know it's spring"

You can visualize it. This is not the platitudes of wannabe hit music.

And then:

"They wanna put me in a TV show
I don't know if it's right"

There's self-knowledge involved, we're living in the present, the music is not a complete throwback. And when was the last time an act wondered if a TV appearance was right for them? Crockett ultimately does it, but he thought about it.

But the best song is track four, "Ain't That Right," which has a honky tonk feel. As well as a bunch of changes, which is a revelation after hit music based on one chord.

And this ain't modern Nashville music, with babies and trucks and church. And it's neither left nor right. More the story of an adventurer. Which reflects Crockett's nomadic life. Which is not brief like the barely pubescent wannabe chart toppers. Charley is forty one. Didn't they used to say this was too old?

Not anymore, there are no rules.

Furthermore, Crockett's made fifteen albums. I don't know what kept him going, a lot of self belief. But also some positive indicators. If things aren't improving and you continue to make albums you're probably more of a hobbyist, but to have a career you've got to cause a reaction, such that people want to pull your music in the future, and tell people they know about it, and want to see you.

And I was immediately thinking of seeing Crockett listening to his music. This is the kind of sound you can get into, not the overamplified wash of noise that is too often experienced at the venue. This music is more intimate, without being precious. It's about the vocal and the lyrics, you get to know Crockett's persona, they all come together to paint a 3-D picture. This is the kind of music you don't have to know to enjoy the live show, and that's very rare, and if you do know the songs you sing along with a smile on your face.

As for "Tennessee Quick Cash," you're hooked from the lyrical picking of the intro, which slowly becomes louder and louder.

"Well I'm hard to understand
And I can't work for the man"

THERE'S the essence of being a musician, it's the only thing you can do, not because you don't want to work for the man, but because you CAN'T! You don't fit in, you can't subjugate your personality, play by insane rules, kiss ass to move up the ladder, no, you can only be yourself, expressing yourself.

"I earn my livin'
Playin' one night shows
On a long and windin' road
I don't care about where it goes"

This is not the star business, this is the music business, earning enough to make it all work, not worried if everybody knows your name. And the funny thing is the more you adopt this persona, the more people are drawn to you. You're not living your life in public on TMZ, you're not ripping us off with multiple versions of the same damn album to move up the chart, it's solely about the music. And if the music is good enough... And this Charley Crockett album is...good, that is.

"Well the memory it stays with me
I went on before the committee
They put me up so late
The doggone joint was closed
But before they cut out the light
On number eighty two that night
A woman lockin' the door
Gave me some good advice"

Once again, there's self-knowledge, and you can relate. Open mic night in Nashville, a rite of passage if you want to make it, but it's disheartening, you play late to a tired, jaded audience, what are you going to?

BORROW SOME MONEY!

"If you need some money fast
Hit the Tennessee Quick Cash"

Not that Charley doesn't know the downside:

"Now I know what you're about to say
About their predatory ways
But brother at least they let you know it right up front
'Cause if you take that ride downtown
Where them rounders hang around
You'll find anything in the world but a fair deal"

If you're broke and desperate, you've got no choice.
For more go to:

https://tnquickcash.com

It's a real place, if it's a real story I don't know, but I do know the business wouldn't exist if it didn't have customers. It's not only hard to get ahead, it can be very hard to keep your head above water.

But irrelevant of the lyrics, the music has you nodding your head, tapping your toe, and there's that rollicking piano and everybody's having a good time, even if they don't have any money.

Now when you make records like this...your goal is to capture lightning in a bottle, it's not about having a hit, you just want your music to have that something extra that catches the ear of people. It's not do or die. It's not the label needing something commercial. It's digging deep and driving on instinct. Trying to convey emotions, so people can relate. People can admire hit music, but usually it's hard to relate to. Whereas this sounds like real people playing real music, sans artifice, just like you.

Do I expect Charley Crockett to suddenly become a critics' darling, with features in every publication to man? No. Hell, "Dollar a Day" isn't even fleshed out on his Wikipedia page, for that you need an army of rabid fans. Then again, Wikipedia will give you the outlines, but you can't hear it. And today you can hear everything, even for free. But so much is dreck you find yourself not wanting to listen to anything new. But then you find something and it's like an oasis in the desert.

That's how I feel about Charley Crockett's "Dollar a Day."


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25