Album Review: Mark Chesnutt – ‘Savin’ The Honky Tonk’

After the relative commercial failure of Thank God For Believers, Mark’s label forced him to record the Aerosmith song ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’. While this was a big hit, it undoubtedly alienated much of his core fan base, and his career never really recovered. One more album for MCA (the underrated Lost In The Feeling), and a sole release for Columbia (the lackluster Mark Chesnutt), failed to recapture his commercial glories, and Mark was relegated to the minor leagues of independent labels.

Yet the loss of his last major label deal turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Mark as he was enabled to produce some of the best music of his career. His first venture into independent territory (on Vivaton Records) marked a deliberate reclamation of traditional country now that he was free of major label constraints and the need to produce radio fodder. Savin’ The Honky Tonk, released in 2004, is formally dedicated to “all the Honky Tonks and all the bands playing the hard core country music”, and it is almost a concept album with only a handful of the generous 15 tracks not on the theme. Jimmy Ritchey’s production is solid, and Mark’s vocals are great throughout.

The record reached #23 on Billboard – the same peak as Mark Chesnutt, which had benefitted from more radio play thanks to the #11 hit ‘She Was’ – and the first two singles at least did better than his last two for Columbia. While these were only modest successes by his own standards, it’s always been harder for artists on small labels to get played on radio at all, let alone charting inside the top 40.

The lead single, a tongue-in-cheek ode to alcohol, ‘The Lord Loves The Drinkin’ Man’, was one of two songs from the pen of Texas artist Kevin Fowler. The protagonist defies his mother and preacher, both saying he’ll never get to Heaven if he keeps on drinking, by saying,

I hear that He can turn the water into wine
Any man can do that is a good friend of mine
I’ve been baptised in beer, I’m here to testify
I was speaking in tongues when I came home last night
Some folks say I’m living in sin
But I know the Lord loves the drinkin’ man

The single charted well for an independent release, making the country top 40.

Fowler’s other cut here, the resolutely secular ‘Beer, Bait & Ammo’, has also been recorded by Sammy Kershaw and George Jones, and is an ode to a useful country store with “everything any old beer-drinkin’ hell-raisin’ bona fide redneck needs”.

June Spotlight Artist: Mark Chesnutt

One of the biggest country stars of the early 1990s, and a leading exponent of the neotraditional sound, Mark Chesnutt was born in Beaumont, Texas (also home town of the great George Jones) in 1963. He dropped out of high school to play in country bands with his father in Texas, and honed his performance skills over the next decade. An independent album released in 1988 led to a deal with MCA. He was to remain on either MCA or its subsidiary Decca for the whole of the ’90s.

The single ‘Too Cold At Home’, ironically a song pitched to Jones and rejected by him, was his big breakthrough in 1990, and the following year he achieved his first #1 single with ‘Brother Jukebox’. He went on to enjoy over 30 top 10 hits on Billboard including eight #1s. Sales declined in the later part of the decade, leading to the release of the most controversial singles of his career in 1999, a cover of rock band Aerosmith’s hit ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’, recorded under protest at the behest of the label which was keen for Mark to score another big hit and restore flagging sales figures. While this was initially successful, giving Mark another country #1 and crossing over to give him his only pop hit, the move predictably alienated Mark’s core fan base without bringing in new fans, and the song was to be not only his last #1 hit but his last top 10 – and the label dropped him after one more album failed to deliver commercially.

A move to rival label Columbia in 2002 showed that the industry still had faith in Mark, but with the biggest hit from his self-titled album for the new label just missing the top 10, sales were disappointing. Mark’s subsequent move to the independent sector was accompanied by a resurgence in the quality of his music. No longer forced to compromise with major-label demands, Mark has released a string of excellent and pure country records over the past decade on a series of labels, and unlike many of his contemporaries, he still managed to score some minor hit singles. They may not have matched the sales figures of his first few albums, but recent releases are well worth tracking down.

His latest move is to the highly respected Saguaro Road, current label home of former MKOC Spotlight Artists Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker. The first project, Outlaw, produced by Pete Anderson, most famous for his work with Dwight Yoakam, is due out later this month and is a tribute to the sounds of the 1970s ‘Outlaw’ movement which, although Mark’s music fits in the straight country/honky tonk tradition rather than the outlaw genre, was clearly an inspiration to him growing up.

I’ve always been a big fan of Mark’s voice and music, and am delighted to announce that he is our Spotlight Artist for June. We’ll be sharing our thoughts on some of Mark’s best music with you over the next month.