Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
Richard Landis, who was best known at the time for his work with Lorrie Morgan, produced Earl Thomas Conley’s eighth studio album, Yours Truly, released in June 1991. It was Conley’s final album for RCA, his final to chart (it peaked at #53), and his first not to produce a #1 hit since he joined the label ten years earlier.
The album was preceded by “Shadow of a Doubt,” an excellent and engaging uptempo rocker co-written by actor and singer Tom Wopat. It peaked at #8 yet deserved to go much higher.
The second single “Brotherly Love” was a duet he had recorded with Keith Whitley back in 1987 for the intended follow-up album to L.A. To Miami Whitley had recorded with his producer at the time, Blake Mevis. He convinced RCA to shelve the project, leaving the recordings unreleased.
In 1991, the vocals Whitley and Conley had recorded for “Brotherly Love” were rescued and given a new arraignment by Whitley’s next producer, Garth Fundis. The track served as the lead single for his first official posthumous release, Kentucky Bluebird. It peaked at #2 and was nominated for the CMA Vocal Event of the Year award in 1992, where it lost to “This One’s Gonna Hurt You (For A Long, Long Time)” by Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt.
In a recently unearthed interview Whitley gave to Ralph Emory in 1987, before the album with Mevis was shelved, in fact it was even due for a September release when they spoke, Whitley said it was Joe Galante’s (The head of RCA) idea he record a duet with a male artist on the label. Galante suggested Conley. The excellent ballad, about “a bond that brother’s know” had originally been recorded by Moe Bandy in 1989 and Billy Dean in 1990. Whitley and Conley’s version was the first and only time the song had been recorded as a duet.
Conley’s commercial fortunes would greatly diminish after “Brotherly Love.” His next two singles would be his last to chart, although neither would peak very high. “Hard Days and Honky Tonk Nights,” which he co-wrote with Randy Scruggs, was a rather strong song, buried in production that was dosed in fiddle, yet just too loud. “If Only Your Eyes Could Lie” was a wonderful steel-drenched ballad in his classic style, updated for modern times. The single peaked at 36 and 74 respectively.
The ballad “You Got Me Now” opens the album as a bridge between his classic sonic textures and the updated sound Landis brought to the record. The song is unspectacular but good. “One of Those Days” is also solid, but it lacks a layer of emotion from Conley. The dobro-infused “Keep My Heart On The Line” is an infectious mid-tempo number that wouldn’t have been out of place in Whitley’s hands at all.
The cleverly titled “You’re The Perfect Picture (To Fit My Frame of Mind)” is easily the most traditional I’ve ever heard Conley, and the results are spectacular. This uptempo honky-tonker just might be the best moment he ever committed to record. “Borrowed Money” sounds like something John Anderson might have recorded at the time, and while the two artists are hardly alike, Conley does exceptionally well with this song. “I Want To Be Loved Back” is good, but the distracting, cheesy, and unnecessary backing vocalists are incredibly jarring.
Yours Truly is an excellent album, which to my ears, has aged remarkably well. I love seeing artists with a somewhat updated sound and Conley shines here. “Brotherly Love” is the standout track and well deserved big hit. Go to YouTube and stream everything else. You won’t be disappointed.
Grade: A
Moe’s most recent album was released in 2016, and shares a title with his new autobiography. Produced by Jimmy Capps, the record is as solid traditional country as you would expect from Moe, although his voice is showing signs of age. In fact, many of the musicians played on Moe’s classic hits, like Hargus “Pig” Robbins.
‘I’ve Done Everything Hank Williams Did But Die’ is not the similarly titled song recorded but not released by Keith Whitley, but it is an excellent Bill Anderson song which evokes the spirit of Hank and his music both in the lyrics with their borrowings of Hank song titles, and the authentic arrangement with its Drifting Cowboys style steel.
I’ve done everything Hank Williams did but die
I’ve stumbled down that lost highway
And I’ve seen the light
I’ve done everything Hank Williams did but dieI’ve loved a woman with a cold cold heart
Who left me for another and his mansion on the hill
I passed her on the street and my heart fell at her feet
And I cried the night they rang those wedding bells
I’ve heard that lonesome whistle blow
And I’ve seen my share of pictures from life’s other side
‘Hell Stays Open All Night Long’ is a cover of a song cut by George Jones in the 90s. Moe is not up to the same standard as a vocalist, so his version definitely falls short in comparison, but it is a great song nonetheless, and Moe sings it with emotion. The Oak Ridge Boys provide (fairly subdued) backing vocals on this track, as they do on the closing ‘A Place To Hang My Hat’. This is a fine religious song about anticipating death, which Porter Wagoner included on his final album. A really lovely fiddle and steel arrangement adds the final touch.
Riders in the Sky help out on a couple of cowboy themed tunes. The tribute ‘Long Live The Cowboy’ is a nice song although Moe’s voice sounds a bit weathered – perhaps not inappropriately for the subject. ‘That Horse That You Can’t Ride’ was previously recorded on Moe’s 1984 album Motel Matches, and is about responding to romantic heartbreak, using the cowboy as a metaphor.
Ricky Skaggs guests on the pretty mandolin-ornamented ‘The Rarest Flowers’, a remake of a song Bandy recorded on 1989’s Many Mansions, about a mountain girl who fades in the city.
‘It’s Written All Over Your Face’ is a rare Moe Bandy co-write, a sad song with a pretty melody. ‘Old Frame Of mind’ is a shuffle about failing to shake off an old memory.
The title track is a sunny Western Swing love song. ‘That’s What I Get For Loving You’ is a another love song, a not particularly memorable mid-tempo number. ‘It Was Me’ is a mellow romantic ballad.
While Moe’s age is showing, this is a strong collection of songs, which is worth checking out. Some versions of the album (i.e. the CD sold on Amazon) have three added bonus tracks, but these were not on the version I downloaded.
Grade: A-
Moe Bandy released his first album on Curb Records, No Regrets, in Spring 1988. It was produced by Jerry Kennedy.
The first single from the record was the #8 peaking “Americana,” which marked Bandy’s final time inside the top ten. The mid-paced ballad is earnest in its depiction of American pride.
Two more singles were released. “Ashes In The Wind” is a pleasant ballad about a burned-out love affair that died at #47. “I Just Can’t Say No To You” is a string-laced ballad that fared better, hitting #21.
The album stays in a contemporary vein that was popular at the time, for those who weren’t strictly following the new traditionalist movement. I read that Bandy was criticized during this era of his career for straying so far from his roots at a time when his classic style was as popular as ever.
No Regrets doesn’t boast many notable tracks, and the uptempo material is kept to a minimum. The only exception was the piano-heavy title track, a jive, that doesn’t owe much to country music but does have some wonderful licks throughout. “Nobody Gets Off in this Town” was subsequently recorded by Garth Brooks on his debut album a year later. Bandy’s take on the song, which is very reminiscent of something Keith Whitley would’ve recorded, is excellent and worth seeking out. “The Champion” is another strong addition to the long lineage of rodeo songs in the genre, although I found the lyric could’ve been written more sharply.
This album is neither here nor there as a whole. It’s very pleasant to listen to, but there really isn’t anything truly exceptional about it.
Grade: B
Back in 1993, Delta Music issued four albums in their Live in Branson MO, USA series. While I think the intent was to go farther, only albums on Johnny Paycheck, Faron Young, Connie Smith and Moe Bandy were ever released.
Live albums are always a bit of a gamble; some of them are quite good, others are a waste of material. Moe Bandy Live in Branson MO, USA is a pretty decent album; moreover, at the time it was issued it was the only live recording available of Moe as a solo artist (I believe that is still the case).
Moe is accompanied by the following musicians on this recording from June 26, 1992. The album was recorded at the Moe Bandy Americana Theatre, so which of these musicians were members, if any, of these were members of Moe’s road band, I cannot say:
Phil Coontz – leader & steel guitar
John Clark – fiddle, accordion, steel & acoustic guitar, mandolin
Scooter Hill – acoustic guitar, harmonica, keyboards & harmony vocals
John Parmenter – accordion, fiddle & harmony vocals
Kris Spencer – harmony vocals
Ed Synan – piano, synthesizer & harmony vocals
Shawn Tull – guitar & harmony vocals
Tony Walter – bass & harmony vocals
Terri Williams – vocals
Whatever the case, these musicians do a nice job of presenting Moe in a country context.
The album opens with “Another Day, Another Dollar”, the Wynn Stewart classic which is used to give the band a chance to show off. Moe sings the first verse and the chorus.
Next up is Ian Tyson’s “Someday Soon” which hit #21 for Moe in 1982. The song was long familiar to audiences through the Ian & Sylvia, Judy Collins and Chris LeDoux recordings (plus it was an album track on countless albums by other artists). Suzy Bogguss would have a slightly bigger hit with the song a few years later.
“Hey Joe” was written by Boudleaux Bryant and was initially a hit for Carl Smith, the father of Carlene Carter and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Carl took the song to #1 for eight weeks in 1953, the first of many #1 records written by Boudleaux Bryant. Moe &Joe (Stampley) reached the top ten with the song in 1981. This version is an up-tempo straight ahead version that I like better than the Moe & Joe duet.
“It’s A Cheating Situation” written by Curly Putman and Sonny Throckmorton, was one of Moe’s two #1 singles (Record World & Canada RPM). Terri Williams fills the Janie Fricke role here – she’s not as accomplished a singer as Fricke but acquits herself quite well.
“Rodeo Romeo” a typical Bandy song that reached #10 in 1981, is up next, followed by the first of two Moe Bandy compositions in “Many Mansions”, about a down and out homeless person’s faith in what is to follow:
Hope is a thing with feathers that perches on the soul
Said the homeless young man standing there strong against the cold
I reached into my pocket, said a penny for your poetry
But when I handed him a dollar bill he was shaking his head at me
And he said these words to me
In my Father’s house are many mansions
Though tonight some make their beds along the streets
Where I’ve seen lives still by winters bitter chill
In my Father’s house there’s a mansion for me
“The Horse You Can’t Ride” is an interesting song composed by Blake Mevis. Moe had this song on one of his albums, so it has not been widely heard but I think it is a compelling song. I think maybe Garth Brooks should hunt down this song and record it.
His boots were all beat up from the dust and the weather.
His face and hands were tanned like sun dried leather.
He rolled a Bull Durham reefer, as he thumbed my diesel down.
He said he had just blew Dallas on the first wind out of town.He must have read my face, I didn’t think it was showing.
Anyway that old cow poke had a way of knowing.
He said judging from the way your broken up inside.
My guess would be that you just found that horse that you can’t ride.We all find that horse that we can’t ride.
He kicks you in the heart and leaves you laying in your pride.
But every cowboy worth his salt knows its worth a little hide.
To fall and get back up on that horse that he can’t ride.He said son now I have done an awful lot of living.
It’s too late for me to ever be forgiven.
The devil holds the mortgage on my saddle and my soul.
‘Cause I left heaven crying on a ranch in El Paso.We split a pint or two by the time we got to Austin.
He told me how he loved it and then he told me how he lost it.
When nothing meets nowhere with nowhere.
I stopped and let him down.He said son now this is where you are headed,
If you don’t turn this rig around..
We all find that horse that we can’t ride.
He kicks you in the heart and leaves you laying in your pride.
But every cowboy worth his salt knows it’s worth a little hide.
To fall and get back up on that horse that he can’t ride
This is followed by “Hank Williams You Wrote My Life”, a quintessential Moe Bandy song if ever there was one.
Moe Bandy didn’t seem to write a lot of songs but the ones he did right were quite good. “My Wish For You” is about a father’s wishes for his child’s well-being.
The album closes with three of Moe’s later, less hard-core country hits, plus an early hit. The later hits are “You Haven’t Heard The Last of Me” (#11 – 1987), “Till I’m Too Old To Grow Young” (#6 – 1987) and Moe’s last top ten hit “Americana” (#8 – 1988). Because Moe did not have an orchestra, these recordings have a more solidly country sound than the post-Columbia albums from which these songs were taken. Sandwiched in between these numbers is an early GRC hit, written by Lefty Frizzell, “Bandy The Rodeo Clown.”
The only real criticism I have of this album is that on a few songs, I would have preferred that Moe’s voice be a little more front and center in the mix. A few of the tracks, most notably “My Wish For You” have a quasi-acoustic setting.
This is a really fine and enjoyable album that shows off the range of Moe’s talents, and is the only exemplar of Moe’s live show of which I am aware.
Grade: A-
1982 saw the release of She’s Not Really Cheatin’ (She’s Just Getting Even). Moe’s biggest hit in three years, the mid-paced title track is a pointed narrative about a wife who gets her revenge on a cheating husband by copying him. Written by Ron Shaffer, it peaked at #4. The album’s second single, ‘Only If There Is Another You’, which reached #12, is an earnestly sweet declaration of eternal fidelity.
The same writer (D Miller) contributed another pair of songs. ‘Our Love Could Burn Atlanta Down Again’ is a nice mid-tempo love song. ‘The All American Dream’, a co-write with the young Kent Blazy, is a sunny patriotic tune:
I drink Kentucky whiskey
I love California wine
My old car’s from Detroit
And suits my taste just fine
My boots were made in Texas
This song’s from Tennessee
I’m proud of my country
And what it’s done for meYou’re lookin’ at a believer in the all American dream
From a small farm in Texas to singin’ on TV
There ain’t a thing we can’t do
Nothing we can’t be
As long as we’re believers in the all American dreamEvery single thing I own says made in USA
I don’t buy those products with names that I can’t say
We may be having hard times
But brother we’re still free
I’m glad I’m living in the land of opportunity
‘He’s Taking My Place At Your Place’ is a wistful lament for lost love, now that the ex he thought he could go back to isn’t interested any more. ‘Your Memory Is Showing All Over Me’ is a steel laced ballad about the shadow of the past preventing the protagonist from moving on.
The more contemporary ‘An Angel Like You’ is a mid tempo attempt to pick up a girl, slightly marred by intrusive backing vocals from the Jordanaires. The perky ‘Can I Pick You Up’ is a bit more effective.
My favorite track is the wonderful tribute to Moe’s traditional country roots, ‘Hank And Lefty Raised My Country Soul’, written by Dallas Frazier and Doodle Owens. This was a cover of a minor hit for Stoney Edwards in the early 70s. (Incidentally the song was later rewritten to pay tribute to George Jones and Merle Haggard; a pre-fame Alan Jackson recorded it.)
I also like the pacy ‘Jesus In A Nashville Jail’, in which a failed country singer finds God after “the bottle got the best and the blues got the rest of me”.
This is a very good album, but not one of Moe’s very best. It was released on a 2-4-1 CD with the excellent It’s A Cheating Situation, and the combination is well worth tracking down.
Grade: B+
Released in late 1977, Cowboys Ain’t Supposed To Cry was Moe’s fifth Columbia album and third to be released in 1977. While six of Moe’s seven albums had cracked the top twenty, this one stalled at #22, a harbinger of things to come. From this point forward, most of Moe’s albums would miss the top twenty and many would not crack the top forty. Despite the declining album sales, Moe would continue to crack the top twenty with his singles, and starting in 1978 would put together a decent run of top ten singles.
The album opens up with the title track, Doodle Owens’ “Cowboys Ain’t Supposed To Cry”. The song was a #13 hit that is sort of a sequel to “Bandy The Radio Clown”
Oh I am just a cowboy on my way back to Houston
I used to play the rodeos but I can’t play ‘em like I used to
I’ve given it up, I’m layin’ it down
I’ve had enough of bein’ a rodeo clown
So if you see a tear runnin down my face
Don’t ask me why, cause cowboys ain’t suppose to cry
Doodle Owens co-wrote “She Finally Rocked You Out of Her Mind” with Whitey Shafer. This song is a mid-tempo ballad about a lad’s mom who gave up on his father and apparently lost her mind. The song is not a typical song for Moe, but it is a thoughtful song that makes for a good album track:
Papa, it’s so good to see you seeing you off of the wine
Papa, you barely miss mama she won’t try to hold you this time
One day her tears did stop falling she gave up on walking the floor
She just sat down in her rocker and never got up anymore.Papa, some people just came and took mama
She was rocked in on that old rocking chair
It seemed like mama just couldn’t stop rocking
And her green Irish eyes held the stare
“Up Till Now I’ve Wanted Everything But You” is a good mid-tempo honky-tonk recrimination barroom ballad. It is a little unusual that the song was written by a woman, Phyllis Powell, but Phyllis shows that she truly understands …
Up till now I’ve wanted everything but you
Well it’s happened I finally got what I’ve been asking for
I know you’re leaving I can tell by the way you slammed the door
It’s over and I’m asking me what can I doUp till now I’ve wanted everything but you
Up till now I’ve wanted everything but what I had
Should have made the best of loving you and just been glad
But it’s just like me who want my share and someone else’s too
Up till now I’ve wanted everything but you
The next two songs are covers of a pair of great country classics in Jerry Reed’s “Misery Loves Company” (made famous by Porter Wagoner) and the Hank Williams classic “Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used To Do”. Needless to say, Moe handles both of these with aplomb.
Side two of the original vinyl release was “She Loved The Cheatin’ Out of Me”. This was the second single released from the album, reaching #11 in the US; however, our Canadian cousins rocketed this song to #2. For whatever reason, I seemed to miss this song when it was receiving radio airplay. Written by Whitey Shafer & Doodle Owens, this jog-a-long ballad clearly deserved the success it received:
Once I had a warm and willing woman
And it never crossed my heart to cross the street
But lately baby’s left me cold and hungry
For the kind of love that made me want to cheatHer woman’s intuition must have told her
That I was in to wishing I could leave
Cause the woman just came out in my lady
She just loved the cheatin’ out of meWhen a man gets blinded by his passion
His conscience wants to look the other way
Tonight she gave me more than I’d been missing
Cause she loved me till my conscience felt ashamed
“No Deal” was written by Larry Gatlin. As far as I can recall, Larry never recorded the song himself – actually it sounds like a song intended for George Jones. The song is a great slow ballad that should have been a hit for someone. The production on this album sounds like it was meant for the Jones, but Moe does a fine job with the song.
Jim Owens wrote the up-temp “All I Can Handle At Home”, a nice fidelity song with a strong western swing feel:
Came in here to do some drinkin’, not what you’re thinkin’
A little relaxin’s all I got on my mind
But I tell by the way you’re lookin’ at me you are lonely
Honey, you picked up a wrong man this time.‘Cause I got all I can handle at home
I got me a lovin’ machine won’t leave me alone
It wouldn’t be any help to you even if I wanted to
I got all I can handle at home.
Steve Collum wrote “Till I Stop Needing You”, a standard country ballad that I can envision being a hit if released as a single by George Jones, Gene Watson or Moe Bandy.
The album closes out with another Hank Williams classic in “I Could Never Be Ashamed of You”, an excellent song and excellent performance. Truthfully, I cannot imagine Moe making a mess of a Hank Williams song. He’s recorded a bunch of them and his ability to inhabit the songs always shines through. This wasn’t one of Hank’s bigger hits but it is a very fine love song:
Everybody says you let me down
I should be ashamed to take you ’round
Makes no difference what you used to do
Darlin’, I could never be ashamed of youMaybe you were reckless yesterday
But together, we can find a brighter way
In my heart, I know that you’ll come through
Darlin’, I could never be ashamed of youAll the happiness I’ve ever known
Came the day you said you’d be my own
And it matters not what we go through
Darlin’, I could never be ashamed of youMaybe you’ve been cheated in the past
And perhaps those memories will always last
Even though you proved to be untrue
Darlin’, I could never be ashamed of you
Unfortunately my copy of this album was on an audiocassette which I have dubbed onto a CD-R, so the information on it was minimal. From PragueFrank’s Country website, I gathered the following information:
Moe Bandy – vocals / Dave Kirby, Ray Edenton, Reggie Young, Tommy Allsup , Bunky Keels, Leo Jackson, guitars / Weldon Myrick – steel guitar / Bob Moore – bass / Kenny Malone –drums / Johnny Gimble –fiddle / Hargus “Pig” Robbins – piano / Charlie McCoy – harmonica / Ray Baker – producer
It’s a very good album, country through and through with some really good songs and production.
GRade: A-
It’s a Cheating Situation is the 10th studio album by Moe Bandy and his seventh album of new material. Released in 1979, the album reached #19 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, his best showing in a few years. The album generated two top ten hits and featured the solid country sound that made Moe such a favorite among fans of traditional country music.
The album opened with the title track a fine track featuring Janie Fricke on harmony. Written by Curly Putman and Sonny Throckmorton, the song sailed to #1 on Record World (#2 Billboard, #1 Canadian Country), one of only two solo Bandy singles to reach #1. The song was a bit unusual for Bandy, but effective.
It’s a cheating situation, a stealing invitation
To take what’s not really ours, to make it through the midnight hours
It’s a cheating situation, just a cheap imitation
Doing what we have to do when there’s no love at homeThere’s no use in pretending, there’ll be a happy ending
Where our love’s concerned, sweetheart, we both know
We’ll take love where we find it, love and try to hide it
It’s all we got, for we know they’re not gonna let us go
Next up is a more typical Moe Bandy number in “Barstool Mountain”, written by Donn Tankersley and Wayne Carson. The song was the second single released from the album and reached #9. The song had been recorded, as an album track, by Johnny Paycheck a few years earlier on his Take This Job And Shove It album. I like Paycheck but Bandy’s version is far superior
I’ve finally found a place where I can take it
All this loneliness you left behind.
On a mountain that’s no hill for a climber.
Just one step up, sit back and pour the wine.I climb up on barstool mountain.
High above your world where there’s no pain.
And I’m the king of barstool mountain.
Pretending I don’t love you once again.
“Cheaters Never Win” by Sanger Shafer and Doodle Owens sounds like something Hank Williams might have written, and the comparison is driven home by the arrangement put together for Bandy. Released a decade before, the song would have made a good single for someone.
I don’t know how long you left me here alone
But I sure was a lonesome someone
And I learned from a friend how cheaters never win
Oh, but we sure have more fun.When empty arms need someone soft to fill them
They’ll start reaching out for almost anyone
My stood to couldn’t stand and cheaters never win
Oh, but we sure have more fun.
“Conscience Where Were You (When I Needed You Last Night)” is a medium slow ballad from the pens of Sanger Shafer and Warren Robb.
I’m not that familiar with songwriter Herb McCollough but his “Try My Love On for Size” is a nice song with steel and fiddle driving the ong along. This song is taken at a moderately up-tempo pace. I really like the song, but I don’t think it would have made for a successful single.
Yeah slip into my arms I think you’ll find a perfect fit
They’ll keep you warm throughout the coldest nights
And these lips will cool the fires that burn you deep inside
My love will hold you close but not too tight.So try my love on for size
It’ll never shrink or run or fade away
Yes, try my love on for size
Never return it if you’re fully satisfied.Yes, try my love on for size
Never return it if you’re fully satisfied…
Bobby Barker’s “To Cheat Or Not To Cheat” is a mid-tempo song that asks what I suppose to be the eternal question (my suggestion is ‘Not To Cheat’). It’s an okay song as an album track but nothing more.
While she makes another midnight pot of coffee
We’re mixin’ up just one last glass of gin
And before I even cheat I’m feelin’ guilty
And gin can’t dim these butterflies within.To cheat or not to cheat, that’s the question
That’s been runnin’ through my mind all evenin’ long
To cheat or not to cheat, what’s the answer
Now I’m pullin’ in my driveway here at home…
Max D. Barnes was a fine songwriter, and “She Stays In The Name of Love” is a good song that I think could have been a good single for someone. Johnny Gimble and Weldon Myrick shine on this track.
I’ve been everything that a man shouldn’t be
I’ve done things a man won’t do
And it’s hard to believe what she sees in me
After all that I put her through.But I guess that she knows when the bars finally close
She’s the one that I’m thinkin’ of
Well she could leave in the name of a heart full of pain
But she stays in the name of love.
“It Just Helps To Keep The Hurt From Hurtin'” is a fine and wistful Cindy Walker ballad that Moe tackles successfully with just the right amount of trepidation in his voice.
Carl Belew was one of my favorite songwriters, and while his success as a performer was limited, some of his songs became great pop and country classics (“Stop The World and Let Me Off”, “Lonely Street”, “What’s He Doing In My World”, “Am I That Easy To Forget”, “Don’t Squeeze My Sharmon”). “When My Working Girl Comes Home (And Works on Me)” is the sort of album material that Moe excels at singing.
The album closes with “They Haven’t Made The Drink (That Can Get Me Over You)”, another mid-tempo Sanger Shafer – Doodle Owens honky-tonk classic, featuring Johnny Gimble on fiddle and “Pig” Robbins on piano . For the life of me, I do not understand why this track wasn’t released as a single by Moe or perhaps someone else.
The face on my watch stares up through a scratched up crystal
As if to say I’m sorry it’s too early for the booze
Sometimes my mind wonders from the bottle to the pistol
‘Cause they haven’t made the drink that can get me over you.The bartenders’ local called a special meeting
They came up with a drink called ‘What’s The Use’
I must have drank a dozen before I broke down cryin’
‘Cause they haven’t made the drink that can get me over you.
There are signs on several tracks of the Moe Bandy sound beginning to soften a little. There’s still plenty of ‘Drifting Cowboy’ steel guitar and Texas-style fiddle but on a few tracks the Jordanaires are a little more prominent than I would like, and the title track is far less honky-tonk that Moe’s usual fare.
Among the musicians helping keep this country are the following: Bob Moore (bass), Johnny Gimble (fiddle, mandolin), Hargus “Pig” Robbins (piano), Bobby Thompson (banjo), Weldon Myrick (steel guitar), and Charlie McCoy (harmonica).
I very much like this album and would rate it an “A”.
Moe Bandy released his eighth album, Soft Lights, and Hard Country Music, via Columbia Records in 1978. It was produced, as per usual, by Ray Baker. Both of the album’s singles were excellent honky-tonk numbers. The title track hit #13, while “That’s What Makes The Jukebox Play” stalled at #11.
Divorce plays a central role in the second and third songs on the album. “Darling Won’t You Marry Me Again” has Bandy playing a dad who recently sobered up, and after three years is face-to-face with his kids and the ex who asks him to take her back. The engaging “Paper Chains” is an uptempo number, about a marriage at the point where it falls apart and the couple is on the brink of divorce. “This Haunted House” is a clever take on the well-worn theme of the man dealing with the memory of his ex. Bandy knows his ex is gone and even has a woman to take her place on “If She Keeps Loving Me,” but he’s still in love with her and can’t let her go.
“There’s Nobody Home on the Range Anymore” is a classic western with an impeccable lyric crafted by Ed Penney and Robert Shaw-Parsons. It’s the tale of an old farmhand dreaming of days gone by:
The old man used to dream of the fortune he’d seek
Now he lives in the room where you pay by the week
His hands are all bothered and his pony’s gone lame
And his bones always ache when the sky looks like rain
Well he dreams of the old days with bronc bustin’ tails
And the wide open spaces where buffalo plays
Deep in his mem’ry wild horses ride on
But he knows the good times have all come and gone
There’s nobody home on the range anymore
They closed down the bunkhouse and had locked the door
Now there’s oil wells and motels and folks by the score
But there’s nobody home on the range anymore
Now the eagle stop flyin’ the night wind is still
And the last cayou’s hawlin’ on some lonely hill
The old man is longin’ to lay all down
In his final box canyon the poor side of town
‘Cause he knows his last mantel is two flights two stairs
And his saddle’s turned into an old rocking chair
Mornings he wakes up and wonders what for
‘Cause there’s nobody home on the range anymore
I don’t care much for the arrangement on the song, which hasn’t withstood the test of time. “Are We Making Love or Just Making Friends” finds Bandy portraying a man who cannot get affection from the woman he’s dating. “A Wound Time Can’t Erase” is an excellent weeper, but the heavy production and intrusive background vocalists don’t do the track any justice.
“A Baby and a Sewing Machine” has a gorgeous melody, but the lyric seems backward to me. She dreams of being a mother and a homemaker as though that’s all she can aspire to be in life. I’m thrilled the guy definitely wants more for her, but she seems limited in her perspective.
Soft Lights and Hard Country Music is a very strong album from Bandy. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the album’s tracks. The album isn’t widely available but all the tracks are on YouTube if you search for them.
Grade: A-
1977 saw the release of another solidly traditional honky tonk album for Moe. The title track, the album’s sole single, was a faithful Hank Williams cover with a very authentic steel-laced arrangement, which was a top 10 hit for Moe. The song offers sympathy and fellow-feeling to a friend with marital woes.
A notable inclusion is what I believe is the first recorded version of ‘Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind’, later one of George Strait’s biggest hits. It was written by Sanger D Shafer, a regular writer for Moe, and his wife Darlene Shafer. Moe’s version is fine in its own terms – a great traditional honky tonk ballad, and one is left wondering if it might have been a major hit single for him, but Strait fans are likely to prefer that more familiar version.
Sanger Shafer also co-wrote one song with Moe, the closing ‘She’s Everybody’s Woman, I’m Nobody’s Man’, which could easily have been a hit. It is about a former cheater obsessing after the tables have been turned:
As I watch her at the bar with all those men around
I know before closing time one or two won’t be turned downOnce she thought I was the only man
But when I cheated every night
It made her understand
That she don’t have to live a life
Of staying home alone
…I’m starving for her love
But she’s got more than she can stand
I’m watching my world melt like castles in the sand
She’s everybody’s woman and I’m nobody’s man
‘She’s An Angel’ is on much the same theme, with an added side of self-delusion, written by Harlan Howard and Lola Jean Dillon. Here Moe insists “she’s a good girl, overacting”.
‘A Four Letter Fool’ is another fine song, with some pretty Spanish guitar, and a regretful lyric about a man who has thrown away domestic happiness in favour of “a few forbidden pleasures”.
‘So Much For You, So Much For Me’, an anguished look at the division of spoils following a divorce, is a cover of a Liz Anderson single from the 60s. Bill Anderson and Mary Lou Turner write ‘All The Beer And All My Friends Are Gone’, in which the protagonist finally has to face the cold hard truth about his broken heart. ‘Someone That I Can Forget’ is a sad ballad previously recorded by Jim Ed Brown, loaded with steel guitar.
‘The Lady From The Country Of Eleven Hundred Springs’ is a bouncy up-tempo number about a woman who can outdrink the protagonist and his purse. Moe turns his attention to the rampant hyper-inflation which plagued the 70s in ‘High Inflation Blues’, in a Jimmie Rodgers style country blues, complete with yodel:
It could drive a man to drinkin’
But I can’t afford the booze
I got those heart breakin’, escalatin’, high inflation bluesThe cost of livin’ keeps goin’ up
And taxes ain’t goin’ down
I’m just treadin’ water and trying not to drown
Mr Carter I know you’re up there
And I sure could use a hand
So won’t you please have mercy on
The common working man
This is an excellent album. It is not readily available as such, but the tracks can be found on iTunes (in the relatively poorer quality reproduction noted previously).
Grade: A+
Moe Bandy released his fifth album, Here I am Drunk Again, on Columbia Nashville in 1976. The album, produced by Ray Baker, had two charting singles, both of which peaked at #11. The title track, a classic country shuffle, peaked first.
Sanger D. Shafer solely wrote the album’s second single, “She Took More Than Her Share,” as well as two other songs on the record. His three solo contributions are brilliant, and range from the delightful Texas fiddle tune “She’s Got That Oklahoma Look” to the excellent (and stone cold) “The Bottle’s Holding Me.” His final contribution, the steel-drenched “What Happened To Our Love” was a co-write with Bandy.
Eddy Raven is responsible for “Please Take Her Home,” a cautionary tale from our protagonist to the lover of the woman he finds too tempting to resist. “The Man You Once Knew,” a tale regarding a guy falling on hard times, was from Dallas Frazier. J.R. Cochran contributed “If I Had Someone To Cheat On,” a reverse barroom anthem where the guy wishes he had someone’s memory to drink away, the excuse to actually be in the joint in the first place.
“Mind Your Own Business” is the Hank Williams classic. The production is a bit slicker than the rest of the album, and slightly cluttered in places, but Bandy executes it was ease. “Then You Can Let Me Go (Out of Your Mind)” is far more sparse, with steel guitar to accentuate the melody.
Here I Am Drunk Again is an incredible album from start to finish, a collection of ten perfectly chosen tunes and not a clunker in the bunch. I have a love/hate relationship with country music from this era, I find a lot of what we’ve spotlighted through the years to be dated and not my kind of country, but this I love. If you missed this album the first time around, or need to revisit it after all these years, I implore you to check it out. You most certainly won’t be disappointed.
Grade: A+
My Kind of Country 