I’ve been reading some Nietzsche in the
bathroom lately and found this passage where he provides his thoughts on music
from Ecce Homo interesting:
“I shall say another word for the
most select ears: what I really want from music. That it be cheerful and
profound like an afternoon in October. That it be individual, frolicsome, tender,
a sweet small woman full of beastliness and charm.”
Nietzsche famously loved Richard Wagner, which
I assume he found held the right mixture of beastliness and charm. I don’t
really know much Wagner, outside of his general reputation that allows me to
offhandedly say “Oh, Wagner – yeah he’s pretty good but I don’t have any”
when someone mentions him in polite conversation.
Not so for Tom Petty. Ask me
a question about Tom Petty and I know things. At least some things. I have all his albums,
even to the point of getting into his side projects – such as this next record.
Disc 1289 is… Self-Titled
Artist:
Mudcrutch
Year of Release: 2008
What’s up with the
Cover?
The Unknown Hipster. This cover
commemorates all the hipsters lost to jobs that didn’t let them keep their
beards or – worse still – those hipsters who had to admit they liked a band
that later became popular. In honour of these fallen comrades, we present this
faceless hipster in solidarity with their loss.
How I Came to Know
It: I was a big fan of Tom
Petty so when I heard he was linking up with his old bandmates
pre-Heartbreakers I decided to give it a chance.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Mudcrutch albums. This one is the
best.
Ratings: 4 stars
Before Tom Petty had the Heartbreakers he was
in a band called Mudcrutch. Mudcrutch never made it big in their original early
seventies incarnation, but in 2008 Petty brought the band back together and
recorded the first of two albums with his old band.
Mudcrutch consists of one half of the Heartbreakers
(Petty, Mike Campbell on lead guitar and Benmont Tench on keyboards) but swaps in
rhythm guitarist Tom Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh. The overall effect still
comes out sounding a lot like a Heartbreaker’s album. This is no surprise as
once again Petty is principal songwriter and band leader. Campbell and Tench
also bring their instantly recognizable mastery to their respective instruments.
I didn’t feel like the addition of Leadon and
Marsh stood out, although if you listen close the record does have a bit more
of a southern mosey overall.
Chronologically, this album falls between Petty’s
2006 solo album “Highway Companion” and 2010’s Heartbreakers album “Mojo.” It fits
stylistically between them as well, incorporating some of the folksier sounds
of “Highway Companion” with the heavier blues-rock evidenced on “Mojo.”
The record features two traditional songs, “Shady
Grove” and the instrumental “June Apple.” “Shady Grove” has
Mudcrutch throwing a lot of blues sensibilities into what is ordinarily a
bluegrass standard, but it works well, and the band wisely keeps the forward
jump to the beat that helps identify bluegrass. “June Apple” takes a more
traditional approach, with some lovely call and answer between guitar and
organ.
The band also tackles the traditional truck
driving song “Six Days on the Road,” infusing it with some grime and
boogie woogie which harkens to the narrator’s excitement at the prospect of almost
being home after a long drive. You also get a strong sense that in addition to
the admission that he’s dodging weigh stations and high on speed, he’s probably
also driving too fast.
While multiple band members take turns writing
the album’s original tracks, Petty does the lion’s share of the work on this
front, and his tracks tended to be my favourites.
“Scare Easy” has the misty ambience of “Last
Dance with Mary Jane,” and the echo of Mike Campbell’s guitar evokes the call
of a ghostly voice across a lake at night. Petty sings that he doesn’t scare
easy, and the song provides the ominous overtones that make the trait
noteworthy.
“Oh Maria” is full of both romance and
sadness. It is an earnest love song about a woman making hard choices to get by.
Maria doesn’t scare easy either, but Petty’s gentle delivery makes it clear she’s
a fragile flower all the same.
“The Wrong Thing To Do” and “Bootleg
Flyer” round out some of the album’s highlights. Both these songs have a
bluesy grit. The sound would be recreated two years later on “Mojo” but that
record is a pale imitation of the Mudcrutch offerings, which paint better
characters and avoid the bar-band blues sounds that hold “Mojo” back.
Overall, this record demonstrated a lot of range,
with songwriting just as solid as most Heartbreaker or Petty solo projects manage.
At 14 songs and 56 minutes it is a bit long, but not enough to make me testy. Think
of this record as just another great Tom Petty album. A few of the names and
faces are different, but his brilliance as one of rock and roll’s great visionary
songwriters is once again on full display.
Best tracks: Shady Grove, Scare Easy, Six Days on the Road, Oh
Maria, The Wrong Thing To Do, Lover of the Bayou, Bootleg Flyer
No comments:
Post a Comment