CD Odyssey Disc 1289: Mudcrutch

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

CD Odyssey Disc 977: Mudcrutch

I was feeling out of sorts this week, but things started to come into focus today and I regained my joie de vivre. Long ago I learned that a half full glass just tastes better than a half empty one, but sometimes I forget. Today I remembered.

Disc 977 is…Mudcrutch 2

Artist: Mudcrutch

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? You talkin’ to me? It’s bear cub street fight! The grainy picture makes it look very old, and makes me think of a couple of Depression-era kids fighting over a dropped quarter or a half-loaf of bread.

How I Came To Know It: I bought the first Mudcrutch album and liked it. I didn’t know they had another one out until I saw it on the new release shelf at my local record store. I decided to take a chance.

How It Stacks Up:  I only have two Mudcrutch albums, but I think that’s all there is. Of the two, “Mudcrutch 2” is second.

Ratings: 3 stars

If the saying “you can never go back” was proved wrong by the original Mudcrutch album, the follow up record released eight years later proves you can even do it twice.

Mudcrutch is the original band of Tom Petty and two Heartbreakers (Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) reunited with two of their original playing mates – Tom Leadon on guitar and Randall Marsh on drums. When you listen to it you can’t help but wonder if this is what they would have sounded like if they’d all been signed back when they first traveled to California for a record deal.

That sound is a lot like a Tom Petty record, which is mostly a testament to Petty’s incredible talent and force of will. He just makes the magic happen, and all his songwriting talents are on display here. The record is his trademark mix of southern rock, blues licks and anthems for the soul.

The addition of Marsh and Leadon give the record a bit of a university/indie rock feel, although that could just be me projecting my knowledge of the band’s history onto the songs. Then again, the one song written and sung by Marsh, “Beautiful World” had me thinking heavily of other oft-forgotten bands of yore like the Vulgar Boatmen. “Beautiful World” is a life affirming song that makes you wish you were driving in a convertible. It holds its own against the mostly Petty-fueled album, which is no easy feat.

Not so Leadon’s entry. “The Other Side of the Mountain” attempts to mix rock and roll with Americana folk (fueled by banjo and high harmonies) but it didn’t work for me. It lands halfway between the genres without pulling the right elements of each to sit there comfortably.

Mike Campbell’s single entry, “Victim of Circumstance” is better, with an up tempo boogie woogie swing that works even though the song doesn’t have a lot to say. Benmont Tench does an Elvis-esque number called “Welcome To Hell” that made me think of late Alice Cooper when Cooper is feeling goofy. Cooper barely gets away with this schtick and Tench and the rest of Mudcrutch can’t quite make it work.

The rest of the record is Petty doing what he does; effortlessly delivering brilliant rock songs like they grow on trees. The opening track, “Trailer” is the story of how love fails you when you drop everything because you think you’re going to be with your high school sweetheart forever. This song is the grimy dust-covered Southern version of Billy Joel’s “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”

Rock anthem “Dreams of Flying” carries on the theme of restless youth and uncertain futures. It is like getting back together with the old crew reminds these aging rockers what it is like to be young again. It is followed by “Beautiful Blue,” which calms things down in a psychedelic rock number complete with a haunting piano piece that comes in and out and makes you think of Nick Cave.

My favourite song on the record is the quiet and thoughtful “I Forgive It All.” As the name implies, this is a breakup song grounded in acceptance. People are who they are, and sometimes things just don’t work out. Nonetheless it is a lonely, worthless feeling and Petty captures it well with the line “I ain’t broke and I ain’t hungry, but I’m close enough to care.”

It’s been a while since Tom Petty was broke or hungry, but he hasn’t lost the ability to tap into how that feels. The album even ends with a yearning rock ballad called “Hungry No More.”

While Petty is clearly the driving creative force behind “Mudcrutch 2” the rest of the band make meaningful contributions. Also, you can’t tell these guys haven’t played regularly together since 2008 (when the previous album came out) and for decades prior to that. They are sharp in their vocal harmonies and tightly together on their instruments. It doesn’t sound exactly like the Heartbreakers, but it works. 

Best tracks: Trailer, Dreams of Flying, Beautiful Blue, Beautiful World, I Forgive It All, Save Your Water, Hungry No More