I remember working at a country music radio station in the late
\neighties and not being terribly impressed with Rodney Crowell.
\nAbout the only thing that stuck in my head is that he was married
\nfor a while to Roseanne Cash; his music was, to me, eminently
\nforgettable. As I get older, I’ve become more interested in country
\nand western and other forms of American roots music, but I admit
\nthat had you told me two weeks ago I’d be saying kind things about
\na Rodney Crowell CD, I’d be surprised.<\/p>\n
Guess what, kids? This review is going to be chock-full of kind
\nthings.<\/p>\n
\nThe Houston Kid<\/i> is one of the more enjoyable musical stories
\nI’ve ever had told to me. Crowell turns an unflinching eye on
\ngrowing up poor in Houston, telling his own stories as well as the
\nstories of others he knew. He’s not asking for sympathy, and he’s
\nnot excusing his behavior; he’s merely documenting life in dark and
\nlight shades. Comparisons can be made to Bruce Springsteen, or Tom
\nPetty, or even Harry Chapin, but this is Crowell’s story, told in
\nCrowell’s voice, and needs to be treated as such.<\/p>\n
The thing that impacted the most on first listen was the brutal
\nhonesty of the music. The sharp edge of alcoholism, poverty, abuse,
\nand prejudice is only rarely sheathed; songs like “The Rock Of My
\nSoul” and “Topsy Turvy” are almost tangibly painful, Crowell’s
\nsmooth voice and easy musicianship at odds with the glass-studded
\nwires of the lyrics. “Why Don’t We Talk About It” is a
\ntongue-in-cheek documentation of Crowell looking in the mirror at
\nbeing who he is. The brutal counterpoint of “I Wish It Would Rain”
\nand “Wandering Boy”, the stories of two twin brothers who walked
\nvery different paths, is the musical equivalent of a freight train.
\nThis is not music for the faint of heart; Crowell’s world and past
\nhave been downright ugly in places, and he isn’t interested in
\npulling his punches.<\/p>\n
It’s not all darkness, though. “I Walk The Line Revisited” is a
\nsweet, well-written tribute to the first time Crowell heard Johnny
\nCash, and it’s a clever, heartfelt snapshot of a single moment in
\ntime. “U Don’t Know How Much I Hate U” is one of the funniest
\nback-handed love songs I’ve ever heard, and “Banks Of The Old
\nBandera” is a wistful bit of nostalgia. The CD closes with the
\nrough-hewn benediction of “I Know Love Is All I Need”, and you know
\nthat no matter how battered the singer or how rough the road, for a
\nmoment there’s peace. And in a way, that’s all you can ask for.<\/p>\n
\nThe Houston Kid<\/i> is a CD of stories, in a way that very
\nlittle music manages today. It hearkens back to the best of the
\nmodern bards. There is no question that it’s worth adding to your
\ncollection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":25847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6409],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37053","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-rodney-crowell","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37053"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37053"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}