Cooder Graw
Live at Billy Bob's Texas
Smith Music Group

by William Michael Smith

While Cooder Graw's studio records have always been solidly played and feature some of the most well-conceived songs in a genre known more for its energy, rowdy attitude, and Texas chauvinism than for its songwriting depth, Live at Billy Bob's Texas at last captures the full effect of this fine band of Amarillo honky tonk outlaws. And what better venue for a kick-butt outlaw honky tonk band than Billy Bob's Texas, the 100,000 square foot complex that bills itself as the world's largest honky tonk? And what better venue for a band whose motto is "it's a loud country"?

I was born on the Llano Estacado
I was raised here in this land
They tell me it's a loud country
I'm gonna stay here and make it as loud as I can

From the first staccato Joe Ammons drum roll of the band's signature song, "Llano Estacado," the crowd enthusiastically eggs the boys on to bigger, faster, louder feats of musical intensity. The whole attitude is "just another Saturday night in Texas" as the band covers familiar material from its previous albums plus a wicked version of Tito and Tarantula's "Angry Cockroaches" that recalls the days when Lloyd Maines' psychedelic steel guitar battling with Jesse "Guitar" Taylor's soaring lead runs made the Joe Ely Band one of the most electrifying rock bands on the planet. (Don't kid yourself, Amarillo ain't that far from Joe's old stomping grounds in Lubbock; the early Ely records have been a huge influence on these boys.) When the Cooders vamp their way into the scorching small-town anthem "Dirty Little Hometown Girl" with High Plains transcendental steel guitar guru Jim Whisenhunt and lead guitarist Kelly Turner riffing off of each other at a furious pace, the crowd noise reaches a pitch suitable for a Rolling Stones stadium gig.

An album like this belies the image most of the country has of Texas being a place where laid back, tired bands of old geezers saw at twin fiddles as Ma and Pa Hayseed shuffle across a sawdust floor while those too drunk to dance sit on hay bales and sip Lone Star Beer. Or where quiet Austin country-folkies like Jimmie Dale Gilmore or Toni Price strum and smile their way through another low-key meditative "hippie hour." The best bands in the Texas neo-outlaw movement have in fact taken the original Waylon thing even further in the direction of beefed-up rock, and one listen to Cooder Graw at Billy Bob's tells us this isn't that angst-ridden alt.country soft twang-rock that seems to sell so well elsewhere but has never really found a home base in Texas. No, this is testosterone-fueled, amped-up, urbanized turbo-country that has more in common with Waylon Jennings or the Rolling Stones than with Bob Wills or Ernest Tubb. While Cooder Graw's studio albums contain a good bit of material that remains true to the roots of Texas country, the live show is a Freightliner semi with flames coming from the stack and absolutely no speed governor. The energy level is the equal of anything going on in the MTV rock nation. A fair comparison might be a countrified, less-Lynrd-Skynrd-ish version of Drive-by Truckers. But with a distinctly Texas power-country twist. I mean, come on, when's the last time you heard a country band covering Tito and Tarantula?

Billy Bob's technical boss, the legendary "Dirt" Stinnett, has done a fine job capturing the excitement of the moment and the band's muscled-up performance, but he also has done a great job in making Matt Martindale's vocals distinct and clear so that the lyrics can indeed be heard through the crowd noise and the din of the players. Martindale, a former assistant district attorney, is possibly the most talented, literate, and sophisticated songwriter in the alt.Texas movement and his lyrics need to be heard. But the overall effect of this record is almost that the lyrics hardly matter in this setting, that these are fans who already know the lyrics without even consciously thinking about them. There are exceptions, though, such as a killer version of the pretty "Better Days" and the down-and-out cheater's tale, "Motel Lights."

There are some unexpected highlights here. The instrumental workout "Boogaloo" shines a light on the work of the solid rhythm section, bassist Paul Baker and Ammons, and underscores the combined intensity of the Turner-Whisenhunt combination. The album also proves out the band's move to add a third lead instrument in fiddler Nick Worley since completing their last studio album, Shifting Gears. Worley has added another dimension to tracks like "Llano Estacado" and two-stepping boot-scooters like "God Only Knows."

The only real fan criticism of Cooder Graw's studio records has been that they lacked the explosiveness and energy of the band's live shows. There has always been a nagging impression that the studio environment restricted the hottest playing of Turner and Whisenhunt in particular. Well, we can lay that to rest once and for all, as both men are given plenty of space to smoke the strings. For those encountering Cooder Graw for the first time through this album, their impressions will certainly be different than if they had heard songs such as "New Dress," "Shifting Gears," or the beautifully wistful "God Only Knows" for the first time on the studio albums. But there are always artistic tradeoffs when recording, and this tradeoff is well worth it when the total effect of this live record is considered.

For those who've never heard of Cooder Graw, well, this thing ought to come with a warning that says fasten your seat belts and make sure your oxygen masks are in working order. And keep your seat backs straight during takeoff and landing. If you're already a Cooder Graw fan, this will be one of those must-have records that will find it's way into your player just about every Friday night. It's a loud, raucous, fun, hell-yeah-let's-party record.

* People are always asking "Why has Cooder Graw been Rockzillaworld's Band of the Year two years in a row?" Well, ice down the beer, grab your significant other, fasten your seat belts, and put on Live at Billy Bob's Texas. Then you tell me why not. www.coodergraw.com



Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

 
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