Country Universe – A Country Music Blog

Album Review: Wanda Jackson, <i>Unfinished Business</i>

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

Wanda Jackson
Unfinished Business

The original rockabilly queen returns with a vengeance on her sassy, spirited new album Unfinished Business, following up last year’s solid Jack White-produced comeback set The Party Ain’t Over.  This time around, Jackson swaps out White for Americana star Justin Townes Earle as producer as she takes on another set of classic cover tunes mixed with some newer material.

Unfinished Business draws material from a variety of

genre wells spanning classic country, blues, R&B, and rock and roll.  The album kicks off with a bang as Jackson tears into a rollicking rendition of Sonny Thompson’s ”Tore Down.”  Kenny Vaughan injects a searing guitar riff into the tune that serves as a perfect match to the raw energy and grit of Jackson’s performance.  Certain choices might not fare well in comparison to previous renditions - We’ve heard superior versions of ”Old Weakness (Comin’ On Strong)” by Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker, while Jackson’s take on Bobby and Shirley Womack’s “It’s All Over Now” sounds surprisingly tame.  But even at their weakest, Jackson’s versions are always enjoyable for what they are, and there are no real duds in the bunch.

Jackson nods to her country roots with the sweet pedal steel-laden ballad “Am I Even a Memory,” a duet with Earle, as well as the aching ”What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome” – a fine country shuffle if ever there was one.  But it’s not an entirely gloomy affair, as Jackson balances out the melancholy material with upbeat fare such as the Townes Van Zandt gospel rave-up “Two Hands,” which she sells with infectious joy.  Though Jackson’s vocal power may have deteriorated, her natural spunk and sense of presence more than make up for it, as toe-tappers such as ”The Graveyard Shift” and Etta James’ “Pushover” show that Jackson can still belt and growl with the best of them.  The album closes with a beautiful rendition of Woody Guthrie’s ”California Stars,” featuring some lovely steel guitar work by Paul Niehaus.

Considering Wanda Jackson’s musical style has long drawn from an amalgam of influences, it’s fitting that she here draws from such an eclectic selection of material.  What’s particularly impressive is that she is able to take songs from different genre origins, and make them sound like they belong together, blended by the unique flair of her performances.  Similarly, Earle’s production approach borrows elements from varying genre influences, and brings them over to traditional Wanda Jackson territory, creating an album that sounds diverse without sounding disjointed.

Indeed, though Unfinished Business pays tribute to Etta James, Sonny Thompson, Bobby Womack, and Woody Guthrie, among others, the star of the show is Jackson.  It’s not so much a country album, a rock album, or a blues album as it is simply a Wanda Jackson album – a fun, entertaining collection that serves as a testament to the enduring legacy of the talented rockabilly legend.  Her place in music history may already be secure, but as hinted at by the album’s title, Wanda Jackson is clearly not resting on her laurels.

Top Tracks:  “Tore Down,” “Pushover,” “California Stars”

100 Greatest Men: #56. Bobby Bare

Monday, April 9th, 2012

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

With a career that has spanned seven decades, Bobby Bare's body of work has made him one of the genre's most influential and critically acclaimed recording artists.

Raised in poverty by his widowed father, Bare was on his own by age fifteen.  He built his own guitar and played in a Springfield, Ohio band before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a music career full-time.  His first single, “The All-American Boy”, was recorded under the name Bill Parsons.  It became a surprise pop hit, reaching #2 in America and the top thirty in England.

His pop career was short-lived, thanks to being drafted into the army.  When he returned from service, he resumed performing under his own name, pursuing a singing and songwriting career in the pop music field.  He shared an apartment with Willie Nelson and toured with some big pop acts, before turning his attention to country music in the early sixties.

Chet Atkins signed him to RCA in 1962, and he had a string of  big hits for the label, including classics like “Detroit City”, “The Streets of Baltimore”, and “500 Miles Away From Home.”  Bare began incorporating elements of the folk music scene into his music, and by the end of the decade, he'd established a reputation for tackling challenging material on record, including the controversial “(Margie's at) the Lincoln Park Inn.”

A brief stint on Mercury Records in the early seventies continued the streak of critically acclaimed albums, but he returned to RCA shortly thereafter. It was on that label that he released the landmark album Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends, and Lies.  The double album showcased the songs of Shel Silverstein, including the #1 hit, “Marie Laveau” and a duet with his son on “Daddy What If?”  Thus began a fruitful partnership with Silverstein that resulted in more critically acclaimed albums, though none of them would approach the commercial success of their first collaboration.

As the seventies progressed, Bare became aligned with the Outlaw movement, and by the early eighties, he was drawing on the catalog of writers such as Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt.  After releasing his 1983 album Drinkin' From the Bottle, Singin' From the Heart, Bare took more than a decade off from recording. In recent years, he has returned to prominence through the Americana scene, and is now viewed as one of the forefathers of that fledgling musical movement.

Essential Singles:

• Detroit City, 1963
• 500 Miles Away From Home, 1963
• The Streets of Baltimore, 1966
• (Margie's at) the Lincoln Park Inn, 1969
• How I Got to Memphis, 1970
• Daddy What If? (with Bobby Bare, Jr.), 1974
• Marie Laveau, 1974

Essential Albums:

• Detroit City and Other Hits, 1963
  
• 500 Miles Away From Home, 1963
• (Margie's at) the Lincoln Park Inn, 1969
• This is Bare Country, 1970
• Bobby Bare sings Lullabys, Legends, and Lies, 1973
• Down & Dirty, 1980

Next: #55. Roy Clark

Previous: #57. Kenny Chesney

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

Bargain Hunter: Steve Earle, <em>Townes</em>

Monday, May 11th, 2009

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