Album Review – Rodney Crowell’s “Close Ties”
Guy Clark was one of the greatest, most revered songwriters to ever put pen to paper, and put a legacy of songs together that generations will labor to beat, ultimately in vain. His wife Susanna was the muse behind a thousand songs, not just from Guy, but from a healthy gaggle of Texas and Nashville songwriters, while earning respect as a songwriter and composer herself. Townes Van Zandt was the ideal specimen of the troubled poet, with emotions too rich for the world, and songs that will outlast the living. And they were all friends. And they’re all now gone, along with many more fallen greats, leaving those who cherished their music and musings searching for something or someone who can replace the magic in a new, and much more dull world.
To us, it’s a sad state of affairs that Guy, Susanna, Townes, and so many more that made up the core of the alternative to country in the 70’s and 80’s are gone, but to Rodney Crowell, these weren’t just distant stars on some stage that perhaps he got to see once or twice in his life, and are only known through their music and the make believe personas the mind assigns to them.
To Rodney Crowell, these were his close personal friends. They were his family. He laughed with them. He lived with them. He cried with them, and fought like cats and dogs with them. When they stumbled, he was there to catch them. When he stumbled, the story was the same. As gaping and painful as the holes are for fans to fill where these past titans have moved along, for Rodney Crowell, it can only be that much more cataclysmic and personal, and that much more impossible to resolve in the mind and heart.
It’s hard to believe that at one time Rodney Crowell was credited for notching five consecutive #1 country music singles in a row, and not in some far and distant reality, but in the late 80’s, right before some of the biggest stars still in country music today were just getting their start. Rodney Crowell doesn’t seem like a commercial kind of guy. He’s Americana. But in 1988, mainstream country was a much bigger tent, and worried about the amount of substance in the format much more than today.
Now the country music radio star version of Rodney Crowell seems light years away. Like many of the original artist that made up the alt-country world that we now refer to as Americana, Crowell’s sound is much more blues than it is country these days. These artists traded in their boots for fedoras, and have gone exploring other regions of American roots music, maybe just as much from inspiration as to put distance between their music and what much of the public thinks of when you use the term “country.”
Crowell has not been caught napping in the last few years—releasing a couple of well-received duet albums with Emmylou Harris while pumping out original records as well. But Close Ties feels like something much more calculated, purposeful, and inspired, like he’s been saving up material, and waiting for the right time when the wounds aren’t so fresh, but the memory and sense of loss is still ablaze in his mind.
Close Ties finds Rodney Crowell getting incredibly personal, naming names, and using candid language with incredible honesty and a colloquial candor most artists are too inhibited to communicate. Rodney Crowell is one of the very few people who can refer to the great Susanna Clark as a “bitch,” because that’s how close he was to her. If you or I tried that, he’d kick our asses, and for good reason.
Usually when you listen to records, you hear the name of the subjects of songs, but they’re abstract characters in the listener’s mind; past lovers or friends of the writer with often the names changed to protect the innocent. Maybe years later some dots are connected, like with Eric Clapton’s “Layla.” But on Close Ties, Rodney Crowell takes moments to sing about people we all know as music fans, and about situations we’ve perhaps heard about in lore. This makes the stories feel that much more stark. They’re serial to the ongoing narrative about the music that is still unfolding through Crowell and his contemporaries.
The specificity in songs like “Life Without Susanna,” or the songs about Crowell’s career like “It Ain’t Over Yet” and “I Don’t Care Anymore” is pretty incredible. “Nashville 1972” is simply an account of Crowell’s arrival in Music City, and his very early place in it.
I first met Willie Nelson with some friends at a party
I was 22-years-old, and he must have been pushing 40
Well there was hippies and reefer and God knows what I was drinking pretty hard
I played him this shitty song I wrote, and then puked out in the yard.
Even when you can’t place the names with true to life figures, like in the touching “Forgive Me Annabelle,” the songs are rendered that much more real feeling by the personal nature of the material. Though some things on Close Ties might be embellished, the fact that it all feels based on actual events is what gives this project a vitality apart from your average record from Rodney Crowell or anyone else. The songwriting is so good, you don’t care if the chorus on “Forty Miles From Nowhere” doesn’t rhyme.
Close Ties isn’t just another collection of songs, it’s an oral history of Rodney Crowell’s life told through the filter of watery eyes, about feelings that in some cases are still raw, and with an honesty and candidness that’s rare.
1 3/4 Guns Up (8/10)
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Dan Morris
May 4, 2017 @ 8:10 am
I must admit that although I’ve known of Rodney Crowell for many years I really didn’t know much of his music. Or so I thought. In the last few years as I’ve come to realize just how many absolutely amazing songs that Rodney has written or had a hand in writing I’ve come to respect his talents more and more. Guy, Susanna, Townes, Steve Young and so many of his friends and peers have left us and we are damn priviledged to still have him and Steve Earle left from that group of Texas troubadours who have toiled to entertain us all.
Tighthead
May 7, 2017 @ 7:11 am
I was listening to “Gain Control” yesterday and thought “how does one write such a masterpiece”. Rodney is a gifted man. He had some serious chart success in Nashville years ago, but at his core he is a singer songwriter.
Corncaster
May 4, 2017 @ 8:18 am
Damn, that guitar sounds great. Rodney’s great, like Nick Lowe. Writers primarily, but that guitar work lies perfectly alongside the writing.
Whiskeytown
May 4, 2017 @ 8:32 am
Been listening to this album over the last month and this is as honest as an album can be. It’s almost like his own tribute to Guy and the others, write a song about it and leave nothing behind when doing so.
We get new music from Eady, Robison and Crowell all in the matter of 2 months. This is what Tx Country music is and this is what Country Music Should be. All three albums are as stripped down as you can get and put the song first and musical arrangement second. Pretty awesome stuff and something we can definitely call country. What a positive influence for the younger guys trying to find their way, this is what they need to be listening too and can learn something from it. What a great year for music so far.
tdubbya
May 4, 2017 @ 8:48 am
Will definitely check this out. My favorite Rodney Music is the stripped down stuff so I will probably dig this. I have been going back and touring Guy Clarks library and he’s just incredible. Strong first half of the year with music this year for me. Eady and Birmingham have been my favorites so far, with some exciting releases coming up. I noticed J.B. Beverly pushed his release back into June, hope its “country JB”
Trigger
May 4, 2017 @ 1:37 pm
JB’s already been saying his new album is going to be more rock, but we’ll see.
CraigR.
May 4, 2017 @ 9:18 am
Such an excellent adult album.
matthew rutledge
May 4, 2017 @ 9:59 am
Way off topic, speaking of muse, that’s a hell of a song by the Wood Brothers.
Kent
May 4, 2017 @ 10:09 am
Another “must buy” this starting to get expensive…
Many thanks for that article Trigger.
Andrew
May 4, 2017 @ 11:35 am
There’s even more specificity to “It Ain’t Over Yet” when you know that Rodney wrote it as he was was visiting Guy Clark in the hospital during Guy’s final days.
Luiz Henrique
May 4, 2017 @ 12:36 pm
His best album since “The Houston kid”.
Corncaster
May 4, 2017 @ 1:47 pm
Some of the best ballad meter out there these days, too.
Marc
May 4, 2017 @ 1:53 pm
I’ve never commented directly about a review but damn this was beautiful. Even without listening to the songs I felt that visually you had taken me there. I had created my own music video in my head just with your words. Once again, an amazing review.
Honky
May 4, 2017 @ 3:46 pm
I loved 1980’s Rodney Crowell, but for the life of me, I can’t get into this indie, hippie poet crap. I just can’t.
albert
May 5, 2017 @ 8:45 am
yeah…hear ya Honky …..the thing with Rodney and many others is that their music isn’t necessarily always written for listeners to be able to relate to in terms of experience , much less actually understanding the literal meanings .For me , its like viewing an abstract painting , sometimes. I’m not a painter so I ‘m not ‘analyzing’ perse , but rather hoping to feel some emotional intent on its part . There’s a lot of folks who are considered incredibly gifted and skilled songwriters ( Joni Mitchell , Leonard Cohen , Bob Dylan come to mind ) whose lyrics are like abstract paintings we can feel even if we aren’t sure what it is we are feeling . The words/lyrics ( colours , shapes ) themselves are so well-structured in sounds , phrasing /placement that they convey an undeniable emotional energy simply in the way they dance together or the images they suggest .
Although I wouldn’t put Rodney in this particular camp of writers , I’d say there’s an ” I Don ‘t Care Anymore ” element about his approach to writing that blatantly says ” This ain’t meant to be 2017 radio fare ” .Its written for Rodney first . If you want to put a bit of effort into the listening experience , you will hopefully derive some pleasure from the vibe even if you don’t relate to the lyric literally . As odd as this sounds , you can often listen to these borderline obtuse ‘ songs the way you’d passively listen to a melodic instrumental piece of music and be entertained or moved . Overall , what ‘s mostly lacking from these ” indie , hippie poet crap ” efforts is melody …….strong ,memorable melody that emphatically distinguishes these pieces from poetry .
eckiezZ
May 4, 2017 @ 5:33 pm
Apparently the book wasn’t finished. Close Ties is the prologue to that autobiography. It’s intimate stuff to be sure but idk if I’d call it essential Rodney. Time will tell but I’m going with a 7/10 for now.
Has anyone been able to determine why exactly John Paul White is on “It Ain’t Over yet”? Rosanne, yes. Makes sense but his cameo is jarring tbh.
D. Wayne
May 4, 2017 @ 5:59 pm
Rodney’s music is incredible. I was also moved by his memoir “Chinaberry Sidewalks”. One of my favorite nights ever was the Guy Clark Tribute at the Ryman last year that Rodney put together. Simply an incredible, moving night never to be forgotten.
Biscuit
May 4, 2017 @ 6:25 pm
Great album, among many he has produced in his career.
Al Finley
May 4, 2017 @ 8:17 pm
Rodney played the City Winery here in Chicago before the new album was even officially released & he was getting even bigger standing ovations for some of the new songs than his old hits. It was quite a night & it is quite an album.
Megan
May 4, 2017 @ 11:12 pm
I respect and admire the hell out of this, but I can’t get into it.
Norrie
May 5, 2017 @ 4:05 am
Been listening to this since it came out and it’s an instant classic.It’s got everything going for it with mature brutality honest lyrics that are reflective sometimes angry or regretful or haunting but hopeful as well.It’s also a nice mix of americana styles it might be singer songwriter material at heart but there is meat in the bones as well with some great tunes.The centrepiece I suppose is the wonderful It Ain’t Over Yet with John Paul White,Roseanne Cash and a cameo from Willie’s legendary harmonica man Mickey Raphael.One listen to that was enough to convince me to buy the album.
Its early yet but the bar has been set for album of the year.
Doug
May 8, 2017 @ 2:07 pm
My brother turned me on to Rodney’s first album many years ago and it remains a favorite to this day – imo, he earned his place in the company of Guy, Townes and the rest with songs like Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight and Ain’t Living Long Like This. I loved his work with Emmylou and Rosanne but didn’t really care for Diamonds and Dirt — too poppy for my tastes. From what I’ve heard, and from what’s written here, seems like this new album picks up where Houston Kid left off — lower-key, maybe not as exciting as some of his earlier stuff, but just right for where he is in life. Grown-up stuff. I’m happy for Rodney that he’s able to make the music that means something to him, and I’m happy to follow along.
Willie Potter
May 9, 2017 @ 3:58 pm
Along with Mellencamp’s “Sad Clowns and Hillbillies”, Rodney Crowell’s new album will be one of the three best albums of 2017.
The guy never misses.
As important as Dylan or Willie or John Doe, Crowell continues to achieve a level of songwriting that few artists do.
Willie Potter
May 9, 2017 @ 6:07 pm
eckiezZ
John Paul White is on this because he is a badass.
Incredible singer, guitar player and songwriter.
Check out the solo album he put out called “Beulah” last year..