Song Review – Jamey Johnson’s “You Can”
Like the upright bass player from a Tom Waits tour was unexpectedly filched off the bus as it rolled through Nashville, then thrown into a studio and told to do his worst, “You Can”—Jamey Johnson’s second official single from his freshly-launched Big Gassed Records—starts off with a smoky jazzy run of woody bass notes, leading into an almost big band sound, making this track unexpected from the traditional country singer and songwriter if nothing else.
Written by Johnson and Dan Couch somewhere around 2004 or 2005, “You Can” was kept on the sidelines as Jamey’s major releases The Dollar, That Lonesome Song, and The Guitar Song came out, never making the final cut. But now that Johnson is out from under the thumb of the industry, if he wants to randomly release a single on a cold day in February, he can. Whether it suits his best interests or not.
More indicative of Lyle Lovett or Wayne “The Train” Hancock instead of Jennings and Jones, “You Can” is a throwback, neotraditional country swing number with many of the markings thereof, including the propensity of the lead players to all play at the same time, and the playful bass interludes and intro that give the track its most fetching character. All that said, while in the midst of the chorus, the song still feels very much at home in a honky tonk with its fiddle and steel guitar.
The words of “You Can” are playful, striking some strong wit here and there, and aiding the song with their rhythmic, pentameter-heavy approach. But they’re not going to win any Pulitzer’s either, and the lyrical approach is not particularly original. The big band style of this song is where it earns most of its points.
One of the knocks on Johnson in the past, at least from this sector of the music press corps, is that his albums and live shows lack a bit of spice. A track like this is just the dash or paprika a potential album project could use to keep the ear attentive, and illustrate how Johnson has the dexterity to amble into something more upbeat, with an alternate mood from his usually dour fare. But you still get the feeling “You Can” would best be suited as a gear-shifting album cut instead of a featured single. It’s good and fun, but nothing to go gaga over.
Or should we consider “You Can,” and his first new song “Alabama Pines” as singles at all? Is there any effort underway to get these songs on the radio? Isn’t releasing these two songs so close together somewhat self-defeating if this is the case? Or is Johnson just flexing his freedom muscles?
It’s great that Jamey now has the latitude to release songs randomly, but is this the best way to approach sharing his intellectual property? In the end, even the most fiercely independent music artists still have a marketing arm and a promotional push with singles and other such material. Sure the modus operandi of the music industry is plodding and outmoded, but in many ways it still works, and has its purpose.
“You Can” is a nice little unexpected nugget from a favorite son of real country music whose creative output went too long unheard. But how long people will be listening to “You Can” unless it finds its way onto an album is a question.
1 1/2 of 2 Guns Up.
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“You Can” is available on iTunes, and nowhere else. No word on when a new album may be coming.
Bootleg video below.
BEH
February 13, 2015 @ 10:58 am
A great live number but you are right, I don’t think it’s gonna make many waves. BTW is a gus better or worse than a gun?
Erik Randall
October 18, 2020 @ 8:58 pm
I think he’s an american treasure
BwareDWare94
February 13, 2015 @ 11:46 am
I like his mostly dour subject material. Songs like this seem forced and don’t hit home the way his more downcast material does. I mean, look–this is the guy who co-wrote “That’s How I Don’t Love You” and “That Lonesome Song,” probably the two best songs of his career. Clearly, he does sad way, way better than happy.
Joe
February 13, 2015 @ 12:29 pm
I never thought his live shows lacked any spice, in fact, I was completely indifferent to Jamey Johnson as an artist until I saw him perform live. He did sing mostly sad songs but it was the way he did it that left my marveled at the fact that I didn’t already know too much about him. Watching the emotion he projected to the audience was very impacting and at one point the camera zoomed in on him during a song and you could see tears in his eyes.
I’ve been to a lot of great live shows but that kind of emotion and passion is painfully uncommon in today’s country music.
Denise Dupree
February 13, 2015 @ 12:29 pm
No need to give props to this band of brothers, over and over, as always their RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME!!!
Albert
February 13, 2015 @ 12:50 pm
Great groove , REAL instruments , organic feel , solid energy , dance-floor -worthy and a simple ,fresh, fun , to- the- point lyric that doesn’t stereotype anyone , condescend , or make any mention of ‘pink umbrellas ‘ . Unique-sounding country voice ……And you don’t need a tank of oxygen strapped to your face to be able to sing along to the phrasing .
How perfect is THIS for Valentine’s Day ?
White Cleats
February 13, 2015 @ 3:28 pm
Trigger, you know I love you and really appreciate your blog, but have you considered working with a professional editor? One who can help you with structure and readability? Your ideas are wonderful but they often don’t come across as sharply as they could.
Trigger
February 13, 2015 @ 5:48 pm
I know your suggestion is well-meaning, and don’t think I haven’t seen it before. But something everyone has to understand about savingcountrymusic.com is that the only way I can do what I do is because it doesn’t make any money. I would love to work with a professional editor, but I can’t even pay myself. I work 80 hours a week and the site makes $19 a day, before expenses, which are incredibly high because all of the traffic the site gets. If I was a sports columnist, I’d be making 6 figures at ESPN. But in country music, dissent is shunned. You’re supposed to post only positive coverage, then labels give you access to stars and exclusive content to drive up traffic, and advertise with you. I’m an inherent liability; a pariah. Furthermore, I can be found writing and publishing articles virtually 24 hours a day. It would be unfair to ask an editor to come along with me on this broken business plan. Yes, I’d love an editor, but it is completely unfeasible at the moment unless I go write for someone else. But nobody will hire me because I need an editor, though they’ll tell me I’m the best writer in country music. Meanwhile my writing and intellectual property is being ripped off verbatim by bigger companies and profiteering off of it more than I ever could. I’d hire lawyers to go after them, but I don’t have the money to. I’m too stubborn to implement pop up or drop down ads so the site could make money, and too proud to beg my readers for it. If you can figure it all out, let me know.
Clint
February 13, 2015 @ 6:09 pm
Trigger, how do you pay your bills, and feed yourself? Where does your income come from?
Trigger
February 13, 2015 @ 10:48 pm
Ramen is 17 cents a brick.
Clint
February 14, 2015 @ 3:32 pm
I’m serious Trigger. Do you have a day job? If you can’t make a living off this site, then how do you pay rent, and all your other bills?
BwareDWare94
February 13, 2015 @ 11:20 pm
At some point you won’t be able to do this. Allow the ads so this site will still be here in 10 years. I’m an English graduate–if you want a freelance editor with no financial benefits, I will gladly look at pieces and or sentences you are unsure about, but I highly doubt I’m the most qualified of all your readers to offer those services. Anybody else who can offer the same product–please do so. We want this site to exist, not to be a mere fraction of our lifetime as country music fans.
lets go to Luckenbach, Texas with Lil Dale, Trigger and the boys
February 14, 2015 @ 7:04 am
hey Trigg, have u ever thawt of doin a pod cast? I subscribe to several that cost $5 a month. Id be glad to subscribe if u did won. I no it would be more work an longer hours but whats another hour or to? All so, why not do a savin country music festival? I betcha youd have a good turn out. I no Lil Dale is dumb but dont thro the baby out with the bath water.
Jaimito
February 14, 2015 @ 10:41 am
Know that all the work you do is very much appreciated by your readers. Without you and your work, I never would have heard of so many of the GREAT artists I now consider some of my very favorites. I appreciate it, and keep it up. It matters.
Jared
February 18, 2015 @ 2:23 pm
I’m a professional editor…and even I think its pretty ballsy for anyone to critique the nuts and bolts of Trigger’s writing. Keep up the good work man.
hoptowntiger94
February 13, 2015 @ 9:02 pm
Just out of curiosity, what would you do to specifically to improve this article?
One thing Trig doesn’t mention in his response is the fact that SCM is a blog and is subjected to time sensitive material. I read articles on si.com and espn.com that are far worse structured and littered with grammar errors for the sake of getting the info out there in a more casual setting.
Trig – Have you given much thought to subscription based content (in addition to free content)?
Trigger
February 13, 2015 @ 10:54 pm
I don’t believe in putting content behind pay walls. That defeats the purpose of this site. The reason Saving Country Music works aside from paying me a living wage is because Google loves it. That was the design from the beginning. Without a legacy media name like Rolling Stone, or tons of backing from sponsors like Taste of Country, Saving Country Music uses the power of Google to draw eyeballs and propagate the subversive anti-corporate message. You put the content behind a pay wall, even some of it, and the effectiveness of the content diminishes.
And by the way, I’m not complaining. It’s a problem I have created myself. I’m just explaining why I don’t have any money for an editor.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this article. I don’t write in a traditional style. Sometimes I do if it’s a straight-laced news story, but with my reviews, I try to spice things up. Reviews are inherently boring, so I really put the effort out to make them interesting to read. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Some may just find it off putting.
Albert
February 14, 2015 @ 2:13 am
Don’t sweat it Trigger . You do an incredible job on all fronts . Your least interesting article ( if there were such an animal ) would still be heads , hands and feet above most of the song lyrics we’re subjected to by that thing calling itself ” country Radio ” . Bottom line is the mission . Whatever beef anyone has with the way you deliver the goods isn’t keeping the masses from huddling here every day , venting , spewing venom ,and tapping into the SCM knowledge base to educate themselves .
Carry on , Scribe …. don’t change a thing . I just put 4 gold stars by your name .
Lunchbox
February 13, 2015 @ 3:41 pm
sounds like a major label song.
Mike W.
February 13, 2015 @ 4:41 pm
Just a heads up, the song is also available on Google’s Music Store/Streaming service.
I don’t hate “You Can” and I can understand Jamey wanting to put out something that sounds different from a lot of his slower to mid-tempo songs, but I also fall into the camp that prefers Jamey’s slower/mid-tempo songs. Not a bad song by any stretch, but also not one I will be hitting repeat over and over again on.
hoptowntiger94
February 13, 2015 @ 8:35 pm
Currently, while Jamey Johnson’s figuring out how to reinvent the wheel, we are his guinea pigs. Both of these songs were left on the cutting floor, B-sides at best. But, what they are doing is making him MONEY.
One thing I find fascinating about this artist to market model is it slows down or even negates piracy. I follow 5 well-run, non-kosher download sites and singles aren’t worth the hassle. In addition, surprise release dates camouflage new releases from these kind of sites. Albums released on major labels are sitting ducks. Steve Earle’s “Terraplane” has been sitting out there since January 30th – 18 days before street date!
The music business model is busted. Albums might not be the vehicle to deliver music anymore. Johnson said a future “album” of his might be just 5-6 songs. Personally, I think it could be a series of singles released throughout a year, than a collection of those singles as an album after the series is exhausted.
Albert
February 14, 2015 @ 2:20 am
Can anyone spell ” Glut ” as in THERE IS A GLUT OF MUSIC OUT THERE . The absolute last thing we need from ANY artist is a 16 song CD ( Mr McGraw ) with half a dozen terrific songs , at best , and mountains of filler . How about a 6- 8 song GEM of a CD ? That shouldn’t be an insurmountable challenge . 8 GREAT songs from all of the stuff submitted virtually non-stop by the thousands of songwriters trying to land something in the right lap . How difficult could that be ? Whatever the genre , for that matter .
Marky mark
February 15, 2015 @ 6:04 pm
So In other words like an album, with 35-40 minutes of music. The problem of overstuffing releases with filler started with the shift to CDs. A CD, at 78 minutes, is basically a double album, but looking to the time before CDs, how many double albums were released, and more importantly, how many were good beginning to end. Not many. Yet artists seek to fill the cd to try to show they are giving value I guess. That said, without the CD format, G’n’R’s debut would likely have been half the length and that would have been a shame.
Travis
February 14, 2015 @ 5:52 am
For the life of me I cannot figure out why JJ is well regarded by some people who I usually share opinions on music with. He comes off to me like a bad 90’s pop country singer- Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, middle of the road cornball country fair shit for the boot scooting mulleted rednecks. His voice is annoying and not soulful or unique at all. I also don’t find anything particularly special about his songwriting, again, typical pop country fare before the bro country takeover. Someone care to direct me to one great song of his, perhaps on YouTube?
BwareDWare94
February 14, 2015 @ 10:44 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgzP6nSDyOs
One of many, many examples. There’s something you’re missing about Jamey Johnson, because your opinions don’t make sense in the way you articulated them.
Trainwreck92
February 15, 2015 @ 9:17 pm
While I don’t dislike Jamey Johnson, I too have been unable to see what all the fuss is about. He has a decent voice, I suppose, but all the music of his that I’ve listened too just bored me to death. To me,his music, while country as can be, is as bland as plain oatmeal.
Brett
February 14, 2015 @ 6:27 am
You know, I like JJ’s slower stuff as well, but if he were to put a few more honky-tonkers like “California Riots” on an album I wouldn’t complain.
BwareDWare94
February 14, 2015 @ 10:45 am
If he could re-capture the up tempo greatness of California Riots and Macon for 5/6 songs in a 12 track album, I’d be thrilled.
Blaine Jacobs
February 14, 2015 @ 1:07 pm
I dig the jazzy vibe of the song, especially the slow murmur of the stand up bass. I agree with a couple folks who’ve stated a collection of individually released songs would be a nice way to compile everything from a year’s worth of work. Anyway these artists can get their music to the fans is fine by me. I don’t much care for strictly digital downloads, but if that will allow them to release more music then count me in.
same'ol
February 15, 2015 @ 6:58 am
Yaaaaaaaaaawn…. Eh.