Good Noises: Blaze Foley - Live At The Austin Outhouse
I got an email from someone on Amazon asking if I would listen to an album and review it based on a review I had done for a Merle Haggard album that I enjoyed. I replied I had never heard of the artist but would give them a listen and put up a review. The artist is Blaze Foley, I had never heard of him but he used to hang with the Austin outlaw music scene with Townes Van Zandt and that crew, all of whom I do enjoy. I have to say I really liked the album so I thought I would post up my review here as well as on Amazon. It follows below:
This album is a solid album with no clinkers on it. The sound is classic Texas outlaw, it sounds a little rougher than then the big boys like Willie Nelson or Merle Haggard but stands up very well to Steve Earle or Townes Van Zandt. The talk between songs ranges from rambling to very poignant considering Foley’s death shortly after the recording.
The songs tend towards sad and wistful as in his beautiful ‘If Only I Could Fly’, perhaps my favorite on the album, and towards the bitter, like ‘Officer Norris’, a hit song on a cop who had hassled him at some point. His bitter songs work, ‘Officer Norris’ feels real and you can easily picture him in your mind, ‘Christian Ladies Talkin’ On A Bus’ sounds pretty much any number of people I have met over the years. The only one that felt a bit mean was ‘Small Town Hero’, I felt sorry for the guy rather than thinking he was automaticly a jerk. I always felt Springsteen’s ‘Glory Days’ caught that type of guy pretty well, but I didn’t grow up in Texas and Foley may have met a whole different type of animal. Foley’s ‘Election Day’ on the other feels nearly perfect for anyone who thinks the current system sucks.
Overall the album is great, well worth picking up if you like your music honest and a little raw.
It is for sale on Amazon, but I recomend picking it up at Lost Art Records as small record companies need all the support they can get.