By Isiah Smith/entertainment editor
Viva! Terlingua! Nuevo! Songs of Luckenbach Texas will take native-born Texans right back to their roots with a traditional country compilation CD by Palo Duro Records.
New Texas musicians revive ’70s country classics for this live album, recorded in the Luckenbach Dance Hall. Anybody who loves traditional country and Americana will love this album.
The starring track is “I’ll Be Here In The Mornin’,” performed by Jimmy LeFave—definitely the first single. LeFave’s voice is emotional and raw on this live performance. Something about the timbre of his voice just sets him apart from the rest of the songs as the real unique talent.
Viva! Terlingua! Nuevo! Songs of Luckenbach Texas is the first in Palo Duro’s Luckenbach Texas music series. In this installment of the series, a new roster of singers remade songs originally recorded in 1973.
This CD is very homey for native Texans although it does sound a bit stereotypical at times. Still, the sentiment is beautiful.
“ What I Like About Texas,” performed by Morrison Williams, is a boot-scooting fun song with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. The lyrics sound a little choppy—it rocks though because I do like Texas.
Some of the songs are slow, country jams. “Backsliders Wine,” performed by Tommy Alverson, sounds as smooth as a good chardonnay while maintaining that country twang.
“ Gettin’ By,” performed by The (Original) Lost Gonzo Band, is really ordinary. Displaying little replay value, it has a typical feel with that same country sound heard everywhere.
Somewhere, someone must be extremely pleased with this CD. I know some people like that, but they do not own a lot of live recordings.
The live recording aspect is both cool and not cool.
On several of the tracks, the artists take the time to chat up the crowd … great live, but boring on a CD. One of the tracks is not even a song.
“ Luckenbach Daylight,” read by Kent Finlay and written by Hondo Crouch, is a recorded poetry reading—a five-minute poem —surprisingly sophisticated for a country album.
One track has a total lounge-singer vibe. “Sangria Wine,” performed by Two Tons Of Steel, is terrible. No offense to Two Tons Of Steel … it is the song.
The Derailers give a good performance of “London Homesick Blues.” Although not something I would listen to on the radio, I am sure there is an audience out there.
This series could be big in the country world.
I give Viva! Terlingua! four stars. Definite home-field advantage on this one; next time, it would be interesting to have some female performers in addition to the entirely male roster.
