Hank The Drifter

Hello MusicBanter this is Hank's Lonesome Ramblings. I have been debating for a few days what I should do in my journal and I've finally decided to just keep it traditional and review albums of different artists and such. I would also like to throw the occasional biography on certain musicians/bands, and share my opinions on music news I find important. So basically, I'll just be writing about anything music related I feel interested in writing about. The musicians/bands I write about will be totally random and ones I feel extremely important to me and acts I think need more attention.

I hope to accomplish a few things with this journal. I want to better introduce myself to the MusicBanter community by sharing my music ramblings, hopefully get at least one person into a new band, and last I would like to improve my poor writing skills.

As I'm sure you can tell I'm not an extremely skilled writer and can't keep up with some of the other journals, which is one of the reasons I'm writing this journal to improve my writing skills.

Thanks for reading, I'll be making my first post now.

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Friday, June 4, 2010.
11:21A.M.

I would like my first post in this journal to be dedicated to my personal favorite musician of all time, Hank Williams.

Alone With His Guitar

1. Tennessee Border
2. First Year Blues
3. Blue Love (In My Heart)
4. Please Don't Let Me Love You
5. Alone and Forsaken Listen
6. You Caused It All by Telling Lies
7. With Tears in My Eyes
8. Rockin' Chair Money
9. Cool Water
10. We Live in Two Different Worlds
11. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
12. Teardrop on a Rose
13. Honky Tonk Blues
14. Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine
15. Weary Blues from Waitin'
16. I Can't Escape from You
17. I Could Never Be Ashamed of You
18. Kaw-Liga

If you're looking for an album that is full of the blues you have come to the right place. Hank Williams is known to have been chock full of the blues and it comes out on these recordings. If you want something to compare these recordings too think of them as Hank Williams 'Unplugged' album so to speak. That's basically what you've got here, ten radio broadcast songs and eight demo tracks that are nothing but Hank and a guitar. This CD really gives you that up close and personal with Hank feeling, something very few ever got, because its just him and his guitar.

Eleven of the eighteen tracks on this CD are covers, some of which belong to some pretty big names, Ernest Tubb, Sons Of The Pioneers, Red Foley, Roy Acuff, and so own, but Hank makes you feel like each of them are his. There are some tracks that are suppose to be 'funny' and 'lighthearted' Hank takes them and makes some of them sound just as painful and blue as any of the other tracks he sings.

"Tennessee Border" is one of the most lighthearted and fun songs on the album and its still pretty blue in parts. I really like to hear Hank sing it though. If you listen closely enough to his pronunciation you can hear he says "Aubun" rather than Auburn. Also, for those of you not aware this song was sung by Red Foley and many other big name acts. First Year Blues This is another one of the covers on this album, which was originally written by Ernest Tubb. If you're not aware Tubb sings this song so it sounds a bit comical. Hanks version like I said before still has that certain blue feeling. This song is about a couples first year of marriage and the struggles that they are going through being married. Overall, I feel like Hank done a very good job with the song. Blue Love (In My Heart) This song wasn't written by Hank, but it was written by Fred Rose which wrote several songs with/for Hank. Anyway, the song is about a man wanting his wife to stop his hurting and come back to him. Hank surely knew the meaning of this song with all the trouble he had with women. Please Don't Let Me Love You this song is basically a man not wanting to fall in love with a woman because he knows he is going to end up hurt and doesn't want to go through that again. This song wasn't written by Hank, but as far as I know he was the first to record it, but don't quote me on that. Alone And Forsaken all I can say is "WOW." this song gives me chills every time I listen to it. This song just conveys so much pain YOU can feel it when you listen to it. If you listen to this song and it doesn't hit you hard you need to be checked out by a doctor! You Caused it All by Telling Lies This song is about a wife/girlfriend lying to a husband/boyfriend causing the husband/boyfriend to break up with her. The song is the opposite of most Hank songs its more about the male leaving the female. With Tears In My Eyes This song is nearly the opposite of the one before it, this one is about the husband lying to the wife and begging her to stay, but she wont have it she is leaving. More along the lines of a traditional Hank tune! Rockin Chair Money is one of the more up tempo less serious songs on this CD. I've always thought it meant he was ready to settle down, but there has never been an extremely clear meaning, in my opinion. Several different ideas fit the song pretty well. Cool Water is a song written by Bob Nolan and covered by several big named artist. The song is about a mule and his owner seeing a mirage in the desert and is another 'fun' song sung by Hank Williams. We Live In Two Different Worlds this song was written by Fred Rose and has been done by a few big name Country musicians. This song is about a couple living in different worlds, the female can't keep the promises she makes and the male is hurting from never getting shown any love. Pretty common in a Hank song I suppose. My Buckets Got a Hole In It this song gives people who didn't know Hank a chance to see just what his sense of humor was like. Just seems like the kind of song he would pick and smile while playing. A really fun song to listen to. Not a lot to be said about it, but interesting nonetheless. Honky Tonk Blues This is one of Hanks biggest hits and one of my favorite. This song is about a farm boy leaving the farm for the city. The boy gets tired of the city life and moves back to the farm. Thy Burdens Are Greater Then Mine this ONE song has more feeling and is basically showing gratefulness for things we normally take for granted. At least that's what the song has always meant in my eyes. I Cant Escape From You rumor is this is one of the last songs Hank ever recorded, which is sad being its supposedly dedicated to Audrey his first wife. The song talks about how it does no good to drink, because once the bottle runs dry he still thinks about her and cries and how he will always love her no matter how much he tries not too. This song is haunting because he told Audrey when she refused to come back that he would be dead within a year, and sure enough within a year of him saying it he passed away. Kaw Liga this is one of the coolest tracks on the CD in my opinion. On this track there are some false starts where the band starts over after messing up and you can hear them chatting in the background about it for a few seconds. This just gives the album those special touches that make it stand out in my opinion.



Now, some people seem to think this album is a waste of release because all the songs were released on the completed discography disk and other releases. I like the release though, and I reviewed it because I didn't want to review the entire discography. I will probably review a 20 Greatest hits or something by Hank Williams soon though.

Overall, I love this album and hope others will check [it] out [and] Hank. If you're already a fan and you've heard this/these songs, thoughts?

"If the Good Lord’s Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise"

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“If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing.” - Hank Williams

Flower Child

You're off to a hell of a start, Hank! Loved your review, and I really like this statement:
I know what you mean, I feel those moments really add to the atmosphere and authenticity of a album and makes you remember that these are just regular people making this music. One of my favorite songs by Emmylou Harris has a moment like that at the beggining. She is playing in front of a live audience and when the guitar players are warming up for the next song this guy in the audience drunkenly yells out 'Emmylou, I loooove youuuu' really loud. Cracks me up everytime I listen to it.

Anyway great review, looks like you have been writing these forever. Can't wait to see what you have next. And feel free to put this review into the classic country albums thread in the album review section if you want.

Hank The Drifter

Thanks, Flower Child. This is one of the few reviews I've ever written, but will be writing at least a few a week hopefully for a while.

Yeah, that's what I like about it. Being there is so little known about Hank Williams getting to hear this few seconds of chit-chat is just a reminder, like you said, that he was a real person.

Thanks, I'll add it there.
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Mescalito

Ryan Bingham
2007

Ryan Bingham is a Texas Country/Folk musician much in the vein of Townes Van Zandt. I don't think Bingham tries to sound like Townes he just has that 'gruffy' voice and the style of his writing puts me in the mind of Townes. I don't know how I would classify this album. It has so many elements from the Country/folky stuff to the almost to the rock side of things this album covers it all. 'Mescalito' is Binghams debut on a major record label, and though the album is lengthy and can run together and sound a bit samey in parts, its a great debut album from a very skilled musician. The album is fourteen tracks and and a little over one hour long. However, the last track on the album is a bit over thirteen minutes alone because there is a hidden track after the first track ends then there is a three minute silence.

Like a lot of Country musicians do to me, Ryan sounds like he was meant to be in front of a small audience in a bar playing for tips and such. This isn't a bad thing at all, so don't take it that way. What I mean is he just seems like one of those musicians that would be down to earth and cool to see play live because this type of music is just live music in my opinion.

Southside of Heaven I turned this track on for the first time and the style of playing reminded me so much of Townes Van Zandts style I had to check and make sure that I hadn't clicked the wrong album. I really enjoy the harmonica that kicks in before Bingham starts singing. Once Ryan starts singing you're introduced to his really 'gruffy' voice and this makes the album in my opinion. It jut fits what Bingham is singing so well the fact that the main points in this album is how tired he is and worn out the vocals just boost the album through the top. The Other Side starts off sounding like a Country-Rock song, which it is, but then you start hearing all the blues influence in the background combing for one interesting track and one of the shorter tracks on the album. Bread and Water is kept on key with hand clapping while the slide guitar and banjos play hard in the background. Now, by background I don't mean you're barely able to hear them because they are plenty loud in the mix I just mean the hand clapping is the main 'instrument' so to speak for most of the song. The next track Don't Wait For Me is basically the complete opposite of the one before it. Its a slower, placid tune that could be a real tearjerker. The slide guitar on this album works perfectly with Binghams vocals. The guitar doesn't overshadow the vocals and vice versa. I haven't talked about the production on this album yet, but its great! Marc Ford, who played guitar for the Black Crowes, was the producer behind this album and done great. Ghost of Traveling Jones This is my second favorite song on the album. Its one of those songs that seems like it may have been passed through the family and perfected by Ryan Bingham. Wow, between the way Bingham delivers on this album and the way the banjos and guitars work together just put this album over the bar for me. Hard Times is a song about, well obviously, hard times. Which was obviously a common theme among musicians back in the 20s-50s or so. For some reason upon first hearing this I thought about 'Dust Bowl Anthems' and how it relates to hard times. Then when I relate it to current times it still in some ways rings true. Dollar a Day is a song in which Bingham talks about how unappreciated somethings people do are. I don't want to review the entire Take It Easy Mama track, but I do want to say, the riff in this song is wonderful! Long Way From Georgia in this song Bingham really manages to project pictures into your mind. This is actually a pretty sad song. Not to mention the sounds of the acoustic and steel guitars great. For What It's Worth is the longest track on the album, but I guess its really two tracks combined. Anyway, the opening part of this track is some heavy picking with a little noise in the background. The song is pretty slow, but a very good track. I honestly don't know what more to say about this track.



This is album isn't an extremely original album although I feel it certainly has its moments. Very few albums out there are extremely original and this album brings more to the table than many. This is one of my favorite Alt-Country releases of recent years, personally.

If you're a fan of Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, and so own check this CD out.

__________________
“If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing.” - Hank Williams

Hank The Drifter

Pentagram [Relentless]

Pentagram
1985

Pentagram is a Doom Metal band from the nineteen-seventies and one of the pioneering bands of the genre. I've always referred to them as the American Black Sabbath. They don't necessarily sound that much like Black Sabbath, but they were around at the same time of Sabbaths early years and carry a similar sound. Anyway, this album is the bands debut.

"Wait, what? did he say debut? I thought the band was from the seventies?"

Yeah, debut. It took the band from the time they formed in nineteen-seventy-one until nineteen-eighty-five to get a full length album out. The band had countless demos during that time but due to complications in getting things recorded and released they didn't produce any full lengths.

This album is best known as Relentless, but its really a self titled [Pentagram] album. So, if you're looking for the album 'Pentagram' or 'Relentless' is the correct one.

This album is an absolute must for someone trying to get into Doom Metal or just Metal in general. Its an absolute classic and extremely overlooked by the 'naked eye'. (meaning non-metal fans.) I got into this band when I was getting into metal took a while off from listening to them while I went through my Thrash/Death/Black Metal spells, and luckily rediscovered them when I got into Doom Metal.

Rather than giving a track-by-track break down I'm just going to give a description of the album in full.

Bobby Liebling is a vocalist that in some ways reminds me a bit Ozzy. Liebling never really pushes himself on this album, and just likes his vocals easily flow with the music. This album is full of grim riffs laid down by Victor Griffin, and some torture filled lyrics that are written by Liebling. I do want to mention one song on this album, Sign of the Wolf, its my favorite song on this album. Its one of those songs no matter how many times I hear it I never grow tired of it. Its a Doom Metal tune that has a killer guitar solo that will beat your brains out. Nothing about this album is bad in my opinion. Its jut a criminally underrated slab of thick, heavy, mean Doom Metal killing machine. I've been listening to this album for two years and it never grows boring in my opinion. This band released albums nearly as good as this one, but none compare to this one in my opinion. Actually, if you're trying to get into this band I suggest working from the early work up to the newest. However, I don't think the newest one is very good due to lack of personal, but that would be another review within itself.




So, please try and check this album out if you've never heard it and you're interested in Doom Metal or just Metal in general. I don't see how any Metal fan can dislike this dudes, but obviously there are some out there that do. I honestly wouldn't rank any song on this albums below solid.

__________________
“If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing.” - Hank Williams

Hank The Drifter

Alright, I've been slacking on this due to lack of determination, but I'm up to doing a little write up on my current obsession, Townes Van Zandt. I'm not going to write a review, but I'm going to write 'Why' I've been enjoying him.

Townes Van Zandt is one of the greatest overlooked artists out there. Townes wrote great songs, and had a style of his very own. I guess in some ways that's alright though, him being overlooked, because that's what it seemed like he wanted. He seemed to be one of those musicians that wanted to play his music and if people enjoyed it and listened that was a plus. He never seemed to want to be something he wasn't. From my understanding of Townes he was born into a fairly wealthy home, but Townes didn't like that lifestyle. He wanted to be a drifter and do his own thing, and this made him really interesting in my eyes. I think I'm so interested in this because I'm almost the same way, I just want to be alone, and just do my own thing. Townes fought with addiction, and though I've never fought with such struggles, I find musicians/people with addiction issues to normally be fairly interesting to read about.

Townes discography is one catalog that seems perfect or at least in my eyes. Townes was a very strong songwriter and influenced by some of my very favorites, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, and Muddy Waters, and even though he was influenced by so many great musicians and could have just ripped them off Townes didn't. Townes has a style that's pretty original. Townes has that rough edge on his voice that I really like to hear in Country/Folk acts of this sort. I hate hearing an overly polished voice.

My first Townes albums were his second, Our Mother the Mountain, and third album, Townes Van Zandt, which are still probably my two favorite. I've listened to all of the studio albums by Townes, and a number of live albums. I honestly can't say I dislike anything about any of them.

If you're looking to get into Townes, I suggest Our Mother the Mountain.

Sorry for the kinda crumby write up, I will hopefully get in a more detailed one, or review up later.

__________________
“If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing.” - Hank Williams