As the subtitle of the fantastic documentary on the Texan music scene of the 70s, Heartworn Highways, said: the best music and the best whiskey come from the same part of the country. So, Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers in that part of the country called Texas are two living legends, despite their youth, two artists who have been treading stages around the Lone Star State far and wide, churning out high quality records since their beginnings: solo Bowen and the other with the Randy Rogers Band. The year of the recording debut of the two is the same and that is 2002, 18 years of many songs that have now entered the social fabric of live music in Texas and also in the rest of the world, because some foreign tours (both in the States and in the rest of the world) they did, given the success of their music. A country veined of rock, a light spray but that gave minimally invasive modernity to their sound. The two have been friends for a long time and in 2015, almost as a joke, decide to record Hold My Beer Volume 1, using a slang phrase that in money means to block a person who is going to do something stupid. A record born by chance but became cult among their fans that gave birth to a successful tour culminated with two live albums Watch This of 2016 and, surprisingly and almost without advertising in tow, Watch This: Live from Dallas of 2019. Three resounding successes: it seemed like a joke, it was born as such but the project has produced songs of very high quality, a true country, very classic but played with passion and innate talent. Given the album’s title each year, fans wondered when the two would reunite for the second part. Well, Texas prayers have been answered. This Hold My Beer Volume 2 is no longer a causal and goliardic experiment, but it’s a great record and played great, produced by Lloyd Maines, legendary country producer who worked with Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker (basically the goth of Texas country). The two took pen and paper (maybe they used the screen and keyboard, but it wouldn’t be as romantic as the record is) and wrote an unconditional declaration of love for twelve-piece country music, none of which is out of place. We could talk about the single, Rodeo Clown, his violin and pedal-steel as intense as the story he tells, the hint honky-tonk of Let Merle Be Merle, nostalgic and direct enough, the classic country against modern times and the craze to spoil and disfigure what we loved in the past as well as in This Ain’t My Town, acoustic guitar and desert dust… we could tell you again about the spectacular duet with the Asleep The Wheel by the legendary Ray Benson in Mi Amigo, tex-mex pure and funny with the voice of Ray to embellish a small jewel, but we will leave it to you to discover because we will only tell you about the absolute masterpiece of the record, worthy of being mentioned as the most beautiful country song, until now, of this 2020 but also of the last years. The song in question is Ode to Ben Dorcy (Lovey’s Song), a song written by Waylon Jennings but never recorded on disc. With the permission of the family of the legendary Texas outlaw the beginning of the original demo is put to the introduction of the piece, so the two find themselves singing virtually together with their youth hero, to sing the story of Ben Dorcy said Lovey, the oldest roadie in the history of American music that since 1950 was the favorite of artists such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. The story behind the song is that Dorcy himself had that tape and used to play that song to his friends, he loved to be the protagonist of a Waylon song, he was proud of it and, even if it was never recorded, everyone knew him. Bowen and Rogers then took courage and got permission from Jennings‘ son, Shooter who participates in the song with his voice, and his widow Jessi Colter. A perfect song in its simplicity: passion, talent and love for country music and for a man who has become despite a legend. A masterpiece that would certainly have made the great Waylon proud and certainly we must congratulate Rogers and Bowen and the production of Maines for an incredible result. The legacy of Texas music, true country music can be handed down to posterity with records like this, a celebration that preserves feelings and emotions, a fantastic nostalgic journey into the traditions of Texas and its characters. Everything is perfect, an incredible work of production and two artists now aware of their talent and importance for their land. Don’t joke here: even if the atmosphere is cheerful and only sometimes nostalgic there is only great music of two great artists that at our latitudes we strongly recommend to discover.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.magazzininesistenti.it
(you can find the original italian article at this link : http://www.magazzininesistenti.it/wade-bowen-randy-rogers-hold-my-beer-volume-2-2020-di-claudio-trezzani/ )
