ARTiST: Hang Jones
ALBUM: The Ballad Of Carlsbad County
BiTRATE: 184kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: n/a
GENRE: Folk/Rock
SiZE: 62.96 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 45min 37sec total
RiP DATE: 2008-11-17
STORE DATE: 2008-00-00
Track List:
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01. Mexico Line 3:29
02. The Reckoning 3:09
03. Comin' Round 2:52
04. She Said 5:46
05. Gunnin' For You 3:15
06. Wasted Time 3:50
07. Caroline 4:15
08. Red 3:58
09. Death Don't Have No Mercy 3:48
10. Arm Yourself 3:59
11. Hangman's Noose 3:08
12. Alive 4:08
Release Notes:
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Concept albums appear to have had their time in the sun. The days when an entire
story, not just a series of songs that have a sense of cohesion but a full on
story reflected as a somewhat linear narrative from song to song unfolding from
two sides of vinyl or a cassette tape seem numbered by a pick and choose
distribution of digital downloads and the lust for hits that has plagued the
music industry since day one. Still you can find purists that will sit you down
in front of a turntable for a full rendition from the book of Pink FloydÆs The
Wall or The WhoÆs Tommy.
But all that happened on the pop and rock side of the tracks, a concept albums
in country and roots music has always been an even rarer creature. In 1975
Willie Nelson showed that a country music concept album not only could be
created, but could be a hit with Red Headed Stranger, an unorthodox work
featuring a fugitive preacher, on the run from the law after killing his wife,
that went on the reach multi-platinum levels and made Nelson the icon he is
today. But that was one album made over thirty years ago and the music industry
and taste landscape has changed considerably.
So who in the hell would dare look at over this hostile aural landscape and
plunge head first into the breach? Enter Hang Jones, pseudonym for San Francisco
based singer/songwriter Stephen Grillos. His new release The Ballad of Carlsbad
County tells a dark tale of a New Mexico town rife with drunken lust, envy,
jealousy, deceit and finally the murder of a young woman and the wrongful
conviction of a murderer that nonetheless was innocent of this specific wicked
deed.
The songs uncoil this venomous tale with sparse arrangements - Grillos on lead
vocals, guitar and mandolin, Matt Cunitz on upright bass, pump organ, backing
vocals and Mayumi Urgino on fiddle and backing vocals - are ate less
step-by-step chapters than character studies that moves the story and sets a
mood.
Album opener ôMexico Lineö tells the story of a man headed South-bound, on the
run and armed. The song gallops and you feel the desperation in the man by
GrillosÆ passionate delivery and UrginoÆs sawing like sheÆs possessed in a
superb fusion of Gypsy/hillbilly fiddle. Imagine deliverance meets the Red
Violin and youÆre not far off.
ôThe Reckoningö is a lilting, beautiful song of foreboding and danger (DonÆt go
chasing shadows, son, youÆll only find death) ôCominÆ Roundö is as upbeat
mandolin, washboard and fiddle tune that sound like a loose and raucous
collaberation of Steve Earle and Kurt Cobain on a hot July front porch night.
ôShe Saidö and ôWasted Timeö are a soulfully melancholy tunes reflecting a manÆs
obsession for a woman out of reach. That obsession is given a finer point on the
tune ôCaroline,ö which finds the subject weaving between desperate pleading and
vaguely threatening.
ôRedö is easily my favorite cut on the album. An emotional pique comes to a slow
boil over strummed guitar and a bobbing and weaving fiddle. ôDeath DonÆt Have No
Mercyö is a dirge-like murder ballad that follows in itÆs aftermath. ôArm
Yourselvesö is a Tumbleweed Connection-style rag addressing mob vengeance.
ôHangmanÆs Nooseö is a dark song of acquiescence and longing, a manÆs view that
death is a final means to an end in his loved ones arms. The album concludes
with ôAliveö where a man is faced with muddied morality of murder as a necessary
step toward freedom.
As a concept album The Ballad of Carlsbad County is more then the sum of itÆs
parts. Each song stands on itÆs own and the story isnÆt a straitjacket on the
organic nature of the whole. This dusty, dark beauty is one of my favorite
releases of the year.