Album Review – Charley Crockett’s Surprise Album “Clovis”

Americana (#570), Classic Country (#510.1), Outlaw Country (#580) on the Country DDS.

Now this is the kind of Charley Crockett you want emanating out of your speakers: Greasy, rootsy, country more than anything else, but also seamlessly sliding between a myriad of classic American influences like only Crockett can do until you’re bathed in sepia-toned goodness, and are re-racking it again for a second swim through. His surprise album Clovis isn’t just a career-defining record. It’s an act of rebellion.

It was less than a year, and three albums ago that Charley Crockett sat down with Joe Rogan, bemoaning his previous “broke dick deals,” and excited he was now on a major label with Island Records. That marriage saw the release of his “Sagebrush Trilogy” (Lonesome Drifter, Dollar a Day, Age of the Ram). But he uploaded Clovis on a random Tuesday via his iPhone to purposely undercut the last album that was released just three weeks previous, and is currently still in its promotional cycle.

“Every time I find out I signed a deal I don’t like, and I go to these fuckin’ business people, and tell them I don’t like the deal, I don’t think it’s fair, they say ‘Tough luck kid, you shouldn’t of fuckin’ signed it.'” Charley Crockett says. “As soon as I hold them to that same standard, I’m the fuckin’ bad guy,” (laughing).

Traveling from the hometown of Waylon Jennings, through the small town of Muleshoe and crossing over the New Mexico border in the arid Southwest, you come to the town of Clovis, which if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear it’s stuck in a time many eras past. That’s certainly the case for the Norman Petty Studio in town where Buddy Holly cut all his greatest songs in the 1950s, and Waylon Jennings first recorded.

Geography is always an important part of country music, and it’s always been an important element to Charley Crockett’s music. He leverages setting on Clovis as good or better as he has on any of his records in the past. He puts you right in the town, where you can see the way the dust creates painted skies at dusk and dawn, and where time and priority has forgotten its land plots and people.

Though it’s always been a fair criticism that Crockett songs could spend a few more minutes in the oven—sometimes served up with mushy centers, however entertaining—that’s not really the experience with Clovis, despite the quick turnaround time from his previous album. By utilizing Shooter Jennings as a co-writer on many tracks, as well as Jason Lee Moeller, Crockett’s wife Taylor Grace on a couple of tracks, along with others, songwriting is an asset to Clovis, not a burden.

Same goes with the level of sonic diversity throughout the album. As fun as the “Sagebrush Trilogy” was in the way Charley Crockett explored his Western influences like never before. it’s more the chameleon-like nature of his music that makes him unique. Some might complain Clovis really isn’t country enough. But you can’t say it doesn’t lean into certain textures with a level of authority that results in positive outcomes.

Only time will determine if Clovis is a career-defining record for Crockett. Surprise albums also tend to be better received since their best songs aren’t spoiled by early single releases. But what Clovis clearly is already is a turning point in Crockett’s career where he’s re-asserting who’s in control, taking grip of his own destiny, and proving to be not just one of the most prolific, but one of the most unpredictable and iconoclastic artists in country music.

8.4/10

Song Reviews:

1. The Hallelujah Trail

Precision is not really what this album is interested in as much as capturing a feeling. The plucky guitar part drives this song, with the tasteful, ethereal elements in the chorus really elevating the song’s enchantment. Like numerous songs on Clovis, Charley makes you first think they’re about a place. But it’s the character study where the heart of the song lies.

2. Down By Law

It’s no work of fiction that Charley Crockett has been pursued by law enforcement and his past throughout his career. That became patently obvious when he was turned away recently at the Canadian border and denied entry for a previous marijuana charge. Consider “Down By Law” a sort of dramatized version of that story, set in the San Juan mountains just north and west of Clovis.

By the way, word is when Crockett had to cancel his Canadian tour last minute, he went ahead and paid all his band and personnel for the entire tour anyway.

3. One Eyed Jack

Charley Crockett uses a face card as a philosophical study into the ulterior motives of characters. This is one of those Charley Crockett songs you immediately find favor with, and the tasteful horn accents and guitar work really make the track stand out. One of those guitar solos is Crockett himself, thumb picking away on his Danelectro like he does.

4. Image of a Woman

Clovis doesn’t have a lot of straight country songs, or steel guitar for that matter. “Image of a Woman” is an exception, with the story of a lonesome man roaming the streets of a city haunted by the memory of a woman being something you can feel in your bones, bolstered by the musical accompaniment.

5. Eagle and the Crow

This is a fun, hard-charging country Outlaw rock track that finds and groove and lays down in it. Crockett is confidently self-asserting in the song, but it’s really not about the message as much as the vibe. You can tell much of this album was cut completely live with Crockett’s backing band, The Blue Dirfters, with that in-room feel to many of the tracks, imbued with the ghosts of American music greats pacing the corridors of the Norman Petty Studios.

6. Top Hand

Even if you’re a hardcore Charley Crockett fan, you can be honest with yourself and admit he’s not some crooner with a one-in-a-million voice. It’s his evocation of character, his hustle, his showmanship that sells the song. Setting “Top Hand” in hushed tones, Crockett allows the audience to lose themselves in this song. It might not jump out at you, but it’s a song you sense over time might reveal itself as one of the album’s best.

7. Country Music

This is a great song finding Charley Crockett both exploring the idea of what country music is, and how it’s played a central role in his life. Many have tried to define country music over the years. Crockett says in the song, “Country’s a painting. This life’s a canvas in the color of places you’ve been.” There’s no better way to portray the geography and sense of place Crockett weaves into his music than this statement.

8. Last Night at the Alamo

This is an interesting song, though it’s hard to nail the inspiration for it. It could be able Waylon Jennings, who was definitely an inspiration for this record. Or it could be about Crockett himself, or someone else, or maybe a combination. Either way, it’s about someone who stands strong on their convictions, and is willing to go down in the fight standing on those convictions, just like the heroes from The Alamo.

9. Clovis

These are the kind of tracks that country albums, and albums of any kind need more of. The instrumental treatment lends to the cinematic approach Crockett tries to achieve with all of his albums, and confers a sense of place a conventional country music song never could.

10. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town

This song has been done countless times. But even Johnny Cash’s original came across as a little clunky with the tempo change and the delivery of the name “Bill.” It’s the story that has made it a classic. By turning it into a bluesy, groovy country soul song, Crockett finds the mood this song has been searching after for the better part of 70 years.

11. Albuquerque Lights

Anyone who’s ever driven I-40 from the west heading into the Q from the heights of the mesa and seen its lights unfurled out in front of you knows what a sight it is to behold. As much as the song is about I-40 and Albuquerque, Crockett also drops some characters in there for you to explore.

12. I Ain’t Riding Anymore

This is a fine rodeo tune, and one of the more country selections on the record, even if it finds Crockett falling back into songwriting that settles for easy rhymes as opposed to more complex thoughts.

13. Honky Tonk Philosophy

This is one of those songs you could hear being a classic hit for someone like Bobby Bare back in the day. The simple sentiments say more than the words themselves. “Clean white shirt” asserts the simplistic approach to live that often serves one’s purposes better than a life dogged with questions and indecision.

14. Waylon Rides Again

It might have pure coincidence that Charley Crockett co-wrote this song with Shooter and released it on an album where he basically pulled a Waylon and flipped off his record label and the rest of the industry. Regardless, it’s the prefect way to end the set, with a punchy, rock-driven attitude, and a melody that evolves into Waylon’s “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” at the end. Great song, with the over-driven vocals setting the attitude perfectly.

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