John Doe may be best known as the name assigned to unknown dead bodies at the city morgue. In other circles, John Doe is known as a member of the seminal L.A. punk rock band, X.
Meanwhile, The Sadies are best known by your modest scribe for teaming up with Neko Case on her records The Tiger has Spoken and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. They are credited for backing up (maybe composing?) “Hold On, Hold On” – Neko’s great track from Fox Confessor. They also did a nice remake of Loretta Lynn‘s “Rated X” with our favorite red head for Bloodshot Record’s compilation Making Singles, Drinking Doubles.
At first blush, the combination seems a bit odd. The Sadies may have had a place in the L.A. country scene – or at least that one that existed, oh, about 35 years ago. They are a little out place there these days. And while a certain kind of punk still exists in L.A. today, it would rather blink in Manhattan Beach condos than take a long look at the scene where John and his cohorts lived. Maybe John’s other side project, The Knitters, brought these two together, but for whatever reason it happened it all turned out well.
The record opens with Veronica Jane Doe sharing the mike with her beau on the classic “Stop the World (And Let Me Off)” made popular by Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings and Dwight Yoakam and wonderfully executed here. If you think this album is going to be a romp through the easy country standards, you quickly discover otherwise on the second track where John trades lines with Margaret Good in a wonderfully raw rendition of Roger Miller’s haunting “Husbands and Wives”.
It’s not all covers though. John teamed up with X front woman, Exene Cervenka, to pen “It Just Dawned on Me” which ups the tempo just a bit without sacrificing the true country flavor of the record. The brilliantly talented Kathleen Edwards sings on this duet and it is one of the standout tracks on the album. If you think we, or anybody else, had forgotten about The Sadies, they are responsible for adding the rollicking instrumental, “The Sudbury Nickel” and the more contemplative “Before I Wake.” The record is masterfully sequenced as it transitions seamlessly between covers and new material.
Before we go, we have to mention three more songs. First, it includes yet another cover of one our favorite Willie Nelson songs, “Nightlife.” This is not the best version we have heard, but this is a tune that always catches our fancy and it caught us here. There is also another childhood favorite, “Detroit City”, made famous in 1963 by Hendersonville’s second son, Bobby Bare. It’s hard to argue with the idea of Detroit making you homesick, or just plain sick. This song says it all.
We also need to nod at the Porter Wagoner classic, “The Cold Hard Facts of Life” – possibly the best cheating song of all time. Other candidates for that title might include the Gin Blossoms’ “Cheatin‘” with the great couplet, “can’t call it cheatin’/she reminds me of you.” However, “Cold Hard Facts” trumps that effort with the prominent inclusion of whiskey, knife play and jail time – can’t get much more country than that. While Porter made the song famous, the songwriter is Avondale Estate’s own Whispering Bill Anderson. If you’re curious about the original recording of this classic, the Atlanta connection, and a great album cover, check out the Atlanta Time Machine.
If the song selection and guest appearances aren’t enough, the straightforward production and one take feel of the recording adds to its authenticity. This really is a tribute to the kind of music that ruled the country charts a few decades ago (that would be the 60s). Though you probably will never see this album on CMT or hear it on Froggy, right now this is our candidate for best country record of the year.
by Gunter Grass. All are welcome.
