Archive for the ‘Adam Carroll’ Category

Adam Carroll and Michael O’Connor Redux – Revisiting the Texas Record of the Year

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

I went a little overboard in my first post about this record back in January. But now with hindsight and many more listens I agree with everything I said in that post. Hard Times by Adam Carroll and Michael O’Connor is a quintessential Texas americana record. It stands up there with the best of the bunch. There are equal parts humor, sadness, and resignation on this record which deals with hard times in the Gulf Coast region of Texas.

“Billy Gibbons Beard” is one of the funny yet finely wrought songs on this record. Here’s a couple of lyrics”

“In the gulf coast honky-tonks they sweep the eyeballs off the floor”

“I wound on the bottle just like mom and dad had feared with a bar tab twice as long as Billy Gibbons beard”

“There’s a dusty Heisman Trophy sitting on the shelf. There’s a long gone run down hero in there talking to himself about the days he used to run that ball. There’s a band playing in the bar called Billy Gibbons Beard”

Buy the whole record here via Lone Star Music.

Billy Gibbons Beard

Bonus:

Bernadine

Adam and Michael performing Adam’s song “Errol’s Song”

SXSW Preview – Adam Carroll – “Live At Flipnotics”

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I’ve written a bunch about Adam Carroll. I’ve covered his solo records (here), a duo record with Michael O’Connor (here) and now a live from Flipnotics Cafe record.

To quote myself here’s what I originally wrote about the song “Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler” when it first appeared on Adam’s record Old Town Rock N Roll:

The song is about a loner who roams the land getting into and out of trouble, both mortal and of the soul. With lines like “drivin’ down the west coast highway”, “songs out the window was all he had to lose” (can’t you just picture the songs floating out the window?), “cuttin’ heads on the chitlin’ circuit”, and “snorting cocaine off a buck knife” Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler is as timeless as the Oklahoma dust bowl and the howling winds of West Texas.

I think that pretty much nails it, except to say that this live record features production and playing by Scrappy Jud Newcomb and along with the older songs Adam throws in a couple of new ones. If you are an Adam Carroll completist like myself you’ll want to buy this one (here). Catch Adam Carroll at Flipnotics on 9pm on Friday night and then stay for friend and Austin legend Beaver Nelson (or go a little early to see Scrappy Jud Newcomb).

Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffle

Adam Carroll with Scrappy Jud Newcomb