A Treasure of the Real South and West

by Neil Crabtree

“Tom Russell is Johnny Cash, Jim Harrison, and Charles Bukowski
rolled into one. I feel a great affinity with Tom Russell’s songs,
for he is writing out of the wounded heart of America.”
–Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Poet

A friend turned me on to Tom Russell and gave me this incredible CD from 2007, which is still every bit as relevant today. Tom Russell writes songs in the tradition of “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “Streets of Laredo,” “El Paso,” and “They Call The Wind Mariah,” Western songs loved by Texas musicians for years. Look at this line-up of his songs written with and performed by some of the greats:

“Veterans Day” – Johnny Cash
“Gallo del Cielo” – Joe Ely
“The Outcast” – Dave Van Ronk
“Blue Wing” – Dave Alvin
“Acres of Corn” – Iris DeMent
“Manzanar” – Laurie Lewis
“Saint Olav’s Gate” – Doug Sahm
“Outbound Plane” – Suzy Bogguss
“Haley’s Comet” – Texas Tornados
“Canadian Whiskey” – Nanci Griffith and Ian Tyson
“Navajo Rug” – Jerry Jeff Walker
“The Sky Above and the Mud Below” – Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
“Stealing Electricity” – Lawrence Ferlinghetti
“Walking on the Moon” – Eliza Gilkyson
“The Cuban Sandwich” – Barrance Whitfield
Then ending with three new compositions, including “Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall?” as performed on the The Late Show with David Letterman:

Who’s gonna build your wall, boys?
Who’s gonna mow your lawn?
Who’s gonna cook your Mexican food when your Mexican maid is gone?
Who’s gonna wax the floors tonight down at the local mall?
Who’s gonna wipe your baby’s face?
Who’s gonna build your wall?

Each song tells its own story, of displacement, and distorted emotion, of love and loss and the difficulty of fitting into an America that’s gone astray.

“Veteran’s Day,” for example, sings of a veteran who is MIA, last seen running after his MamaSan in the streets of Saigon, bruises up and down his arms.

“Gallo del Cielo” is the story of a once-famous fighting cock stolen from the pueblo so the villager can make enough money to buy his family a home.

Dave Van Ronk is a real poet from the post-Beatnik days when Tom Russell or Rambling Jack Elliot or Bob Dylan might be found sleeping on the floor or sofa of his Greenwich Village apartment.

“Blue Wing” tells of a drunken Eskimo trying to stay out of jail south of Alaska.

“Manzanar” is about a Japanese family at the start of World War II whose property is seized and they are banished to the internment camp at Manzanar, California.

“Haley’s Comet” sings about the last days of Bill Haley, of Bill Haley and The Comets, dying from drink in a cheap hotel in Texas.

And look at the list of performers. In the midst of a big comeback, Joe Ely passed away recently. Johnny Cash and Nanci Griffith are also legends taken from us too soon. Doug Sahm put Texas rock’n’roll on the map during the American Bandstand days. Dave Alvin is once again coming on strong. Iris DeMent we remember singing with the late John Prine on “In Spite of Ourselves.” The Texas Tornados have played every venue in Texas and Oklahoma. Jerry Jeff Walker gave us “Mister Bojangles.” Ian Tyson is a beloved Canadian cowboy who wrote and performed “Someday Soon” as Ian and Sylvia, a song Stephen Stills brought to Judy Collins that launched her career.

“Saint Olav’s Gate” and “Outbound Plane” are love songs set at the end of the relationships.

These songs all tell the story of Western America from the point of view of a man who lives in El Paso and watches and writes and sings his heart out.

Visit his website to buy his recordings and memorabilia.

You can also purchase his original artwork, a kind of Western Primitive with Native American style that captures in colors and shapes an intensely personal, and universal, vision. This art also fittingly adorns the CD digipack.