WILL BEELEY - HIGHWAYS & HEART ATTACKS
2019 - Tompkins Square
How is Will Beeley not a household name everywhere! The question is rhetorical. I know why he's not! This is only his third album in the best part of fifty years. The first, 'Gallivantin' was released in 1971 and there were only two hundred pressings of that, whilst the second, 'Passing dream' was released in 1979. I know very little about him other than the fact that for the last fourteen years he's been going from coast to coast in the U.S as a 'long haul truck driver.'
And now, at long last, we see the release of a third album, this one a new recording, which to my ears after just a few listens is sensational! It has already been added to my rapidly expanding list of 'Best of the year' releases and it's impossible to imagine it won't still be there at year's end, such is the extraordinary quality of his songwriting. The arrangements couldn't really be bettered and his fairly obviously aging voice contains a rawness and depth of character that despite the lack of vocal range lets the listener know he has lived a life! Not that his vocals are just raw; he has the warmth and powers of evocation that are reminiscent of artists such as Guy Clark, John Prine, J.J. Cale and even latter day Chip Taylor. His songs are no less expansive than the above named greats and whilst including a varied instrumentation nothing ever gets in the way or even challenges Will's vocals.
This album, released by Tompkins Square (in the modern day where would American folk music be without them; again rhetorical!), includes ten songs that are vaguely reminiscent of Guy Clark in the way the arrangements are not so much sparse as showing subtle changes in an instrumentation that never uses anything that doesn't add to the quality, similarly the tempos, whilst still retaining the listeners ear throughout.
Half of the songs were written after his second album and the other half are recent; the blending of the two collections proving there has been no lessening of his musical and lyrical abilities. The ten songs all have a relaxed feel, even though there is some variation in the tempo's and subject matter as well as some textural variety that lets the listener know this is not just an easy going 'twilight of life' recording, perhaps in a similar way to the late great J.J. Cale and I would think John Prine fans could easily appreciate this album along with its two recently re-released predecessors, as would most Guy Clark fans. His life worn vocals and lyrical abilities have the warm relaxed comfort and confidence of someone who has pretty much experienced the things he writes about; no great drama's just a life spent earning a living and absorbing and storing his experiences for when they may be useful. And useful they certainly have been on this album that just gets better and more revelatory with every listening session.
The album opens with guitar, keyboards and percussion on Been a drifter, an easy going mid tempo song that in some ways has the laid back feel of something J.J. Cale might have written and performed and includes some excellent guitar work. There are some beautiful electric guitar sounds on Jack Daniels, a slow meandering ballad with the worn textures of Will's vocal perfectly suited to this tale of adoration of Jack Daniels! A lovely warm accordion adds a relaxed, southern bar room feel to an excellent song. On U.S. 85 the guitar takes on a completely different, edgy, clashing sound that contrasts beautifully with the warmth and upbeat feel of the accordion on another excellent song. A lovely haunting fiddle with acoustic guitar supports Will's vocals on Singin' lullabies, a lovely warm song that really has the feel of latter day Guy Clark in just about everything contained in the song, whilst still very much retaining Will's own identity. Finally, on It didn't feel like Christmas (and it sure as hell ain't New Years yet) the keyboards, chiming guitar and percussion drive a song that rises and falls in texture as the song slowly takes on an experimental note adding another excellent string to the bow of this talented singer songwriter, with the song gradually changing completely in both tempo and texture.
I would suggest that Tompkins Square should get Will back into the studio to avoid the eventual passing on of this talented man with just three albums in his catalogue. It will seem strange to many but with each listening session his voice seems to me to take on even more of a Guy Clark feel. Who knows? Maybe his catalogue will build to Clark proportions in both quantity and quality. He's not too far off in the quality stakes.
https://www.tompkinssquare.com/beeley2.html
How is Will Beeley not a household name everywhere! The question is rhetorical. I know why he's not! This is only his third album in the best part of fifty years. The first, 'Gallivantin' was released in 1971 and there were only two hundred pressings of that, whilst the second, 'Passing dream' was released in 1979. I know very little about him other than the fact that for the last fourteen years he's been going from coast to coast in the U.S as a 'long haul truck driver.'
And now, at long last, we see the release of a third album, this one a new recording, which to my ears after just a few listens is sensational! It has already been added to my rapidly expanding list of 'Best of the year' releases and it's impossible to imagine it won't still be there at year's end, such is the extraordinary quality of his songwriting. The arrangements couldn't really be bettered and his fairly obviously aging voice contains a rawness and depth of character that despite the lack of vocal range lets the listener know he has lived a life! Not that his vocals are just raw; he has the warmth and powers of evocation that are reminiscent of artists such as Guy Clark, John Prine, J.J. Cale and even latter day Chip Taylor. His songs are no less expansive than the above named greats and whilst including a varied instrumentation nothing ever gets in the way or even challenges Will's vocals.
This album, released by Tompkins Square (in the modern day where would American folk music be without them; again rhetorical!), includes ten songs that are vaguely reminiscent of Guy Clark in the way the arrangements are not so much sparse as showing subtle changes in an instrumentation that never uses anything that doesn't add to the quality, similarly the tempos, whilst still retaining the listeners ear throughout.
Half of the songs were written after his second album and the other half are recent; the blending of the two collections proving there has been no lessening of his musical and lyrical abilities. The ten songs all have a relaxed feel, even though there is some variation in the tempo's and subject matter as well as some textural variety that lets the listener know this is not just an easy going 'twilight of life' recording, perhaps in a similar way to the late great J.J. Cale and I would think John Prine fans could easily appreciate this album along with its two recently re-released predecessors, as would most Guy Clark fans. His life worn vocals and lyrical abilities have the warm relaxed comfort and confidence of someone who has pretty much experienced the things he writes about; no great drama's just a life spent earning a living and absorbing and storing his experiences for when they may be useful. And useful they certainly have been on this album that just gets better and more revelatory with every listening session.
The album opens with guitar, keyboards and percussion on Been a drifter, an easy going mid tempo song that in some ways has the laid back feel of something J.J. Cale might have written and performed and includes some excellent guitar work. There are some beautiful electric guitar sounds on Jack Daniels, a slow meandering ballad with the worn textures of Will's vocal perfectly suited to this tale of adoration of Jack Daniels! A lovely warm accordion adds a relaxed, southern bar room feel to an excellent song. On U.S. 85 the guitar takes on a completely different, edgy, clashing sound that contrasts beautifully with the warmth and upbeat feel of the accordion on another excellent song. A lovely haunting fiddle with acoustic guitar supports Will's vocals on Singin' lullabies, a lovely warm song that really has the feel of latter day Guy Clark in just about everything contained in the song, whilst still very much retaining Will's own identity. Finally, on It didn't feel like Christmas (and it sure as hell ain't New Years yet) the keyboards, chiming guitar and percussion drive a song that rises and falls in texture as the song slowly takes on an experimental note adding another excellent string to the bow of this talented singer songwriter, with the song gradually changing completely in both tempo and texture.
I would suggest that Tompkins Square should get Will back into the studio to avoid the eventual passing on of this talented man with just three albums in his catalogue. It will seem strange to many but with each listening session his voice seems to me to take on even more of a Guy Clark feel. Who knows? Maybe his catalogue will build to Clark proportions in both quantity and quality. He's not too far off in the quality stakes.
https://www.tompkinssquare.com/beeley2.html