Customer Reviews

Country Love Songs

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Two friends of mine--one a Chicago native, the other a country singer/songwriter--turned me on to Robbie Fulks, and I've been grateful ever since. Fulks's tunes and pure, nasal High Lonesome tenor are rock-solid country, yet the lyrics to songs like "The Scrapple Song" and "She Took a Lot of Pills and Died," besides being cruelly, laugh-out-loud funny, come from a sensibility much closer to Elvis Costello's than Garth Brooks's. "Let's Live Together" thumbs its nose delightfully at the Christian Coalition, while "We'll Burn Together" is as gloriously excessive a honky-tonk weeper as you'd ever hope to find. There are very few geniuses in popular music, but in my opinion Robbie Fulks comes very close to that status.

I would have to say there aren't too many artist out there like Robbie Fulks and there aren't too many disc like his "Country Love Songs."

You will find yourself asking pondering questions like, "Is this country?," "What exactly is Fulks talking about in Nickels and Dimes?," and the ever popular and probing, "What were Fulks musical influences and what chemicals influenced Fulks music?" The answer my friend may be blowing in the wind, but I would posit that Fulks music (though he is based out of Chicago God forbid) reflects true Country roots more so than the majority of popular drivel churned out by Nashville these days.

You will find unique songs like "The Scrapple Song," that espouses the culinary delights hailing from Pennsylvania of all sorts of pig parts fried in a big baking pan. Granted it's not pork chops served off a front porch in Appalachia or Texas hill country, but it is a story to be told nonetheless. Curiously enough "The Scrapple Song," and other fare on Fulks "Country Love Songs," comes off as this curious bastard child of Bob Wills and AC/DC. Country with a kick of "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," if you can imagine such a hell spawn amalgam.

There are songs on this disc that immediately get into your mind and will find you singing along to that high lonesome wail upon second plays. Where Fulks truly makes his mark though are on the songs that are country through and through like "The Buck Stops Here," "Barely Human," and "Papa was a Steel Headed Man." Speaking of the album's closer, "Papa," it's Fulks answer to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach." There is a wonderfully apocalyptic moment when the song reduces itself to church pipe organ and Fulks rants rails and raves end of times, tent revival, hail and brimstone, gospel preacher style deconstructing the simple obstinateness of a father that was stubborn to the point of de-humanization. He could either be regarded as the meanest man on earth or a genius. It is a musical moment that is difficult to live down and luckily we don't have to since we have Fulks, "Country Love Songs," to listen to again and again.

Just short of a must listen, don't miss out on Fulks original and back to basics music.
--MMW

After having seen Mr. Fulks on Austin City Limits I immediately purchased his latest CD (the only one in stock), Let's Kill Saturday Night. It's an infectious recording blending country, folk, pop, and rock and roll. I liked it so much that I ordered his two other recordings, South Mouth (Bloodshot Records 1997) and Country Love Songs (Bloodshot Records 1996). Country Love Songs is the kind or recording you just can't get out of your head. The music is pleasant, simple country instrumentation with really sharp, storytelling lyrics. Though some of the songs are depressing (hey it is country), you want to hear and sing them over and over. I limited my exposure to country music to the classics like Hank and Johnny, until now. Check it out. South Mouth is also exceptional. Mr. Fulks has decidely moved a little further away from the traditional country sound on each recording, but remains a tour de force songwriter. I look forward to future releases and would love to see him perform live.

Robbie Fulks is a cynical, intellectual bastard, who knows his country. I respect him almost as much for his encylcopedic knowledge of the genre than for his own contributions. The songs here are tongue in cheek, full of heart break and with plenty of twang!

Fulks is a real find. This is the least self-concious of the so-called alternative coutry recordings I know. It may be the best country album since Sweetheart of the Rodeo or Gram Parsons. As sweet and palatable as anything by Hank, Hag, or Webb Pierce, and rocks like the Clash.

Robbie Fulks is a revelation. I cannot believe that such an authentic talent has flown under my radar for so long. I enjoy his rock album -- "Let's Kill Saturday Night" and his modern assortment -- "Couples in Trouble." But I still prefer his country music. While "South Mouth" and "13 Hillbilly Giants" are fine collections, this may be the strongest.

What ties it all together is the brilliant production, underscored by some extremely tasty pedal steel. Fulks is channeling Hank Sr, Buck, and Ray Price. Several of these songs sound vaguely like Dwight Yoakum, which ain't a bad thing. This is easily the most authentic country music recorded since, at least, the 60's. It is retro in a sense, but it's no mere imitation of an earlier style.

Full of highlights, the ones I keep turning up louder are the tear-jerker "The Buck Starts Here" and the quintessential cheatin' song "We'll Burn Together."

Just to let you know my perspective, I love: George Jones, Hank Sr, Jr, and III, Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, and Loretta Lynn. I have no use for Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Chesney, Reba McIntyre, Shania Twain, and Alabama. I wish I could tell you exactly what distinguishes genuine country from country-flavored pop, but rest assured that Fulks joins Cash and Jones and Hank in the "real thing" category.

Arguably, of the younger generation of singers, Robbie Fulks should have single handedly re-ignited country music with his new take on old music forms the way that Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers did 40 years ago. Somehow he got lost among the hat brigade. 'Country Love Songs' is his finest moment, full of wonderful songs and spontaneous performances which draw from the roots and branches of 50s/early 60s country (without being a homage); from burning duets to laugh-out-loud rockabilly humor like Steel Headed Man. They sound lived in. Fulks doesn't just write songs the old fashioned Hank Williams way, he sings them with Hank's conviction - and there's a canvas of humour and pathos and passion embedded in every groove. For starters, 'The Buck Starts Here' and 'Tears Only Run One Way' alone should have gilded his reputation.
Had Robbie Fulks released this record at that time, 40 years ago, it would be in every list of great country albums. How this immensely talented guy has slipped under the radar defies belief.
I own more than 12,000 recordings and 'Country Love Songs' (a bloody misleading title!) is one of the cherished few I keep at the door in case of fire.

We've had this album in our 200 cd changer in our coffeehouse for about a year now and we still tap the toes when it comes on. There is a good chance we are the only place in Wyoming playing this artist so we are quite fond of him. If you get annoyed by the stuff coming out of Nashville, this album will get you giggling and dancing in the seat of your old ford.

Well produced and un-selfconcious, Fulks plays like the old greats with a definite contemporary flavor that makes his music at once fresh & familiar. Song for song the album misses here and there, but overall I think he's a great talent and this album is a must-have for people who love music (and not only country).

One listen to this and all the dreary, syrupy laden schlock from Nashville should be banned for its inanity. Fulks does it all here-ballads, all-out stompers, bluegrass inflected ditties and Bob Wills influenced tunes. Mix that in with Fulks' sometimes cynical, sometimes funny, sometimes insightful lyrics and you have yourself the best country poet this side of Willie Nelson. The best tracks by far are "She Took a Lot of Pills and Died", "Rock Bottom, Pop. 1" and "She Loved All Kinds of Music Except Country". Great stuff for people who profess to hate country music.