Customer Reviews

Live at the Austin Outhouse

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Blaze was gunned down in a drunken argument over 10 years ago on the porch of a friend in South Austin. Just a few weeks before his untimely death, Blaze had recorded a gem of a show at the Austin Outhouse, a hole in the wall club that has gone the way of Blaze.

As best as I've been able to determine, there's not much out there of Blaze's work, at least his own recordings of his songs, so the surfacing of this collection is a rare thing. The remastering is true to Blaze's sparse, haunting sound. It sounds like the producers eliminated some of the noise you'd naturally get on a low fi recording, but beyond that you just get the sense that you're sitting about 10 feet away from Blaze in a dark honky tonk.

The album is almost uniformly solid. Just about the only thing that doesn't work is some of Blaze's patter between songs, but it's easy to ignore. In return he delivers some fine songs,including "Oh Darlin'," "Faded Loves and Memories," and "If I Could Only Fly," and three gems--"Clay Pigeons," "Picture Cards Can't Picture You," and "Christian Lady Talkin' On a Bus." In these last songs Blaze delivers stark melodies that grab the listener immediately. Like the finest songwriters, Blaze saw drama in simple situations that most would overlook, and he had the lyrical skill to turn those moments into memorable vignettes. Blaze also had a gift for a writing single lines that float through your mind long after the song has passed.

For a man that slept on the streets and in dumpsters, had to borrow a guitar for his performances, and worked hardest at dodging the cops, Blaze was a remarkably skilled writer, subtle in his use of meter, rhyme and metaphor. He was homeless, suffered from depression, and in his final years was mostly drunk. Listening to this recording, one gets the sense that Blaze's haphazard live performances were opportunities for him to take the listener on an introspective walk through his dark world, shining a light briefly with his songs on moments that elude most of us who are busy getting somewhere.

This is a great tribute to an artist who had mostly been known by legend, rather than his songs. The guys at Lost Art Records deserve thanks for pulling this one out of the vault and getting it on CD. It's a shame we've had to wait so long. It's also nice to see on the back of the CD that the proceeds are going to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless.

Blaze Foley was much more than Townes Van Zandt's drinking buddy. Much more than the Austin vagrant who slept under pool tables and borrowed guitars for gigs. The fact that the man inspired Lucinda Williams' DRUNKEN ANGEL and Townes' BLAZE'S BLUES should be reason enough to check him out. He wasn't dubbed "The Duct Tape Messiah" for nothing.

If you bought Merle Haggard's latest, IF I COULD ONLY FLY, you've already had an introduction to this Austin legend. Willie and Merle had a hit with it years ago. Haggard called the tune one of the best country songs he'd ever heard (or something to that effect). But IF I COULD ONLY FLY was just the tip of the iceberg.

Recorded live a few weeks before his untimely end (he was gunned down defending a friend's welfare check) this is a stark, beautiful testament of a master songwriter. SMALL TOWN HERO and OOH LOVE will tear your heart out as will FLY. OFFICER NORRIS & SLOW BOAT TO CHINA are a lot of fun, but the blood & guts honesty behind them sets them apart from your standard novelty fare. In short, there is not one bad song on this disc. Though his deep, plaintive voice may hit a few flat notes, it cuts right through you. Stark as the record is, the odd assortment of harmonica & piano he has backing him up on a couple of tunes enhances but never overwhelms.

There's also an intimacy to this record, so often missing from many "live" albums. You really get the feeling you've stumbled into this dive on a monday night and caught the man in the act.

In an age of the sort of over-produced/super-star/poser country that gets shoved into our faces, it's nice to hear something genuine for a change. He's not only a must for TVZ/Lucinda Williams fans, but also for those who've caught that oh-so-fashionable "Alt'Country" wave. This guy's the real deal.

What you have here's a resonant voice, some damn great songs, in a loose devil may care setting. You are not likely to hear a record this priceless till they wrangle Blaze's other mastertapes from the FBI.

This is my first Amazon.com review and will probably be my last because music for me is something very personal. With that said, this is the best album I own out of hundreds and I would have done anything to have been there for this amazing live performance.

This is an incredible album. It is very, very sad that this is the only available recording by this man. I don't think I've ever heard any music that was more personal and more real.

Both this album and his newly release album Oval Room are available from Lost Art Records...www.LostArtRecords.com...

not the master that townes van zandt was, but if i was looking to award silver i can't think of many better. on par with the best of guy clark, steve earle, etc. second that nod for this and the companion cd and also, check out the studio/country album blaze recorded shortly before this live recording the masters were destroyed but a copy of a copy of a board recording was recently found, lovingly restored and finally released 10.05.

BLAZE FOLEY WAS A NAME BOUNDED AROUND BY FELLOW TEXAS SONGWRITERS,PARTICULARLY TOWNES AND REX BELL--THIS CD RECORDED LIVE AT A SMALL BAR IN AUSTIN,IS AN EXPERIENCE--YOU EITHER LOVE IT,OR WELL--ITS YOUR LOSS.
THE SIMPLE PERFORMANCE OF SUCH DIVERSE SONGS AS "IF I COULD ONLY FLY","CLAY PIGEONS","ELECTION DAY" ARE PURE JOY.
A DVD DOCUMENTARY ON BLAZE IS AWAITING RELEASE.
IF YOU ENJOY TOWNES,JOHN PRINE,OR JUST GOOD SIT BACK,POP A TOP MUSIC, THIS ONE IS FOR YOU.

If you are looking at this review then DO NOT PASS THIS ALBUM UP! This guy is one of the greatest of all time. You can hear some of his music on mySpace if you want to check him out. His songs will make you laugh and cry. Why are all the great ones dead?

Where to start? He is funny, odd, likable, a great finger picker (travis picking style). His voice is deep and resonant. The songs on this album are deep, funny, moving, melodic. Since i ordered this i have listened to it more than any other album.

I even learned a townes van zandt song called blaze's blues in tribute to this remarkable songwriter.

Mearle Haggard covered 'if i could only fly' and said it was the best country music song he had heard in 15 years. I agree.

I cannot recommend this album enough.

peace...

K

I first heard of Blaze as the writer of Merle Haggard's "If I could only fly". Hag did the song live frequently for years (long before his 2001 version on the CD of the same title). The other song of Blaze's I had heard was "Clay Pigeons" by John Prine. The thing that amazes me most about this CD is how perfect a few of these songs are (despite the fact that they were recorded live in a tiny club). "Clay Pigeons", "If I could only fly", "Our little town", and "picture cards can't picture you" couldn't have been done better. These are great, deep songs that are better than almost anything that was released commercially then (or since). His singing is strong, and he plays a mean guitar. When I think of all of the lightweight, marginally talented "artists" that have hit big since Blaze's time, it makes you wonder how many great talents we never hear. It's a shame that he had to fall so far, and that his life had to end so early. This was a very talented man, and I'm glad that his music will be remembered and heard from the recordings that the folks at "Lost Art" have made available to us.