Customer Reviews

Put the O Back in Country

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Hank Williams, Jr. had the unheralded task of trying to make it as a country singer in his legendary father's shadow. Now, Shooter Jennings is taking on a similar task. No matter how good this guy is, he'll probably go to his grave being known as "Waylon's Boy" or get hassled by phrases like, "If it weren't for his daddy, he'd be just another loser." Well, much like Hank, Jr., Shooter Jennings self-titled debut attempts to come out of the shadows by way of Southern rock and a little hillbilly hash.

The album is actually very good. The title song shakes things up by firmly shaking a fist at modern country music. This is followed by some twangy Southern rock in the form of "Fourth of July," "Lonesome Blues," "Solid Country Gold" and "Busted In Baylor County."

The album's pace slows down a little bit with "Sweet Savannah." It almost sounds like Kid Rock if he'd grown up in Dothan, AL instead of near Detroit, MI. The rest of the album picks up speed, especially "Daddy's Farm," which may be a little tough to swallow for the kids who grew up on Garth, Shania, and Mr. and Mrs. Faith Hill.

The only moderate miscue is "The Letter." It just doesn't fit the mood of this album overall. It kills the steam built up by the songs that precede it, and makes the recovery effort, lead by the very Southern rocky "Southern Comfort," very difficult.

Hank, Jr. makes a cameo on Shooter's answering machine, and the Possum contributes a little flair early in the album. It feels more like Southern rock than actual country, but it's a whole lot better than what's being passed off as country these days. Jennings is more of an outlaw than Big & Rich could ever hope to be. Where those guys come off as "polished rebel," Jennings seems like the real deal.

Give this guy a chance. Don't write him off immediately because of his genetics. I don't know how far his music wil take him, but one thing is for sure, he's got a tough, uphill climb from here.

Put the O Back in Country is a great debut album from Shooter Jennings that sounds nothing like anything that has come out of Nashville in recent years. It's rough and unpolished and at will probably never be played on the radio. It is just the kind of album that country music has been missing for a long time.

Shooter may be the guy to put life back into the outlaw movement started many years ago by the likes of Johnny Cash and, of course, Waylon. And while there will no doubt be comparisons between Shooter and his father, he does not sound like and doesn't try to sound like his father. But like his predecessors, his music is against the grain and raw and will hopefully have the same kind of lasting effect on the music industry.

As far as the cd, the weakest song, by far, is the title track, with my favorites being 4th of July, which sounds a lot like early Steve Earle, Manifesto #1 and Southern Comfort. All of the songs are solid and are well worth the money, which is a rare accomplishment for a country artist these days.

It's the music that counts, usn't it? At least Shooter credits Carlene Carter for the whole "Put the whatever back in the somethingorother" concept. I don't like the title and think the title song is the weakest one on the CD and wish he had just called it "Shooter Jennings" and put in his gorgeous take on Charlie Robison's "Sunset Blvd." instead. Besides that, this is my absolutely favorite album of 2005. It's been in my car stereo since the label sent me a promo in Dec. and it's just made for cranking while you move it down the highway. This album kinda grew on me in layers. I already loved "Fourth of July" and "Busted in Baylor County" since Shooter first posted them on his website in 2003. "Steady at the Wheel," "Daddy's Farm" and "Manifesto" grabbed me the first time I heard them and I still play them practically every driving day. "Lonesome Blues," "Solid Country Gold" and "The Letter" took longer to grow on me, but they did. I still haven't decided whether I like this version of "Southern Comfort" better than the one he did on "Stargunn Live" in 2002. "Sweet Savannah" took the longest to grow on me because I flat didn't like the older version on his Stargunn album in 2001. And that hidden cut - don't all of us gals dream about having a man write something like that for us? This is an amazing debut from an artist who wrote almost the entire album, cut it on his own dime and got it released by a major label just as he did it. How many of this year's crop of newcomers could do that?

It's a little disheartening to read some of the reviews posted for this disc. It's a downer that I have to start this review with that sentence. In these flatlands I call home, we must've forgotten labels and categories and stereotypes long ago. It's music, man ... it's just music. When it's good, there's nothing better. And this disc is good. It ebbs and flows, it rocks and rolls. The guy's dad has nothing to do with it ... this disc doesn't have that sound, that voice, or that upbeat weariness. That said, the guy's dad has everything to do with it ... this disc has that attitude, that humor, and that spirit. When it's all said and done, spirit makes any album. Buy this disc and enjoy it front to back ... regardless of what it's called. It's well worth the money.

I really like this CD,this is country rock at its best,Shooter doesnt try to imitate his famous dad Waylons'voice or mannerisms but you can feel the drive and energy that Waylon did, Shooters own style adds to this great CD,It reminded me alot of The Eagles music,and of Lynrd Skynrd and early Hank Jr. You can feel that Shooter has lived alot of what he sings about, and thats what makes him a great Singer! Get this Outlaw Country Rocker!!

This guy rocked it out. him and his band hung out afterward and they were what every band should be, normal people. Great album!

The album title is fitting, although the title-song is probably the weakest track on Shooter's album: He doesn't have to claim to step in the footprints of his father (or those of Haggard, Cash and Jones)and a mixed-in audience on a studio track has always something phony about it. Nevertheless Shooter's well on track with other great country artists (e.g. Hank III., Dale Watson, Wayne Hancock) that show disapprovement of today's "country" music industry. Let's hope that artists like Shooter succeede over today's country-radio one day. They well deserve it. This album has a whole lot more country-soul than the last McGraw, Chesney, Jackson, Keith etc. alltogether.

Shooter Jennings definitely lives and works under a thundercloud, being the sole offspring of Jennings and Colter. But, as other reviewers have noted, he is young, and deserves the chance to "find his pathway"...just as his parents did.
No, he is not the gifted singer that either of his parents were. Waylon was the quintessential "outlaw" simply for the sole fact that he told the A&R people to kiss off and he recorded with his own chosen producers, co-produced himself, and (holy heck!) used his road-band in recording sessions. Believe it or not, THAT was pretty rebellious in the world of Conwat Twitty and Olivia Newton-John "Nashville" in the early and mid-seventies. Waylon was a troubador and one of the best interpreters of "song" in history. Moreover, Waylon chose his OWN material, and anyone who stood in the way of such choices was toast.

But really, it was Shooter's mother who burst through the glass-ceiling even before the rest. Jessi Colter was one of the biggest-selling artists--male or female--in country music for a three/four year stretch in the mid-70s, at the height of the "outlaw" craze. In fact, Jessi outsold Waylon for a few years, after her chart-topper "I'm Not Lisa" and her follow-up crossover hits "What's Happened 2 Blue Eyes" and "You Ain't Never Been Loved." Colter was truly "country" because she wrote ALL of her songs and because she wrote from wherever she happened to be living, or experiencing. True "country" music is about the "soul" and Colter had those bases covered in spades. Like Waylon, she broke through the Nashville bondage with Willie and called her own shots. That gal sold several million albums in a three-year stretch and reporters used to ask Waylon if he was "jealous" of his wife's success. But, Waylon always stood by his woman, and she stood by him. When she gave birth to Shooter in 1978, she put her own extraordinary career on hold to be a mother and support system for Waylon, who was beginning to suffer the effects of substance abuse.

This brings us, many years ahead, to Shooter. Yes, he was a wild teen and began his career by being an outlaw to his "outlaw" parents--fronting a heavy metal rock band in LA! But after his father's tragic death (a loss for the whole world of country music), he began to grow and change like any youthful artist. He rediscovered his roots, and is still in the process of re-discovering them. This album is genuine and experimental, sincere and raucous. Shooter needs to develop his vocal stylism--his father and mother were two of the most outstanding vocalists in "country"--but he is on his way. His songwriting needs some tweaking here and there. "Fourth of July" and the title track are promising, but he is still finding a way to strike the balance that led Waylon to choose songs like "R U Ready 4 the Country" and Jessi to write songs like "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and "Who Walks Thru Your Memory, Billy Joe?"

Shooter is off to a great start. The album is trying to find its identity, but what a great privilege to actually watch a new artist FIND such an identity. Not one track on this album is unworthy and, at his best, Shooter transcends the past and reaches levels where he becomes his own artist, with his own message. I, for one, believe him. Also, I cannot imagine that this child of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter--two of the biggest selling, most talented artists and pioneers of 70s REAL country--could produce anything less than a winner who WILL FIND HIS WAY. I believe that Shooter has the potential to carry on his own tradition. This album gives me strong hope. It's good. It's fun. It's well-produced. It's a testimony to an artist-in-progress. I give Shooter a B+ for attitude and effort that, quite frankly, makes me listen to this CD over and over again. Isn't THAT the test of good music? Well, he passed. And his grades will be even better on his next project. Wait and see.

I don't care if you call it country, southern, blues, or rock when it's good you feel it. Shooter's passion is clear and sometimes almost unmanageable, which is a beautiful thing in today's world of canned sound.

After baking in the sun all day at Willie's Picnic on the 4th and listening to his mother mention his name I got this CD. I was lucky enough to move to Austin in the early 70's as my favorite musical worlds melded. Shooter's record could have come out back then and he would have held his home with the best of them. The record is loaded with great cuts and even though I don't get the macho bravado of "Daddy's Farm" man it sounds good. As do all the cuts. I think it is a good blend of slow, quiet songs and loud, hard, country hybrid rock. Heck, even the cameos were a kick to me. Had Shooter graced the stage on the 4th he would have fit in well. Buy this record. It conveys the feel of a movement that may have laid dormant for a few years but that now (with this release among others) is safe and active again. Shooter's Daddy would've been proud.