Customer Reviews

Scuffletown

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

 

 

Eric Taylor obviously has faith in life's dichotomies. When the well comes in in Happy Endings, "Mother bought a house in Bangor, Maine and Carl hit the road again." In All the Way to Heaven, a shooting is superimposed over Charlie Rich's soulful singing in a picture he knows will take you all the way there. And then there's Bread and Wine, Taylor's wry glance at the Last Supper, in which "He wants forgiveness for you all," a counterpoint to Game is Gone and "You need forgivin', not mine." Lest you begin to believe that Taylor holds no hope for a fragmented world, he ties up all the loose ends in Townes Van Zandt's Nothin': "Brother our troubles are locked in each other's arms." It's a beautifully orchestrated work, as subtle and as spare as a confidently concieved work of art can be. There's humor in Chicken Pie and a sad beauty in Blue Piano and yet another Townes song, Where I Lead Me. In Delia/Bad News, he takes this traditional blues lament a few more steps down the road with some words of his own. And there's retribution and redemption and ecstasy and loneliness in these eleven songs, too. Scuffletown is good. Real good. Taylor will take you all the way home as he keeps tyin' up those loose ends.

Eric Taylor is a songwriting master whose releases have never failed to live up to my expectations -- and he just keeps getting better and better at what he does. And what he does is create some of the most eloquent, beautiful and poetic images ever to come from a songwriter's pen. The first track pulls the listener into the world of Taylor's imagery and doesn't let go. Taylor's voice mesmerizes, and the arrangements are all just what they should be -- they never get in the way of the song. Denice Franke, a long-time Taylor friend and musical contributor (and a fine singer-songwriter in her own right) adds her incredible voice to several tunes, shining in her own way at just the right moments -- and all of the musicianship is excellent, showcased by a crystal-clear, unmuddied recording. It's great to see Taylor released by a nationally-distributed, respected label with this new cd -- now the rest of the country will have a better chance to learn what we've known in Texas for years -- this man is a treasure. There's a movement currently underway in Texas to fill the long-vacant position of Poet Laureat -- here's the man.

Having seen at least two reviewers completely fail to "get" this album, I thought a brief defence of Scuffletown would be in order. It is unabashedly, unfailingly bleak - no question about that. If you want frequent changes of pace and mood, look elsewhere. But this is great, intense, absorbing songwriting that is proud to be stretching and wilfully introspective. It is a little wearying over the space of a whole album (and when performing live Eric may well relate how one much big-name singer-songwriter in this genre came up to him and said, "I love your songs, but the trouble is you've got no hope) - but nothing says you have to digest it all at one sitting. There is a definite synergy with Townes van Zandt, but Eric's melodies are much darker, and his lyrics more literary; liking van Zandt doesn't guarantee you'll like Eric Taylor, or vice versa. If I have a criticism, it's that the production, already fairly sparse, could have been even simpler: Eric is a wonderful guitarist, and more use of the plain combination of his gruff, deep vocals and moody guitar-picking would have made this an even finer achievement.

I wonder how many of you like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Mickey Newbury and many other Texans songwriters and never heard of Eric Taylor. Without any exageration he stands very tall in this same league, I would say in the top five of songwriters coming from Texas. And that's a lot to say for a state that has hundred of great songwriters. His music is near perfect and you can hardly find in all his recordings one song that is not great. Just that. OK, sto reading and buy the cd. You wont believe your ears. This is one of the best 2001 cd's.

I've been a huge fan of Eric's for years and "Scuffletown" has me lighting the candles around his shrine. Brillant songwriter. Bob Dylan, who? ET's lyrics are never predictable. Beautiful vocals. Perfect album. It's only March, but this album will undoubtedly go down as one of my top 5 favorites of 2001. Buy it. Buy many, many, many copies.

This is like very good single malt scotch. 'Scuffletown' is one of those albums where you'll quickly sample every track and then put it back in the case...Then early one morning you'll take it out, put on your headphones and 'gasp' at what an artful presentation this is. No, these aren't 'toe tappers', but if you give it a chance, you'll find the beauty of a great impressionist painting.

This album is produced by the song writer; the same hands that skillfully accompany the poetry, later mixed the tracks into a beautiful and complicated brew. This is one of those albums that you'll listen to many times because you'll keep finding new things in it.

'Scuffletown' is one of my favorite albums of all time. IF you're willing to invest a little effort, you'll be very pleased.

If Jim Morrison married Bob Dylan and they had a son who was into country music he would sound like Eric Taylor. Phrasing and lyrics are phenominal! Very dark music with a great deal of social comment through observation of society's underside - Very unconventional, and refreshing, for country music. Excellent guitar work with very tasteful acompanyment.

eric taylor has a hypnotic singing and guitar style. especially on the incredible song, Happy Ending. He tends to drop the last word on certain lines, but this forces you to read the words. great effort that should propel him out of Texas.

When the storyteller Harry Chapin died, I lost interest in buying and listening to most music. Scuffletown has changed all that. Eric Taylor has rekindled a love for listening to a good story performed by a gifted entertainer. A CD for those who have loved and lost, lived and died, laughed and cried. Thanks you Eric.

Based on this album, I'd have to say that rumors of Eric Taylor's similarity to Townes Van Zandt are greatly exaggerated. I bought the album on the strength of Lyle Lovett's version of one of Taylor's songs, and hearing Taylor's live performance of the Van Zandt tune, "Where I Lead Me," on A Prairie Home Companion.

Now that I have the album, I see that Van Zandt's is the strongest song on it and Lovett seems a better interpreter of Taylor's work than Taylor is; moreover, Taylor's live performance of "Where I Lead Me" was much better than the version he records here -- perhaps not surprising, since Taylor has been performing that song in his live shows for years.

I don't want to criticize this album. I like musicians of the kind Taylor works to be; the ones who are strong writers and also keen enough as performers to interpret their own work in imaginative ways. But Taylor is not quite that keen. I have a suspicion this album would be much better if he had brought in someone else to produce it. As writer, producer, and primary performer, Taylor has given his material a homogeneity it might have avoided by the infusion of another perspective. As it is, the album reminds me of Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad": a good idea and one or two very good songs, largely spoiled by too much of the same (good-in-itself) thing.