Hancock & Gilmore & Ely

This is nothing compared to recent California evenings, but I spent a couple of hours with The Flatlanders at a makeshift stage adjacent to a Harley-Davidson conglomerate the other night south of Knoxville. It was the fair town of Maryville, and when I stopped at a convenience store to ask directions to the venue called The Shed, a puzzled look overcame the clerk. I then used the H-D language and was immediately given foolproof directions, couple of miles west. Sheepishly I endured the looks of the parking volunteers as I guided my now unwieldy-seeming Ford Taurus into a lot not too far from the “stage”–but certainly less close than the dozens of designated bike spots. A good number of them were already filled, though only a handful of lawn chairs were visible in the concert area, 20 minutes before opening act. Jason Eady (sp?) did an estimable job of it solo acoustic, though there were occasional Vrooms and so on stage left and stage right which made his lyrics undecipherable for brief stretches.

I was familiar with only one Flatlanders album–but then again there aren’t that many considering these guys first released one in 1972 and have of course made fine individual careers each. Indeed it was the 40th anniversary tour, quite a few techs and a merch gal and a huge bus along for the ride. I suppose most of the compositions were by Butch Hancock, though I’ve always loved how they trade off lead vocals and so on. The main set ended with a fuzzed-up cover of the Mississippi Sheiks’ classic “Sitting on Top of the World,” while the second and final encore was a Robert Earl Keen marathon ballad.

I had been looking for the record where Butch included Lu’s “Sharp Cutting Wings” for years, and there it was at the merch table, re-released from its 1985 debut on Rainlight Records. We chatted, and he told me she had mailed him the demos of all the songs which became the record “‘Kind Hearted Woman’.” An awkward silence ensued for a couple of seconds, upon which he said “Is that the name of it?” I politely said it was Happy Woman blues, and we had a chuckle. Truth is, I had played that one song at set break in my Taurus, and it seemed OK but not very subtle in vocal or instrumentation. Still, a treat to find. The CD is called Yella Rose, and it is duets credited to both Butch Hancock and Marce Lacoutre (?).

I had brought along the Flatlanders live in Australia from 1990 liner notes, and J D Gilmore said he didn’t even have a copy of it. They do “Howlin’ at Midnight” on that.

Didn’t get to talk to JOe Ely, but saw him in Houston last summer at a fest with Lu; she sang with him for one song then.

I avoided the topic of their one-off bill with Lu in Santa Fe a few years ago, as they went well past their allotted time then!