This weeks Roots CDs reviewed
WILLY VLAUTIN
A Jockey's Christmas
El Cortez***
Willy Vlautin is better known as the front man of Richmond Fontaine. Or maybe not. His parallel career as a novelist has taken off, and this little oddity, running in at just over 30 minutes, manages to bridge the gap between the two. This is the story of a alcoholic loser jockey called JD and his trials and tribulations, which climax with an unlikely (from this writer anyway) happy ending. But before the joy there is plenty to feel bad about, though, as ever, Vlautin cushions the blows with dark humour. The story is told in "seven pieces", with atmospheric background sounds by Vlautin and RF pedal steel player Paul Brainard, plus two songs about racing at the close. Vlautin is a strong storyteller - it's easy to close your eyes and imagine this grim world - and A Jockey's Christmasis a very good story, even if the season has passed. www.willyvlautin.com JOE BREEN
MERLE HAGGARD
Live from Austin,
Tx New West***
This is a serious throwback, but the 30-odd years sit lightly on this latest live collection from the vaults of
Austin City Limits. As producer Terry Lickona says in the liner notes, Merle Haggard in 1978 was on top of his game, as confident and celebrated as he would ever be, backed by his top-notch Bakersfield band, The Strangers, and singing like a dream. Haggard was a child of the Dustbowl (his parents moved to California from Oklahoma), and his early years were chaotic and often criminal. But he cleaned up to become one of the great country heroes and a figurehead for the American "silent majority", a tag he never encouraged. In fact, as this album shows, Haggard empathised with working people, not those who sought to manipulate them. So no Okie from Muskogee but plenty of Workin' Man Blues. Incidentally, Haggard is back playing after an operation for lung cancer.
www.merlehaggard.com
JOE BREEN
Download tracks: Workin' Man Blues, Sing Me Back Home
