Redux Nation

New Then, New Again

originally published February 8, 2006

ALABAMA

Livin’ Lovin’ Rockin’ Rollin’: The 25th Anniversary Collection

RCA/ Legacy

Much ‘80s country music has since been ranked in the files of offensive smelling cheese, something that emanates from overhead speakers while you’re shopping for groceries or browsing at the liquor store. The omnipresent foursome of good ol’ boys called Alabama, though, should be considered an exception, as they’ve amassed one of the genre’s most enduring and emulated back catalogs. A three-disc box set released to commemorate the band’s 25th anniversary with RCA, Livin’ Lovin’ Rockin’ Rollin’ collects many of their career highlights and reinforces how they’ve balanced the allegiance of both church-going conservatives and the longhaired contingent that boosted the band through its early days.

Over the years, bandmembers Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, Jeff Cook and Mark Herndon fulfilled many requirements for the Nashville industry. On “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” and “Forty Hour Week,” they were the country equivalent of Springsteen. “Tennessee River” and “Mountain Music” owed much to muscular Southern rockers like the Charlie Daniels Band and with sappy, overindulgent love songs like “Feels So Right” they were, unfortunately, the honky-tonk Hall & Oates.

The band that Alabama resembled the most, though (at least in terms of musical scope), was the Eagles. They, too, were an ex-bar band that went on to record pristine studio singles injected with enough everyman-isms that they could accompany a public service ad celebrating family values just as easily as they could a cold-filtered beer commercial.

The set’s first disc compiles the band’s most familiar and, in some cases, over-familiar hits; the second mostly covers those aforementioned pristine ballads; the third focuses mainly on latter-day singles. From the Skynyrd pride of “My Home’s In Alabama” to the yuppie-condemning “When It All Goes South,” there’s actually a wealth of detailed Southern songcraft beneath those big drums and clean gloss.

Alabama crossed over when country was in search of a slicker image, but its subject matter had more in common with the basic song structure and proud ideals that country’s old guard had set down long before. Livin’ Lovin’ Rockin’ Rollin’ documents this and also makes apparent that few major label bands have maintained such a consistent, comfortable medium between country, rock and pop.

JIM CROCE

Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live

Shout Factory

The live Have You Heard, a revisiting of the 2003 DVD of the same name, compiles several of Jim Croce’s live television appearances from such shows as Britain’s “Old Grey Whistle Test.” As its liner notes state, this is the closest thing possible to a proper Croce live album, as the singer-songwriter died in a 1973 plane crash just as he was becoming a household name. Given that, the collection flows commendably well, capturing Croce’s humorous nature and his keen eye for human detail.

Part of the album’s charm is that it also captures some of Croce’s great pre-song introductions, like those that preface “Roller Derby Queen” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” from which we learn the true story behind the man that Croce claimed was “meaner than a junkyard dog,” but was actually a disgruntled infantryman who went AWOL from his regiment.

Many of these acoustic performances also reinforce how strong the musical chemistry between Croce and lead guitarist Maury Muehleisen was. On the firecracker trucker’s lament “Speedball Tucker,” they bounce bent licks off one another like clockwork, while softer ballads like “Lover’s Cross” remind us that Croce was one of the greats when it came to honestly discussing relationship difficulties in song.

JOHN FOGERTY

The Long Road Home

Fantasy

The Long Road Home fulfills two firsts for ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival big chief John Fogerty. It’s both the first disc to compile his well-known Creedence hits alongside more recent solo material and his first release since resolving old beefs with original label Fantasy Records.

At 25 tracks, Long Road’s playing time is nearly equivalent to that of the standard Creedence hits package Chronicle and compiles material from CCR’s first album on up to the title track of last year’s Déjà Vu All Over Again. Space is tight.

The anti-war anthem “Fortunate Son” appears twice (once as the original CCR single and again in a Fogerty live version), but, strangely, the solo single “Rock N’ Roll Girl” is missing. Also, the chance to reintroduce Fogerty’s first post-Creedence outing with the countrified Blue Ridge Rangers is passed up to instead include a few from his haphazard self-titled follow-up.

Nevertheless, the fact that Fogerty has such an incredible hit/miss tally alone makes Long Road Home a safe bet. He may not have actually been brought up in the Louisiana swamp country, but on this collection, nearly four generations of Fogerty consistently capture both that area’s bluesy swagger and contagious energy.

FREDDIE KING

Live at the Electric Ballroom, 1974

Shout Factory

Freddie King never attained the iconic status of his no-relation namesake B.B., but his style of electric guitar playing greatly influenced many well-known players, including Eric Clapton and the Vaughan Brothers. Live at the Electric Ballroom, 1974 resurrects a performance recorded at the late Atlanta venue that has been revisited twice thus far, as its original release didn’t come about until 1996.

A capable guitarist and bandleader in his own right, King tears through such blues standards as “Dust My Broom,” “Keys To the Highway” and “Sweet Home Chicago” alongside a capable backing band that benefits from Alvin Hemphill’s soulful organ fills and Benny Turner’s rubbery bass. The accompanying interview segments, culled from a Dallas radio-station stop, don’t really provide anything that noteworthy, but the live acoustic tracks from the same appearance are far more rewarding bonuses.

Paired with a near-seven-minute workout on the instrumental champ “Hideaway” (later a staple of fellow Telecaster enthusiast Danny Gatton), they make Live at the Electric Ballroom, 1974 a suitable, as well as a compact, sampling of King’s fiery brand of Texas blues.

Michael Andrews Redux Nation is a monthly column focusing on album reissues, repackagings and box sets.

Michael Andrews

Redux Nation is a monthly column focusing on album reissues, repackagings and box sets.