Waylon Payne gets personal in his first album since 2004
Ear Bliss is a bit late to the switch on this week’s lead album. Released last September, Waylon Payne’s Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me is highly worthy of ears. Perhaps you caught him performing on CBS Saturday Morning at the end of January. It was a take-notice performance, as is this new longplayer, his first album in 16 years. Payne may best be remembered for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in the 2005 hit movie “Walk the Line,” which starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. If I had to re-do the Ear Bliss Favorites of 2020, this album from Payne would have been at, or near, the top of the list. It receives the Ear Bliss looksee this week.
Do you remember the late 1970s hit song “867-5309/ Jenny” from the band Tommy Tutone? Well, the co-founder of that band and co-writer of that song was Jim Keller. Keller has had a long and interesting career working in a variety of areas in the music industry. He embarked on a solo career in the early aughts in New York City that, with the release of his latest album called By No Means, now marks four albums. It finds him teaming with noted producer Mitch Froom for an album of songs rich in melody and groove. By No Means joins the Payne release in this week’s Ear Bliss spotlight. Let’s get to it.
Waylon Payne Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me
Carnival Recordings
Sixteen years is a long time between records. Just ask Waylon Payne, whose recent album Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me, released in the fall of 2020, was his first since his 2004 début The Drifter. A lot has transpired for Payne during that time, both positive – success on the acting and songwriting fronts – and negative – battles with addiction and coming to grips with a legacy of family dysfunctions. Born into country music royalty – what with his mother being the legendary country singer Sammi Smith, who catapulted Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” to the top of the country charts; and
his father, Jody Payne, being the long-time guitarist for Willie Nelson – there is ofttimes a price to be paid for everything Payne has. That idea plays heavily into the songs of Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me. There have been a lot of highs and lows in Payne’s life, not to mention a lot of
pain. His story would make a terrific movie. Start with the opening salvo of this album, a powerful song called “Sins of a Father.” The aforementioned family dysfunction is the centerpoint of this song, as it is on the equally moving “What a High Horse.” Clean since 2012, the 11 expertly crafted songs comprising this sophomore album are an autobiographical journey chronicling the past decade of Payne’s life, from his point of reckoning that he had major problems (“Dangerous Criminal”) through his recovery. It is a rich character study of that time. Perhaps the most personal touch of the album for Payne was that it was recorded at Southern Ground Studio in Nashville, which once housed the same Monument Studios where his mother cut her celebrated version of Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” Says Payne, “I stood in the same spot she stood and sang while she was pregnant with me.” It adds even greater gravitas to what is a highly recommended album. Visit www.waylonpaynemusic.com.
Jim Keller By No Means
“Recorded in Mitch’s backyard.” I love that mention in the liner notes of the latest album from roots rocker Jim Keller, called By No Means. “Mitch” is producer Mitch Froom, probably best known for producing the groundbreaking Los Lobos album Kiko and who helms this album from Keller. Speaking of Keller, his roots go deep and all the way back to his Tommy Tutone days, a band he co-founded. Remember the song “867-5309/ Jenny”? Keller co-wrote that smash. It was just the early part of what has been an over 40-year career in music that has taken him from the Tutone days to running Philip Glass’ publishing company to founding his own publishing and management company, St. Rose Music. That was all before 2000, and when the new century hit, Keller embarked on a solo career that began in classic lower Manhattan East Side dives and took off from there. Here in 2021, this seasoned vet delivers his 4th solo longplayer called By No Means, produced by the aforementioned Mitch Froom. First off, from the sonic perspective there is no getting around the Kiko-esque qualities of By No Means, which is apparent right out of the gates with the one-two punch of “Easy Rider” and “Laying on the Tracks.” That barely over 2 minute apiece couplet is just the initial bait, as Keller goes