Charley Crockett- Clovis
Label: Atlantic
Producers: Charley Crockett and Shooter Jennings
No sooner had Charley Crockett wrapped up his and producer, Shooter Jennings’ Sagebush Trilogy with the early-April release of The Age of the Ram, and he had finished the month with Clovis, a surprise release announcing his return to the indie-label circuit. This was a rapid follow-up, even by Crockett’s standards, after having issued sixteen studio sets since his 2014 debut. In the sixty-plus days since however, Clovis languished in record-label politics and remained inaccessible while Crockett worked through the supposed contractual obligations that his new record violated. During this intervening period, the album itself has taken on a cult-like acclaim, being highly touted by the few who were able to hear it upon initial release, while the rest of us anxiously awaited its reappearance. Crockett and his team escalated this further by distributing copies at the recent CMA Music Festival, and making it available for free at his concerts.
Now, with Crockett settling the legal issues with Island Records and arranging for a proper distribution of the record with Atlantic, Clovis was finally bestowed a proper release in time for the July 4th weekend. And from top-to-bottom, it’s a solid outing of Outlaw-tinged country-rock that has absolutely no problem living up to the increased buzz-worthiness that the album’s sorted roll-out provided. It may seem cliched to label any artist’s return to an independent arrangement as a “return-to-roots”, especially for an artist like Crockett who clearly never abandoned his vintage roots sounds in the first place. Sure, there may have been just a tinge of extra spit-polish throughout the Island releases that made up the Trilogy, but the themes, sounds, and production that Crockett & Jennings colored them with were always vibrantly and authentically in-tune with Crockett’s preceding catalog. Nevertheless, the listener still can’t help but feel intrigued and aware of the loose, liberated quality that spills out from Crockett’s voice, as well as the rippling country-rock riffs, chiming Wurlitzer, and ominous steel that colors opening cut, “The Hallelujah Trail”. They were clearly tapping into the ripe creative spirit lingering in the namesake location where the music was birthed: the previously dormant Norman Petty Recording Studio where icons like Buddy Holly and Shooter’s father once recorded.
And in signature Crockett fashion, the musical trail that he leads us down as Clovis continues is nothing short of electrifying. His album reviews may begin to sound like broken records after a while, especially given how many his prolific pace warrants, but that all just speaks to how consistently solid his work has remained throughout. Pure and simple: in the catalog of Charley Crockett, one needn’t sacrifice quality for quantity. His booming baritone is always crisp, pure, and full of the gravitas that makes for classic musical storytelling. The musicians he surrounds himself with on record are always stacked with both precision and character, and unafraid to bend with Crockett’s affinity for genre exploration. And in Shooter Jennings, Crockett has truly found a kindred musical compadre who has only further helped push his musical and narrative visions forward.
Finally, it’s the song-craft that remains the unifying core of it all. All of the aforementioned ingredients would sound excellent on the surface, but only with a high-end batch of songs do they truly reach their thrilling potential. Crockett & Jennings continue to prove themselves as a crack composing duo of captivating and evocative tunes that meet this lofty criteria. Rowdy, rebellious, and ramshackle tracks like “One Eyed Jack”, “Top Hand”, “Last Night at the Alamo”, “Honky Tonk Philosophy”, and closer “Waylon Rides Again” keep the retro C&W, cowboy, and Outlaw lexicons vital, fresh, and entertaining. As with his previous offerings, you can add this music seamlessly to themed-playlists that include classic records from the likes of Bob Wills, Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson, and Waylon himself, all the while providing something both reverent and fresh.
Perhaps the best component of Clovis is that Crockett continues to find new and fresh elements to incorporate into his own stylish POV. He nods to the Cosmic country-rock landmarks of the 1970s by Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and The Hot Band, a subgenre that Crockett delightfully conquers with “Albuquerque Lights”. A tribute to singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan who disappeared from New Mexico in the mid-70s shortly after issuing cult-classic LP about UFOs and alien abductions, its the kind of fringy gateway that will lure new ears (mine included) to the work of an elusive talent like Sullivan. And the winking spacey sound-effects that Charley and Shooter employ here provide a nice, charming touch as well.
The title track meanwhile proves to be a stunning gem of an album-centerpiece. Purely an instrumental piece freshly composed by Stephen Barber for this album specifically, it adds such an elevated cinematic ambience to the album, and easily transforms the listener to a vintage theater as if they were settling in for a classic, captivating Western film. And so then, it’s perfect that “Clovis” immediately segues into a groovy, country-blues rendering of Johnny Cash’s 1958 classic, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town”. It instantly scores rank as one of my very favorite covers, accomplishing an effortlessly cool transformation that recalls Notting Hillbillies-era Mark Knopfler.
It’s a testament to the creative inroads that Crockett continues to make that this sensational pairing of the record’s only outside-cuts is merely just one of many highlights on a record that once again owes its greatest strength to Crockett’s original material and fresh-eyed musical vision. Again, this is not simply the initially evasive nature and mysterious buzz of this album’s launch talking: Clovis reigns as Charley Crockett’s most enticing and satisfying album to date, and a delicious tease for what comes next in his enormously expansive discography.
Track Listing:
- “The Hallelujah Trail” (Charley Crockett, Shooter Jennings)
- “Down By Law” (Crockett, Jennings)
- “One Eyed Jack” (Crockett, Jennings, Kyle Madrigal)
- “Image of a Woman” (Crockett)
- “Eagle and the Crow” (Crockett, Jennings, Jay Moeller)
- “Top Hand” (Crockett, Jennings, Taylor Grace)
- “Country Music” (Crockett, Jennings)
- “Last Night at the Alamo” (Crockett, Jennings, Grace, Moeller)
- “Clovis” (Stephen Barber)
- “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (Johnny Cash)
- “Albuquerque Lights” (Crockett, Jennings)
- “I Ain’t Riding Anymore” (Crockett, Jennings, Moeller)
- “Honky Tonk Philosophy” (Crockett, Jennings, Grace, Moeller)
- “Waylon Rides Again” (Crockett, Jennings)
The 706 
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