Now Again
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Description
The Flatlanders--Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock--first came together in Lubbock, Texas, in 1971. Along with musical saw player Steve Wesson and mandolinist Tony Pearson, they recorded one of the great "lost" albums of all time, a quirky acoustic-music gem that finally saw the light of day in 1990, when Rounder released the aptly named More a Legend Than a Band. Ely, Gilmore, and Hancock have since gone on to forge distinguished musical careers: Ely as a Texas roots rocker, Gilmore as a mystical country crooner, and Hancock as a celebrated songwriter. Now Again, produced by Ely, marks the group's first album-length collaboration in 30 years. And if it lacks the charm of their first effort--there's nothing here that compares with Gilmore's "Dallas" and "Tonight I'm Gonna Go Downtown"--it still has a certain appeal that comes from putting three old friends together in the studio and rolling some tape. With the exception of Utah Phillips's "Going Away," all the songs were written by Ely, Gilmore, and Hancock, and they sing them in various duo and trio combinations. Some work better than others--standouts include the bouncy rocker "My Wildest Dreams Grow Wilder Every Day" and the country ballad "Down on Filbert's Rise"--but all are worth a listen. --David Hill
Album Description
Now Again, by Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock—collectively known as The Flatlanders—marks the first album-length collaboration between the trio of acclaimed Texas songwriters since their debut album three decades ago. Now Again was ostensibly produced by Ely, but the album's tracks were a true collaborative effort. The songs (with the exception of U. Utah Phillips' "Going Away") were co-written by the trio, and most of them feature the rough-hewn vocal blend of all three men ("It was fun to learn we could still sing harmonies," laughs Ely). Besides the session musicians, two other original Flatlanders joined Ely, Gilmore and Hancock for cameos in the studio: musical saw player Steve Wesson and vocalist Tony Pearson. "We said, let's not put any limits on this thing," Ely says. "It freed us up a lot. We had to resist the urge to write a 10-verse song. Every line became important. We had to think about the structure of the songs as a whole. It was a very different kind of writing than what we would do as individuals." But there are touchstones that the music on Now Again shares with the best of Ely's, Gilmore's and Hancock's music: there is an abundance of clever wordplay; there is the freewheeling blend of folk, rock, country, and blues that has always informed their work; and there is the feeling of lazy intimacy, of old friends tossing music and words around like softballs. Songs such as "Waving My Heart Goodbye," "Yesterday Was Judgment Day," "Now It's Now Again," and "Down in the Light of the Melon Moon" can croon, swing, rollick, or cry, depending on the whim of the three tunesmiths. --John T. Davis
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