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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Various Artists
XIT: Ten in Texas (Icehouse Music)
By Jeff Prince
XIT: Ten In Texas
(Icehouse Music)
The tantalizing Ruthie Foster kicks off this collection of songs by Texas artists with a Texas-sized bang, putting her unique spin on Guy Clark’s classic “Texas Cookin’.” The song that always sounded so perfect in Clark’s hands becomes even richer with Foster at the mic. Carolyn Wonderland offers her own distinctive approach on song No. 2, taking Billy Joe Shaver’s “Honky Tonk Heroes,” which Waylon Jennings turned into a 1970s hit, and packing it with her own barroom bravado, complete with scats and Dixieland horns. Producer Ray Benson (longtime Asleep at the Wheel frontman) seemed to be onto something with this compilation disc, allowing artists to put their own spins on Texan-penned songs. Unfortunately, the strong beginning is quickly undone by mediocrity before eventually spiraling into inanity. Aaron Watson countrifies Buddy Holly’s “True Love Waits” to poor effect, Joe Ely glides through a boring version of “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” Gary P. Nunn lends nothing new to “Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music,” and so on. Asleep at the Wheel, Terri Hendrix, Dale Watson, Johnny Bush, and Cornell Hurd are all talented, but their interpretations never come close to matching the original versions, nor do they reach the energy established early on by Foster and Wonderland. The album finally goes down in flames with the 10th and final song — Willie Nelson’s live version of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.” Nelson has performed Ed Bruce’s borderline novelty song 1,589,736,001 times in the past 30 years and stopped giving a shit at least 29 years ago. Discerning listeners will feel the same way about this project long before the fat lady (or, in this case, the pig-tailed man) sings. —
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