Compulsory listening
Con Vaitsas | Ashbury, NSW Australia | 08/28/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Right now Joey Allcorn at age 28 is huge in Australia with kids at school, adults at work, pensioners in aged peoples homes, even our politicians are humming and singing tunes from Joey's latest CD.
No I am just joshing. But every home should have a copy of what is one of the best CD's of original music I have heard for a long time. I had never heard of Allcorn until I walked into the house of a fanatical country/honky tonk/blues enthusiast Danny Shaw last month who was playing this CD very
L-O-U-D, which he bought that day from a home based cd outlet that happened to be playing it.
Every song is a gem with witty lyrics and superb musicianship of course how could you go wrong having the steel guitar player Don Helms (Hank Willams steel guitar player) play on your record and at the age of 81. Unfortunately Don died several months later, luckily this CD features his talent quite prominently as Allcorn was a huge fan of his.
The CD opens with the uptempo number 'Honky Tonk Rambling Man' lamenting how
"I sure didnt get my start from MTV,
they wont ever play my songs on CNC
I'm just a hillbilly singer with a 5 piece band
I'm a real Honky tonkin rambling man"
he then goes onto sing how he likes "songs about murder, drinking, God, drugs and gaol".
Of course this CD is not for those who enjoy their music to be sugary and free of references to hell and drugs.
I could not fault any tracks on this even the slow numbers are original and make you want to hear them again and again. Listen to the morbid lyrics in the song "6 Feet Down" which begin
"The preacher dressed in black
just sent my baby back
to the lord just yesterday
her time on earth was through
oh lord what will I do"
This bloke Allcorn deserves to be be a star and I am sure will gain legendary status. Hopefully some promoter can bring him down to Australia SOON so we can hear him live.
People like Joey Allcorn, Wayne Hancock, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock & Jimmy Dale Gilmour should be huge however the public is sucked in by PR & spin believing artists such as Garth Brooks are talented.
So go out and buy this CD which is only his second. I am in the process of getting his 1st."