Search - Old Dogs :: Old Dogs

No New Tricks Here -- Who Needs 'Em?

Michael Weber | Atlanta | 10/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What can ya say?You could say "Great!" and not be too far off th emark...Four superlative talents (up front) and another backstage supplying the material.I've been complaining about the way in which the true country greats have been shuffled offstage in favour of hats and light rock groups -- well, here are some of them and they're gonna explain it better than i can. Set back and listen.I have one semi-significant complaint; "Old Dogs" ("...can't learn new tricks/But they can still bury a bone...") and "Cut the Mustard" ("I ain't too old to cut the mustard, but I'm too tired to spread it around..." are basically the same song, and they are too close together. Otherwise, i'm happy to just listen from track one to track elevn nonstop.Waylon sings "I Don't Do It No More" -- about all of the things he's notorious for doing -- to excessive excess -- in his younger days, but has given up in his (tired) maturity.Bobby Bare's "She'd Rather Be Homeless" is amusing on the surface; if you actually listen, it begins to be borne in upon you that the concern over his wife that the narrator expresses is really over how it makes him look that she'd rather be a bag lady than his spouse. He doesn't understand at all."Young Man's Job" -- about being sixty and best known for something you did when you were twenty. "...too old for all this rock'n'roll but I'm too damn poor to stop..." Jerry Reed is perfect; his rendition of the first alone is almost sufficient.Strong Contendor for Best On Disc: The joyful collective chomp that the Old Dogs take out of the hand that used to feed them in "(Nashville is) Rough on the Livin' (But Speaks Very Well of the Dead)", a bitterly funny commentary on the fact that the only mention most of the country superstars of fifteen or twenty years ago get in the media these days are when they get arrested for DUI or drop dead... Ranks with Kinky Friedman's similarly-themed "Sold American".Another Strong Contendor for Best On Disc: "Still Gonna Die" -- "...get an AIDS test, enroll in est, move out West where it's healthy and dry and ya live to be a hundred but you're still gonna die..." which raucously points out that since the story always ends the same, you might as well live the best life you can and have some fun before you check out.Tillis testifies to the feeling that so many of us of the Baby Boom generation felt -- "The problem isn't that you may die young; the danger is that you won't!" A lot of us never expected to see fifty years and lived accordingly. And now we're past fifty and have to live with the financial and physical results of our previous attitude.And "Time" is just beautiful.In Kinky Friedman's lovely phrase, Shel Silverstein stepped on a rainbow about a year ago, but this last project he was involved in is a testimonial to both his wit and acumen and to the superlative talents of the four "Old Dogs"."

These "Dogs"can still chew out a few bones.....with ease.

mitchiedoo | 06/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well , they may be "Old Dogs " but Waylon Jennings , Bobby Bare , Jerry Reed and Mel Tillis are not geriatric has-beens ready for an old folks home or a bath chair...just yet . The four " Dogs " in conjunction with the writing talents of songwriter and poet Shel Silverstein is a tremendous combination , but why oh why did they mix in the "live in concert " deception which , in my opinion , does nothing for the album and had they performed "live" ,the audience reaction would have been at least as good and most probably better . All tracks are excellent but as usual , even on albums you enjoy , there are always a few tracks which you prefer and I am no exception . I really enjoy Shel Silverstein's humour and found " Cut The Mustard " to be hilariously brilliant in the context of the performers themselves . Bobby Bare's rendition of " She'd Rather Be Homeless " is perfectly delivered in just the right tone for which the subject matter is intended , and it never fails to bring a smile to my face ; it is also my favourite track . The almost as funny but certainly more satirical " Rough On The Living " has never been performed better but sadly the contents are probably not too far from the truth . The foot stomping , hand clapping " Still Gonna Die " is a contradiction in itself , it also makes you want to sing along , but again superbly performed . The final track , " Time " is poignantly performed without appearing to be full of false sentimentality . A most enjoyable album by four still superb , though ageing , country stars : if you enjoy being entertained.....try this ."

Four good ol' boys philosophize on aging.

Joseph Haschka | Glendale, CA USA | 06/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On "Old Dogs", Nashville legends Waylon Jennings, Mel Tillis, Bobby Bare, and Jerry Reed enthusiastically celebrate the phenomenon of growing older. Singing songs that are funny yet sad, proud yet a little regretful, rollicking yet world-weary, these four good ol' boys gamely personify the lines:"Now I'm an old man tryin' to do a young man's job. Bouncin' round the room goin sha boom sha boom, hopin my heart don't stop. I'm too old for all this rock and roll, but I'm too damn vain to stop. I'm just an old man tryin' to do a young man's job."All eleven tracks express a bittersweet understanding of life not yet within the comprehension of country music's young bucks. Just listening to the marvelous lyrics composed by Shel Silverstein, you understand that these great performers - or at least the songwriter - have led full lives, and you, the listener, are being roundly entertained by the collective experience. Perhaps you have to be older and wiser yourself to appreciate the last sad track, "Time".Figuratively speaking, I tip my Stetson to these four pros."