A Drag City Supersession
Monday September 17, 2001 – 6:00 pm
A Drag City Supersession: TRAMPS, TRAITORS AND LITTLE DEVILS
©2001, Drag City #DC210 (LP / CD)
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Featuring original songs and covers performed by Neil Michael Hagerty (Royal Trux), Bill Callahan (Smog) and Edith Frost.
Produced by Neil Michael Hagerty
Band:
Bill Callahan; Edith Frost; Neil Michael Hagerty; Tara Key; Brendan Murphy; Rian Murphy; Jim O’Rourke
With:
Matt Bauder; Jessica Billey; Mark Greenberg; Azita Youssefi
Songs:
Zero Degrees; Charley’s Girl; Texas Dogleg; The Girl on the Billboard; Leaving the Army; Everyday; Nothing Rises to Meet Me; Old Man; N.I.B.; One-Chord Complaint
I sang and wrote two of the original songs on this record, "Leaving The Army" and "One-Chord Complaint", and sang lead on two cover songs, "Charley’s Girl" (a Lou Reed tune) and "Old Man" (by Randy Newman). I also played acoustic guitar on "The Girl On The Billboard" and "One-Chord Complaint", and did backup vocals on "Texas Dogleg", "Everyday", and "Nothing Rises To Meet Me"
A review by Brian Mock that appeared in the Tucson Weekly on 10/11/2001…
What do you get when you cross the diverse, equally strange musical paths of Drag City recording artists Bill Callahan (Smog), Neil Michael Hagerty (Royal Trux) and Edith Frost, along with Rian and Brendan Murphy and a few other Drag City scenesters? Why, the Drag City Supersession, of course.
That’s right, kids, after three impressive solo releases from each of these stars of the underground, they momentarily join forces for a fun, loose-rockin’ hoe-down. Prolific peeps, these Drag City-ites.
Tramps recalls super collabs of the past by the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (a Déjà Vu of the new millenium, if you will). For the record, Callahan, Hagerty and Frost each contributed two original songs, chose four additional covers, and let the tape roll. What came out the other end is a collection of gems that hit you in the head, heart and ass. Ouch!
The gang comes out punching with "Zero Degrees." Callahan takes first blood at lead vocals, armed, as usual, with the low and warm voice that has graced many a Smog album. He’s backed up by the Murphy brothers’ relentless drumming, Hagerty’s boppy bass lines and slide guitar, and strings for good measure. The result is a great opener to this crazy ride.
Frost’s "Leaving the Army," along with the other slower tracks, adds a nice contrast to the upbeat rockers. With the almost psychedelic-sounding strings and reeds and dreamy guitars, she somberly suggests, "I’m thinking about leaving the Army / Turning in my uniform / There’s always a wake up by the big explosions / Just outside of my door." Strangely prophetic, indeed, and indicative of her latest work.
By contrast, Hagerty’s "Texas Dogleg" recalls the guitar-heavy boogie-rock found on previous Royal Trux albums, while the fun and simple "Everyday" gives us a glimpse of where he might be going.
Perhaps the most interesting track here is a cover of Lou Reed’s "Charley’s Girl." It has a boogie swagger that’ll make your bootie swagger while singing along with the band’s backup chorus of "la las" at the top-o-your lungs. Also worth mentioning is the version of Randy Newman’s "Old Man," which could almost be mistaken for those kings of quiet, Low.
And just when you thought it was safe to kick back and sit out the last couple of songs, comes (out of goddamn nowhere, no less) their take on Black Sabbath’s classic "N.I.B." Hagerty belts out his best Ozzie and the band cranks out some serious jams that would have the Ozzman himself fist-pumping in his bedroom (and even biting off a dove’s head or two).
It’s not every day that a group of prolific and stylistically different musicians is able to come together to bring us a great collection of tunes. But I guess that’s what often makes independent labels so special: They’re like families, and families have reunions from time to time. Hmmm — must’ve been something in the potato salad.
December 29th, 2003 at 11:18 am
while I’m scrolling down these listings, I’ll add that not only was that Tucson Weekly review of your song “Leaving The Army”, calling it “strangely prophetic, indeed” true, written just a month after 9/11/01…
But I find the cover art you drew for “Calling Over Time” to be strangely prophetic, indeed of 9/11. Before that date, I saw that bluish Sears Tower painting as a haunting and evocative image of a place very distant from my own life, but not prophetc. Even though it was a blurry rain-soaked view of the Sears Tower, it could just as easily have been one of the twin towers. Many people will be calling over time, recalling their own personal images of those places and the peope they knew and loved.
December 29th, 2003 at 7:38 pm
The cover art of C.O.T. is *not* the Sears tower, it *is* the World Trade Center. I tried to explain it on the discography page. It’s not a drawing of mine, but rather a photograph of a puddle, reflecting the WTC. I think it’s the north tower. My old friend Chuck Cors took the photo.
Leaving the Army was written years before 9/11, can’t remember exactly when.
January 17th, 2004 at 4:14 am
http://www.ctarget.com/chuckcors
That reflection photo of the North Tower was my first real photograph. It opened a door to a world that I’ve been exploring ever since. People often mistake the photos for paintings.
Strangely enough, I had also been photographing the WTC in the days just before 9/11. The section of the website titled “Skyline Requiem” gives an account of this.
I finally left NYC in January, 2003. Moved to Iceland. I love the life here because there is no fear. It is filled with cosmic thunder–sonically and otherwise.