Compadre's Texas Outlaws

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Free Music Notes for Compadre's Texas Outlaws

Free Music Review: Sounds of Texas
Hit: 4 Stars

It's a tad ironic that an album full of such talented songwriters would record mostly covers, and even more surprising how well some of the most iconic songs work. Roger Creager's "Guitar Town" shows the song to have a triumphant life apart from Steve Earle, and Max Stalling, backed by superb (and sadly uncredited!) Mexicali guitar, breathes life (and, ultimately, death, of course) into "El Paso."

Owen Temple and Reckless Kelly serve up fine acoustic performances, with Temple's "Lost Highway" wallowing in a wasted life and Reckless Kelly's "Rodeo Man" gleaming with untamed optimism. Billy Joe Shaver and Townes Van Zandt sing live takes of signature compositions, and road warrior Dale Watson adds his stage staple, "In the Jailhouse Now." Jack Ingram has the swagger to take on "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," but the result sounds more like a jam than a finished track. Willie Nelson's collaboration with rapper Lil' Black is an interesting experiement, but aurally out of context here.

Half of these tracks (2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16), including several of the disc's best, are previously unreleased, resulting in a set that works both as a Texas sampler, and a thematic compilation.

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