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Rating: Shooter Jennings, son of the notable Waylon and Jesse Colter, releases a debut album that could certainly contribute to fueling the historic and longstanding debate between those who claim that certain talents and predispositions are innate, and others who are instead convinced that it is the environment in which one grows up and is formed that characterizes the person. Yes, because listening to this "Put The 'O' Back In Country" - the year of release is 2005 - it really is hard not to be surprised by the freshness and feel that the young Shooter manages to bring to his music.
Who Waylon Jennings was is quickly told: let's say he can be placed in that noble bracket that opens with the almost mythological Hank Williams and could be closed ("but in reality it cannot be closed, because music goes on.."), with the worthy grandson Hank Williams III. This bracket includes some of the greatest authors and musicians of the post-war period: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, and certainly Waylon Jennings.
The same Jesse Colter, Shooter's mother, is one of the most appreciated singers in the country music scene.
It is clear then that with such a heritage behind him, destiny had already paved the way for Shooter - born in 1979, his real name being Waylon Albright -, and it is clear that for him, life on the road with his parents' tours started very early, enabling him to come into direct contact with their music.
Shooter's sound manages to be a balanced meeting point between the music he grew up with and the music he has undoubtedly loved, from the dusty ballads of southern rock's losers to the more typically hard rock riffs. This is also thanks to an excellent band that has been accompanying him for several years, the 357's, namely Leroy Powell who intertwines his guitar with Shooter's, Ted Russell Kamp on bass and Bryan Keeling on drums.
The album opens with the title track "Put The 'O' Back In Country": the sound is fast and crisp, the next "4th Of July" is a very catchy, almost pop song, reminiscent of the sound of many small great Texan bands of today.
"Lonesome Blues" is instead one of the best moments of the album, a song of great strength thanks to Shooter's suffering voice and the successful interplay between acoustic and electric guitar. The track evokes a sense of defeat and laziness that is like a passing of the torch between the greats of the past and Jennings.
"Solid Country Gold" is in my opinion one of the less successful and original episodes, but from here on the album literally takes off. It continues in fact with "Busted In Baylor Country", perhaps the manifesto track of the album and the author's approach: a frenzied country rhythm, as if the band were chasing a caravan racing on a pioneer's trail, on which stands a series of very hard Led Zeppelin-like, almost Black Sabbath, hard rock riffs. The result is striking, listen to believe.
"Sweet Savannah" is a very southern ballad with a beautiful melody that serves as an oasis between the strong "Busted In Baylor Country" and the following "Steady At The Wheel", where the tough rock sound returns to the forefront.
"Manifesto No.1" returns to more country sounds, but is always played with grit, originality and a scrappy approach very far from mainstream cleanliness.
In the final part of the album, two great ballads find their place, "The Letter", almost pianistic, very intense and with nice slide guitar counterpoints, and "Southern Comfort", one of the album's most intense tracks with a convincing performance by Leroy Powell on the national steel guitar and a simply amazing soul-oriented ending.
The album closes with the electric "Daddy's Farm, a sure-fire highlight in the group's live performances.
In conclusion, an album that turns the spotlight on an author and a group with many ideas, a varied and certainly original sound. Worth listening to, naturally at an appropriate volume!
TRACKLIST
PUT THE O BACK IN COUNTRY (2005)
PUT THE O BACK IN COUNTRY
4TH OF JULY
LONESOME BLUES
SOLID COUNTRY GOLD
BUSTED IN BAYLOR COUNTRY
SWEET SAVANNAH
STEADY AT THE WHEEL
MANIFESTO NO.1
THE LETTER
SOUTHERN COMFORT
DADDY'S FARM
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