Link to Adam's House Cat Album

[Mr. B]

From DBT's Facebook page:

"To celebrate DBT-FB's 100,000 Like, we've posted the album 'Town Burned Down' by Adam's House Cat, Patterson Hood and Cooley's band from 1985-1991. This album contains original versions of Lookout Mountain and Buttholeville. You can also access the album via DBT-FB's main page. Look for the 'Adam's House Cat!' link on the left. We'll keep the album up for a week. Enjoy and Thank all 100K of Y'all!"

http://soundcloud.com/drivebytruckers/s ... urned-down

Way cool.

[RevMatt]

Listened to several songs. Patterson sings like a pissed off Paul Westerberg on this one. Yes, AHC did sound a whole lot like the 'Mats, or at least on this album they did. There ain't nothing wrong with that. But lyrically, Patterson is the anti-Westerberg. No "Kiss Me On The Bus" in his portfolio. Just love that has gone way off the rails into the realm of grudge fucks and threats of domestic violence.

Was Patterson's first marriage that crazy?

[Slipkid42]

I wonder what it was between AHC & Gangstabilly that had Cooley emerging from the sidelight.
I really dug their version of Buttholeville. It was speeded up a notch & rocked.
Thanks for posting.

[RevMatt]

I wonder what it was between AHC & Gangstabilly that had Cooley emerging from the sidelight.

I don't know, but I believe that Patterson originally conceived of Drive By Truckers to be more of an accoustic, countryesque band in part to entice Cooley into joining. Cooley, apparently, was always more country while Patterson was the indie/punk rocker. Turns out it was a great move because Cooley's earliest contributions were songs like "Panties in Your Purse" and "Love Like This". Lyrically, Cooley's songs were coming from the same place as Adam's House Cat. But musically it was full on Drive By Truckers.

Still listening to this. Man, it seems to be coming from a dark place, much darker than DBT. And it raises a whole lot of questions, too. How did Patterson get from songs like "Down on Me" and "Runaway Train" to "The Living Bubba", which is so damn life affirming? I guess he really had to get the hell out of the place he was at in 1990. "I was 27 years old when I figured out that blowing my brains out wasn't the answer" apparently isn't just hyperbole.

[sg207]

Can this be downloaded, or is it just for listening?

[ramonz]

I wonder what it was between AHC & Gangstabilly that had Cooley emerging from the sidelight.

I thought I read somewhere not too long ago that part of it was his realization that he could make some extra money if he wrote. Hope I'm not making that up, but don't think I am. I wish I could be a maestro at something that I started so casually...

[Jonicont]

I wonder what it was between AHC & Gangstabilly that had Cooley emerging from the sidelight.

I thought I read somewhere not too long ago that part of it was his realization that he could make some extra money if he wrote. Hope I'm not making that up, but don't think I am. I wish I could be a maestro at something that I started so casually...

Not verbatim but along the lines of, he wasn't the greatest guitar player and songwriters seemed to be making all the money

[Cubfan06]

Thanks DBT for this early Halloween present!

[RevMatt]

Whatever the motivation, Cooley turned into a great songwriter. One of the best. We are much richer for it.

[Flea]

Me likey!

[Mrs Swamp]

Thank you very much >>>>

[tinnitus photography]

hte version of Lookout Mountain is fantastic.

[bovine knievel]

is it cool to share this one?

if so, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy.

[Clams]

Very cool of the band to make this available, and I can appreciate the significance of AHC and the band's formative years, etc, but I don't really like the sound of this AHC stuff. If I'm in the mood for raw/punk/early DBT, I'd rather just listen to GB or PD. The cowpunk version of Lookout Mtn? No way. Am I alone?

[rockreid]

Very cool. That version of "Buttholeville" sounds like something Dick Dale would've wrote.

[RevMatt]

Very cool of the band to make this available, and I can appreciate the significance of AHC and the band's formative years, etc, but I don't really like the sound of this AHC stuff. If I'm in the mood for raw/punk/early DBT, I'd rather just listen to GB or PD. The cowpunk version of Lookout Mtn? No way. Am I alone?

It is obvious from this album that AHC and DBT are two completely different bands despite the fact that Hood and Cooley reworked several AHC songs with DBT. A comparison? Lemmy was in Hawkwind before he founded Motorhead but Motorhead and Hawkwind are two different animals. Adam's House Cat, to my ears, was an indie/left of the dial band formed in the mid-eighties. They were very much influenced by The Replacements and other bands from that period. Their uniqueness is not in their sound but in the darkness and bitterness expressed in Patterson's lyrics. Was Mould ever that bleak? If so, it was an entirely different way of putting across a song. Westerberg was always a romantic at heart. But Patterson? Love is something that causes one to contemplate murder and suicide. Drive By Truckers, according to some of the interviews I read, was conceived in part by Patterson Hood wanting to put together a band that had more of the Cooley country and roots rock thing going. Lyrically, there are similarities between AHC and early DBT, though Patterson Hood was a much better lyricist by the time they got around to recording Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance. There is nothing on the Adam's House Cat record -- as good as it is -- that comes close to "Bulldozers and Dirt" or "The Living Bubba".

I am beginning to think that the transition between Adam's House Cat and Drive By Truckers may be found on some of the older songs Patterson recorded for Murdering Oscar. I am going to put that one on the turntable before I crash for the night and see what I can hear.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

is it cool to share this one?

if so, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy.

Maybe I'm thinking of Alabama Ass Whuppin' but I'm pretty sure Patterson once mentioned that it was ok to share. Town Burned Down never actually came out did it?

[helmespc]

Its really a shame that they didn't get this put out. I think Patterson might have been a little self conscious of his voice at that point, but he shouldn't have been.... the vocals sound pretty good on these. I'm glad they put this out.... Its almost like getting a new DBT album out of the blue!

P.S. Where's the copy of Nine Bullets that was supposedly on the original?

[Smitty]

Its really a shame that they didn't get this put out. I think Patterson might have been a little self conscious of his voice at that point, but he shouldn't have been.... the vocals sound pretty good on these. I'm glad they put this out.... Its almost like getting a new DBT album out of the blue!

P.S. Where's the copy of Nine Bullets that was supposedly on the original?

Nine Bullets wasn't on the original; the version on the oft-traded AHC "Town Burned Down" is actually DBT, off of the Revival 2: Kudzu & Hollerin Contest compilation. 9B is an early DBT song, not an AHC.

[bovine knievel]

is it cool to share this one?

if so, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy.

Maybe I'm thinking of Alabama Ass Whuppin' but I'm pretty sure Patterson once mentioned that it was ok to share. Town Burned Down never actually came out did it?

Maybe they'll put it out for Record Store Day.

[Sub]

kinda surprised this is new to so many of you.

[RolanK]

Listened to several songs. Patterson sings like a pissed off Paul Westerberg on this one. Yes, AHC did sound a whole lot like the 'Mats, or at least on this album they did. There ain't nothing wrong with that. But lyrically, Patterson is the anti-Westerberg. No "Kiss Me On The Bus" in his portfolio. Just love that has gone way off the rails into the realm of grudge fucks and threats of domestic violence.

Agree. This was my immediate reaction also.

[Crustyharp]

What a dandy gift - thanks to those responsible!

Roots is roots is roots.

Definitely some 'Mats in there (not a bad thing at all). But no point in comparing AHC to the Truckers in a critical light; that's like comparing a video of a toddler to the same person as an adult. ("Boy, he sure wailed his head on the table a lot back then.") They were where they were at the time and they were still pretty damn good.

Roots is roots is roots.

(Actually, I take back that toddler reference. I still hit my head on the table a lot.)

[RolanK]

What a dandy gift - thanks to those responsible!

Roots is roots is roots.

Definitely some 'Mats in there (not a bad thing at all). But no point in comparing AHC to the Truckers in a critical light; that's like comparing a video of a toddler to the same person as an adult. ("Boy, he sure wailed his head on the table a lot back then.") They were where they were at the time and they were still pretty damn good.

Roots is roots is roots.

(Actually, I take back that toddler reference. I still hit my head on the table a lot.)

Yes. By all means... When people start bands, I suppose (and speaking a bit from my own experience) in most cases they do because they are Fan other rock bands. In the beggining of a band or artists career these references will often be quite obvious (if the musicians are capable, that is). And I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

This is the first time I have heard any of the AHC stuff and I found that obvious Mats influence to be very interesesting. I have read articles where P. Hood is namedropping a few of his earlier muscial influences (inluding the Mats) which I belive are not that obvious in DBTs music. However, I am of the opinion that this heritiage lays burried deep down in their music somewhere.

When I first got into DBTs music, unfortunately only about one year ago, I was really taken by it. I have been listening to DBTs music the last year way more than I can remember having done with any other single artist in the past. When I try to analyse why their music speaks to me the way it does, appart from the lyrics (I am a firm beliver in the importance of lyrics in rock-music), I think it is the "genealogy" of their music that I now start to realize is very close to my own historical frame of musical reference. Although I am a few years younger than Hood and Cooley, already by the mid eightes I was into the "indie" music scene and the post-punk movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Quite obviously (or maybe not) this music has influenced DBT as well and I think this is one of the reasons what makes them stand out from other Americana/Alt.country bands (if that is the "label")...

Then you have that other heritage, the southern soul thing, and the country music, that I some 20 years ago really did not understand or appreciated, but as I have matured have learned to love.... DBT appears to be the perfect musical "stew" for me these days.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Agreed that the 'Mats influence was much more pronounced in the AHC days, but are you telling me you folks never noticed the Westerberg influence on Patterson's DBT offerings? Heck, that influence (obvious if not immediately apparent) was what made me such a huge fan of his writing. Now the real interesting part is at this point I think PH has far surpassed Westerberg as a writer. Whereas Paul was always able to write wry, sometimes biting love songs I think the fact that Patterson has spent most of his career writing darker tunes allowed him to write the beautifully sweet Mercy Buckets, his second best song IMHO, completely without irony.

[Crustyharp]

You said it, TC - absolutely.

Here's how I began a review of Murdering Oscar at the time:

I used to think that Paul Westerberg was the absolute master at writing clever, killer rock songs that said "Eff you" but were somehow wistful at the same time. I don't know but Patterson Hood (best known as the leader of the Drive-By Truckers) has written the best one of all.

"Pollyanna", the second track on Hood's new solo album Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) opens with perfect X-Pensive Winos chords (DBT-mate Mike Cooley assists in the sonic weaving) and Hood's this-is-the-real-shit vocal over Brad Morgan's sparse-but-powerful drum pulse. Though you know that the relationship is doomed, there's still an air of hope. The stark sweetness and loss in the chorus:

Pollyanna does not live here

with aching background harmonies hits you right in the gut. By the time David Barbe's bass comes chugging in on the second verse, Morgan's drums are locked in to stay and this song is rocking.

The twist that turns this from a really good Keith Richards-style cruncher into a Westerberg-like moment comes at 2:09 when things swing into the bridge and simple piano chords begin climbing the staircase built by Hood and Cooley's guitars.

The bed got sticky, the floor got sticky
The kitchen table went crashing down
I was sticky and she was sticky
Too bad she could not stick around

sings Hood with a faraway look in his voice; but before we're lost and wallowing, the final verse slams in, all matter-of-fact way-it-is with perfect harmonies in the right places:

Everything just sticks to her like glue
But I'm just something shes got stuck to the bottom of her shoe
And when shes through with me I guess I'll follow through
And wait for something new to stick to

And wham! we're into the final chorus with that stark piano, John Neff's heartbreaker pedal steel, and the thickly-mixed guitars telling the tale: Pollyanna does not live here, man. It hurts, but it couldn't be any other way. That's the deal.

It's perfect.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

is it cool to share this one?

if so, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a copy.

Maybe I'm thinking of Alabama Ass Whuppin' but I'm pretty sure Patterson once mentioned that it was ok to share. Town Burned Down never actually came out did it?

Maybe they'll put it out for Record Store Day.

Patterson has mentioned officially releasing it and re-releasing Alabama Ass Whuppin'. Record Store Day 2012 would be a perfect time for both.

[Penny Lane]

Other than LM and Buttholeville, do they ever play any of these?
Loved Runaway Train on the movie.
Yes, I'd love a copy of this, too!

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Other than LM and Buttholeville, do they ever play any of these?
Loved Runaway Train on the movie.
Yes, I'd love a copy of this, too!

Not sure how often they play it but there's a couple clips of "Runaway Train" on YouTube. Patterson and Cooley also did an entire set as Adam's House Cat at Nuçi's Space back in 2006:

http://southernshelter.com/category/adams-house-cat/

[Gator McKlusky]

Saw them do Runaway Train in Ft. Lauderdale in Sep. 2008.