Artist Of The Week 2/17/13 - Old 97s

[Fool No Where]

When Clams asked me to do an AOTW write-up, I initially balked. We have just gone through some major home renovations and music has not been a priority or usual source of enjoyment. I couldn't really say no to the guy, and when I realized no one has covered Old 97s, I thought it was a perfect fit considering DBT and Old 97s had just announced they would be doing some co-headline shows with each other. Until I realized that even though I've been following them for more than 10 years, I really didn't know jack shit about them. Luckily, their web page has a pretty good bio and my C & P skillz are top notch.

It is an absolute testament to their persistence that the band line-up has not changed one iota in 20 years. Front man Rhett Miller and bassist Murry Hammond started this deal in 1993. Shortly thereafter, they added Ken Bethea on guitar and Phillip Peeples on drums. The band’s name is a nod to an early 20th century Country song about a train wreck called “Wreck of The Old 97.”

Miller and Hammond share song writing and singing duties, although not near as much as Hood & Cooley. Off the top of my head, I can think of a handful of Hammond songs. None the less, his songs are very well received when played live.

Hammond first collaborated with Miller in the late 80s, as Producer of a Miller solo record called Mythologies. They later worked together in a band called Sleepy Heroes, releasing one record before breaking up. Sleepy Heroes’ pop-twang style was essentially the sperm and egg of Old 97s. Bethea and Peeples joined and Old 97s released their first album, “Hitchhike to Rhome” in 1994.

They toured like crazy, like any up and coming band does, and managed to build a following. I was not a fan until the late 90s so I cannot say what the attraction was. But after listening to their songs and seeing more than 15 of their shows, I would say it's a combination of Miller's biting lyrics and their countryesque sound. And the music is so goddamn easy to drink to.

They have since released 8 studio records which, at least in my opinion, are easily categorized. The first three (Hitchhike…, Wreck Your Life, and Too Far to Care) are straight up cowpunk; the next two (Fight Songs and Satellite Rides) are pop records; the most recent four (Drag It Up, Blame It on Gravity, and The Grand Theater Volumes 1 & 2) are fuck it, we’re a rock band, we’re gonna have fun!

And they do. An Old 97s concert is not going to make you think about anything except for “how does a dude move his hips like that?” The songs are not overtly political and the banter is pretty light hearted. It’s kinda like talking to my parents on the phone; Miller telling a story while Hammond adds comments from stage left. If you’re lucky enough to hear “Murder (Or a Heart Attack),” listen for Ken playing “Nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doo doo” during his guitar solo.

Despite some pretty good commercial exposure, they are still slugging it out in medium sized theaters and whisky joints. They appeared, as well as their music, in the Jennifer Anniston/Vince Vaughn chick flick “The Breakup.” Additionally, they have had songs used on the television shows “Ed” and “Scrubs”. Not that commercial success is important to this community.

In addition to the dual singer/songwriter configuration, there are other Old 97 - DBT commonalities or streams that cross. I’m not a big genre guy but alt country similarities between the two bands cannot be ignored. Both were on New West Records at the same time. Last, Miller wrote a song called "Melt Show," about a girl he met while watching the Dallas band Melt. Will Johnson of Centro-Matic, who played guitar for Patterson during a late summer tour in 2011, was in Melt. There's some 6 degrees of Will Johnson trivia you can use to impress people while leaning on the rail and waiting for the show to start.

Last year was the 15th Anniversary of the album “Too Far to Care” which was their first record released on Elektra Records. To commemorate the anniversary, Too Far to Care has been re-released with bonus tracks and demos. The band is also in the process of touring, playing all the original songs from the album during each show. I will be in attendance Thursday night and am looking forward to seeing live performances of all the songs that have served as my intro to alt country.

So now I'm to the point of how do I wrap this up. Like Barry Jive from High Fidelity - my top 5 Old 97 songs. As usual, INPO...

Big Brown Eyes


Niteclub


Doreen


Wish The Worst


She Loves the Sunset

[Gang Green]

I'm gonna read this and study it, as I could be seeing Old 97's twice in one weekend, and I'm still not quite familier with them. Thanks for posting.

[StormandStatic]

I was really bummed to find out that DBT and Old 97s were touring together, and I couldn't make one of the shows.
This hasn't helped, but great write-up nonetheless!

[Iowan]

I've been completely obsessed with various Old 97s songs (Big Brown Eyes, Barrier Reef, Dorreen, Niteclub, Oppenheimer) at various points in my life. I discovered the band completely by accident during my freshman year (fall 2003) of college. "Too Far to Care" was the first modern alt-country album I ever owned after finding it on this gigantic file-sharing database that every computer at ISU had access to and thinking it fit in with the punkish bands I liked at the time, but adding some of the country flair I had started to not totally hate based off the JC American IV album.

"Niteclub" will forever remind me of a whirlwind 4 day weekend in October 2010 which started in Des Moines, and engulfed Tulsa, Dallas, and Austin before the paint dried and the booze quit flowing.

Good write-up FNW.

[beantownbubba]

Very timely, FNW. A good primer for the upcoming shows. Thanks.

[porkulator]

Timely indeed,be seeing them in the Rock tomorrow.Good job!

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I don't think I'd heard of them until I went online in the late 90's and discovered them thanks to my friends on the Guitartown email list that recommended Too Far To Care to me (which I picked up immediately). I've seen them something like three times over the years and Rhett solo once but I had to sit out their recent show at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro where they did Too Far To Care in it's entirety.

[Smitty]

the very first song that the radio sang

[dime in the gutter]

i've got too far to care and fight songs. both fantastic records. so many great hooks and lead boy can spin a tale.

guitar dude can play his ass off.

saw them during too far to care era. shit hole bar. 30 or so people watching. shit ripping show. seem to remember they mentioned they had been in the studio with waylon jennings the previous week. wonder whatever came of that?

they may not have said that....many years and beers have passed since then.

great job, fnw.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

saw them during too far to care era. shit hole bar. 30 or so people watching. shit ripping show. seem to remember they mentioned they had been in the studio with waylon jennings the previous week. wonder whatever came of that?

they may not have said that....many years and beers have passed since then.

Apparently it was for a recording of "The Other Shoe". There's a link to a free download it of it here.

[bovine knievel]

I've always loved this lyric...

You're a bottle cap away from pushing me too far

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I've always loved this lyric...

You're a bottle cap away from pushing me too far

Reminds me of one of my favorites from the Backsliders:

"The distance from the bottle to the floor gets closer every time I drink one more.."

[StormandStatic]

saw them during too far to care era. shit hole bar. 30 or so people watching. shit ripping show. seem to remember they mentioned they had been in the studio with waylon jennings the previous week. wonder whatever came of that?

they may not have said that....many years and beers have passed since then.

Apparently it was for a recording of "The Other Shoe". There's a link to a free download it of it here.

Unfortunately, the site that links to has been long dead. I wish there was another place to find that.

[Van]

Nice write up on the Old 97's FNW! I am going to Baltimore on March 17th and this was perfect timing. It looks like the band is still playing the whole album 'To Far To Care of the other day. I am hoping for the same when they play with DBT. I went to ITunes and downloaded "To Far To Care". Love the whole album! I am planning on purchasing the deluxe edition when I go to Baltimore. One question. What other discs/albums should purchase next? Thanks again FNW and everyone else who posted on the thread.

[Gang Green]

Nice write up on the Old 97's FNW! I am going to Baltimore on March 17th and this was perfect timing. It looks like the band is still playing the whole album 'To Far To Care of the other day. I am hoping for the same when they play with DBT. I went to ITunes and downloaded "To Far To Care". Love the whole album! I am planning on purchasing the deluxe edition when I go to Baltimore. One question. What other discs/albums should purchase next? Thanks again FNW and everyone else who posted on the thread.

I went with KG's recommendations on the Northeast Tour thread. Wreck your Life, Satlite Rides as well as Too Far to Care. I threw in Fight Songs for good measure as I remember that being well reviewed in the day. They were darlings of WXPN for a little while, and they pay a lot of attention to Rhett's solo career.

[Zip City]

Alwaystbought this lyric was heartbreaking:

No, no, no mother should ever have to lose a son
No, no mother, especially not such a handsome one

[Fool No Where]

Nice write up on the Old 97's FNW! I am going to Baltimore on March 17th and this was perfect timing. It looks like the band is still playing the whole album 'To Far To Care of the other day. I am hoping for the same when they play with DBT. I went to ITunes and downloaded "To Far To Care". Love the whole album! I am planning on purchasing the deluxe edition when I go to Baltimore. One question. What other discs/albums should purchase next? Thanks again FNW and everyone else who posted on the thread.

I went with KG's recommendations on the Northeast Tour thread. Wreck your Life, Satlite Rides as well as Too Far to Care. I threw in Fight Songs for good measure as I remember that being well reviewed in the day. They were darlings of WXPN for a little while, and they pay a lot of attention to Rhett's solo career.

That is a very good sampler. If I had to suggest anything else it would be Drag It Up or Blame It on Gravity. I have not listened to either volumes of The Grand Theater, so I won't recommend. The tracks I have heard on the radio or live have been very enjoyable.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Maybe I need to revisit it but Drag It Up didn't do a whole lot for me. I tend to prefer the early stuff but Blame It On Gravity and Grand Theatre Vol. 1 are pretty strong (I still haven't heard Vol. 2). I think Satellite Rides is a pop gem.

[PeterJ]

Grand Theater Vol. One is a very strong album. Make sure to listen to Every Night is Friday Night, State of Texas, and Champaign, Ill. Plus Born to Be in Battle sounds like it was a Johnny Cash from back in the day.

[StevieRay]

Just got back from seeing these guys at The Iron Horse in Northampton. Love this band. They sounded fantastic.

[cortez the killer]

saw them during too far to care era. shit hole bar. 30 or so people watching. shit ripping show. seem to remember they mentioned they had been in the studio with waylon jennings the previous week. wonder whatever came of that?

they may not have said that....many years and beers have passed since then.

Apparently it was for a recording of "The Other Shoe". There's a link to a free download it of it here.

Unfortunately, the site that links to has been long dead. I wish there was another place to find that.

Was a RSD release called The Iron Road.

7″ Disc 1:
Side 1: Old 97′s & Waylon Jennings
1. IRON ROAD

Side 2: Old 97′s & Waylon Jennings
1. THE OTHER SHOE

7″ Disc 2:
Side 1: Old 97′s
1. VISITING HOURS (1996 Demo)

Side 2: Old 97′s
1. FIREFLIES (Take 2, 1996 Demo)

[Rusty Shackleford]

This is out on CD now, too.

http://old97s.com/2013/10/01/old-97s-wa ... out-today/

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Up until a few minutes ago I never knew this uncut, full length footage of Old 97's 1998 appearance on ACL existed.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

New interview with Rhett Miller from Forbes. Hard to to believe the Old 97's will be celebrating their 30th anniversary next year.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebalti ... kE7xpplhEA

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Too Far to Care is 25 today. I was a couple years late to the album. I had seen them on Austin City Limits in 1998 with Whiskeytown and liked what I heard but didn't check them out. At that time, I was still relatively new to the alt.country thing and only owned a few albums in that genre (or subgenre). That changed in 1999 when I joined the Guitartown email list and was given more than a few recommendations. Among the many was Too Far to Care, which I purchased shortly thereafter. To me, it's as seminal as anything I heard back in those days that served as my introduction to alt.country.

[RolanK]

Too Far to Care is 25 today. I was a couple years late to the album. I had seen them on Austin City Limits in 1998 with Whiskeytown and liked what I heard but didn't check them out. At that time, I was still relatively new to the alt.country thing and only owned a few albums in that genre (or subgenre). That changed in 1999 when I joined the Guitartown email list and was given more than a few recommendations. Among the many was Too Far to Care, which I purchased shortly thereafter. To me, it's as seminal as anything I heard back in those days that served as my introduction to alt.country.

I got this back when it was released. Have no idea what or who got me to buy a copy, as I too was not particularly into alt.country (or whatever label might be appropriate) back then, but I absolutely loved it.

[Iowan]

Too Far to Care is 25 today. I was a couple years late to the album. I had seen them on Austin City Limits in 1998 with Whiskeytown and liked what I heard but didn't check them out. At that time, I was still relatively new to the alt.country thing and only owned a few albums in that genre (or subgenre). That changed in 1999 when I joined the Guitartown email list and was given more than a few recommendations. Among the many was Too Far to Care, which I purchased shortly thereafter. To me, it's as seminal as anything I heard back in those days that served as my introduction to alt.country.

Too Far to Care was the first alt country album
I ever heard, and it blew my doors off. I was a freshman in college and it was already a few years old. It would be another 3 years before I heard DBT for the first time and completely went down the rabbit hole, but TFTC absolutely set the hook.

[litdimly]

The Wisconsin contingent had a tradition of beginning each pilgrimage to Athens with Too Far To Care. Justin was my introduction to Old 97’s (and a lot of other great music).

Old 97’s did a TFTC anniversary tour a few years back, performed the album along with a separate set and bookended the show with Timebomb. It was my first time seeing them live and I would swear it was not so long ago but I just looked at my shirt and it says 15th Anniversary. Dang!

Thanks for posting the interview and old footage, Kudzu! I'll check them out this weekend.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Too Far to Care is 25 today. I was a couple years late to the album. I had seen them on Austin City Limits in 1998 with Whiskeytown and liked what I heard but didn't check them out. At that time, I was still relatively new to the alt.country thing and only owned a few albums in that genre (or subgenre). That changed in 1999 when I joined the Guitartown email list and was given more than a few recommendations. Among the many was Too Far to Care, which I purchased shortly thereafter. To me, it's as seminal as anything I heard back in those days that served as my introduction to alt.country.

Too Far to Care was the first alt country album
I ever heard, and it blew my doors off. I was a freshman in college and it was already a few years old. It would be another 3 years before I heard DBT for the first time and completely went down the rabbit hole, but TFTC absolutely set the hook.

For me, it would have to be Son Volt's Trace. I had a promo copy of Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne which I liked ok but didn't really trip my trigger (I have come to appreciate it more over the years). For whatever reason, hearing "Drown" on a local rock station in 1995 is what did the trick. Still, I didn't take any real deep dive into alt.country until 1999 when I joined Guitartown.

[pearlbeer]

Mine was No Depression/Anodyne, I suppose. It's always interesting to ask Uncle Tupelo fans which side of the Tweedy/Farrar camp you ending up falling into. For me, it was Farrar all the way...in hindsight, I kinda wish it had been Tweedy...but it wasn't and never would have been. And I'll still put Trace on top of any Wilco album. But, for a live performance...there's no comparison - Tweedy all day.