James McMurtry,
son of the novelist Larry, joined the ranks of
Austin (Texas) singer-songwriters.
James inherited his father's knack for storytelling, although his richly
detailed vignettes of the depressed American wasteland recall Raymond Carver
more than his father's epics.
A minimalist economy presides over the
literate albeit laconic tales of moral and physical breakdown
that make up Too Long In The Wasteland (Columbia, 1989).
Backed by John Mellencamp's band and produced by the star himself,
McMurtry hums (if not exactly sings) his lyrics and hints at melodies,
a tactic reminiscent of Lou Reed.
A catchier and radio-friendlier style surfaces on
Candyland (Columbia, 1992), especially in
Candyland, but McMurtry's true voice is still in the flashes of
ordinary life of Where's Johnny and Good Life.
With Don Dixon producing, arranging and playing,
the autobiographical Where'd You Hide The Body (Columbia, 1995)
broadens McMurtry's sonic palette and tries very hard to produce
catchy tunes.
It Had To Happen (Sugar Hill, 1997) continues in that vein of increased
musicianship without sacrificing his manic attention to the everyman.
He even experimented with funky rhythms.
The humble vignettes of
Walk Between the Raindrops (1998),
like Every Little Bit Counts,
and of
Saint Mary of the Woods (2002), like
Dry River,
sounded less and less relevant, although the latter contains the
eight-minute feverish country blues Choctaw Bingo.
Childish Things (2005) contains the seven-minute Dylan-ian sociopolitical rant We Can't Make It Here.
Sensing that the times were mature after eight years of bad government,
McMurtry delivered Just Us Kids (2008), a set of protest songs
(Cheney's Toy, God Bless America, Hurricane Party)
that constitute a pessimistic fresco of the USA in the first century.
However, the music is elsewhere:
the swamp-blues Bayou Tortuous (with cajun guitarist C.C. Adcock and a Tom Petty-esque refrain),
the rugged ZZ Top-esque boogie of Freeway View (Ian McLagan on piano),
the defiant country lament Fireline Road (with a ghostly guitar solo by John Dee Graham),
and especially
the anthemic singalong Just Us Kids (with martial Warren Zevon-ian pace and another Tom Petty-esque refrain).
Complicated Game (2015) continues the sociopolitical program but
with less venom, thanks to the
rocker How'm I Gonna Find You Now and the nostalgic
She Loves Me.
