The Flatlanders
Texas platters
Reviewed by Jim Caligiuri, Fri., Jan. 30, 2004
The Flatlanders
Wheels of Fortune (New West) Maybe this Flatlanders thing is gonna work out after all. Wheels of Fortune, the second album in two years from Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock, doesn't just pick up where their 2002 New West debut left off. It positively steamrolls it. Now Again was a success in many ways, but it felt tentative in spots, as if the three amigos were feeling their way. As numbers like the goofy "Pay the Alligator" demonstrated, maybe writing by committee wasn't the way for this trio of revered Texas tunesmiths to go. Wheels of Fortune, on the other hand, is more self-assured, the songwriting more in line with the quality we've come to expect from the Lubbock Mafia; except for "See the Way," the closer written by Gilmore and Hancock, all the tracks herein are solo compositions. The curveball is that they might not sing what they wrote. In the tradition of Ely singing the definitive version of Hancock's "If You Were a Bluebird," the boys tackle one another's tunes with steely grace and obvious glee. Ely soars over the deep blues of Gilmore's striking "Midnight Train," while Gilmore's take on Hancock's two-steppin' "Wishin' for You" is one of his best vocals ever. OK, so the musical saw of Steve Wesson still echoes through the pines and Rob Gjersoe's guitar work is impeccable, as always. But the Flatlanders seem to have spun the wheel and cemented this band thing in a decidedly unique way.
