Charlie Feathers
Wild Side of Life: Rare and Unissued Recordings, Volume One (Norton)Charlie Feathers
Honky Tonk Kind: Rare and Unissued Recordings, Volume Two (Norton)Charlie Feathers
Long Time Ago: Rare and Unissued Recordings, Volume Three (Norton)While Sun Records garnered acclaim for birthing rockabilly out of Memphis, owner Sam Phillips never warmed to one of the genre’s pioneering forces, Charlie Feathers. He felt Feathers too talented a country performer to rock, and though the artist thankfully shunned the advice, Norton’s three-volume collection of rare recordings reveals what the Sun king heard. Feathers’ masterful honky-tonk style wailed on par with Hank Williams but was so eclectically embedded in blues and country ballads that his uniquely jolted voice could have revolutionized those genres just as easily. Marking the 10th anniversary of Feathers’ death, Norton eschews the familiar hits – Revenant’s Get With It: The Essential Recordings (1954-1969) still sets that bar – but offers a completist’s dream, especially with the added interview. Even numerous reworkings of songs (among them three of “I Want to Love You” and “Folsom Prison Blues”; two of “Dig Myself a Hole,” “Frankie and Johnny,” and his co-write of Elvis’ first hit, “I Forget to Remember to Forget,” secondarily branded as “I Can’t Seem to Remember to Forget”) diverge enough to spark interest. Wild Side of Life rolls with its ripping title track, eerie “Pardon Me Mister,” and superb Junior Kimbrough-aided blues “Release Me.” Honky Tonk Kind hiccups through “One Good Gal” and Williams’ “Cold Cold Heart,” while the third and last installment kicks more rockabilly with “Jungle Fever” (twice) and a trembling, bass-thumped “She’s Gone,” the evil groove of “Knoxville Girl” ruffles Feathers best.
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This article appears in December 19 • 2008.
