Blaze Foley
Wanted More Dead Than Alive (Waddell Hollow)
Blaze Foley is as popular today, 16 years after his death, as he’s ever been. Even John Prine, one of his heroes, put a Foley song on his latest album. Still, the appearance of these recordings is a surprise to everyone involved. A few months before his murder in 1989, Foley, with pedal steel player Charlie Day and the Waddell brothers – bass player David and drummer Leland – cut 10 songs at Bee Creek Studio in Driftwood. They were basic tracks, but the studio wasn’t paid, and with Foley’s demise, the project was abandoned. Then the masters were lost. In June of this year, a CD turned up in Indiana, of all places, and though in bad shape, digital technology worked miracles and made it sound respectable. This is Foley as a country crooner. At times, he recalls the deep, dark side of Gary Stewart; at others, he’s pure hurt à la Townes Van Zandt. Two songs are particularly notable, Calvin Russell’s “Life of a Texas Man” and Jubal Clark’s “Black Granite,” both thought to be lost forever. There’s also an amiable “If I Could Only Fly,” with Kimmie Rhodes on backing vocals, and a gentle, rolling “Clay Pidgeons” that, like Foley at his best, is simply breathtaking.
This article appears in November 25 • 2005.