When Uncle Walt’s Band recorded for Warner Bros. in 1974, the sessions were scrapped by label personnel with no idea what to do with the popular Austin trio of Walter Hyatt, Champ Hood, and David Ball. The eclectic sweep of Anthology, the best collection of the group’s material yet assembled, demonstrates why. Originally formed in Spartanburg, S.C., the adventurous, virtuoso string band defied categorization. Timeless or anachronistic depending on your point of view, the trio rallied plenty of fans arguing the former, like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, all of whom gleaned from the group’s heyday at the turn of the Eighties. The precision with which the three songwriters shift through jazz, folk, blues, and elegant, harmony-rich pop shines from the collection’s outset. “Seat of Logic” swings with sharp vocal interplay, and Ball’s fingerpicking and keening croon marvels on “Dish Wiped Clean.” Though featuring five unissued tunes, the best of the 21 tracks still culls from their long out-of-print recordings: Hood’s plaintive “High Hill,” Ball’s yearning “Don’t You Think I Feel It Too,” Hyatt’s evocative “As the Crow Flies.” Not everything’s aged well, some tunes Kingston Trio campy (the tropical “Aloha” and playful live cut “Gimme Some Skin”), but sophisticated turns surprise throughout, particularly Hood’s exquisite “So Long Baby” and Ball’s R&B-tinged “Holding On.” Live editions of “One Meatball” and “Sitting on Top of the World” showcase the trio’s looser, freewheeling appeal. Few bands have left a more idiosyncratic influence than Uncle Walt, with Hood, Hyatt, and Ball combining immense individual talents in a fleeting moment that receives definitive rejuvenation on Anthology.
This article appears in April 6 • 2018.
