James Talley

by Robert Whiteman
11.27.2002

Country and folk musician and songwriter James Talley is a national treasure, and like so many of our natural wonders he has been woefully neglected for far too long. Touchstones, a greatest misses collection of sorts, is Talley's 11th album since his 1975 debut, Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money. Recording 11 great collections of authentic and original folk, blues, and country music is no small feat, but that number would undoubtedly be higher if the fact that his music is too real for country radio or the coffeehouse (and that his every-man image isn't sexy enough for TV) hadn't forced Talley to spend a large chunk of the time since working decidedly unsexy day-jobs like selling real-estate. Talley though - like the working-folk his music celebrates - has persevered, building up a cult following in Europe and continuing to write subtle, lovely, songs and to sing them in his own lovely voice, reminiscent of Willie Nelson's. Touchstones contains 16 of Talley's compositions, ranging from outlaw country to finger-picking grinners to heart-wrenching Woody Guthrie-style ballads. Guest musicians include accordionist Ponty Bone and Texas singer-songwriter Joe Ely, (who lends his voice to "W. Lee O'Daniel and the Light Crust Dough Boys," a rollicking historical celebration of an unknown Oklahoma musician from the 1930s.) James Talley is a great songwriter, and Touchstones is a great collection of his songs.

by robert whiteman
2.02.2000

James Agee and Walker Evans' Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is, along with the works of John Steinbeck and, of course, Woody Guthrie, one of the most honest and heartfelt portraits of the great depression we have. It is also literary and poetic. Most importantly it is perhaps the first consciously subjective and artistic study of culture. As such it shares much common ground with the touching, intelligent, working class music of James Talley. Moving, insightful and above all else real, Talley's portraits of working class life are so powerful because he is so clearly in touch with and affected by those very lives.

As honest and direct as Guthrie, with a voice like Willie meets Merle and a rebellious Steve Earle lilt to his playing, Talley should have been a star. He almost was. After four brilliant albums in the '70s he'd earned a mountain of critical praise and the friendship and admiration of such good ol' boy populist luminaries as B. B. King and Jimmy Carter. His music spanned the rootsy gamut from hot blues licks on "Bluesman," featuring King and Lucille, to folky working-class epics like "Tryin' Like The Devil" and romantic country classics including "Up From Georgia," all songs well worth seeking out. Label troubles led to hard times though, and Talley ended up selling real estate, putting out his own albums in his spare time and garnering a fevered cult following in Europe.

You won't see him on the Opry anytime soon, but Talley seems to be back. He's selling and distributing his music over the internet, has just released a typically authentic and moving album of Woody Guthrie songs entitled Woody Guthrie and Songs of My Oklahoma Home, and he has a new record coming out later this year.

Included here is one song from each of the ten albums he has recorded in the last twenty-five years. All great tunes, a few of these stand out above the others. Hear his reverent yet modern (listen for the organ and slide guitar) adaptation of an old standard on "Red River Memory." Listen to what in a just world would have been a bigger hit than "Okie From Muskogee" on the live version of "Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again." (Willie and Waylon must have been looking over their shoulders after that one). Talley shows off some gorgeous pickin' on "Redwing," an instrumental number off of …Songs Of My Oklahoma Home. Finally, check out a song worthy of Guthrie's own pen. "Richland, Washington" is a simple and understated heartbreaker about Talley's workingman dad and the job that killed him.