Search - Blaze Foley :: Live at the Austin Outhouse

Songs from the Dumpster

Fred | Austin, Texas | 04/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blaze was gunned down in a drunken argument over 10 years ago on the porch of a friend in South Austin. Just a few weeks before his untimely death, Blaze had recorded a gem of a show at the Austin Outhouse, a hole in the wall club that has gone the way of Blaze. As best as I've been able to determine, there's not much out there of Blaze's work, at least his own recordings of his songs, so the surfacing of this collection is a rare thing. The remastering is true to Blaze's sparse, haunting sound. It sounds like the producers eliminated some of the noise you'd naturally get on a low fi recording, but beyond that you just get the sense that you're sitting about 10 feet away from Blaze in a dark honky tonk. The album is almost uniformly solid. Just about the only thing that doesn't work is some of Blaze's patter between songs, but it's easy to ignore. In return he delivers some fine songs,including "Oh Darlin'," "Faded Loves and Memories," and "If I Could Only Fly," and three gems--"Clay Pigeons," "Picture Cards Can't Picture You," and "Christian Lady Talkin' On a Bus." In these last songs Blaze delivers stark melodies that grab the listener immediately. Like the finest songwriters, Blaze saw drama in simple situations that most would overlook, and he had the lyrical skill to turn those moments into memorable vignettes. Blaze also had a gift for a writing single lines that float through your mind long after the song has passed. For a man that slept on the streets and in dumpsters, had to borrow a guitar for his performances, and worked hardest at dodging the cops, Blaze was a remarkably skilled writer, subtle in his use of meter, rhyme and metaphor. He was homeless, suffered from depression, and in his final years was mostly drunk. Listening to this recording, one gets the sense that Blaze's haphazard live performances were opportunities for him to take the listener on an introspective walk through his dark world, shining a light briefly with his songs on moments that elude most of us who are busy getting somewhere. This is a great tribute to an artist who had mostly been known by legend, rather than his songs. The guys at Lost Art Records deserve thanks for pulling this one out of the vault and getting it on CD. It's a shame we've had to wait so long. It's also nice to see on the back of the CD that the proceeds are going to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless."

MUCH MORE

Fred | 07/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blaze Foley was much more than Townes Van Zandt's drinking buddy. Much more than the Austin vagrant who slept under pool tables and borrowed guitars for gigs. The fact that the man inspired Lucinda Williams' DRUNKEN ANGEL and Townes' BLAZE'S BLUES should be reason enough to check him out. He wasn't dubbed "The Duct Tape Messiah" for nothing. If you bought Merle Haggard's latest, IF I COULD ONLY FLY, you've already had an introduction to this Austin legend. Willie and Merle had a hit with it years ago. Haggard called the tune one of the best country songs he'd ever heard (or something to that effect). But IF I COULD ONLY FLY was just the tip of the iceberg.Recorded live a few weeks before his untimely end (he was gunned down defending a friend's welfare check) this is a stark, beautiful testament of a master songwriter. SMALL TOWN HERO and OOH LOVE will tear your heart out as will FLY. OFFICER NORRIS & SLOW BOAT TO CHINA are a lot of fun, but the blood & guts honesty behind them sets them apart from your standard novelty fare. In short, there is not one bad song on this disc. Though his deep, plaintive voice may hit a few flat notes, it cuts right through you. Stark as the record is, the odd assortment of harmonica & piano he has backing him up on a couple of tunes enhances but never overwhelms.There's also an intimacy to this record, so often missing from many "live" albums. You really get the feeling you've stumbled into this dive on a monday night and caught the man in the act.In an age of the sort of over-produced/super-star/poser country that gets shoved into our faces, it's nice to hear something genuine for a change. He's not only a must for TVZ/Lucinda Williams fans, but also for those who've caught that oh-so-fashionable "Alt'Country" wave. This guy's the real deal. What you have here's a resonant voice, some damn great songs, in a loose devil may care setting. You are not likely to hear a record this priceless till they wrangle Blaze's other mastertapes from the FBI."

Absolutely the Saddest/Best Album Ever

dbeeter | Houston, TX United States | 02/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my first Amazon.com review and will probably be my last because music for me is something very personal. With that said, this is the best album I own out of hundreds and I would have done anything to have been there for this amazing live performance."