My experience over the last couple of years has taught me that when something turns up for review from Dean Owens it’s always worth a listen and the single, “I Still Miss Someone”, is no exception. The song is taken from Dean’s classic album of Johnny Cash covers “Cash Back: Songs I Learned from Johnny” and is released to tie in with his current mini tour with his Drumfire labelmate, Ags Connolly. I’ve already said in the review of “Cash Back…”that there isn’t a bad song on the album, so you know that the lead track is a good version of a Johnny Cash and Roy Cash Jr. Song which is well arranged and tastefully played. It’s a great album track, but I’m not really sure that it’s a single.
However, it’s not the only track on the single; there are three more songs here. “Virginia North” is a Dean Owens original which is interesting, but wouldn’t feature on a “Best Of…” and the two remaining tracks move progressively towards the basic elements of the songs. On “Folsom Prison Blues”, it’s just Dean and an acoustic guitar, and it works perfectly; there aren’t any unnecessary distractions from a powerful song and vocal performance (including Dean’s version of the trucker’s gear change, where he jumps an octave instead of the usual tone or semitone). The final track on the single, Rod McKuen’s “”Love’s Been Good to Me”, is a real surprise; it’s an a cappella version. There’s nowhere to hide here and Dean absolutely nails it; you can’t strip it back any more than that and it’s a beautiful song sung by a great voice. Whether you already have the album or not, this single’s worth having on the strength of the last two tracks.
“I Still Miss Someone” is out October 28 on Drumfire Records (DRMFR013).
Well, the good news is that now the festival season’s almost over, we’re starting to see a few good tours appearing. Riot Squad favourite Dean Owens has put together a mini-tour in support of his latest single, “I Still Miss Someone” from his superb album of Johnny Cash covers (and one Dean Owens original), “Cash Back”. If you go along to The Cabbage Patch gig in Twickenham, you may even bump into the Riot Squad. We’ll also have a review of “I Still Miss Someone” coming up in the next few weeks.
Saturday October 5
Hazy Recollections (part of Glasgow Americana) CCA Glasgow
Friday October 25
Cafe Panola (Pentland Garden Centre), Loanhead nr Edinburgh
Saturday October 26
Friday November 1
Saturday November 2
Friday November 8
Caffe Borsa, Dundee
Saturday November 9 – Soundhouse No 42, Edinburgh
Last year I reviewed an album by Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Dean Owens called “Cash Back” which was a tribute to the late Johnny Cash. The album was a set of covers of songs made famous by Johnny Cash apart from one, “The Night Johnny Cash Played San Quentin”, which is a Dean Owens original and was recently released as a single on Drumfire Records.
Although the song’s part of a great set of songs written by Johnny Cash and other songwriters, it doesn’t sound out of place at all. It’s based around one of the classic country themes of the prisoner serving his sentence (on death row this time) but with the added twist that he’s in San Quentin at the time of the legendary Johnny Cash performance. The song moves between verses telling the prisoner’s story and a chorus using details from the actual San Quentin performance, which adds historical authenticity to the story. The instrumentation and production give the song an authentic early-period Johnny Cash feel with Dean’s acoustic rhythm guitar and Will Kimbrough’s electric guitar and slightly distorted slide guitar; it could have been made at Sun Studios in the ‘50s.
This is a beautifully constructed song with a sparse but effective arrangement which highlights the quality of the song and the powerful, emotive vocal performance. It’s as good as any of the classic songs on the album and it’s the best single I’ve heard so far this year. Even if you’re not a fan of country, you really should give this a listen; you could even buy it.
Out now.
“Cash Back” is the second album to be released by Dean Owens in 2012, following “New York Hummingbird” earlier in the year and it’s built around a really interesting idea; a tribute to Johnny Cash on what would have been his 80th birthday comprising songs written by, or covered by, Johnny (with one very notable exception). It’s also a tribute to Dean’s good friend and mentor, the late Bob Delacy.
The concept’s great, but the finished article is even better; Dean has tackled songs written by some songwriting legends including Jagger and Richards, Bob Dylan (“Girl from the North Country”), Kris Kristofferson (“Sunday Morning Coming Down”), Johnny Cash himself and our old Riot Towers favourite Nick Lowe (“Without Love”) and the result is a well-rounded, beautifully played and engaging set of songs.
The playing throughout the album is beautiful, particularly Will Kimbrough’s guitar (and various other instruments) and supports Dean’s plaintive tenor voice perfectly. It’s difficult to pick out highlights from this set because there isn’t any padding, but I’ll give it a try. The album opens with the lively 1968 Jagger/Richards song “No Expectations” featuring some great playing throughout from Will Kimbrough and has a similar feel to Albert Lee’s “Country Boy” (but a bit slower) before moving in to the more laid-back “A Little at a Time”(which also appears later in a stripped-down bonus version).
The album as a whole is a demonstration of the variety in Johnny Cash’s work, but never more so than in following the heartbreaking, poignant “Give My Love to Rose” with the jaunty nastiness and casual violence of “Delia’s Gone”. Well, this is the man who sang “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”. The traditional ballad, “Wayfaring Stranger” moves the tempo up a few notches from the Cash version and you realise that Paul Weller probably started “Wild Wood” from the same source.
Towards the end of the album, there’s a sequence of songs by truly great songwriters such as Nick Lowe, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and David Allan Coe (who wrote the Johnny Paycheck classic ”Take This Job and Shove It”) which almost bring the album to a close. The first bonus track is a version of “I Walk the Line” which contrasts the original’s baritone growl with Dean’s more vulnerable tenor as the song bounces along for the first three verses. To add drama to the fourth verse, you might expect a trucker’s gear change or a tempo shift but instead Dean shifts the vocal up an octave towards the top of his range for an even more dramatic effect.
Which leaves one song to tell you about. As a songwriter, Dean was always going to want one of his own songs on the album and it’s fair to say that it’s a belter. “The Night Johnny Cash Played San Quentin” is as good as anything else on the album, framing the legendary prison appearance within the story of a death row inmate who was at the show and keeps it as a memory he treasures above everything else on his way to the chair; Johnny would have been proud of this one.
If there’s a country music fan in your life (or someone who likes great music, whatever genre), this album will make a great surprise present for them. Even better, get out and see Dean performing live on his next tour in the spring of 2013; you won’t regret it.
“Cash Back” is out now on Drumfire Records (DRMFR013).
We’ve got another Riot Squad favourite touring the UK in November to launch his new album, “Cash Back”. Dean Owens is on the road for the first couple of weeks in November and I really recommend that you go out and see him; you won’t regret it. If you’re at the Wilmington Arms show, you might even bump in to the Riot Squad on the town.
Friday November 2, 2012
Backstage At The Green Hotel, Kinross
Saturday November 3, 2012 (2 shows )
Afternoon at The Tea Posy @ The Greenhouse Project, Dingwall
Evening show at The Arch, Ullapool
Sunday November 4, 2012
The City Walls, Stirling
Monday November 5, 2012
Glasgow, Cottiers Theatre (album launch show)
Wednesday November 7, 2012
The Ram Jam Club @ The Grey Horse, Kingston Upon Thames
Thursday November 8, 2012
Wilmington Arms, Clerkenwell, London (album launch show)
Friday November 9, 2012
Tynemouth (near Newcastle) House Concert.
Contact Dean for info if you’d like to attend.
Saturday November 10, 2012
Studio 42 (Douglas Robertson Photography), Edinburgh
Sunday November 11, 2012
The Steeple Arts Centre, Newburgh (Fife)
