James McMurtry & The Heartless Bastards - Live in Aught-Three CD

Though he's rightly revered as a pungent, literate songsmith, McMurtry would be just as happy to go down in history as a rocker, a scathing guitar-slinger equal parts Keith Richards and Neil Young. For the most part, McMurtry's first live recording (drawn from four separate gigs in Salt Lake City, Nashville, and Asheville, N.C.) slams that point home with droning fuzz-tone guitar jams and a rhythm section that measures up to Crazy Horse's pounding gravity. Even Townes Van Zandt's gorgeous "Rex's Blues" roars without compromise. With the exception of the relatively understated "Rachel's Song," "Out Here in the Middle," and one of his best new lyrics in years, "Lights of Cheyenne" (previously unreleased and rendered solo here), the trio find a slash-and-burn sonic equivalent to the songwriter's withering social commentaries, often trumping their original versions.

1. Saint Mary Of The Woods 6:46 mp3
2. Fraulein O. 3:54 mp3
3. Red Dress 4:59 mp3
4. No More Buffalo 6:52 mp3
5. 60 Acres 4:33 mp3
6. Rachel's Song 6:02 mp3
7. Out Here In The Middle 5:11 mp3
8. Choctaw Bingo 8:47 mp3
9. Lights Of Cheyenne 6:38
10. Levelland 5:37
11. Max's Theorem 1:41
12. I'm Not From Here 5:07
13. Too Long In The Wasteland 7:54
14. Rex's Blues 3:45

Released 2004