Resentments – Sunday Night Line-Up
Rising in the late 1990s as a low-key weekend wind-down at the Saxon Pub, the Sunday gigs by the Resentments gradually have attained South Austin mainstay status second only to Toni Price’s ten-years-and-running Tuesday Hippie Hour gigs at the nearby Continental. The two shows even had overlapping personnel for awhile; Resentments guitarist Scrappy Jud Newcomb played with Price for years, and drummer Mambo John Treanor often joined the Tuesday soirees on washboard.
But unlike Price, who has released several albums (including a live disc that at least partially captured the Hippie Hour spirit, even though it wasn’t recorded at the Continental), the Resentments were strictly an in-person experience until this live recording recently surfaced. The saving grace is that it was made before the August 2001 cancer death of Treanor, whose talent and camaraderie is sorely missed (though the band has continued the Sunday shows with John Chittman on drums).
Talent remains in abundant supply. Newcomb, despite a decade of credits with some of Austin’s top songwriters, can’t match the resumes of his fellow Resentments pickers — Stephen Bruton (Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, Delbert McClinton) and Jon Dee Graham (True Believers, the Skunks, John Doe, Michelle Shocked). Bassist Bruce Hughes did time in Poi Dog Pondering before becoming a fixture in Bob Schneider’s omnipresent orbit. (Schneider, incidentally, is an occasional guest-Resentment, though the real ringer has been Grand Ole Opry member Hal Ketchum, who was the band’s original drummer.)
But it’s ultimately the camaraderie that rules the day on Sunday Night Line-Up. Sly cracks between the tracks give a glimpse into the good times these guys share onstage. “That good Resentment lost-in-the-house-of-gravity feel,” quips Bruton after the first song, punctuated by Graham’s bellowing laugh. “So that’s what brass tacks are!” Graham exclaims after Bruton’s bluesy burner “Daydrinking”. Newcomb shows off his South Austin Optimists ballcap — “That’s some of that irony all those kids are crazy about now” — just before Graham launches into his euphoric anthem “Big Sweet Life”.
Ah, the songs. They’ve got plenty to draw from, as both Graham and Bruton have several solo albums to their credit, while Newcomb was a ringer as a secondary songwriter in his days with Loose Diamonds. Graham’s “October” is ideally suited for this ensemble’s virtuosic yet keenly shambolic musicianship; Bruton’s “I Am The Ghost” is a sweet yet muscular shoalful of soul; Newcomb’s “How Much I Lost” is a long-forgotten gem that deserved a new airing.
The covers are equally auspicious. The Saxon swings like a borderland barroom on the Tejano classic “Volver” (which Graham also recorded on his recent solo album). Newcomb nails the Donnie Fritts/Troy Seals chestnut “We Had It All”; he may play guitar like he’s 17, but he sings like he’s 67, which is exactly what this song needs. And the Green On Red gargoyle “Zombie For Love” provides a perfectly zany closing caterwaul. Resentments, yes — but no regrets.