Stolen Van, Lost Music, Lyrics & Instruments Leads to a Witty Inspired Live LP

So, what we have here in this 7^th album by Joe Rut – Nekkid, — purported to be a journey into “psychedelic-Americana,” (however, I didn’t hear anything remotely psychedelic on this album…but that may be part of Joe’s trenchant wit) with bits of heartfelt melody, quirky side roads, hallucinatory folk tales populated with heroic characters, villains of the imagination and stories that originate from Joe’s van. (All true).

Along the way, Joe has his dog, Potato – plays a few small shows traversing the West Coast, and lives the life as close, I guess, to Kerouac’s America as he can get without traveling across the nation or having his van stolen…

Ah…having his van stolen: I think Joe Rut’s songs would have been better if his van indeed wasn’t stolen. But, let me give Joe Rut some room and some sympathy — his van was stolen in San Francisco – I’m from the east coast and have my opinion about such events but, I happen to love SF for its storied history and appearance – but, lately, I’m not a big fan of its politics and I’m not surprised. But to steal a guy’s van…with his music in it? Unthinkable. Un-American.

Lost on this journey were some of Joe’s instruments, clothes, hard drives with almost two completed albums, a journal with 250 hand-written lyrics. Gone. Like being naked.

Fortunately, Joe had clothes on his back, a guitar, his dog, and several helpful friends. From what I remember of the 60’s — something similar happened to The Beatles. They finished an album, stored it at the studio, and from there the master tapes were stolen. Years later some, not all, were found. But they weren’t going to record the album over again. Songs like “Proud as You Are,” “Bad to Me,” (recorded by Billy J. Kramer), “A World Without Love,” (recorded by Bobby Rydell and in the UK Peter & Gordon), and “Goodbye,” (a minor hit for Mary Hopkin) were among some titles. There were other songs and probably some Beatle-maniac knows how some eventually found their way on later Beatle albums or were covered by other artists.  

Tom Waits’ original Alice recordings were stolen from his car in 1992 and appeared on bootlegs. Waits released an official Alice album in 2002 to stem the sale of the bootlegs. So, what am I saying? Joe Rut is not alone, he’s in good company.

The entire episode is much longer but I’m not here to recount it all – and while there are parts of this new album that are mediocre I am proud of Joe for being able to turn a bad experience into some good music. In short, weeks later Joe managed to locate his lost book of lyrics and the police got his van. Later, his dobro, and some clothes. What was never recovered were the hard drives with his unreleased songs.

So, Joe was back in business (somewhat) but only acoustically. The album includes stripped-down versions of some of these missing songs and some new ones that recount the drama. Rut’s sense of humor is a highlight and in abundance at these “live” performances. However, to appreciate Joe Rut, you may have to be familiar with his personality, music, his performance style, sense of humor and career. Especially at this level.

The opening track “Role Model,” is funny, and sang with lots of enthusiasm, but it’s not radio-friendly since it’s spiked with foul language. It’s not exactly what Woody Guthrie would write or sing. But as a singer with a tinge of satire in his wit and lyric, Rut may not hit the target always but at least he knows where the target is.

His banter between songs works with his dedicated audience but outside of his circle, he may not strike a chord. “Be Yourself,” – track two comes hot on the heels of the first song and it’s a simple little tune that suffers only from the continued foul language that doesn’t render this radio-friendly either. Maybe it doesn’t matter. At times, the lyrics sound like the writers of the Seinfeld show may have added some scenarios many of us can relate to.  

Joe’s guitar has good tone – he may not be Glen Campbell, but he accompanies himself with generous amounts of piss and vinegar. “Thoughts & Prayers,” is a little grittier and more serious. A good ballad and it has some light-hearted lyrics that can be thought-provoking and are always somewhat clever. Rut continues to perform in his “live” show with excellent patter that keeps the audience in attendance engaged. I put the word “live” in quotes because I’m not certain if this performance was a select, invited audience or just a random saloon audience. The gathered souls sound like they are familiar with the Joe Rut repertoire.

Joe does have a genuinely good folk-oriented voice but with this album, he’s preoccupied with being more intensely comedic to the point where he may be becoming more of an entertainer than a singer. Or, and more probable, Joe is trying his best to take everything in stride since a stealing of this kind can devastate a person.

Listening to these songs requires a little understanding because at over 15-tracks, for some listeners, it could get laborious. Joe’s showcase doesn’t need bells or whistles, smoke machines or dancing long-legged gals (or maybe it does). It’s pacing and glue that is needed – glue being a storyline to carry through the show for those people not accustom to Joe Rut’s in-jokes and asides. Yes, I know the basics here is the adventure with the stolen van – but I question whether many understood all the twists and turns Joe endured through these songs and having some of his property returned. 

If Joe Rut were polished like the late pianist Victor Borge he would have had some poignant and riveting stories between songs pertaining specifically to the misadventure. Joe probably has this information and just hasn’t worked it out in his head yet how to turn it all into a viable yarn that relates to the tunes. If nothing funny happened – Rut could make it up. That’s what entertainers do. In one episode, the junkie girl should have been better described, and given more local color, more tragic in a humorous way especially in light of the inconsistencies in her reasons for having had Joe’s guitar.

Tom Waits fills his live albums with tales of how the “songs” originated and these tales are clever and neatly fitted into the weave of the program.  Of course, Waits has characters who go along with his yarns and an interesting voice. The man who sits in front of his house, in his car, drinking beer, watching his house go up in flames. The house owner who wonders what his next-door neighbor is building in there. The man who makes a phone call to a girl he dated decades ago only to reminisce. Stories with names, places and tell it tragically – but with a good melody and pointed lyrics. Rut could do this from a different social stance – but he would have to rehearse and pace the way he talks about these subjects. That’s the genius of it all, or remain a guitar slinger playing good songs under a Pabst Blue Ribbon neon sign.  

As I said, Rut sounds like he would be a good storyteller. I think so. Waits, when he tells his tales, has certain inflections in his voice to paint the tale and make it even more interesting. This is Waits’ charm…and this is what Joe Rut lacks. But while Waits has the growly voice, Rut can use a voice of naivetes to his advantage. Appeal to the sympathy of the audience. That’s sometimes, how you get girls on your side.  After all, Joe Rut is one of us.  

The danger with these types of songs is that after a while their luster fades and then they begin to slide into mediocrity. The way red neck songs down south start to all sound the same. The melodies just blur into each other about big hats, bandanas, smoking weed, drinking whiskey and beer, wearing boots, chewing tobacco, driving pickups, and nailing Bobbie Jean up against the gas pumps. After a while, you toss off the good ole boy and pray there’s a Pink Floyd or Chuck Berry album in the crate. Desperate people do drastic things.

“Desert Queen,” is another more serious song – and it’s done well. Joe Rut does have something to say and he weaves nice guitar and harmonica work into it. But we must remember and respect that some of these songs are based on Joe’s travels, his aborted misadventure and he does remind us that some are fictional.

“Now You’re That Guy,” is back to comedy. Fortunately, the tales Rut tells could be applied to anyone and not just locally. This song is a bit awkward (the way we like our entertainment since most comedy shows on TV cater to that scenario) and for that “guy” embarrassing. But we’ve all been there. We all know someone like that “guy.” This song is good, but it may need to be developed a tad more. I think even better laughs can be squeezed out of this song. Even Bob Dylan rewrites songs to tighten them up.

With “Can’t Go Nowhere Fast Enough,” Joe Rut sounds like he was influenced by singer-songwriter Peter Himmelman – (Bob Dylan’s son-in-law) — who has been recording for decades. This is one of the better Joe Rut tunes on this collection. The guitar work continues to be engaging, good lyrics and Rut’s voice offers more feeling than the other tracks. “In dreams, I’m still myself…”

Little lines like that are nice and so is: “I’m ok with voices in my head, I’d get lonesome if they weren’t around…”  

Criticism? Maybe this last song runs a little long for some listeners. It would be worth releasing commercially.

Track 9 is part of the true episode that occurred to Rut when he retrieved his stolen guitar. “Buying My Guitar Back from a Junkie,” In the song, the junkie said she paid $200 for the guitar. What? She didn’t buy drugs with the money? $200 is a lot of coin for a junkie. If she doesn’t play the guitar, why would she buy it? I think the junkie was part of the original heist. The thieves didn’t want the guitar to pawn? Or was it her payment for participating.

But that’s my New York suspicious of everything attitude. I wouldn’t have bought the guitar back from her if I knew it was mine – Billy Bragg and I would’ve made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.  Or, I would’ve gone to the rendezvous with the police. Identified my dobro and would’ve had the police confiscate it. (But this is SF – maybe I’m hoping for too much).

Anyway, the tune itself is interesting and Rut did indeed sing it well. Songs like this are what make for good folk songs. At least this one is true. An album like this must be first – a self-satisfying project. And it is.

Rut has a manner that is admirable and he is a good serious folk singer. The voice is there with credible guitar playing and obviously people who enjoy his repertoire. Val Esway sings with him at one point (“Sleeping Tiger Dreams of Stars”) and that was excellent. An entire album of this would go a long way. The harmonica driven “Whiskey Bottle,” reaches back to the folk-novelty styles of Australian Rolf Harris (“Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport”). What shines here is the vocal of Val Esway again. She along with Sean Parnell’s harmonica fills out Joe Rut’s tune nicely.

Parnell sticks around for – “Jesus, Cars & Disappointment,” and though it sounds wordy and ponderous, Rut does drive this one with genuine enthusiasm and well-formulated vocals. I can’t spite him for that. At times, the tune teeters on the comic-hokum origins of country legend Roger Miller (“You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd” & “Dang Me”) etc.

It’s alright to insert some foul language into one song to show how cool you can be or appeal to that kind of ear, but Rut must eliminate the foul language in the songs that have the best possibility of remotely getting a modicum of radio airplay — and there are some stations that would play something like this even if it’s at two in the morning on a Sunday. So, add bonus versions to the CD with some radio-friendly alternate lyrics to the more objectionable songs. And remember that Pete Seeger got his songs banned because of content – not language.

Track 14 is another song that won’t make a radio playlist — and as I mentioned earlier about musical sameness – it’s starting to creep in now. There’s a shiver of redundancy and a lack of exploring any new territory at this juncture. The idea is good, but Rut should’ve approached the idea from a Randy Newman perspective. Newman gets his sardonic, sarcastic ideas across with caustic wit even with controversial lyrics without relying on foul language as a crutch. If Newman can do it – Joe Rut can too.

But, “You Should Shut the Fuck Up Now, She’s Gone,” – is swinging a bat at a ball that has already landed in the catcher’s glove. The audience who knows Joe will laugh and laugh – the audience that doesn’t know Joe, after 12 songs like this – will go to the restroom. This COULD be a good song – a funny song – a sing-a-long but substitute the word “hell” first and then “fuck” could be added to the last version of the chorus. That would probably be more powerful. Sing it sarcastically, get the audience to whoop and holler BECAUSE of how you are singing it not what you are singing.

I will take everything I said back if Joe just wanted to write and sing the most badass saloon song ever. I just don’t find the humor in it because…because…well, maybe I haven’t had enough beers yet.

Even a song like “If I Told You, You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me?” – that’s clever. Look at the creativity in “It Ain’t the Meat It’s the Motion.” Nothing dirty. Just suggestive. People generally remember it and snicker.  

The final track is a jewel.

It’s an instrumental encore, it’s beautiful and it’s traditional: “And We Bid You Goodnight” – this was a redeeming song. It showed that down deep Joe Rut is a fine musician. Hopefully, at some point, Rut will record an album of songs that carry just a little more weight – like this. He can do it, with his hat on, or off, clothed or nekkid.

The CD is a generous one hour and six minutes long. The package: a four-panel full color display painting with Joe Rut’s unmarked white van, his dog and two sets of watercolor rainbows about his travels and songs written for this album. The LP indicates no individual producer, so I must assume it’s Mr. Joe Rut — recorded live.

The musicians: Joe, on guitar, vocals & harmonica. Val Esway on additional vocals on tracks 11 & 12. Sean Parnell blows the harmonica on tracks 12 & 13. No drums, keyboards, brass, or bass guitar. Nekkid.

Website: http://www.joerut.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.rut.7

Facebook 2: https://www.facebook.com/joerutmusic/?ref=py_c

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this review/commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of No Depression. All photography is owned by the respective photographers and is their copyrighted image; credited where photographer’s name was known & being used here solely as a reference and will be removed on request. YouTube images are standard YouTube license.

John Apice / No Depression / September 2018

John Apice / No Depression / September 2018