Chip Taylor – The Living Room Tapes

Chip Taylor’s place in history was secured long ago when he wrote the Troggs’ hit “Wild Thing” (if such a wonderfully primeval piece of rock ‘n’ roll sludge can be said to have actually been “written.”) But it has been some 20 years since Taylor released an album of new material, which makes The Living Room Tapes all the more remarkable. By turns poignant, regretful and gently humorous, this is a wonderfully understated set of plain-spoken songs that sound lived-in more than composed.

Consider “Same Thing All Over Blues”, with its wordy but you-know-just-what-he-means lament: “I’ve got the ‘I done her wrong so she left me and I’m walking these holes in my shoes, if she don’t come back I’ll die and if she does I’ll just sigh and do the same thing all over’ blues.”

Or, as long as we’re talking about lost loves, there’s “The Hell With Her”: “I hope you’re happy with him…no I don’t/I’ll always wish you good things…no I won’t/And if you ever need me I’ll be there…the hell I will.”

I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard a more touching tribute to a parent than “Grandma’s White LeBaron”, which, in spite of its title, is a loving but funny memorial to Taylor’s mother. In singing about her stay in a hospital, Taylor recalls, a big smile plain in his voice: “The doctors and nurses, she kept them in stitches; she loved them all, ‘cept for three sons of bitches.” Who can’t picture a cantankerous but lovable old woman in her hospital bed, kicking ass and taking names?

Taylor even manages to pull off “Heroes Of This Song”, a sentimental litany of tales about people standing up for what’s right. It’s a song that would come across downright Lee Greenwoodesque in lesser hands such as …well, Lee Greenwood’s.

The arrangements are bare-bones: acoustic guitar, some understated fiddle and an occasional slide guitar and organ. They keep the focus squarely on Taylor’s great songs and his cracked voice, which is reminiscent of other such imperfect but just-right singers as Willie Nelson, John Prine and Bill Morrissey. It’s a timeless sound, one that could have been produced two decades ago.

Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 20 years to hear from Taylor again. He still has the power to “make everything groooovy.”