Dale Watson – Good Luck N’ Good Truckin’

If I correctly recall the sticker that was adhered to the shrink-wrap of this cassette-only release when it showed up in my postbox late last year, it advised music reviewers to pull over at the next exit, as this release was strictly for the fans. Of course, I mail-ordered the thing solely out of self-interest, only later being assigned to review it. But no matter: This fine and fun collection of truckin’ tunes is well worth picking up, regardless of your vehicular transport of choice.

Recorded during a seven-hour Sunday afternoon-into-evening stretch with his Lone Stars, and released on his own imprint (since, according to the liner notes, he couldn’t wait for the labels to “get it”), Good Luck is Watson’s tribute to those whose hours, days and weeks are lived on America’s highways, interstates and rural routes. The resulting ten tracks of all-original material are a genuine and humorous nod to the days when Dave Dudley and Red Sovine kept smiles, and just maybe the occasional hardened tear, on the faces found inside those big rig cabs.

The title track is destined to become contemporary classic, one in which Watson “Hopes the wind is at your back and there ain’t no bears in sight/Hopes your load is on the money and you get some sleep tonight,” and “Hopes the chicken coops are closed and you can ride without a care/Hopes the toll booths are broke and you ain’t got to pay no fare”. There are also nods to such long-haul staples as caffeine (“Help Me Joe”) and maintenance problems (“Flat Tire”).

But at the heart of this record are the universal emotions of longing and loss. Most of us take leave of our households for eight to ten hours a day, as opposed to eight or ten days. Or weeks. And it’s songs like “Big Wheels Keep Rollin'” or “I Gotta Get Home To My Baby” that paint a picture of guys just marking time until that next trip home. In the latter, it seems certain he’s talking about his wife or girlfriend — until he drops the last line: “When I left she was three, now she’s almost four.” I’m not even a dad, and I felt that.