Robert Earl Keen – Live at the Ryman
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Posted On September 1, 2006
The subtitle on the jacket is “The Greatest Show Ever Been Gave,” and darned if it might not just be. Keen and his longtime stalwarts played Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for the first time in November 2004, and to hear them on this crystal-clear recording, they were playing for posterity, playing to the storied venue, and playing to the usual exuberant sold-out crowd (which, thankfully, is pretty much muted on the disc).
From the first verse of “Feelin’ Good Again”, Keen is firmly in control and confident in the polished performers behind him. The song fades into “Gringo Honeymoon” in one of the sweetest segues you’ll ever hear, followed by a heartfelt “What I Really Mean”.
Counting the 2004 “Austin City Limits” document Live From Austin TX on New West and 1996’s No. 2 Live Dinner on Sugar Hill, this is Keen’s third live record, but easily his best. Classics such as “The Road Goes On Forever” (performed double-time), “Merry Christmas From The Family” and “Corpus Christi Bay” are complemented by newer tunes such as “Furnace Fan”, “Train Trek” and “Farm Fresh Onions”.
Everything is played with lively precision by guitarist Rich Brotherton, bassist Bill Whitbeck, drummer Tom Van Schaik and steel guitarist Marty Muse, with Danny Barnes guesting on banjo. It’s hard to image a better show being gived.
