Hacienda Brothers - What's Wrong With Right (2006)

I wish I had heard of the alternative, country-rock band Hacienda Brothers before last week because they're already gone. The short-lived group broke up when lead singer Chris Gaffney died of liver cancer in 2008. Gaffney's death meant the quintet had only a three year recording career. Between 2005 and 2008 they delivered three studio CDs and a limited edition live disc.

Based out of Tucson, Arizona, Gaffney and lead guitar player Dave Gonzalez formed a talented outfit that combined their country roots with some top notch R&B to create what they called "Western soul." They were once described as the best of their genre since The Flying Burrito Brothers.

Gaffney's voice was definitely soulful and he could have been an R&B singer if he had chosen that direction. By the time he and Gonzalez worked together the former had already earned a reputation as a fine songwriter who toured with The Blasters' Dave Alvin. He also led an outfit called The Cold Hard Facts.

Gonzalez, another songwriter who sang lead on a few Hacienda Brothers tunes when Gaffney did not, was previously best known for playing with the roots-rock band, The Paladins.

Gonzalez and Gaffney's supporting cast included bassist Hank Maninger and an excellent steel guitar player in David Berzansky. Dale Daniel rounded out the lineup on drums.

Hacienda Brothers' eponymous debut arrived in 2005 and was followed with What's Wrong With Right the following year. Both CDs were produced by Dan Penn, the highly regarded songwriter and producer who has written many hit records and worked with Alex Chilton and The Box Tops on "The Letter" way back in 1967.

On What's Wrong the group's Western soul label is right on target. Gaffney's lead vocal on The Box Tops' oldie "Cry Like A Baby" (written by Penn and Spooner Oldham) is absolutely perfect.

The Intruders' "Cowboys to Girls" - another 60s hit, this one written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff - is a second unblemished fusion of urban R&B with the Mojave Desert. It has more soul than twang until Berzansky unleashes a very tasteful steel guitar solo.

Another Penn–Oldham collaboration that was turned into a minor hit by Percy Sledge, "It Tears Me Up," is on the set list too.

Most of the rest of the thirteen songs are band originals with only a little less soul and a touch more country but fans of both genres should still find something interesting in all of it.

After this fine disc Hacienda Brothers released a live CD and their final studio effort, Arizona Motel, in 2008 that did not hit the streets until after Gaffney's unfortunate passing.

Buy What's Wrong With Right from Amazon.

Comments

  1. Unknown6:59 PM, March 20, 2013

    Never got too much into the Hacienda Brothers but I'm gonna check them out right now! Always looking for fresh music.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more