By DAN ARMONAITIS
Twenty-five years ago, David Ball burst into mainstream consciousness with his breakthrough single, “Thinkin’ Problem,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard country charts and was the cornerstone of a fabulous, neo-traditionalist album of the same name.
What was unknown to much of his newfound fan base at the time was that he had previously been a member of a roots-oriented trio that might not have had much commercial success but had left an enormous musical legacy.
On Friday, Nov. 1, Omnivore Recordings, which specializes in lovingly-packaged archival releases, will reissue “An American in Texas,” the second album from the Spartanburg-born Uncle Walt’s Band, in LP, CD and digital formats. The original 12-inch vinyl is complemented by an expanded 25-track CD containing eight tracks from the group’s cassette-only release, “Six • Twenty Six • Seventy Nine,” plus five previously unreleased live cuts and studio tracks.
Then, two weeks later, on Friday, Nov. 15, Ball’s million-selling “Thinkin’ Problem” will also get the deluxe treatment from Omnivore, which will reissue an expanded version of the original album on CD and digital formats, featuring eight bonus tracks.
And, earlier this month, Ball released the title track from his recent 10th studio album, “Come See Me,” as a single, available for download and streaming on Apple Music, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music and Spotify. That makes a nifty three Ball-related records in 30 days.
Ever since the arrival of Omnivore’s fantastic Uncle Walt’s Band “Anthology: Those Boys From Carolina, They Sure Enough Could Sing” in 2018, I’d been hoping a series of individual UWB album reissues would also see the light of day. That wish came true earlier this year with the release of the group’s 1975 debut album and, now, 1980’s “An American in Texas.”
Having secured advance copies, I’ve been listening incessantly to both “An American in Texas” and “Thinkin’ Problem” in the past couple of weeks and am digging them more than ever. The former is an Americana masterpiece and the latter is highly-recommended listening for anyone who misses the days when guys like Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis ruled the country charts.
Uncle Walt’s Band, which was formed by Ball, Walter Hyatt and Champ Hood in Spartanburg during the early 1970s, became a particular force after relocating to Austin, Texas, where it inspired such artists as Lyle Lovett, Junior Brown and Robert Earl Keen.
Listening to the 12 tracks on the original version of “An American in Texas,” as well as the 13 bonus tracks on Omnivore’s reissue, it’s easy to understand why those artists and so many more were drawn to “those boys from Carolina.” This is pure Americana music before such a term ever existed. And, oh, those vocal harmonies.
Uncle Walt’s Band isn’t important because it was a pretty good band that originated in Spartanburg; the group is important because its music was magnificent and still resonates four decades after it was recorded. Even without the local connection, this is vital music to be savored by acoustic music lovers all over the world.
These days, Ball seems more connected to the music he made with Hyatt and Hood, who died in 1996 and 2001, respectively, than he has since the time the three of them were making musical magic together. That’s a good thing, but that doesn’t mean his major label solo output should be ignored.
Admittedly, it had been a while since I’d listened to “Thinkin’ Problem” from start to finish, so hearing it again in its entirety with a fresh set of ears reminded me of just how brilliant Ball was — and still is — as a purveyor of classic honky-tonk. The title track, “When the Thought of You Catches Up with Me” and “Look What Followed Me Home” were the big hits but the whole album is full of should-have-beens.
These songs, most of which Ball wrote or co-wrote, are delivered with an earnestness that recalls such legends as George Jones, Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Wynn Stewart. And the bonus tracks on Omnivore’s reissue, which include a newly-recorded acoustic take on “What Do You Want With This Love” and an alternate version of “Thinkin’ Problem,” are just as impressive.
During each of the past two years, Ball has swung through Spartanburg and performed sold-out two-night stands at The FR8yard, playing music that’s largely drawn from these two albums and his most recent work.
Here’s hoping that David Ball and That Carolina Sound — which also features Hood’s son Warren on fiddle and Hood’s nephew Marshall on guitar along with Scott Metko on percussion and Nigel Frye on upright bass — will make it back to the Hub City again in 2020. Just listen to any of the aforementioned records, and you’ll immediately know how fantastic should a show would be.