TEX PERKINS AND THE BAND OF GOLD – TEX PERKINS AND THE BAND OF GOLD
Is too much Tex never enough Tex? Only a month after the latest Dark Horses album Tex Perkins has released Tex Perkins and the Band of Gold – a band and album of the same name, comprising fourteen “solid gold” country music covers by Perkins and company (recorded around the same time as the Dark Horses but with a completely different band). Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson. John Prine, Gene Clark…we are talking country with a capital “C” here, and there is little in the arrangements that provides any twists or turns here either. The few more original choices like Johnny Paycheck’s Pardon Me I’ve Got Someone To Kill (which would have sat comfortably on an early Beasts of Bourbon release) appear too late on the album to turn the tide. Perkins shares vocals on a number of tracks with the delightful Rachael Tidd, whose voice occasionally nudges Tex along, stretching him a touch from that comfortable baritone drawl that we love but already know so well. Given the traditional nature of the performance of these tunes your enjoyment is likely to depend entirely on your enjoyment of the original artists. For mine, i can never go past a Townes van Zandt tune no matter the artist, and his two songs here are highlights on that alone.
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