Rodney Crowell Then Again (CD)

“You could probably call it a lost album,” says Rodney Crowell. “I stumbled across it by chance in my archive at home. I’d completely forgotten about it.” He’s talking about *Then Again*, which he recorded two decades ago and then set aside before turning his attention to new projects. Since then, the album has been waiting for the moment when its songs would come into their own. And now they strike an incredibly powerful chord, particularly because Crowell has gained a more mature perspective through his age and experience. “I’m glad I put it on hold, because now is the time for it. It might not be the right time for the rest of the world yet, but it is for me. That’s why I wanted to call it ‘Then Again’. I thought that was a clever way of expressing that what happened back then is still happening today.”

In 2006, Crowell was at the height of his success. He had just released a trilogy of albums – *The Houston Kid* (2001), ‘Fate’s Right Hand’ (2003) and ‘The Outsider’ (2005) – which established him as a fearless voice in Americana music and captivated new generations of fans drawn to his empathetic storytelling, his richly detailed songwriting and his eloquent outrage at political injustices. In 2005, he went to Treasure Isle Studios in Nashville to record the album that would later become *Then Again*. But when he listened to the master tapes, something didn’t quite feel right. The band was brilliant and the songs sounded good, but the album… It didn’t move him, and he struggled to figure out exactly what was wrong or missing. Twenty years later, when he rediscovered the album in his archives, he could no longer remember exactly what had puzzled him back then. He decided it was finally time to release it, if only because ‘I was listening to a record I couldn’t get enough of. I hadn’t grown tired of myself. That’s what 20 years do.’

Once lost and now rediscovered, ‘Then Again’ is something the Rodney Crowell of the 2000s could never have foreseen, but which the Rodney Crowell of the 2020s instinctively recognises: a work full of nuances, insights and sensitivity that addresses death but celebrates life. “I’m trying to understand that my spirit will leave this body and go somewhere else. I have a pretty good idea that it will be a good place, but I still have part of my spiritual journey to complete here before I go. I can see that now in these songs.”

geb. 7. 8. 1950 in Houston - Texas Record Labels: Warner Brothers, Columbia Erster Hit: Elvira (1978) Rodney Crowell, ein Sänger, Gitarrist, Schlagzeuger und Komponist mit einer gleich starken Neigung zur Rock- und Country-Music, kam Anfang der 70er Jahre nach Nashville, wo Jerry Reed auf ihn aufmerksam wurde und ein paar seiner Kompositionen auf Schallplatten einspielte. Wenig später wurde der Produzent Brian Ahern mit Rodney Crowell bekannt und stellte ihn Emmylou Harris vor. Und auf vielen Harris-L.P.s fand man von nun an Songs aus der Feder von Rodney Crowell, darunter ,Amarillo,'Till I Gain Control Again,You're Supposed To Be Feeling Good, Tulsa Queen und viele andere. Auch die Oak Ridge Boys waren mit Rodney Crowell`s Material erfolgreich, zum Beispiel mit ,Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight. Crowell wurde als Gitarrist Mitglied von Emmylou Harris von 1975 bis 1977. Dann verfolgte er seine eigene Karriere als Sänger. Doch außer einer Handvoll L.P.s und ein paar kleiner Hits, ist bislang wenig daraus geworden. Als Produzent der L.P.s seines Freundes Guy Clark und seiner Ehefrau Rosanne Cash ist Rodney Crowell dagegen umso erfolgreicher. Vielleicht sollte er tatsächlich seine Stärken erkennen und sich ganz auf das Komponieren und Produzieren konzentrieren.