Re: Waterloo Top 50 01.01.2000/Blaze Foley
        Mon, 3 Jan 2000 12:49:34 -0600
        Jim_Caligiuri



Here's a review that ran in last week's Austin Chronicle

December 24, 1999:
BY JIM CALIGIURI
Blaze Foley Live at the Austin Outhouse (Lost Art)
More people have heard of Blaze Foley than have actually heard him. With the CD
release of Live at the  Austin Outhouse, this
circumstance is likely to change, however. A cassette of these recordings has
been circulating around Austin for years, and
this is a digital remaster of the original tape; a cleaned-up version that
retains the defunct club's ambience with random voices,
squeaks from chairs and doors, and sounds from the cash register. One of the
most revered singer-songwriters from Austin's
past, Foley was captured on a four-track cassette recorder just a month before
his death, and these 15 tracks are startling in
their simplicity. With the exception of the occasional harmonica, fiddle, and
piano, Foley's deep whiskey-and-cigarettes
voice is prominent, distinctive, and haunting, while his guitar playing is
economical. His stories and songs capture bits of
life with remarkable precision for their brevity. Townes Van Zandt was a friend
and champion of Foley's songs, and it's
easy to see why; Foley lays his soul out, which occupied the same dark hollow
that Van Zandt's inhabited, yet his blues and
folk melodies bring emotions to life in ways that very few, excepting Van Zandt,
 of course, have ever been able to do.
Besides his best-known tune "If Only I Could Fly" (recorded by Merle Haggard and
 Willie Nelson in 1987), Foley performs "Our
Little Town," "Picture Cards Can't Picture You," "Small Town Hero," and "Clay
Pigeons," songs that are considered by his fans
to be among his best. The between-song patter provides a glimpse into Foley's
personality and his view of the world as well.
Whether asking for some brandy, talking about the pleasant effect of marijuana
despite its expense, or waiting for the
bartender, Ed Bradfield, to join him onstage and play harmonica, Foley appears
affable, kind, and lucid. In the past couple
of years, Blaze Foley's legend has become better known, although more for his
derelict ways and his tragic death. Live at the
Austin Outhouse portrays his humanity and offers ample proof as to why his music
 is remembered a decade after his death.
-4 stars-