Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran

Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran

by Jamey Johnson
Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran

Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran

by Jamey Johnson

CD

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Overview

As a rule, tribute recordings are a mixed bag; they tend to be well-intentioned yet fall short of the mark musically. Jamey Johnson's Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran is a risky offering because it's his follow-up to 2010's Grammy-nominated, gold-selling Guitar Song. Here he assembles 16 tracks with a slew of guests to sing with him. Johnson's connection to Cochran -- a legendary songwriter who passed in 2010 -- was personal and professional; all artists appearing here either knew the man or recorded his songs. Johnson doesn't attempt to draw attention to himself, but instead, presents a series of excellent performances of Cochran's songs with himself as an anchor. This is no mean feat and could easily have backfired. Co-producers Buddy Cannon and Dale Dodson have done a stellar job at keeping the sound clean and warm; they offer a sonic window into the way these tunes were conceived as Cochran wrote them, without getting mired in retro sound for its own sake or contemporary country's synthetic trappings. All songs are well suited to Johnson's strength as a singer (check his only solo performance on "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" for proof). The contrast between his world-weariness and Alison Krauss' poignant yearning on "Make the World Go Away" is as moving as the original. His duet with Merle Haggard on "I Fall to Pieces" brings the song back to the very place that attracted Patsy Cline's attention to it in the first place. The slow, weepy honky tonk of the obscure "I'd Fight the World," with Bobby Bare, reveals Cochran's genius at full throttle. Johnson pairing Leon Russell and Vince Gill on the barroom stepper "A Way to Survive" is savvy as hell. Willie Nelson joins them on the humorous "Everything But You." Nelson's performance on "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me" is almost a scene stealer. "Don't Touch Me" with Emmylou Harris is pure eros in a country waltz. The snappy back and forth dialogue between Lee Ann Womack and Johnson in "This Ain't My First Rodeo" is worthy of Dolly Parton and Porter Waggoner. Johnson and George Strait hold forth on American patriotism in "The Eagle," while he and Ronnie Dunn turn in a solid lonesome-at-the-jukebox burner in "A-11." There are some weathered voices here, but Johnson knew what he was doing: they all serve the material in offering a balance of vulnerability and wisdom. In song, Cochran chronicled the sad and hard-bitten aspects of life singularly; many of his songs reflect his personal experiences before coming to Nashville. He also possessed a healthy sense of humor. Both combine in making his work timelessly relevant. Living for a Song is not so much to remind people who Cochran was, but to celebrate the art and life of the man. The risk Johnson and Mercury Records took in doing this pays off in spades. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date: 10/16/2012
Label: Mercury Nashville
UPC: 0602537093779
Rank: 99356

Tracks

  1. Make the World Go Away
  2. I Fall to Pieces
  3. A Way to Survive
  4. Don't Touch Me
  5. You Wouldn't Know Love
  6. I Don't Do Windows
  7. She'll Be Back
  8. Would These Arms Be in Your Way
  9. The Eagle
  10. A-11
  11. I'd Fight the World
  12. Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me
  13. This Ain't My First Rodeo
  14. Love Makes a Fool of Us All
  15. Everything But You
  16. Living for a Song

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jamey Johnson   Primary Artist,Guitar (Acoustic)
Hank Cochran   Primary Artist
Emmylou Harris   Primary Artist
Lee Ann Womack   Primary Artist
Vince Gill   Primary Artist
Ronnie Dunn   Primary Artist
Ray Benson   Primary Artist,Guitar (Electric)
Ray Price   Primary Artist
Merle Haggard   Primary Artist
Willie Nelson   Primary Artist
Asleep at the Wheel   Primary Artist
Alison Krauss   Primary Artist
Kris Kristofferson   Primary Artist
Leon Russell   Primary Artist
George Strait   Primary Artist
Elvis Costello   Primary Artist
Bobby Bare   Primary Artist
Cowboy Eddie Long   Guitar (Steel)
Janet Darnall   Strings
Carole Neuen-Rabinowitz   Strings
David Miller   Bass
Brent Mason   Guitar (Electric)
Buddy Cannon   Bass (Upright),Vocals (Background)
Glenn Worf   Bass (Upright)
Jason Roberts   Fiddle
Shelby Kennedy   Vocals (Background)
Stephen Hill   Vocals (Background)
Kevin Grantt   Bass (Upright)
Bobby Terry   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Kristin Wilkinson   Strings
Kenny Malone   Percussion
Dennis Crouch   Bass (Upright)
Mickey Raphael   Harmonica
Tommy White   Guitar (Steel)
Larry Franklin   Fiddle
Pamela Sixfin   Strings
David Davidson   Strings
Chad Cromwell   Drums
Joe Spivey   Fiddle
Jim Grosjean   Strings
Floyd Domino   Piano
Melonie Cannon   Vocals (Background)
Hank Singer   Fiddle
Steve Gibson   Guitar (Electric)
Robby Turner   Dobro,Guitar (Steel)
Lonnie Wilson   Drums
Sarighani Reist   Strings
Jim Chapman   Vocals (Background)
Wei Tsun Chang   Strings
Stefan Petrescu   Strings
Jim Brown   Piano,Guitar (Acoustic)
Dan Tyminski   Guitar (Acoustic)
Red Lane   Gut String Guitar
Karen Winkelmann   Strings
Eddie Rivers   Guitar (Steel)
David Sanger   Drums
Bobby Wood   Wurlitzer,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes
John Wesley Ryles   Vocals (Background)
Liana Manis   Vocals (Background)
Zeneba Bowers   Strings

Technical Credits

David Robinson   Assistant Engineer
Karen Naff   Design
Shannon Finnegan   Production Coordination
Chris Owens   Assistant Engineer
Buddy Cannon   Producer
Paul Bowman   Assistant Engineer
Jon Hersey   Assistant Engineer
Daniel Baciagalupi   Mastering Assistant
Suzi Cochran   Photo Courtesy
Steve Chadie   Engineer
Bo Roberts   Composer
Kristin Wilkinson   Contractor
Joe Allison   Composer
John Hobbs   String Arrangements
Mack Vickery   Composer
David James Holster   Composer
Nathan Yarborough   Assistant Engineer
Charlie Kramsky   Assistant Engineer
Matt Rausch   Assistant Engineer
Brian Wright   Executive Producer
Leland Elliott   Assistant Engineer
Jonathan Harter   Assistant Engineer
Sorrel Brigman   Assistant Engineer
Max D. Barnes   Composer
Red Lane   Composer
Moneen Carpenter   Composer
Brent Mason   Tic Tac
Willie Nelson   Composer,Drum Triggers
Dave Kirby   Composer
Butch Carr   Engineer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Drew Bollman   Engineer
Dale Dodson   Composer,Producer
Will Harrison   Assistant Engineer
Andrew Mendelson   Mastering
T.W. Cargile   Mixing,Engineer
Tony Castle   Engineer
Vern Gosdin   Composer
Glenn Martin   Composer
Hank Cochran   Composer
Sam Seifert   Engineer
Jacob Sciba   Assistant Engineer
Seth Morton   Assistant Engineer
Aidan Rowe   Copyist
Jack Spencer   Photography
Rob Katz   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Shelley Anderson   Mastering Assistant
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