THESE OLD 97'S NEVER WRECK, THEY
JUST ROCK ON
By Barry
Gilbert
Of the
Post-Dispatch
July 1, 2004
After
about three years in the roundhouse for rest and refitting, the Old 97's are
back on track, and bassist Murry Hammond couldn't be happier.
"It was
definitely a long break, and I don't like breaks," says Hammond, who
performed in St. Louis just three weeks ago, backing his wife, Grey DeLisle, at
Twangfest. "I never want 
to break again. I don't like
vacations. I like workin'."
The Old 97's, who
take their name from the fact-based, traditional railroad ballad "Wreck of
the Old 97" -- particularly Johnny Cash's version -- come to Mississippi
Nights tonight. Formed 11 years ago in Dallas, the Old 97's still boast the
original lineup: Hammond on bass and vocals, Rhett Miller on guitar and vocals,
Ken Bethea on guitar and Philip Peeples on drums.
Off the major label
treadmill for the first time in several years, the band is touring behind
"Drag It Up" on New West Records, its sixth release. The CD continues
what Hammond calls the Old 97's recipe -- country, Tex-Mex, punk, pop, surf and
'60s rock -- but maybe with a touch more substance.
"We've always
liked older rock 'n' roll and country music better than newer versions of
it," Hammond says by phone from Los Angeles.
"It's always
been some version of the recipe, and sometimes that recipe will get surf heavy
or Tex-Mex heavy, or more Beatle-y and less country. The recipe tends to show
up in every song."
The Kinks, for
example, hover over "The New Kid," a "Drag It Up" tune
about the inevitability of being replaced. And the Tex-Mex rhythms of Doug
Sahm, Augie Meyers and Joe "King" Carrasco propel the bittersweet
party song "Coahuila."
But the CD has
several levels, not all of them happy. The disc is dedicated to Hammond's
father, Donald G. Hammond, who died in the past year at 72. He was too old to
be a real fan of the Old 97's, Murry Hammond says, but "he was a big fan
of me."
In addition, the
heartbreaking "No Mother" ("no no no mother should have to lose
a son") is dedicated to Joel Svatek, a friend, stage technician and
sometime T-shirt salesman who was killed by a drunken driver on the night of
the Super Bowl in 2003.
"That's one
reason people are getting a different record this time," Hammond says.
"There's some seriously unhappy stuff on there.
"The big thing
we were shooting for was really paying attention to the emotional depths of the
material and to make a record we regard as fairly meaty. I think in the past
we've put out what essentially amounted to a party record."
Although Hammond
professes to hate vacations, he used the band's break to good advantage: He
married singer-songwriter DeLisle. The other 97's also were busy, producing
Aidan Merritt Peeples, Eliza Rose Bethea and Maxwell Iahn Miller. Rhett Miller
also released his first solo album, "The Instigator."
Hammond and DeLisle
had been "friends for years and years" but didn't connect
romantically until she asked him to help with a song in 2000. Her new CD,
"The Graceful Ghost," is an account of their courtship.
Hammond has played
acoustic guitar at all of her gigs and has enjoyed the flowering of her career.
"It's real
cute because a lot of this stuff she's doing for the first time, a lot of
little first time successes, and she doesn't take anything for granted and is
just thrilled with them," Hammond says. "It makes me realize I've
gotten a little jaded, so it's neat being around her."
The stability of
the Old 97's is signaled by its democratic way of crediting songs to the whole
band, even though Hammond and Miller do much of the writing with major input
from Bethea and Peeples.
"Basically, as
a rule, if I'm singing a song, I wrote it, and if Rhett's singing, he wrote
it," Hammond says.
"One thing
with me is I can write music like crazy, but I have real trouble with the
words. I'll say, 'Rhett, I can't do anything with this tune, I'm gonna throw it
in the trash can.' And Rhett will go away and come back the next day with a
finished song."
The band's
stability also is due to the connection among the players, perhaps best shown
in this line from the band bio written by Be[thea on the Old 97's Web site
(www.old97s.com/index2.htm):
"This is a
family. Brothers. Friends forever. Rock and rollers."