Omar & The Howlers - Wall Of Pride [1988] [Robbie60] [FLAC]

Omar & The Howlers
Wall Of Pride


Label: Colombia
Released: 1988
Source: Original CD
Size Torrent: 275 MB
Format: FLAC





Austin, besides being the Texas state capital, is home to much of the best in American roots music. Since the 1970s, ballsy blues players, renegade country pickers, and raw-voiced rockers have mixed & matched their musical styles in AustinΓΓé¼Γäós thriving club scene. And thatΓΓé¼Γäós where Kent ΓΓé¼┼ôOmarΓΓé¼┬¥ Dykes holds court too. And itΓΓé¼Γäós also where heΓΓé¼Γäós recorded his latest Ruf album, Boogie Man, working with some of his adopted hometownΓΓé¼Γäós most famous songwriters and musicians.

He hails from McComb, Miss., a town with the curious distinction of being home turf for both Bo Diddley and Britney Spears. ItΓΓé¼Γäós well established that Omar started playing guitar at seven, took to hanging out in edge-of-town juke joints at 12, joined his first band at 13 ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ the next youngest player being 50 ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ and played the sort of music where somebody bustinΓΓé¼Γäó a cap at somebody else was just added percussion.

He was still Kent Dykes in those days, but by the time he hit 20 he had hooked up with a crazy-assed party band, called the Howlers, who specialized in playing frat parties. Looking back,he says, ΓΓé¼┼ôWe had two saxophone players on baritone and tenor who wore Henry Kissinger masks. They were called the Kissinger brothers. Not on every song, mind you. Sometimes it was Dolly Parton playing saxophone. Or Cher.
And we had these cardboard cutouts from record stores for skits.ΓΓé¼┬¥ They even did fake ads for Sunshine Collard Greens and HowlersΓΓé¼Γäó Fried Chicken ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ ΓΓé¼┼ôfor that old-fashioned taste that tastes just like Grandma.ΓΓé¼┬¥

It was a crazy time, but a helluva lot of fun too, with the rough & tumble Howlers playing R&B, R&R and even the occasional polka and western swing tune. A decade earlier and 250 miles north of McComb, Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn had learned their chops exactly the same way as members of the Memphis party band the Mar-Keys.

But Kent Dykes mostly just wanted to play blues. And by then the other Howlers had taken to calling him ΓΓé¼┼ôOmar OvertoneΓΓé¼┬¥ because he tended to let his guitar feed back on stage while he dropped to the floor to spin on his back in a spontaneous, Big & Tall Store take on break-dancing. As he says, those performances were ΓΓé¼┼ôsometimes fueled by, a-hmm, alcohol.ΓΓé¼┬¥

By 1976, the Howlers decided they were ready to bust a big move and relocate to Austin, where such clubs as the Soap Creek Saloon, the Broken Spoke, the Armadillo World Headquarters and AntoneΓΓé¼Γäós had created a haven for renegade music. ΓΓé¼┼ôWe worked out of Austin for about a year,ΓΓé¼┬¥ Omar says, ΓΓé¼┼ôbut a lot of the guys decided they werenΓΓé¼Γäót cut out to play music full-time for the rest of their lives. They headed back to Mississippi and Arkansas, and I decided to keep the name. Nobody objected.ΓΓé¼┬¥ And as Dykes says, Omar & the Howlers works better than Kent & the Howlers. Of such decisions
are careers made.

Fronting a new lineup, Dykes honed a band capable of the sort of raw, rowdy, rambunctious blues that made HowlinΓΓé¼Γäó Wolf and Hound Dog Taylor legends and inspired Don Van Vliet to become Captain Beefheart.

By then the Fabulous Thunderbirds were also getting started in Austin and T-Bird member Jimmie VaughanΓΓé¼Γäós kid brother, Stevie Ray, had formed Triple Threat with Lou Ann Barton, future Double Trouble-r Chris Layton and Jackie Newhouse (LeRoi Brothers). The T-Birds were the first to record, cutting their debut in 1979, but Omar wasnΓΓé¼Γäót far behind with Big Leg Beat in 1980. His second, I Told You So, in 1984 made them the big men on the block ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ or at least along AustinΓΓé¼Γäós famed Sixth Street ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ earning them consecutive Austin band-of-the-year awards in 1985-1986.

The following year Omar signed with Columbia Records and cut Hard Times in the Land of Plenty, which sold in excess 500,000 copies, and Wall of Pride. Since then there have been another dozen albums, all of them featuring OmarΓΓé¼Γäós guitar and baritone voice, which reviewers describe as a cross between HowlinΓΓé¼Γäó Wolf in his prime and the warning growl of a large primate. Hyperbole aside, the big manΓΓé¼Γäós talents have earned an international following, prestigious awards and induction into the Texas musiciansΓΓé¼Γäó Hall of Fame.

For Boogie Man, his newest release on the Ruf label, Omar has brought in some of the songwriter friends heΓΓé¼Γäós made in the 27 years since he left Mississippi for Texas. Ten of the 11 tracks on the 55-minute disc are collaborations. ΓΓé¼┼ôCo-writing at this point in my life is a lot of fun. To me itΓΓé¼Γäós like free songs.
These are ones that I wouldnΓΓé¼Γäót have had the patience to sit down and write on my own. But when you get with friends and drink coffee, tell jokes and stories, and then write something, it always turns out to be something different than what you might have done on your own."

Plus itΓΓé¼Γäós not exactly heavy lifting to work with such Texas icons as Ray Wyle Hubbard, Darden Smith, Alejandro Escovedo and Stephen Bruton. ΓΓé¼┼ôSome of them I hadnΓΓé¼Γäót seen for a while,ΓΓé¼┬¥Omar says, ΓΓé¼┼ôbecause like me theyΓΓé¼Γäóre in bands and on the
road. So when we got together, we end up reminiscing a lot. For instance, IΓΓé¼Γäóve known Ray Wyle off and on for 20 years ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ acquaintances for a long time but pretty good friends now.
In the old days, he was busy drinking and partying on his own, and I had my own party going on too.ΓΓé¼┬¥

Besides the songwriting collaborators, Omar also brought some friends into the recording studio, including guitarists Chris Duarte and Jon Dee Graham (True Believers), Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon of Stevie Ray VaughanΓΓé¼Γäós Double Trouble, George Rains (Sir Douglas Quintet and house drummer on scores of AntoneΓΓé¼Γäós label releases) and his frequent running-mates Terry Bozzio (Missing Persons, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa) and Malcolm ΓΓé¼┼ôPapa MaliΓΓé¼┬¥ Welbourne.

About the recording process, Omar says, ΓΓé¼┼ôI played out for seven and a half months, with only a few days off, and IΓΓé¼Γäód spend those cutting in the studio. I would have liked to take the time off to relax, but it was a lot of satisfaction writing and recording with my friends too. This was an album IΓΓé¼Γäóve wanted to do for a long, long time.ΓΓé¼┬¥

As for future plans, Omar says heΓΓé¼Γäóll be back on the road soon. ΓΓé¼┼ôI still do 150-160 shows a year, and with travel days that adds up to a lot of time away from home. It always seems like weΓΓé¼Γäóre on a plane headed somewhere.ΓΓé¼┬¥ Omar is touring currently with bassist Barry Bihm and drummer Jon Hahn.

Or as he sums things up in ΓΓé¼┼ôThatΓΓé¼Γäós Just My LifeΓΓé¼┬¥: ItΓΓé¼Γäós a long way from Pittsburgh down to Knoxville, Tenn., But IΓΓé¼Γäóm in it for the long haul, and thatΓΓé¼Γäós all right with me. Night-time keeps me in the roadhouse, daylightΓΓé¼Γäós burning up the miles, The blacktop goes forever, I was born a highway child.




Personnel

Omar Dykes (vocals, guitar);
Eric Scortia (keyboards);
Bruce Jones (bass);
Gene Brandon (drums).



Track Listing

1. Wall Of Pride
2. Rattlesnake Shake
3. Don't Lead Me On
4. Rock It While You Can
5. Down In Mississippi
6. Movin'
7. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
8. Bad Seed
9. Kings Ransom
10. Dimestore Hoo Doo
11. Meet Me Down At The River