Billy Eli – Lace
Well, one thing’s for sure – old traditional country music isn’t entirely dead or fused to pop music. That is, not if a former East Texas artist like Billy Eli has anything to say about it. There’s a little twang, a little Charlie Rich mixed with George Jones & the result comes from his youth, experiences & environment. Years working on oil pipelines, playing honky-tonks & living between life’s transitions.
Produced by Ed Tree at the Treehouse in San Gabriel, CA the nine well conveyed tunes of Lace (Drops August 9/Errant/29:53) are not performed with any semblance of cowboy boots, big hats, rowdiness & pickup trucks. There may be some tequila. Instead, Billy Eli focuses on life as it’s been dealt, the people he has known rather than simply material things. He observes human behavior & applies his assessments to his melodies which are fairly universal in the country canon. These could’ve been hits in the 60s but they sound fresh as well today.
“Hey Maria,” & “All Day” in particular have an upbeat mainstream attraction sung with enthusiasm. Are they saloon songs? Not necessarily, Billy isn’t trying to be the next Johnny Paycheck or Waylon Jennings, but he has a dalliance with many country giants, such as they were, who managed to craft their repertoires on real life, the personalities that made it interesting & the nature of the beast that is this genre.
The set doesn’t sound retro in an oldie manner but Billy touches upon many subjects that are vintage & reflective & to maintain memories worth remembering.
And there is the title of the album – “Lace” — memories can be a tangled mess of wires or elegant lace – it’s how you take care of your past. There should’ve been a song about that Billy.
Eli isn’t inventing anything completely new here. He applies his familiarities to old traditions & it’s more faithful to work by Sonny James & Buck Owens & not vocally, Jim Reeves. Billy isn’t trying to mine the classic veins of Johnny Cash, Boxcar Willie, Willie Nelson, or Roger Miller. But his voice has a country allure as it navigates through a song like “Wine In the Desert” — saved for last since it’s an excellent tune. These are down-in-the-dirt faithful pieces & not Hee-Haw corn-pone ditties or glitter showcase compositions with spangled shirts & tight pants. Purity still sells.
Highlights – “Hey Maria,” “All Day,” “She Looked Like Marilyn Monroe” & “Wine In the Desert.”
Musicians – Billy Eli (acoustic guitar/vocal), Dale Daniel (drums), Ed Tree (bass/acoustic, baritone, electric, nylon string & slide guitars/electric sitar/Vox organ/acoustic & Wurlitzer piano/harmonium), Kevin Maul (dobro/pedal steel guitar), Teresa James (harmony vocal), Taras Prodaniuk (bass), Jaydee Maness (pedal steel guitar), David Serby (lead & harmony vocals) & Jim Hemphill (electric guitar).
CD image courtesy of Danielle Tait. Stitched 8pp lyric insert with credits included. CD @ https://billyeli.net/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: Billy Eli “You’re the Wine”