John Doe - The Westerner
John Doe is a true American treasure. He is the co-founder of the legendary punk rock band X, has acted in many movies and just this week, and has become a bestselling author. His new book, Under The Big Black Sun, chronicling the Los Angeles punk scene of the late ‘70’s, is a must read.
It’s been five years since Doe has released new music and he comes at us hard out of the gate with The Westerner.
Described as a “psychedelic soul record from the American desert”, this latest Doe masterpiece is dedicated and largely about his longtime friend Michael Blake. An author, and Native American activist, Blake was obviously a huge influence on Doe.
Over the past 40 years Doe has lived in two parallel musical universes. Writing some of the best punk songs with X is one, and creating 10 superb alt country solo albums and the classic first album as a member of the Knitters is the other. Both are the type of galactic adventures I have been more than happy and privileged to have explored over the past 40 years as well as a lifetime fan.
That said Doe is an amazing songwriter. After listening to The Westerner, I conclude that Doe has done a masterful job in creating brilliantly sunlit American desert imagery brought to light through the descriptive lyrics and perfect use of the backing music. The result is the best solo work Doe has done so far.
Doe pairs up with some musical heavyweights on many songs here, Debbie Harry, Exene Cervenka, and Cat Power just to name a few. These are the songs where Doe really sparkles.
Doe’s voice is still sounding great. I am surprised he never became a country superstar, with his smooth delivery and the handsome swagger of ten Elvis’s. Doe has that special gift in being able to pen songs that draw you in to the story and force you to stick around for a beer. I ask you to listen to “Sweet Reward”, and you’ll hear what I mean.
The Westerner is predominately an acoustic album, but the clever use of electric throughout helps solidify the American desert vibe.
I found some of the songs had an X sound to them, “Go Baby Go’, is one such example. The song could have easily found a home on the X album, See How We Are, released in the ‘80’s.
The mix of acoustic guitar and brushes on drums on “My Darling, Blue Skies” is a nice touch and blends wonderfully with the spaghetti western guitar twang. Cool stuff.
As with any Doe, X, Knitters album, the lyrics find a way to create a crack and shine through. Doe, over the years, has used every figure of speech and subject line known to man in his songwriting. This is evident on two of my favorites on the new album, “Sweet Reward” and The Other Shoe”. There is some great songwriting going on right there. The profound lyrics draw you in and burn you deep like a walk on the moltenly hot desert sand.
The Westerner is a very strong 10 song set and I highly recommend that you give John Doe a listen and I know you will be impressed by his smooth singing voice and never ending lyrical prowess.
