1997 No Angel Knows   CD  Philo 1201 

Slaid Cleaves' 1997 album No Angel Knows was produced by Lucinda Williams' band guitarist Gurf Morlix and comes out of similar singer/songwriter territory. The acoustic-band feel that ran through Morlix's previous small label recordings with Maine band the Moxie Men combines with the Texas troubadour tradition to produce a sound resembling that of Peter Case, Darden Smith or Robert Earl Keen. A song from Cleaves' early days revisited, a co-write with childhood friend Rod Picott in "Wrecking Ball," and others capture small-town stories as well as Morlix's more famous employer. There's also a hint of Springsteen's passion for cars, rivers and bleak working-class lives on tracks such as "Last of the V-8's" or the defiant "Not Going Down." The fine production enhances a set every bit as good as Cleaves' 1992 Life's Other Side, which led to his receiving a Kerrville New Folk songwriter award, or the 1993 self-released For the Brave & Free which employed a host of Austin musicians. File under literate country-tinged folk-rock with a touch of swing. ~ Shaun Belcher

Recorded at Ben Blank Audio, Austin, Texas and The Cone Of Silence, Pine Mills, Texas. Includes liner notes by Kevin Guyer.

Personnel: Slaid Cleaves (vocals).

Audio Mixer: Gurf Morlix.

Liner Note Author: Kevin Guyer.

Recording information: Ben Blank Audio, Austin, TX; Cone Of Silence, Pine Mills, TX.

Photographer: Tonee Harbert.

Personnel: Slaid Cleaves (vocals, acoustic guitar); Gurf Morlix (acoustic & electric guitars, lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass, percussion, background vocals); Bob Grant (mandolin); Troy Miller (dobro); Darcie Deaville (fiddle, background vocals); Chip Dolan (piano); Kevin Smith (bass, acoustic bass); Donald Lindley (drums, percussion); Karen Poston (background vocals);

1 Not Going Down  3:48 
2 No Angel Knows  2:49 
3 Dance Around the Fire  3:36 
4 Jennie's All Right  3:16 
5 Look Back at Me  2:31 
6 Wrecking Ball  4:01 
7 The River Runs  3:20 
8 Don't Tell Me  3:48 
9 Skunk Juice  3:36 
10 Last of the V-8s  3:18 
11 29  3:32 


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