Americana-uk.com
May 2008
by Phil Edwards
Now sit down, make yourself comfortable and I’ll begin. A long, long time ago in a town far, far away there was a Scorcher who went by the name of Jason. Well in fact he went by many names including Jason Ringenberg, Farmer Jason and Jason and the Scorchers. And in fact he still does. But he’s always Jason.

In the olden days the Scorchers tore up the rule book. They went head to head with punk and won; in fact they whupped their ass. They invented ‘alt.country’ and not only did they bestow the term to some believers long before they even knew what it meant, they also announced to the world ‘cowpunk’!! But alas the world wasn’t ready. But they would be. Like Ely touring with the Clash, cowpunk was years ahead of its time. But their time was coming. And maybe now 30 years later it’s grown up and come of age. But let’s hope not. Like snotty toddlers and angst ridden teenagers with the biggest attitudes known to man, this music knows no bounds and the world needs ‘em. It’s horrible, mean and full of bile; and this is exactly as it should be. Mix it up with hubble, bubble and bats' wings and you’ll get it. Spiteful, hurtful, in your face and absolutely spot on.

I was discussing Ringenberg with a friend of mine the other day, after this CD arrived on my doormat. I said I wasn’t looking forward to hearing it and she stated that she’d just listened to some tracks online and that it sounded awful! I’ve got a couple of Scorchers albums in my collection and I probably haven’t listened to them since the week after I’d bought them. To be honest I thought it was noisy noise. Far too punkified for its own good. Where are the harmonies, the gentle ballads, the mellowness and sing-along of the mainstream country I was into at the time? I just didn’t get it, so the records were consigned to the bowels of the west wing library I keep my music collection in. With strict instructions to the keeper of the albums never to pass me them again. Give me the Colin Raye, Alabama or Garth Brooks cds I said, but under no circumstances let this man’s albums ever see the light of day in my house again – no matter how pissed I am or how much I want to liven the party up! And off I went cursing those marketing types for making me buy them in the first place. Oh – how mistaken was I?

This double CD provides opportunities to retrospectively visit Ringenberg’s past catalogue. Whether you’re a Jason Ringenberg, Farmer Jason or Jason and the Scorchers fan – they’re all here. Split into ‘Best Tracks’ and ‘Sidetracks’ (which is Ringenberg’s favourite apparently) this CD covers the past 30 (yep 30!) years of his recording career. ‘Best Tracks’ is meant to be a “collection of his strongest solo material” whilst ‘Sidetracks’ is a collection of his “most interesting rarities and outtakes from the non Scorchers effort”.

But ‘Best Tracks’ rocks whereas ‘Sidetracks’ sucks; mostly. But first lets look at ‘Best Tracks’. Twenty tracks which contain the standout tunes from his three solo albums released in the last decade - ‘For Addie Rose’ (his daughter), ‘Eddie Rode the Orphan Train’, ‘One Less Heartache’ (with the Wildhearts), ‘A Pocketful of Soul’ and ‘Bible and a Gun’ (with Steve Earle).

Punk Rock Skunk’ is an irreverent look at punk rock stardom, whereas ‘Rainbow Stew’ is a fun track that skips along displaying his country learning from his youth, when he’d discovered George Jones & Tammy Wynette. ‘Born to Run’ (no not the Springsteen song) shows that Ringenberg can do a rock tune also. He’s not a one dimensional guy that’s for sure. And of course there is loads of Scorchers' stuff, but then you already knew that.

Sidetracks’ contains ten songs. The first three are not necessary; ‘Lovely Christmas’, Moose on the Loose’ and ‘The Sailor’s Eyes’ simply don’t work – well maybe they do if you have kids.

‘Mom’s 70th Birthday Song’ is a lovely gentle ballad presumably about Mrs Ringenberg. He revisits his first band Shakespeare’s Riot ‘Help There’s a Fire’, provides a song about  philosopher ‘Buckminster Fuller’ and another unnecessary kiddies' song ‘Who’s Gonna Feed Them Hogs?’. He covers John Prine’s ‘Paradise’ and does it full justice and this is probably the best song on this CD.

The closer ‘Jimmie Rodgers’ Last Blue Yodel’ absolutely rips along and brings us full circle to why Ringenberg did it all in the first place. To simply teach them Mohawk haired punks a thing or two.