Jimmie Dale Gilmore Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
Jimmie Dale Gilmore's first two albums were high-spirited honky tonk sessions that owed more to the great Texas dance hall tradition than the Zen cowboy leanings of Gilmore's masterpiece, 1991's After Awhile. To many listeners it probably seemed that the latter album was a more personal and heartfelt project than his earlier sides -- but then again, maybe it wasn't. Come on Back, Gilmore's seventh solo album, is a set of covers very much in the spirit of his debut set, Fair and Square, but a reading of Gilmore's liner notes offers a wealth of perspective on what these songs mean to him. Come on Back was recorded in tribute to Jimmie Dale's late father, Brian Gilmore, an amateur guitar picker who, as his son puts it, "accorded one class of people an exalted level of esteem that bordered on reverence" -- musicians and songwriters. Brian Gilmore loved the great country songs of the 1940s and '50s, which Jimmie Dale describes as "simple, well-crafted, unpretentious little gems from a wonderfully creative period in American commercial music." And while Jimmie Dale Gilmore may not have written a note of music on Come on Back, his performances of these songs, which speak clearly of the complexities of life and love as expressed in simple but eloquent terms, never fail to hit the proper grace note. This disc's many lovely moments document not just how Gilmore's love for this music was passed on to him by his father, but how the lessons he learned from his family are reflected in the home truths of these tunes. None of this is to suggest that Come on Back is a dark, or morbid record; the joy in this music is palpable, Gilmore is in superb voice on these sessions, and Joe Ely's production is as fine as it is unobtrusive. Though he's a gifted songwriter, Gilmore has always been a fine interpretive singer as well, and the full depth of his vocal talent is on display on Come on Back -- without reading his deeply moving liner notes, this sounds like an excellent collection of classic country and folk standards. Listen again after reading his essay, and you hear a tribute to a life well lived, and the many ways his father's life shaped his own. Come on Back is a quietly extraordinary album, and Gilmore's finest work since After Awhile. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
After two critically acclaimed albums on Hightone Records in the 1980s, Jimmie Dale Gilmore moved up to major label Elektra in the '90s. But the kudos did not translate into sales -- only one of his three Elektra albums scraped into the bottom reaches of the country charts -- and by the turn of the century he was back on an independent: the folkie label Rounder (distributing his own Windcharger imprint). Three and a half years separated Braver New World, the last Elektra album, from One Endless Night, his Rounder debut, but Gilmore apparently hadn't spent much time writing in the interim. Of the 12 listed songs (there was also a bonus track, the rockabilly "DFW," referring to Fort Worth and Dallas), only two are co-written by the singer. One Endless Night is a compendium of Texas songwriting, including the work of Gilmore cronies and mentors Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, Willis Alan Ramsey, and Walter Hyatt, as well as such familiar names as John Hiatt, Jesse Winchester, Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, and Steve Gillette. Though Gilmore had always mixed his own compositions with covers, this album presents him as an interpretive singer. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although Jimmie Dale Gilmore has never been what one would call prolific -- his recording career is characterized by lengthy gaps in between albums, seemingly for no reason other than he doesn't particularly feel like recording -- his albums are among the finest in country music. 1996's aptly-titled Braver Newer World finds the Lubbock native moving away from the staunch musical traditionalism that characterized his earlier releases, into a brilliant fusion of pure country, mystical explorations, and sonic experimentation that foreshadows the psychedelic tilt of nominally alt-country albums like Wilco's Summer Teeth or the Jayhawks' Smile. Produced by T-Bone Burnett and featuring the gifted multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion on guitars and keyboards, Braver Newer World places Gilmore's characteristically spiritual lyrics in vivid musical settings that complement but never obscure his singular worldview and magnificent high lonesome voice. The glorious title track, one of the most achingly beautiful songs of its time, is only the first of many highlights; the resigned "Headed for a Fall" and the uplifting "Come Fly Away" are nearly as brilliant, and a quirky but successful reimagination of Blind Lemon Jefferson's blues standard "Black Snake Moan" is one of the most musically daring tracks of Gilmore's career. Pure country traditionalists may blanch, but Gilmore's never been one to do the expected at any point in his career, and Braver Newer World is arguably his finest work. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
'Spinning Around the Sun'
Release Date 1/1/1993
Tracks 12
Label Elektra
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Released in 1991, After Awhile stripped back the traditional country backings from Jimmie Dale Gilmore's music and let the subtle textures of his lyrics shine through, and the result was one of Gilmore's finest recordings. After the critical success of After Awhile, Emory Gordy, Jr., a top-shelf Nashville producer and session musician, was assigned to work on Gilmore's follow-up, Spinning Around the Sun, and his approach seemed to be to follow the subtle and scaled-back sound of After Awhile, but make it more polished and listener-friendly at the same time. If that seems a little confusing, Spinning Around the Sun for the most part sounds like a labor of love to honor Gilmore's work while making it more accessible (especially to the country marketplace). While the cover of "I Was the One" and "Reunion," a duet with Lucinda Williams, sound as if they were crafted with country radio in mind, most of the album mimics After Awhile's relaxed but thoughtful sound, though the surfaces shine with Music City perfection rather than the more intimate and soulful attack of Gilmore's Austin, TX, compatriots. Ultimately, the bigger problem is that the material on Spinning Around the Sun just isn't as interesting; Gilmore only penned four of the album's songs, and while the rest of the material is solid, there are too many tunes that are beautiful but unremarkable, and beyond a near-definitive reworking of Butch Hancock's "Just a Wave, Not the Water," very little of this connects with the force of Gilmore's best work. Spinning Around the Sun is an album of many beautiful moments that never quite coheres into a fully satisfying whole. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'After Awhile'
Release Date 1/1/1991
Tracks 12
Label Elektra/Nonesuch
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
While Jimmie Dale Gilmore's first two solo albums presented him as an enlightened honky tonk cowboy, 1991's After Awhile, his first set for Elektra, was less stylistically bound to country music, and approached Gilmore as a singer/songwriter, albeit one with a decided West Texas sensibility. The result was a considerably more subdued and personal set than Gilmore had offered in the past; Gilmore wrote all of the album's 12 songs (except for Butch Hancock's "My Mind's Got a Mind of Its Own," which fits Gilmore like a glove), and the quieter, often acoustic-based arrangements provide a more sympathetic backdrop for the more cerebral corners of his songs than the spunky old-school country frameworks of his work for Hightone (Gilmore discusses his interest in Buddhist and Hindu teachings in the liner notes, which would have seemed a bit odd on Fair and Square or Jimmie Dale Gilmore). While the bluesy wail of "Midnight Train" and the uptempo shuffle of "My Mind's Got a Mind of Its Own" proved Gilmore hadn't turned his back on the rootsier side of his musical vocabulary, the more languid tracks reflect a high and lonesome mood that's solely Gilmore's province, and "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown," "Treat Me Like a Saturday Night," and "Blue Moon Waltz" are simply beautiful performances of remarkable songs that could have come from no one else. After Awhile is a subtle, unforced masterpiece that captures Gilmore at the subtle peak of his abilities. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Jimmie Dale Gilmore's self-titled sophomore effort boasted a less aggressive sound than his Joe Ely-produced debut, and that suited Gilmore's wavering tenor and impressionistic lyrical style just fine, though the album also sounds like an attempt to blend a traditional country approach with Gilmore's rather individualistic style. This time out, Gilmore wrote (or co-wrote half) of the album's ten songs, while old friend Butch Hancock ponied up two tunes of his own, and the production (by Bruce Bromberg and Lloyd Maines) generates a laid-back honky tonk vibe that recalls the feel of a Texas dancehall without forcing the issue. The album rescues one classic tune from the long-lost Flatlanders album ("Dallas"), and "Deep Eddy Blues" and "Beautiful Rose" prove he had plenty of other great songs at his disposal, which marks a major improvement over the covers-heavy debut. Sometimes, however, the spunky tempo and precise accompaniment of the music seem to be working against the grain of Gilmore's often world-weary songs, though Jimmie Dale himself accompanies these arrangements with grace and confidence. Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a fine album and a step up from Fair and Square, but in retrospect it sounds most like a stepping stone on the way to his definitive recording, After Awhile. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Jimmie Dale Gilmore's debut album, Fair and Square, established him out of the box as a major talent in the Texas country music scene, but in retrospect the record seems like a rather odd representation of his talents. With longtime friend and collaborator Joe Ely in the producer's chair, Fair and Square is for the most part a solid honky tonk session, with Gilmore's gloriously wobbly tenor sounding strong and clear over a band that's not afraid to turn up the gas on numbers like "White Freight Liner Blues" and the proto-rockabilly "All Grown Up." (Actually, Gilmore and Ely seem to have been in a rocking mood when they cut this album, given the presence of enthusiastic renditions of "Trying to Get to You" and "Singing the Blues.") However, given his strength as a songwriter, it seems curious that Gilmore only wrote two of the album's ten songs, though with Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, and David Halley all willing to contribute tunes, it's not as if anyone was forcing him to cut second-rate material. More significantly, the subtle undercurrents of Gilmore's best material seem to have been left by the wayside, as if a coffeehouse singer/songwriter had been thrown into a dance hall and was trying to avoid getting the hook. Fair and Square is a fun album, but it's hardly the best place to start exploring Gilmore's brand of music. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
