Johnny Dowd Albums (7)
'A Drunkard's Masterpiece'
Release Date 3/28/2008
Tracks 17
Label Munich
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What The Critics Say
Johnny Dowd presents a curious mixture of the raw and the sophisticated on his sixth album, Cruel Words. His band, which features keyboard player Michael Starks and drummer Brian Wilson in addition to his own guitar work, plays rudimentary blues-rock arrangements with harsh, angular rhythms in a sort of John Lee Hooker-meets-Devo sound, occasionally veering toward heavy metal, and he sings in a gruff voice with a strong rural accent. But his lyrics and the subject matter of his songs, while sometimes bluntly expressed, sound more like the product of a college graduate than an unlettered bluesman. Antiwar statements and descriptions of the class struggle come up frequently, and Dowd sometimes writes like he's starting a novel instead of a song. "He died in a motel surrounded by women's shoes," begins "Final Encore," a song that turns out to be about a deceased singer. That person cannot be Dowd himself, of course, but elsewhere he does turn directly autobiographical. To avoid any confusion, "Drunk" quickly name-checks its main character, "Johnny Dowd, Johnny Dowd, Johnny Dowd," before turning to a heartfelt declaration of recidivist alcoholism. "Oh, what I would give for a drink," Dowd sings, lustily accompanied by Mekons Jon Langford and Sally Timms. It all ends up with a cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" that recalls what Devo did with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" before breaking into the main riff of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." Having started his recording career at the half-century mark, when most artists are slowing down or have stopped altogether, Dowd continues to record regularly, and, idiosyncratic as they may be, he is clearly making the albums he wants to make.~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Despite Johnny Dowd's fixation with death, the 56-year old guitarist has inexplicable appeal on his fifth album, Cemetary Shoes. Beneath all of the bloodstained clothes is a man with superb axe prowess and a Nick Cave-meets-Tom Waits-meets-Tom Verlaine-vocal approach. "Brother Jim" is an offbeat, twangy rock/blues concoction that's as delightfully fun as it is peculiar, "Garden of Delight" is a blistering stomper and "Whisper in a Nag's Ear" is an eerie jazz-tinged offering. If the latter's chorus, "You're carrying a coffin!," makes it a must for all future Halloween parties, the creepy, Cramps-ian white trash barnburner "Rest in Peace" is equally worthy. At times, Dowd's obsession starts to grate -- specifically on "Dear John Letter" where frenzied percussion uncomfortably meshes with his nightmare-inducing spoken word -- but often enough there is magic in the midst of his morbidity. ~ John D. Luerssen, All Music Guide
'The Pawnbroker's Wife'
Release Date 3/11/2002
Tracks 14
Label Munich
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What The Critics Say
Critics have been calling this Johnny Dowd's "most accessible" album -- but that's all relative, isn't it? For even among iconoclasts, the fiercely independent Johnny Dowd sets high-water marks for originality. Like previous efforts, The Pawnbroker's Wife still finds Dowd wallowing in the dredges of his psyche while somehow avoiding the flip into bloated drama that has dogged such would-be spooksters as 16 Horsepower or even Nick Cave. Dowd's music is stridently slippery -- punk and rock & roll are the foundation here (and Dowd and Justin Asher are remarkable rock guitarists), but there's something vaguely techno about some of his music as well. And then there's Kim Sherwood-Caso, whose disconcertingly sweet yet detached vocals can raise the hair on the back of your arms just as effectively as Dowd's foreboding drawl. This effort is top-notch Dowd, however, and if you allow yourself into Dowd's world through this album, you'll find he's actually a somewhat benign host. He even unfurls the Christmas classic "Jingle Bells" for your listening pleasure. Elsewhere, on the campily euphonious "I Love You," Dowd is in a romantic mood...yet "desperately" so. (And Dowd knows desperation.) This fine effort may move Dowd and company in the direction of pop accessibility, but it's still a long way off and Dowd's charming morbidity is still fully intact. ~ Erik Hage, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
If there are any contemporary songwriters who look deeper into the dark and troubling underside American life than Johnny Dowd, I'm not sure anyone has the courage to listen to their work. Dowd's music comes from a place that's at once singularly disturbing and easy to recognize, charting a landscape of murder, obsession, misguided love, guilt, fear, and betrayal that's as common, as violent, and as familiar as the morning newspaper. Dowd's first album, Wrong Side of Memphis, was a stark, blunt homemade affair, while the follow-up, Pictures From Life's Other Side, was a (relatively) high-fidelity companion piece that captured the Dock Boggs-meets-Pere Ubu sound of Dowd's touring band (Justin Asher on keyboards, Brian Wilson on drums and bass pedals, and Kim Sherwood-Caso on vocals). Temporary Shelter, however, finds Johnny Dowd displaying his surest hand in the record-making process to date; while Dowd's production is simple and uncluttered, he and his band have also learned how to layer their sheets of sound in the studio, and while the album still possesses the jarring intimacy of Dowd's live shows, there's also a subtlety and broader sonic palette that brings the details of this music into sharper and more telling focus. And while Dowd is obviously in charge, Temporary Shelter makes it clear this is the work of a real band; here, Johnny is willing to ease back his sturdy blues-based guitar leads to make more room for Asher and Wilson, and he even turns the lead vocal on "Death Comes Knocking" over to Sherwood-Caso. The sinister, dreamlike sound of Temporary Shelter provides the perfect backdrop for this cycle of songs about the troubling legacies of childhood and (dysfunctional) family life; it sounds like Dowd's most personal collection to date, and while the images are often disturbing, the effect isn't morbid -- these songs are not about wallowing in the dark side of life, but about one man's struggle through his heart and soul to escape the demons that have crippled him. As you've surely guessed by now, Temporary Shelter isn't for everyone, but while it's strong meat, it's also rich and deeply satisfying if you have an adventurous taste. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Pictures from Life's Other Side'
Release Date 5/3/1999
Tracks 16
Label Glitterhouse
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What The Critics Say
If there was even the tiniest bit of comfort to be wrung from Johnny Dowd's singularly disturbing debut album, Wrong Side of Memphis, it was that the record's stark, homespun tales of murder, misery, and malice seemed light years removed from reality, evoking a backwoods dementia so completely over the top it often threatened to veer into the ridiculous. Pictures from Life's Other Side ups the ante considerably: Complete with full-band backing, crisp production, and a broader musical spectrum, the effect is much more chilling, as within this more conventional framework, Dowd's obsessions manifest themselves in new and sinister ways, cloaking his fixations and fetishes behind the subterfuge of a suspiciously listenable blend of country, blues, and pop. Where Wrong Side of Memphis immediately revealed itself as the ravings of a madman, Pictures from Life's Other Side is much sneakier -- at first glance, "Hope You Don't Mind" appears to be a heart-wrenching ballad of unrequited love, but on closer inspection the object of the middle-aged Dowd's affection is a schoolgirl; likewise, the hauntingly atmospheric "No Woman's Flesh But Hers" is a testament to undying love, in this case a husband's pledge to his comatose wife. Sick, twisted, and undeniably compelling, Pictures from Life's Other Side delivers where countless shock rock and gangsta rap records fall short, capturing a musical vision that's genuinely disquieting. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
'Wrong Side of Memphis'
Release Date 1/20/1998
Tracks 15
Label Checkered Past
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What The Critics Say
"I won't say that I'm lonely, 'cause there's too many voices in my head," sings Dowd in "Ft. Worth, Texas." Fair enough warning that this is not your average singer/songwriter; lines like "be content with your life, it may not get any better" and a preoccupation with murder, death, and evil also make it clear that this is not jovial schizophrenia, on the order of Syd Barrett or Roky Erickson. One hopes for Dowd's sake that the unrelenting tales of madness-fueled evil are not wholly based in real-life experience; otherwise, this is not the guy to meet at the end of a dark alley. It's compellingly creepy, though, if hard to take entirely seriously, and the inventive, unsettling washes of church-organ-from-hell synthesizer make it clear that it's someone who knows what he's doing in a studio, not a Daniel Johnston-type whose childlike dementia is being captured in spite of itself. They're calling this "country" in some circles, but songs like "Welcome Jesus," with its transistor-radio-from-the-foxhole vocals and opening line "welcome Jesus to this dismal swamp," all but ensure that Dowd won't be welcome in Nashville. If Dowd does not become widely known (and, frankly, it would be surprising if he even broke out on a college radio level), this is guaranteed to be hailed as a cult classic 20 years down the line. Adding to the mystique is the lack of a label or catalog number on the CD, though you can get it through Checkered Past Records (3940 N. Francisco, Chicago, IL 60618) if your hip local indie store isn't carrying it. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
