Born for Trouble (1990)

This album makes my untenable top ten. I like every song. This may say more about me than Willie, but it is just an all-around solid, consistent country album. It may be the only country album Willie has recorded that doesn’t contain a single Willie-penned song. This album reminds me of a Randy Travis or George Strait album, and that’s because he uses all of the same big-name Nashville Songwriters (regulars at Nashville’s Bluebird Café): Troy Seals, Don Schlitz, Beth Nielson Chapman. I wonder if Willie was trying to cash in on the traditional country revival spearheaded by Travis and Strait.

“Born For Trouble” sounds like an outlaw album, and the picture of Willie on a Harley would seem to indicate that this is a rowdy, Waylon Jennings-styled release. And yet, with the exception of a few good-old boy tunes, this is one of Willie’s mellower collections.

“Ain’t Necessarily So” was written by Beth Nielson Chapman, but it may be the best one-song summary of Willie’s philosophy of life.

I laugh when I can

I live with the rest

I learn that holding on means letting go

I try to be a friend

To the person on my left

They say you just can't be too careful who you know

But that ain't necessarily so

In other words, Hakuna matata. Accept whatever comes your way with a smile. And don’t be particular about your friends. Accept outcasts and strangers. Willie never has been careful about who he knows. He remains open and accepting in all areas of his life: to musical genres, to bands, to styles, to fans. Open to a fault. Recklessly open.

And every time I follow what I'm feeling

I end up in the same place my heart would have me go

If there's one rule of life I trust

It's everything outside your gut

Ain't necessarily so

Follow your gut. It’s what Willie does with his vocal phrasing and with his life. For good or ill. Forsake pattern and predictability, and yet this improvised life leads him to long for order in his mind. What he forsakes in life he craves in memory.

“(I Don’t Have a Reason) To Go to California Anymore” sounds like a true story. Willie didn’t write it, but it sounds like it could be about the woman who acted in Honeysuckle Rose that Willie had a fling with and then she broke it off. Patoski talks about how Willie was devastated by this. He sings it like he means it.

“Ten with a Two” is a clever, word-play Nashville song. It fits into the “beer goggles” template for up-tempo country songs. “Last night I came in at 2 with a 10 but at 10 I woke up with a 2…I ain’t never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few…I’ll bet you 10-1 you have too.” Willie cares, but he’s not careful with friends or women.

“The Piper Came Today” is what happens when you aren’t careful. Karma’s a bummer. “He was hell to pay, ‘cause he took my world away.” So far, Willie has two upbeat songs and too slower sad songs laced with steel. For some reason, I don’t mind the strings and the background singers on this album. Not sure why.

“You Decide” may strike some as too syrupy, but if so, it’s Vermont’s Finest 100% pure maple. It’s another Petrarchan ballad. “Don’t you worry if you see me cry.” I’ll just sit here loving you eternally and waiting. If your fickle ways come to an end, I’ll just be sitting here being true. Another Beth Nielson Chapman song that Willie could have written himself.

“Pieces of Life” brings the album to a 4/6 or 2/3 sad songs to 1/3 up-tempo ratio. It’s so typical of Willie to have a misleading album cover and title. “Always too much whiskey, and women that I never knew too well, all the things I’ve seen and done, most of which I’d be ashamed to tell.” Remembering is regretting things past. “I’m holding onto nothing, trying to forget the rest.” “Looking back on my life, to see if I can find the pieces.” “I found the bad parts, found all the sad parts, but the best part I just threw away…Oh, the pieces of my life…” Wow. This may be one of the most devastatingly sad songs in Willie’s repertoire. Memory is putting the puzzle of the past back together again. Reminds me of “Somebody Pick Up the Pieces” (from Teatro).

And then a driving Don Schlitz/Beth Nielson Chapman song that captures Willie’s philosophy better than he could capture it himself.

It’ll come to me just like a song,

And I’ll make it up as I go along

The push and pull, the give and take

Will even out for goodness sake

The sun might shine and the wind might blow

I can’t say ‘cause I don’t know

Whatever it is that’s meant to be

Sooner or later it’ll come to me

I’ve spent so many yesterdays worried about forever

But no amount of worry made a day go any better

And no amount of planning made a difference worth a dime

Whatever’s gonna happen’s gonna take its own sweet time

No need to comment on this. These lyrics sum up every song Willie has ever written. They sum up his life philosophy, for good or ill.

“This is How Without You Goes” slows it down again with sad steel sentiments. “Watching re-runs of old memory shows.” This brings the album to 5/8 sad songs. “Everything is tear clouds.” “Born for Trouble” bounces with a lighthearted look at the outlaw lifestyle. Sort of an easy-listening outlaw. Hank Cochran, Willie’s old pal, writes songs that fit Willie to a tee. “Little Things Mean A Lot” closes out the set with a sad song (making it 6/10). So it is a balanced album, with a slight tilt toward melancholy. “A line a day when you’re far away.” I can’t picture Willie really following this advice. He doesn’t seem like the type to call to let you know he arrived safely. For a man so obsessed with memory, he seems like the kind who would forget your anniversary. Or worse yet, might be fooling around with someone else on your anniversary. “Always and ever, for now and forever, little things mean a lot.” There’s that word “always” again. The strings might be a bit much on this one. Whether it is sunny or rainy, you can rely on your heart. Love transcends time. Or does it?

Funny coincidence. My I-tunes went straight from this last song to Sonny Rollins’ version of “Without a Song” on “The Bridge.” I just reviewed Willie’s album of the same name a few days ago. And the WSJ has a nice article today about western swing fiddler Johnny Gimble, who is 84.