Walker

Songwriter Cindy Walker’s name is well-known to country music fans. Her songs have charted more than 400 times, recorded by icons such as Ray Charles, Bob Wills, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley. Willie Nelson released an entire album devoted to Walker’s work: (You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker) back in 2006. She has been celebrated for her ability to capture emotional moments in everyday situations that define our lives, such as meeting an old lover, aging gracefully, and dreaming of a better future.

Grey DeLisle, a longtime admirer of Cindy Walker, is best known for her voice acting work, but she’s also a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter. With her own deep roots in music, DeLisle recognizes the significance of Walker’s legacy as a pioneering country music auteur. So when she learned that Walker’s childhood home was deteriorating, she rallied a group of female country artists to record a tribute album. The proceeds will support the restoration efforts led by the Cindy Walker Foundation.

The results are outstanding, which is not surprising considering the talents of those contributing to the project and Walker’s songwriting prowess. Highlights include Amythyst Kiah’s solo acoustic rendition of “Goin’ Away Party”, a tearjerker sung with an intimate sneer; Mandy Barnett’s swinging “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream), and Gail Davies’ weepy “Warm Red Wine”. While the individual tracks all have merit, there is not a weak cut on the record; the results are serendipitously better than the sum of its parts.

Taken as a whole, the album reveals Walker’s ability to celebrate and entertain as well as comfort and console with the knowledge that all these emotions are an essential part of just living. Her narrators understand the thin, semipermeable line that separates happiness from sadness. Walker’s lyrics are lightened by a sense of humor and a drop or two of alcohol. Several of the songs are barroom ballads, such as Summer Dean’s blissfully bluesy “Don’t Talk to Me About Men”, that put a tear in your beer and a smile on your face.

Some songs benefit from having a female perspective, but were not originally written with it in mind. Rosie Flores does a plaintive version of the classic “You Don’t Know Me” (penned initially for Eddy Arnold). Flores lets the lyrics do the heavy lifting. This approach enhances the song’s melodrama. Instead of sobbing, Flores’ stoicism makes the pain sharper. The fact that a female protagonist delivers the message suggests a different set of sexual politics.

In contrast, Kelly Willis croons, “I Don’t Care” with an ache in her throat. She expresses the absence of hurt and subsequent happiness by implying how bad she would feel without finding love.  Brennan Leight and Grey DeLisle take this a step further on the bubbly “You’ve Got My Heart Doing a Tap-Dance”. There’s not a drop of sadness in this song!

Other seemingly happy songs include Kimmi Bitter’s lively “Hey, Mr. Bluebird”, whose lyrics convey a deep depression (“I’ve been so lonesome that I could die / and tears like raindrops keep falling from my eyes”) sung in a light, lilting tone. One would think the narrator was joyful. Bitter disguises her despair by hiding it behind a cheerful sheen.

Walker plays it straight on songs like the breezy anthem “You’re From Texas”, brightly performed here by Katie Shore, Melissa Carper‘s loving “Take Me in Your Arms”, Ginny Mac’s doleful “The Day You Left Me”, and Mozzy Dee’s semi-confessional “It’s All Your Fault”. All of these songs have aged well and profit from finding new audiences through the latest renditions. Jolie Holland‘s clever take on “Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age” explicitly makes that message clear. These songs may be oldies, but they remain goodies.