Billy Rawlett, an American classic rock and country/western performer from Arlington, Texas, has released the fourth LP of his re-release collection, “Time Stood Still”
American classic rock performer from Arlington, Texas, Billy Rawlett, has released the fourth LP of his re-release collection, “Time Stood Still,” to much deserved acclaim. “Time Stood Still” is part of Rawlett’s 2012 re-release collection which includes 1999’s “You Can’t Get Your Money Back,” 2000’s “What’s a Poor Boy to Do,” 2002’s “Latent Treasures,” 2004’s “Time Stood Still,” and 2006’s “In the Blink of an Eye.” This record, “Time Stood Still,” is Rawlett’s most folk-inspired record of his career and one no Rawlett fan can be without, nor any fan of genuine Americana or folk music.
Rawlett’s work on “Time Stood Still” differs from his earlier offerings on “Latent Treasures” in that “Latent…” is less bluegrass and more varied, while “Time Stood…” is an album straight from the heart of the American experience, boasting traditional folk, bluegrass, country, western, and even some Texas-flavored blues. The opening track, “Prodigal Son,” is somehow lightning fast and laid-back all at once, with hometown-style backing harmonies and a jawharp for accompaniment. “No Expectations” is as lowdown as an original by Leadbelly, and performed with equal soul. The title track belts as it soothes, sounding half like a lamentation, half like a hymn of praise (which “Death Is Not the End” seems in part to be, itself). Rawlett rounds the record out with some heavy cannon, the tenth track, “Sailed in Wooden Ships…,” being as spirited a nautical folk tune as what fans are used to from bands such as Maine’s Schooner Fare, and the closing number being an original rejoinder to Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” in which Rawlett watches the train come to him bearing his one true love.
Billy Rawlett’s influences stem from every geographic extreme of classic rock, reaching the Ventures and the Doors on the west coast, Johnny Cash and Stevie Ray Vaughan in the midwest, and Jimmy Paige and the Rolling Stones in the UK. His blend of rock and country/western is reminiscent of such American bands as CSNY, the Band, or the Doobie Brothers – but only at their most jamming, energetic moments. Rawlett’s own raw sound is arresting, striking, and full of verve even at his mellowest. It was said of Tammy Wynette that she had “a tear in every word;” the opposite is doubly true of Billy Rawlett, who performs even his saddest song in a way you’ll always be in the mood to hear.
-Sean McCauley
MondoTunes Staff Writer
The LP “Time Stood Still” is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download
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ARTIST CONTACT INFO:
eMail - bullydog@swbell.net
