With the very first few slow and steady notes of a sliding steel guitar reminiscent of Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date,” Don Henley’s first date in 15 years with a solo album draws listeners in to a sense of home, community, and the pleasure of being at peace where you are.
It’s an Americana mix of traditional country, roots rock, folk and a dash of jazzy blues sure to please a wide range of audiences including Eagles fans.
Debuting at No. 1 on Billboard country charts, Cass County, named for the region in Northeast Texas where Henley grew up, is a rich collection of well-crafted, reflective songs presented alongside an impressive star-studded cast of musicians and vocalists.
Produced by Henley and Stan Lynch — the two also co-wrote 10 of the songs — the CD kicks off with Tift Merritt’s “Bramble Rose.” Henley’s unmistakable soulful, raspy voice, is joined on lead vocals by a very mature-sounding Miranda Lambert, and Mick Jagger who enters the song with a strong, country twang and adds haunting harmonica. Dallas-based Milo Deering’s pedal steel guitar contributions to this song, and many others on the CD, provide a constant supportive thread that brings to mind the phrase, “music is what feelings sound like.”
The lyrics help set the stage for a trip down memory lane, a reflection on where one comes from and where they go from here and how home is a soft place to fall. “The ungrateful few, the tangled inside/Don’t care where they’re going, they’re growing up wild/….The rain’s got me thirsty, falling wasteful and slow/…I come back to this porch to make it all up to you.”
Another Cass County (the region) son, and childhood friend of Henley’s, Richard Bowden, adds electric guitar to two songs on the CD, “Bramble Rose” and “Waiting Tables.”
Henley’s joined on “The Cost of Living” with the steel-voiced Merle Haggard, singing about the passing of time. “I look in the mirror now/I see that time can be unkind/ But I know every wrinkle/And I earned every line/ So wear it like a royal crown/ When you get old and gray/ It’s the cost of living/ And everyone pays.”
Vince Gill chimes in harmony with Henley in a “riled up” tune called “No, Thank You,” his lament for politics and other things that don’t work well in today’s society. “B.S. blaring from the radio, the TV/ Hot wind blowin’ off The Hill/ It’s a mystery to me we can’t agree to disagree/ It’s lookin’ like we never, ever will.”
“Waiting Tables” starts out a little “Tequila Sunrise”ish. It’s about a waitress Henley actually knew. “She grew up tall in a timber town/ Where trees were not the only things that were fallin’ down/ The breezes through the pines were blowin’ bittersweet/ They blew the papers down the dead-end street.” Harmony vocals include another East Texan, Lee Ann Womack.
“Take a Picture of This” is an empty-nester song about a couple whose children are grown up and moved away and how the couple deals with that. In a camera-obsessed age it begs to think about the time wasted taking pictures that leads to unfulfilled relationships. “When you spend all your time living in the past/ With all those pictures that you took, here’s one more for the book/ Take a picture of this, this is me leaving/ Take a picture of this, this is me walking away.”
Henley harmonizes on many songs with a number of talented women including Alison Krauss, Trisha Yearwood, Molly Felder, Ashley Monroe, Dixie Chicks sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, and the elusive Lucinda Williams.
“That Old Flame” picks up speed in a passionate duet by Henley and Martina McBride that talks about the dangers and attraction of rekindling old love.
The Louvin brother’s “When I Stop Dreaming” is masterfully done in a duet with Henley and the incredible Dolly Parton — a track worth the ticket of the whole album.
“Praying for Rain” is an alert from Henley on the changes in the world’s climate and a nod to farmers like his father and grandfather that talked about the weather every day of their lives. “I believe that Mother Nature/ Has taken us to school/ Maybe we just took too much/ Or put too little back / It isn’t knowledge/ It’s humility we lack.”
The final two songs on the deluxe CD, “A Younger Man” and “Where I Am Now,” touch on a faded photograph, an old devil from the past, a trick of light and shadow, and after a life of questionable choices, being at peace with the present. “I took it hard when I found out/ That life just isn’t fair/ I used to bellyache and moan/ But now I just don’t care/ I’m making one last victory lap/ and then I’ll take a bow/ Because I like where I am now.”
