H
eartbreak, Misery & Death is the seventhstudio album by beloved Alabama-based troubadour Grayson Capps. For this latesteffort, Capps turned his attention to 16 long-lost folk songs and traditionalsperformed by artists ranging from Doc Watson and Jerry Jeff Walker to RandyNewman and Gordon Lightfoot. Introduced to these timeless touchstones as achild by his father, they’d catalyze Capps’ love for music at a young age,while informing the Southern Gothic vernacular that he’s gone onto soeloquently explore and reimagine in his own body of work.
As Capps explains in his own words:
I grew up with music, whether hearing Fred Stokes, BobbyLong and my dad, Ronnie Capps, singing around the house on Fridays andSaturdays, or listening to vinyl records in the den, my youth seemed to alwaysbe surrounded with music. One of the first artists I gravitated toward was DocWatson. I first found my own voice by emulating him singing “Wake Up Little Maggie.” We had
The Essential Doc Watson and
Doc Watson Memories, and I wore those records out. “Columbus Stockade Blues”was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar.
“Barbara Allen” was a favorite song of Bobby Long’s to sing.I remember him saying to Fred, “Come on Fred, give me a chord,” pronouncing the‘ch’ like ‘chore.’ Fred would hit a chord, and Bobby would start in singing. Iguess that’s where I learned the joy associated with singing and playing guitar.
I love Doc’s version of “Moody River,” and that song led meto appreciate more complex chord progressions. “Today” was another favorite ofBobby’s and my dad’s. I figure I’ve known that song ever since I can firstremember. “Early Morning Rain” holds a special place in my heart and memory. Welistened to the Peter, Paul & Mary version of the song after taking aseverely hung-over Bobby Long to the airport on a rainy morning with no shoeson his feet, headed to Las Vegas. I see him there every time I sing that song.
A little later on, I discovered Randy Newman, and it wasn’tuntil spending some time playing on the streets of New Orleans that the song“Guilty” became a sordid truth in my life. It ties itself to “Stoney,”seamlessly sewing the fabric of my youth to the fabric of my adulthood. Ilearned “Stoney” for Bobby off a Jerry Jeff Walker record, and he swore it was his theme song until I wrote
A Love Song for Bobby Long. Thesong
, “I Really Don’t Want To Know” would have Bobby, Fred and mydad in three-part harmony, cracking themselves up while trying to record itinto a Realistic tape recorder. “Old Maid’s Lament” was another song in theirrepertoire, though they called it “Sister Sarah”. I remember Fred singing“Louise,” and when I heard that baritone voice of his with that old Martinguitar, singing that sad-ass song, my soul soared like the raven from Edgar Allen Poe.
As the album title
Heartbreak, Misery & Death suggests, I have always gravitated toward dark songs, and probably the darkest one onthis album is “Saint James Hospital,” but no matter how forlorn it is, itsomehow makes me feel good to sing it. That leads me back to Doc Watson and hismost beautiful version of “Alberta.” I think you can only sing that song afterhaving experienced unreciprocated love. The reason I gravitated toward Doc isDoc’s voice resembled Fred’s, and their baritone registers are much like my ownnatural voice.
Bobby, Fred and my dad had great harmonies which werehighlighted when they sang “Wreck On The Highway.” When I was young, I was sureeverybody knew that song. My father introduced me to all of the songs in thiscollection. The one song I introduced to him, a song he absolutely loved, isthe Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah,” and I learned this song for him. Mymemories of the music my dad and his friends made sculpted a large part of whoI am musically and spiritually. So, just as they might end a Saturday nightdrunk and high with “Copper Kettle,” I, too, shall end this collection with thegreatest campfire song of all time.
graysoncapps.com
