Cory Morrow Delivers Huge Disappointment
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 |
When I was first introduced to “Texas Music” in the mid to late 1990’s, it was Pat Green, Jack Ingram, and Cory Morrow that I was first exposed to. Those guys popularized Texas Music, and represented something that |
| strayed from commercialized Nashville. Since then, Pat Green has crossed over to the dark side, and Jack Ingram isn’t far behind. I still like both and both sound great, but still their music has changed. And honestly, you can’t fault them for that. If you have a chance to take your music to the rest of the world and make a butt load of money doing it, then why not? However, guys like Cory Morrow, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Deryl Dodd, and Tommy Alverson have always stayed true to their roots.
And then there’s this - Cory Morrow’s attempt at a “Best of” album, calling it Ten Years. While I applaud Morrow for not taking the easy route and just relaying previous cuts on a “best of” album, I don’t understand the need to try to make them sound more commercial. This album seems to be a desperation attempt to keep up with Green and Ingram, and it falls well short. Morrow’s off-stage problems have been well-documented, but until now, he had maintained his edge as a singer/songwriter and entertainer. I’m almost at a loss for words after listening to Ten Years, but I will try my best to continue. The album kicks off with a brand new single, Spinning Around The Moon. It’s the first of two new tracks on the album, and probably didn’t need to be included. It might be a good song, but Morrow sounds awful on it. His voice is ragged and sounds like he has throat problems. This is followed by Nothing Better, which was from the 2003 Full Exposure Live album. This was the first sign that this was going to be a really bad album. The new version did not live up to the original - and wasn’t even close! I Don’t Want to Get Up is the second of the new cuts and much better than the first one. The song is currently ranked #4 on the Texas Music Charts, although I’m not sure it’s that great of a song. I think the airplay is more out of respect for Morrow’s previous accomplishments and reputation rather than the quality of this song. The Preacher is a song from Morrow’s self-title debut album - The Cory Morrow Band. This was a great song in the 90’s when it was originally done. This is one of the few songs that Morrow didn’t mess with too much, and that’s a good thing. The sound is the same, even if Morrow’s voice is not. Always And Forever is beautiful love song from the 2000 Double Exposure album, and it is still great on this album. This is nicely done as Morrow didn’t change much with this song. Beat of Your Heart from the 2005 Nothing Left to Hide album, was the first hint of attempting to adhere to the Nashville sound. While I like the song, it’s not the Cory Morrow we’ve grown accustomed to. And even this remix of the 2005 version is rough and ragged. Next, we get two songs from the 2002 Outside the Lines album. Drinkin’ Alone is an outstanding self-pity song, which is pretty prophetic for Morrow - “why do I drink so much, why do I smoke all night” - in that drugs and alcohol have derailed a once promising career, and his voice sounds like he’s been drinking and smoking for years. This version sounds nothing like the original, which was really good. More Than Perfect was She’s My Everything before Brad Paisley recorded that. This is a beautiful song, err, was a beautiful song I should say, about the perfections of the woman he loves. This version however, is terrible. 21 Days, from Full exposure Live is one of my all-time favorite Cory Morrow songs. Morrow has completely destroyed it in the remade version of it though. Nothing about it sounds familiar. In fact it sounds like a bad cover band palying at the local VFW. Big City Stripper, off of 1998 The Man That I’ve Been album is another favorite of mine that has been ruined on this album. It’s inexplicable what Morrow has done to some of his best work. I hope his intent wasn’t to attract a Nashville contract, because this body of work will not accomplish that, and he’s going to alienate a lot of his hardcore following in the process. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road for Morrow, and he bounces back with better work in the future. Cory Morrow was once at the forefront of the Texas music scene, but is on the fast track to being yesterday’s news. When I initially saw the song list for this album, I was confused by selections, but more so by the omissions - Nashville Blues and Texas Time Travelin’. These are songs that Morrow made his reputation on and he completely forsake them as not to irritate the Nashville audience he attempted to attract. Is this the beginning of Cory Morrow turning his back on his Texas roots a la Pat Green? Sadly, his trials and tribulations off stage are defining him more so than his music. Morrow said of his 2005 drug possession and drunk driving arrest that it gave him a chance to re-evaluate his personal life and choices. And that’s fine. I can respect that. But now would be a good time for him to re-evaluate his professional life and choices. In hindsight, I think he did make a good professional choice by not re-recording Nashville Blues and Texas Time Travelin’ because I would hate to see what he would have done to those two great songs. As they stand now, they are are untarnished, and still outstanding signature songs. |
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