Ernest Tubb & The Texas Troubadours – Another Story / Live New Year’s Eve 1979
The last of a five-box Ernest Tubb series from the wonderfully completist folks at Germany’s Bear Family Records, Another Story encompasses the stretch from an April 4, 1966, session for one of the Tubb-less Texas Troubadours albums to the final Decca/MCA session on June 18, 1975. There are a staggering 179 songs here, representing fifteen albums. Two of three duet albums with Loretta Lynn are included, as are two of three Texas Troubadours albums. The balance of the tracks are from Tubb’s eleven albums — one in 1967, two each in 1968 and 1969, and one each year from 1970 to 1975.
Tubb biographer Ronnie Pugh’s thorough liner notes in the accompanying booklet paint a portrait of an artist and an art form in slow decline. Of the albums represented by the songs here, only the first two sold well; of the seventeen singles released during this era, only five charted — the highest, “Another Story”, at #16 in 1966. This slide in popularity can be traced to several factors, including the shifting membership of the Troubadours that made recording sessions more hit-or-miss, plus the public’s move toward pop and rock music, and more modern country sounds as well.
But Tubb never changed his sound to fit any trend or record company whim. From the prophetic opening track by the Texas Troubadours, “Time Changes Everything”, in 1966, to “The Door’s Always Open”, in 1975, there is precious little difference in style or substance. The consistent hand of Owen Bradley’s production is a major reason for that, as is Tubb’s insistence on using his own band for all of the recordings.
Historical and analytical concerns aside, this is a tremendous document of one of country music’s greatest artists. Even without the more recognizable hits of the earlier years, there are some real treasures here. Tubb’s Hank Williams tribute from 1968 is a treat, with versions of well-known songs including “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Mansion On The Hill”. “I’m Gonna Make Like A Snake” is a playful honky-tonk composition from the pen of Tubb’s occasional duet partner Loretta Lynn, with a double instrumental break from lead guitarist Steve Chapman and steel player Buddy Charleton. There are the odd songs, such as “Don’t Squeeze My Sharmon” and “Tommy’s Doll”, that one can hardly picture Tubb singing, and a few remaining classics, among them “Saturday Satan Sunday Saint”.
Four years after their final major-label sessions, Tubb & the Troubadours played a New Year’s Eve show on the last day of 1979 at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas. Only three years from his forced retirement because of advancing emphysema, Tubb is noticeably rawer but no less vigorous. The 45-minute set captured on Lost Gold’s new release of this show includes many fan favorites, dedications to family and friends from the area, and the presence of Ernest Tubb Jr. as a member of the Troubadours, making it a worthy bookend to the box sets and a fitting close to any Ernest Tubb collection.