BOTTLE ROCKETS
''BLUE SKY''
OCTOBER 14 2003
42:52
1/Lucky Break
Brian Henneman / Scott Taylor/2:47
2/Man of Constant Anxiety
Brian Henneman / Scott Taylor/2:41
3/I Don't Wanna Go Back
Mike Gardner / Robert Kearns/3:41
4/Baggage Claim
Brian Henneman / Mark Ortmann/4:19
5/Men & Women
Brian Henneman/2:40
6/Baby's Not My Baby Tonight
Brian Henneman / Scott Taylor/2:21
7/Cartoon Wisdom
Brian Henneman / Scott Taylor/5:03
8/Cross by the Highway
Brian Henneman / Scott Taylor/3:14
9/Pretty Little Angie
Brian Henneman / Robert Kearns/3:24
10/Blue Sky
Dickey Betts / Brian Henneman/2:16
11/Mom & Dad
Brian Henneman / Frank Zappa/4:05
12/I.D. Blues
Mark Ortmann/3:39
13/The Last Time
Robert Kearns/2:42
Warren Haynes /Dobro, Guest Artist, Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar
Brian Henneman /Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Gut String Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Robert Kearns /Bass, Gut String Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
Danny Louis /Organ, Wurlitzer
Mark Ortmann /Drums, Drums (Bass), Maracas, Shaker, Tambourine
Kenny Soule /Tambourine
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
In 2002, guitarist Tom Parr dropped out of the Bottle Rockets while they were touring in support of their Doug Sahm tribute disc, Songs of Sahm, and while their rough-hewn roadhouse rock & roll (with a country twang around the edges) had been the focal point of previous albums, their first set as a three-piece, Blue Sky, finds Brian Henneman and his pals turning down the amps and aiming for a quieter, more rootsy sound. With Henneman handling the guitar duties by his lonesome on most cuts (co-producer and Gov't Mule frontman Warren Haynes pitches in on a few songs, as does former Blood Oranges axeman Mark Spencer), Blue Sky aims for a laid-back vibe that's much more country than rock, and with a bit more polish, it's not hard to imagine easygoing tunes like "Men & Women," "Man of Constant Anxiety," or the title cut finding a happy home on country radio with their simple hooks and regular-guy philosophy. But that's not to say Henneman's gone soft, or that Blue Sky is meek or toothless; "Lucky Break"'s tale of a guy who's finally getting a vacation thanks to workman's comp after breaking his leg is certainly the work of the same guy who wrote "Welfare Music," "Baggage Claim" is an affecting snapshot of how life has changed in the wake of September 11, 2001, and "Mom & Dad" is a moving portrait of a grown man dealing with the loss of his parents. "Pretty Little Angie" and "I.D. Blues" also prove that the BoRox can still rock on out when the spirit moves them, though "I Don't Wanna Go Back" and "The Last Time" make it clear that bassist Robert Kearns isn't up to Henneman's standard as a singer or songwriter just yet. All in all, Blue Sky is certainly a changeup from what the Bottle Rockets have done on record in the past, but if they lack the old sound and fury, their heart and soul remain intact.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
Festus, Missouri's Bottle Rockets ranked as one of the leading lights of the 1990s roots rock revival, thanks to a sound that bypassed the punk heritage proudly upheld by most of the band's contemporaries in favor of a redneck fusion of Southern boogie, country-folk, and crunching rock & roll. The group was fronted by singer/guitarist Brian Henneman, a Missouri native who formed his first band, Waylon Van Halen & the Ernest Tubbadours, in 1977 with friends Tom and Bob Parr. After a succession of names and a steady rise in musical competence, the threesome began landing club dates both locally and in Illinois, where they became friends with the young Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, who would later start Uncle Tupelo.
In 1985, the trio was playing straight-ahead honky tonk under the guise Chicken Truck (so named in honor of the John Anderson song) with a new drummer, Mark Ortmann. Instead of giving in to local crowds who wanted to hear covers rather than originals, the bandmembers focused solely on performing their own material, which they began roughing up with a Crazy Horse-like edge. Shortly after frequent tour mates Uncle Tupelo signed a 1990 record deal, however, internal problems led Chicken Truck to disband; while the Parrs returned to civilian jobs, Ortmann moved to Nashville to become a session player, and Henneman became a roadie with Uncle Tupelo, even playing on their March 16-20, 1992 album.
During his roadie days, Henneman recorded a demo tape of new material, which Tupelo manager Tony Margherita began discreetly shopping around. After cutting a solo single backed by Farrar and Tweedy, he re-formed his old band with Ortmann on drums, Tom Ray on guitar, and Robert Kearns on bass, renaming the outfit the Bottle Rockets. After a 1993 self-titled effort, a year later the band issued its second independent LP, The Brooklyn Side, named after a bowling term. A portrait of life in rural blue-collar America, The Brooklyn Side was the subject of lavish critical praise, and the positive notices led to the band signing with a major label, Atlantic, which promptly reissued the album.
Shakeups at the label led to delays in the release of their next album, 1997's 24 Hours a Day, and when the album sold poorly, the Bottle Rockets were dropped. In 1998 they signed with the small Doolittle label and released an odds-and-ends EP, Leftovers; by the time they completed their next album, 1999's Brand New Year, the label had gained major-label distribution, but that deal proved to be short-lived, and in 2000 the Bottle Rockets were once again without a label. In 2001 they signed a deal with alt-country trailblazers Bloodshot Records; their first album for the label, a tribute to Doug Sahm, was released early the following year. Tom Ray left the Bottle Rockets in 2002, and the band moved ahead as a three-piece, signing yet another new record deal -- this time with Sanctuary -- in 2003, and releasing a new album, Blue Sky, in the fall of that year. Zoysia arrived on Bloodshot Records in 2006, followed by Lean Forward in 2009. In 2011 the band released Not So Loud: An Acoustic Evening, which was recorded in an old schoolhouse and featured material drawn from all eras of the band's history.
