I never really listened to any Willie Nile before even though I’ve seen this album many times.
I assumed he was another rock n roller snapped up and taken for a ride with the new wave.
And that’s about right.
I don’t mean to make that sound pejorative though.
Wikipedia: “Willie Nile (born Robert Anthony Noonan on June 7, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”. His career was interrupted several times by various problems, but he has always returned to recording and performing in the US and Europe, re-establishing himself as a singer-songwriter.
Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Nile came from a musical family—his grandfather was a vaudeville pianist who played with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Eddie Cantor; his uncles played boogie-woogie. His listened to the music of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Fats Domino, brought home by his older brothers. Nile himself began playing piano at age eight and took classical music lessons until he was a teenager, when he taught himself his first rock & roll song. He soon began to compose short songs and continued the habit into his college years, when during the summers he made trips into New York City to frequent hootenanny clubs like Folk City and the Gaslight.
Nile studied philosophy at the University at Buffalo where he received a BA in 1971, before heading for Greenwich Village. After graduation, Nile took an apartment in the Village; however, during his first winter in New York, he contracted pneumonia, which put him out of commission for about a year. He continued writing songs while recuperating, determined to make a name for himself as a latter-day troubadour. He pursued that throughout the 1970s, becoming a regular in the Village folk and rock scenes and getting tabbed by some as the next big thing to come out of that long-thriving artistic community.
Establishing residency at the Village club Kenny’s Castaways on Bleecker St., Nile began drawing crowds, which in turn led to his first record deal. In a review in The New York Times, rock critic Robert Palmer wrote of Nile; "Every once in awhile the times seems to produce an artist who is at once an iconoclast and near-perfect expression of contemporary currents”
The result is this, his first album.
This is a much praised album and I’m not going to disagree with the critics. Though, I will say that it wasn’t created in a vacuum.
Nile was one of many Dylanesque singer songwriters who liked pre 70s rock n roll. Most of these guys were born in the late 40s or early 50s which explains both their love of rock n roll and Dylan – having lived, as kids, through both those musical eras. Not surprisingly this may have driven them to combine the sounds.
What they did was combine Dylan’s wordiness with the spirit and the beat 50s and 60s rock n roll.
Dylan may have done that himself in the 60s and 70s but these guys really highlighted the beat.
Graham Parker, Bruce Springsteen, John Hiatt, Marshall Crenshaw, Elvis Costello, Jim Carroll, Warren Zevon, Stevie Forbert and many others fit into this group.
Most of them were called the “next Bob Dylan” at one time or another.
And, luckily for a lot of them, their sound happened at a fortuitous time with the new wave booting out the bloated prog rock of the 70s.
With their emphasis on beat and thoughtful lyrics it was easy to see why these guys got swept up in that movement.
Really, though, it’s not so much new wave as retro rock for new audiences….maybe all new wave is anyway?
Still, this music thumps and pumps in a way which is direct and immediate and lyrically there is something to say.
The music is thoughtfully angry. Or, a controlled anger. Unlike punk.
It’s a sneer rather than a spit.
Let’s not forget most of these guys were in their late 20s early 30s whilst the punks were in their late teens.
That’s not to say they can’t be fellow travellers.
And they were.
Willie, from what I hear on this album, embodied thoughtful anger, wrapped in "street" observations done to a beat.
He is somewhere between Springsteen the traditionalist on one side and Jim Carroll the quirky new wave punk on the other.
Not a bad place to be.
Nile writes his own material (naturally enough).
Tracks (best in italics)
- Vagabond Moon – a fair bit of jangle on this one. Coming over as a harder Byrds.
- Dear Lord – street wise lyrics like a cross between Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. The production is a little light, on what should be a thumping song. Still, it’s catchy enough.
- It’s All Over – Tom Petty-esque. Which I suppose means it’s Byrds-esque. Very catchy – not surprisingly.
- Across the River – some classic 70s guitar wankery going on here. Nothing remotely new wave about this song. That doesn’t mean it’s bad but it doesn’t stand on its own and it doesn’t really fit in..
- She’s So Cold – A power pop type number
- I’m Not Waiting – More power pop and well done with a bit of the Springsteen epic ness
- That’s the Reason – old school early 60s style pop. Of course ….these dudes loved this stuff
- They’ll Build a Statue of You – the socially relevant forceful ballad . Humpfff
- Old Men Sleeping on the Bowery – very street and very New York.
- Behind the Cathedral- the acoustic number.
- Sing Me a Song – good number with a pulsating almost ominous beat. Quite Violent Femmes like.
And …
Enough good moments and a couple of excellent ones…. I’m keeping it.
Chart Action
US
Singles
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Album
1980 The Billboard 200 #145
England
Singles
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Album
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Sounds
Vagabond Moon
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8yLHm-ukLM
It’s All Over
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOFa5Lyh37E
Across the River
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK-bLz4eb1Y
She’s So Cold
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bLXnHZ8sA
That’s the Reason
live recently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezA7Q0FqTHg
Sing Me a Song
MP3 attached
You can listen to all the album tracks here:
http://recordlective.com/Willie_Nile/Willie_Nile/1682f871-e393-31bd-99a5-0573dc14b71c/
Others
with Bruce Springsteen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDhzEAHjIYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9UUEJDYso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgtzGnUQLtg
with Marky Ramone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQI6k6un9KM
Review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/willie-nile-mw0000073293
Bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Nile
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/willie-nile-mn0000683686
Website
http://willienile.com/
http://www.myspace.com/willienile
Trivia
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