Album Review: Walter Hyatt - Must I Fall
Walter Hyatt is in Frank Sinatra mode on Must I Fall, a new album of previously unreleased material that comes 27 years after the Uncle Walt’s Band leader was killed in a plane crash and as he and his group are finally getting some of the recognition that eluded them in Hyatt’s lifetime.
After all, any composer who comes up with such lines as, My discontent burns brighter than the sun at noon (“Dark Side of the Moon”) merits music lovers’ attention.
The album swings best when Hyatt lends his smooth tenor to the jazz numbers that are the title track, “Old Number One” and “Rain Likely.”
It’s so hard to love and be wise, Hyatt sings on the latter, displaying the songwriting chops that made fans of Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin and Allison Moorer, as his band lays down a background of brushed drums, double bass, acoustic piano, electric guitar and clarinet.
He does it again on “Life in the City,” a lovely ballad that paints a vivid picture of a date going off the rails in a European city - Venice, perhaps - with the sound of a street accordionist as Hyatt croons:
She’s already been through all he has to offer enough times before/so she winds up calling a taxi and walking herself to the door
Though he was mostly a bluegrass and country guy, Hyatt knew a strong melody when he heard it and nicked a bit of Todd Rundgren’s “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” for “Snowing Me Under.” It stands as a teaser for where Hyatt might have taken his music if he’d had the chance.
Which is the case for all of Must I Fall’s eight cuts. A bit disjointed, it’s as strong as an album of such vintage cutting and pasting can be and - most importantly - should serve as a springboard back to Hyatt and UWB’s modest but under-recognized back catalog.
Grade card: Walter Hyatt - Must I Fall - B-
3/9/23
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Persephone in Autumn
late Sept / Josh Ritter "Getting Ready to Get Down"
early Oct / Parker Millsap "Hades Pleads"
late Oct / Cults "Abducted"
early Nov / Saint Motel "Cold Cold Man"
late Nov / Sia "Hostage"
early Dec / Julian Moon "Pomegranate Seeds"
Winter Solstice: Dua Lipa "Be the One"
early Jan / Lucius "Turn It Around"
late Jan / Neko Case "Hold On, Hold On"
early Feb / Aimee Mann "This Is How It Goes"
late Feb/early Mar Alela Diane "White As Diamonds"
Spring Equinox: Tori Amos "Mother"
Persephone in Spring
early April /Josh Ritter "To the Dogs or Whoever"
late April / Tom Petty "Mary Jane's Last Dance"
early May / Thomas Dolby "I Love You Goodbye"
late May / Freakwater, "Good for Nothing"
early June / Amanda Palmer, "Want It Back"
late June / Nanci Griffith, "Late Night Grande Hotel"
Summer Solstice: R.E.M. "Half a World Away"
early July / Bob Dylan "Simple Twist of Fate"
late July / Cowboy Junkies "To Live Is to Fly"
early August / Great Lake Swimmers "Palmistry"
late August / Shelby Lynne, Allison Moorer, "Not Dark Yet"
Fall Equinox: Tall Heights "Back to Autumn"
it's about cycles. It's about love, it's about loss, it's about endless leavetakings and homecomings. It's about addiction and abuse. It's about manic/depressive swings and seasonal affective disorder and also the joy of leaves changing color and crocuses blooming in the frost. It's about Her.
Persephone in Autumn: "Songs for an Earth-daughter, abducted, not entirely unwillingly: but increasingly irritable in captivity"
Persephone in Spring: "Songs for an Earth-daughter, irrepressible and freed, but already homesick"
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Best Albums of 2019
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"Jaime," Brittany Howard.
"In the Morse Code of Brake Lights," The New Pornographers.
"Between the Country," Ian Noe.
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Honorable mention:
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"On the Line," Jenny Lewis.
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"Songs of Our Native Daughters," Our Native Daughters.
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"Black Patch," Kelsey Waldon.
"Blazing Highway Home," Josh Ritter.
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"Far from Home," Aubrie Sellers.
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"Gone," Charli XCX.
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"Heavy on My Mind," Mavis Staples.
"Hello Sunshine," Bruce Springsteen.
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"Hurt," Gallant.
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"Incapable," Roisin Murphy.
"It's Time," Leonard Cohen.
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"Light Years," The National.
"Lonely As You Are," Charles Bradley.
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"Mirage," Jessie Ware.
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"You've Got Other Girls for That," Lillie Mae.
"Young Enough," Charly Bliss.
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