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Jessi Colter
Out of the Ashes
(Shout Factory)
First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2006, Volume 13, #4
Written by Tracy M. Rogers
Out of the Ashes, Jessi Colter’s first collection of new material in
over 10 years, finds the first lady of outlaw country pondering the ins and outs
of love and faith. Produced by the legendary Don Was, the album is a collection
of rollicking blues boogies, hopeful gospel hymns, and minimalist pop ballads.
While Colter’s own compositions are, at times, hit-and-miss affairs, Out of
the Ashes remains a delightful change of pace from the pretentious and
superfluous fluff masquerading as country that currently burdens mainstream
radio.
The three gospel tunes on Out of the Ashes are, by far, the album’s
highlights. The opener His Eye Is on the Sparrow is infused with hope,
and its rough-around-the-edges production supports Colter’s Billie Holiday-esque
articulations. Likewise, her cover of Tony Joe White’s Out of the Rain —
which features vocals from White, the Greater Apostolic Christ Temple Choir, and
her late husband Waylon Jennings — is an optimistic country-blues song that is
imbued with the ambience of the open ponderosa. In essence, it is the only true
"outlaw" selection contained on Out of the Ashes. The collection’s closer
Please Carry Me Home also boasts spiritual lyrics, but this time, they
are delivered with subtle flourishes of piano and cello. Performed as a duet
with Colter’s son Shooter Jennings, Please Carry Me Home is the track
that — with its tale of a wayward, down-and-out wretch in search of salvation —
perhaps, typifies all of the outing’s gospel-tinged numbers.
The rest of Out of the Ashes centers primarily on love — both the joy
of falling into it as well as the lamentation of falling out of it. Here, the
songs that she co-wrote with former McBride and the Ride guitarist Ray Herndon
are the clear, standout tracks. You Can Pick ’Em is a down and dirty
blues boogie featuring harmonica, dobro, and slide guitar that revolves around
the dissolution of an affair, while Never Got Over You is a simple
folk-country selection that is performed as a duet with Herndon. The manner in
which Colter employs a piano to portray a classical ambience makes The Canyon,
which is about the impossibilities of a relationship when a man fails to treat a
woman with respect, another highpoint. Nevertheless, it’s So Many Things
— a haunting, piano-and-cello ballad — that is, perhaps, one of Colter’s
best-written tunes to date. However, despite verses that are full of wisdom,
The Phoenix Rises is undermined by a rather repetitive chorus, while
Velvet and Steel tends to get caught within clichés
and redundancy. Starman suffers because its blues-rock verses do not
match its rather chirpy, pop-rock chorus. On the other hand, Colter’s rendition
of Bob Dylan’s Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 is a sublime moment of
psychedelic twang.
Without a doubt, Out of the Ashes is Colter’s comeback album, and
while it isn’t perfect, Don Was’ minimalist production combined with Colter’s
lyrical insights more than make up for the occasional miscue. Out of the
Ashes is a worthwhile listen that highlights her beautiful yet tenacious
voice as well as her adeptness at crafting both pop and southern-fried roots
music.  ½
Out of the Ashes is
available from Amazon.com.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006
The Music Box
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