Your Whiskey On My Lips (Continued)
Sixteen Tons
Where I Go
Layin’ Low in Leb’nun
Sure! Thanks to “When The Devil Drives,” the line “You’re hot like a kindergarten teacher and I’m dirty like a priest” lives rent-free in my head. And, 100%, “Sixteen Tons” gives me the best nostalgia for a certain dive bar in Iowa City, and the most lovely older gentleman who spent long afternoons plugging the jukebox with his favorite ditties. But only one track from “Fistfights and Hug-Outs” has been my most-played song on Spotify for the past three months straight. It’s the song that gave me goosebumps from its mere preview on Apple Music. The song that has everyone clamoring for a music video–and believe me, when it plays over my headphones and I’m riding the train, I stare out the window and my imagination concocts one every single time. This song is, of course, “Your Whiskey On My Lips.”
Look, I used to be an English professor; I’m a sucker for a good narrative. And this song spins a vivid one (thank you, lyrics), most evocatively (thank you, vocals), in a scant three and a half minutes. I mentioned the goosebumps, didn’t I? Where many of the songs on this album feature toe-tappin’, rear-wigglin’ beats and striking guitar riffs, “Your Whiskey On My Lips” unceasingly foregrounds the story; the result is an immersive dip into a (flawlessly harmonized!) tale of love in the old west and can I just say, I am here for it. Give me a horse-riding, pistol-toting heroine rescuing the hero any day of the week, and bonus points if he’s so down bad that he’s proclaiming, “Let the devil take my soul, but my heart belongs to you” to boot. I can’t get enough of it. The proof is that even my dog knows the words to this song at this point. So, from Sprout the Beagle and myself, thank you for the gift of this song, and happy, happy birthday.
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Lauren - Chicago, IL
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Choosing a favorite song from FistFights and Hug-outs is a tough job because there is something for every occasion. If I want to dance, there's "When the Devil Drives", and "The Readout". If I want a good hang out song, there's songs like "I liked You More (When I Knew You Less)" and "Low Bar". There's the emotional song "Where I Go", that gets me everytime and shows just how versatile Rich is. The thing that the whole album has in common, is Rich's ability to tell a story with song and I think my favorite story to listen to is "Whiskey on My Lips". The imagery from the lyrics and music work together so well to help me create a movie in my head. Emma and Rich's voices together give it such a haunting feel. It's just a great song to get lost in.
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Kera - Roberts, WI
“Next in the drawer is an old cassette tape, the tunes of Country and Western artist Tennessee Ernie Ford. These songs form a soundtrack to the family’s memories, and much of the music is still well-loved by Ray’s children.”
- from my father’s eulogy
If I didn’t say something about “Sixteen Tons”, I wouldn’t be my father’s daughter. As kids, my Mum, my two older brothers and I ruled the car stereo on long journeys – it was rare my Dad took a turn. When he did, it was usually to play Tennessee Ernie Ford, and to be, save for one song, met with groans. As a little kid, it seemed to me that Ford had made a career out of two song formulas – the Boogies (“Blackberry”, “Shotgun”..) and the Blues (“Feed ‘em In The Morning”,” Milk ‘em In The Morning”..).
His “Sixteen Tons” however, was a family favourite. We’d sing along with exaggerated bass voices, snapping our fingers just like Ford (he used his snaps to set the tempo during rehearsals – producer Lee Gillette liked the effect so much he used it on the record).
The song, and that battered tape, picked up at a motorway service station when Dad could take no more of us caterwauling musical theatre tunes, are so tied to my Dad in my mind and heart, that anyone attempting a version of the song is usually on a hiding to nothing.
Rich had played the song at the odd Saturday Night Special, but my first time hearing it in person would be at 2019’s Roxy show. My Dad had been gone 6 months. I hadn’t heard the song since the day of his funeral, and I cautioned Rich that I might sneak off to the bar when he played it. Surrounded by friends, however, I stuck it out. And let some of the pain I had been carrying go.
I’ll confess, when Rich initially told me that “Copperhead Road” would be the one cover on the album, I grieved the loss of his version of “Sixteen Tons”. I was ecstatic when he revealed in one of our interviews it had made the cut after all.
I still think of my Dad when I listen to Dick Jr. & The Volunteers’ version. But it’s mostly to think how much he would have appreciated their ballsy, raucous take. And how blown away he’d be that my name ended up on an album that features his signature tune.
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Rain (RSJrFanworld) - Bristol, UK
Where I Go is most definitely my favorite song off the new, amazing, and spectacular album. I tripped across Joseph in 2019, shortly after my husband/soulmate/BFF died unexpectedly. The landscape of Joseph is what helped to heal my shattered soul. The land, the lake, the mountains, the people. I’m not sure I would have survived if I hadn’t found this place.
FYI, I’m currently typing this in a cabin at the South end of Wallowa Lake.
That being said, the music - the one person singing with nothing more than an acoustic guitar is PERFECT for this. I was like someone GETS it!!! And not only does it remind me of my love of the Joseph area, but the fact that even though we are now are on 2 planes of existence, I will never walk alone, because my husband is always with me.
Great job Rich! And Happy Birthday!
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Willow - SF Bay Area, CA
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“Where I Go” : My favorite, a real comfort song. It gives off a serene emotion, a feeling of familiarity, of belonging. Notes of family, nostalgia, childhood and friendship, so soothing and reassuring.
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AV - Metz, France
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“Where I Go” by Dick Jr. & the Volunteers is a deeply resonant track from their album Fist Fights and Hugouts that holds special significance for me. It captures the essence of eastern Oregon, a region that is about six hours northeast of where I grew up and continue to live. The song’s lyrics beautifully depict the natural wonder and rugged beauty of the Oregon I know so well, evoking a sense of pride in the landscapes that define this part of the state. What makes the song even more meaningful is its homage to the grave of Chief Joseph, honoring the history and heritage of the area. Additionally, the song’s expression of love for family strikes a personal chord, making it not just a favorite, but a song that embodies my pride in being an Oregonian.
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Lisa - Bend, OR
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I’ve always joked about being a person with a horrendous grasp on the passage of time, so you can imagine how accounting for the bizarre experience of the pandemic has gone for me. Over a year just doesn’t exist because we lived one big extended March? Sure. Why not? And yet every time the pandemic is part of a television or a movie plot it somehow has me dramatically clutching my pearls and thinking, “Too soon!” But leave it to Rich to pen the most relatable pandemic story and support it with some damn catchy, driving blues rock that would have made Tom Petty nod in approval. So instead of fighting back my instinct to cringe away from anything mentioning lockdown, here I am fighting back the urge to dance. And why fight that?
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Nicole - Boston, MA
The one all the con-goers and con-wish-they-were-goers were waiting for. Those of us that have experienced Rich performing Copperhead with a band know the energy that quickly sweeps over an entire venue the moment he steps up to the microphone and just begins that first line. For those living vicariously through some kind soul’s video, shared while still riding the high of that Saturday night, the sound of the crowd paints a pretty decent picture. But there’s something different in this recording that I truly love.
Something that can be a little difficult to grasp onto when the music and the crowd are taking you away and the adrenaline is electricity in your veins. This version of Copperhead leans back just a bit. It’s not firing all four cylinders as it races down the road leaving nothing but dust and exhaust in its wake. It’s the backyard jam around a campfire, tossing you a beer and beckoning you closer to come hear the story. And if there’s one role we know Rich embodies with a flourish through a variety of mediums, it’s that of the storyteller.
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Nicole - Boston
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My fave song on the latest album is I Liked You More (When I Knew You Less). The lyrics speak to Rich's barbed, yet good-natured sense of humor and how down-to-earth he really is.
I also enjoy listening to his version of 16 Tons. It's very nostalgic for me, as it's a tune I listened to as a kid with my grandfather. He loved Tennessee Ernie Ford.
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Abby - Cape Coral, Florida
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Another year. Another birthday. Another Album. "Low Bar" off of Rich's newest album, Fistsfights and Hug outs is a catchy tune that just makes me smile. I remember hearing it at the first PBBJ(R) tour late last year and have loved the song since. Maybe it's the white board that helped us be part of the sing along or just the fun that ensued on stage when they were singing the song. It might have taken hearing it two times to learn the lyrics but once you learned it, it's hard to forget. With that said, I totally messed it up when singing it at Rich's last post con concert in Indy. (Thanks for letting me do a redo but sorry too to those whose ears may have been bleeding after). All in all, you know you got a good song when even an international crowd - JIB members - knew all the words without the assistance of a white board. Bravo. And happiest of birthdays Rich! Here's to lots of hugs in the future!
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Vicky - Kingston, NJ
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Look, I’m not one for choosing favorites. I don’t know if it’s something from childhood about needing to give the right answer, being too lazy to pointedly compare things I love, or even believing art can’t be fairly ranked. What I do know is I don’t have time and space to gush about why I love each song on FAH-O. So. Here are my top nine tracks. Kidding. Just two (of my top 10).
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LOW BAR: Let’s start where my roots do—a beer joint. The first time I heard this song I was tickled pink. This relaxed waltz lends itself to a sing-along or a twirl around a cramped dance floor with no big expectations for either. The self-effacing/humble lyrics give a down-to-earth, good-natured, jokey vibe that addresses a ne’er-do-well life and leaves listeners chuckling rather than crying into their beers. That bass, I can hear it rattling a 30 year old jukebox full of country and rock CDs (plus Salt-N-Pepa’s Hot, Cool, and Vicious, included solely for “Push It.”). “Low Bar” joins my other beloved beer joint songs, including Travis Tritt’s “Country Club,” David Allan Coe’s “The Perfect Country and Western Song,” and Hank Williams, Jr.’s “Family Tradition.”
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WHERE I GO: This is where I want to end up. What a stunningly beautiful love song. On its face it’s pretty and poetic. But if you know a little about Rich’s personal life it becomes an amorphous vessel burgeoning with every positive emotion. It simultaneously crushes me and renders me weightless. As such, it’s especially tricky to pinpoint and express all the ways it’s special.
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So let me just vomit a string of words: Gentle, Decided, Patient, Drink in, Worship, Amazed, Peaceful, Pride, Nostalgia, Unconditional, Hope, Grateful, Beauty, Together, Present, Focused, See, Awake, Companion, Cherish, Joy, Resolute, Honor, Respect, Concrete, Appreciate, Aspire, Recognize, Share, Yearn, Passion, Future, Certain, Grounded, Gaze.
If “Low Bar” is my roots, “Where I Go” is the sunny canopy. Who wouldn’t want a love like that?
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As I hop off FAH-O’s rollercoaster I’ll say, “THANKS, DICK!” Such a fun and thoughtful album.
Deana W - San Antonio, TX
Copperhead Road
I Liked You More (When I
Knew You Less)
