Tommy Talton

Seven Levels

Strolling Bones / New West Records

 “Life is a funny dream, the way it makes it seem that everything is real and all of us are separated, caught in time. It hardly ever lets you see beyond the veil until the situation and the circumstances finally fall in line.” The emotional gravity of those lyrics in Tommy Talton’s “I Want to Do It All Again” cannot be overemphasized in the context of his life, his spiritual journey, and his passing. Interpreted a certain way, they may also reflect on a fractured America, in faith and society.

Tommy Talton’s name may not be as familiar as the names of many of those that he played with, but it should be. When the singer, songwriter, and guitarist formed the band Cowboy with Scott Boyer, their peers took notice of their unassuming but persuasive flair just as the public had. Duane Allman convinced Capricorn Records to sign Cowboy in 1969. The band was among the label’s first clients and quickly became house session players at Capricorn Studios. Cowboy subsequently toured with Gregg Allman on his illustrious first solo outing, and they placed four coveted “country-rock” albums in the annals of the original southern rock movement.

Although Talton kept a low profile throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, he reconnected with Boyer in 2006 for the star-studded, superb concert released as The Capricorn Rhythm Section Live at 2^nd Street Music Hall. Soon after, he began cutting a series of solo albums showcasing his increasingly strong and reflective songwriting. Cowboy was reconvened in 2007 for a studio album. Three years later they played a stand-alone show and released it as a live album.

Talton entered this project in April of 2022 knowing full well it would be his final one. So, what better place to assemble several of his longtime friends than the refurbished Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, Georgia? Rick Hirsch, the founding guitarist in Wet Willie (another significant band on the Capricorn label in its heyday), was among them. As deeply committed to Seven Levels as was Talton’s close friend and executive producer, Joe Bell, Hirsch painstakingly oversaw the mixing and mastering of the recordings while Talton received cancer treatments. Their devotion paid off in these beautifully sounding Seven Levels of Tommy Talton.

“Time Will Take Us,” which opens the set, first appeared in 1974 on The Gregg Allman Tour album and was reprised on Live at 2^nd St. Music Hall. This marvelous rendition marks its first studio recording. Talton’s pointed guitar, along with Rolling Stones, and former Allman Brothers keyboardist Chuck Leavell’s muted electric piano notes awaken it, signaling the others—Hirsch, organist Randall Bramblett, bassist Owen Finley, and drummer Jack Jones—to join in. Together, they create a lush, southern rhythm and blues melody that recalls Leavell and Bramblett’s late 70s work together in Sea Level. Talton sings the narrative, slyly detailing a relationship with a flawed character, in a tenor that straddles a gentle, elegiac tone and straight between-the-eyes truth.

Hirsch and Bramblett (a Cowboy vet and a long celebrated, multi-talented artist himself) are mainstays throughout Seven Levels. Otherwise, the cast changes slightly from song to song. On the sunny, 1960s California-vintage folk-pop of “I Can Pick You Up,” Cowboy drummer Bill Stewart keeps the neat beat. Leavell adds grand piano to the good-humored, Louisiana-flavored “I’ve Got the Sun in My Heart,” with James Pennebaker contributing beautifully to vibe on his fiddle. Leavell also colors the majestic “Waiting for the Lady to Return” on that grand piano, a lovelorn refrain that should be chosen by an established star to similarly knock out of the park, but for a massive audience. Talton deserves that.

Talton generously salutes his old partner by covering Boyer’s “Ramblin’ Man,” written before their good friend Dickey Betts wrote the Allman Brothers’ hard-charging, countrified hit with the same title. This “Ramblin’ Man” finally gets its day properly, with Talton’s dobro, Hirsch’s acoustic slide, and Bill Stewart’s drums bobbing along on a Cowboy country melody. Played in order, back-to-back, each “Ramblin’ Man,” while different, does strikingly compliment the other.

The album closes on the devout, smoky blues of “Say a Prayer on My Behalf.” Talton’s searing guitar playing in the lengthy jam may represent the only moments on the album that he allows his pain, and perhaps frustration, to seep through. Tommy Talton passed away on December 28^th, 2023, with the satisfying knowledge that he had made an album that he cherished. God willing, his principles may make a difference in at least one life, or perhaps many, while entertaining them all.

Tom Clarke for MAS

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