Even the headline does not do Bill Kirchen justice. He’s forever associated with the guitar part on the Commander Cody & Lost Planet Airmen hit, “Hot Rod Lincoln,” a great tune for sure but one that pegged him immortally into the category of hot rockabilly guitarist and purveyor of trucking songs. Here on this collection of three solo albums, The Proper Years, Kirchen proves that he’s a much more versatile guitarist than many would think, a witty, astute songwriter, and a strong vocalist to boot. Besides, he’s one of the best genre-agnostic, genre-crossing artists of our time, among the first to mash-up rockabilly, country, Western swing, honky-tonk, jump blues, jazz, boogie-woogie, and ‘psychedelic folk-rock,” the latter from his Ann Arbor-based band, the Seventh Seal. On top of that, Kirchen has humility and a great sense of humor. When this writer met him about 15 years ago, Kirchen wasn’t the least bit embarrassed to admit flunking out of the University of Michigan with a GPA that was underwater. Little did he know at the time, that he was destined for a legendary career that’s still very much active.
The albums comprising this 2CD set are 2006’s Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods, 2010’s Word to the Wise, and 2013’s Seeds and Stems. They were issued on Proper Records but packaged into this set by the U.K. label The Last Music Co. There’s a great balance of the raging, energetic modes he’s most known for and understated ballads and story songs delivered with finesse. Kirchen admits that he was always more interested in sounding like Doc Watson than Eric Clapton. Truth be known, as you hear on the extended version of “Hot Rod Lincoln” on Disc 2 where he briefly mimics about 30 different guitarists, he could have played in any style and be considered great.
The set kicks off with “Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods,” his ode to his trusty Telecaster and a window into the witty nature of his songwriting. He loves the double-entendres as evidence by titles like “Seeds and Stems,” “Skid Row in my Mind,” “Flip Flop,” and “Truckstop at the End of the World,” all terrific tunes by the way. Another trait is his ability to set the saddest or most biting lyrics to jangling, bouncy melodies as in “Tell Me the Reason” or the even better “Get a Little Goner.” Those two were written with his wife, Louise, and features frequent contributing vocalist Sarah Brown who also hails from Ann Arbor. Kirchen loves to engage in co-writing, explaining that on Word to the Wise, which is on the nostalgic side that his criteria were that you had to be: “a) someone I had actually played with, either on stage or record, and b) not dead yet.”
The collection does feature some collaborators who have passed. “Valley of the Moon” features Norton Buffalo who played harmonica with the Airmen and Kirchen’s post-Airmen band, The Moonlighters. The late Dan Hicks sings perfectly in duet on “Word to The Wise,” a tune Kirchen wrote for him. That song became the title track for an album of the same name replete with high profile guests besides the two mentioned, some playing instruments but most singing – Commander Cody, Blackie Farrell, Maria Muldaur, Chris O’Connell, Nick Lowe, Paul Carrack, Elvis Costello, Louise Kirchen, Lisa Best, Bucky Lindsey and Paul Riley, several of whom are written about in the liners where he explains his connection to each, tracing many of these relationships to his long-time collaborator, keyboardist Austin de Lone, who appears on all three albums. The keyboardist is responsible for Kirchen’s indelible connection to Nick Lowe and Kirchen’s recording deal with the U.K. label that was distributed in the U.S. under the Proper name. Owner Malcom Mills and the producer Paul Riley play drums and bass respectively on the three bonus tracks from Kirchen’s album Transatlanticana that close the set.
In the this generous heaping of 38 tracks, it’s difficult to highlight just a few but beyond those already cited, be sure to check out “Soul Cruisin’,” “Husbands and Wives,” his cover of Dylan’s “it Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” and “Womb to the Tomb.” Better still, listen to the entire set. The stellar guitar playing is a given. Listen for the songcraft and you’ll have a much greater appreciation of Kirchen’s artistry than you likely had going in.
