Best of the Sugar Hill Years Terry Allen Artist

{|Terry Allen|} might loosely be described as a {|singer/songwriter|} who developed his idiosyncratic style within the Texas roots scene during the 1970s. Loosely, that puts {|Allen|} in line with {|singer/songwriters|} like {|Guy Clark|} and {|Towne... Read more

{|Terry Allen|} might loosely be described as a {|singer/songwriter|} who developed his idiosyncratic style within the Texas roots scene during the 1970s. Loosely, that puts {|Allen|} in line with {|singer/songwriters|} like {|Guy Clark|} and {|Townes Van Zandt|}, though he has more in common with a writer-singer like {|Butch Hancock|}. But what {|Hancock|} and {|Allen|} share is less a common style than a penchant for eccentricity. This eccentricity, fueled by a left-of-center sense of humor and a sardonic, nasal-tinged vocal style, is on full display on {|Best of the Sugar Hill Years|}. The collection includes a generous sampling of {|Allen|}'s work, serving as a solid one-disc introduction. Here, one can listen to true oddities like {|Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy,|} a five-minute narrative about picking up a hitchhiker who claims to be Jesus Christ. The thing is, within {|Allen|}'s world view, the hitchhiker, who eventually pulls out a gun and takes the car, may be Jesus. If this sounds overly odd or trivial, it isn't. {|Allen|}'s gifts as a musician are multiple, allowing him to combine the song's {|country-rock|} arrangement, a well-written lyric, and his vocal delivery into a strangely effective work. There are a number of winning selections from {|Lubbock (On Everything)|}, an album worth owning in its entirety, and one of {|Allen|}'s best recent compositions (with {|Guy Clark|}), {|X-Mas on the Isthmus.|} For those bored with the same old, same old, {|Best of the Sugar Hill Years|} will open up new vistas. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. Less