httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV6yuFx5T9w
I spent a couple of days at the end of the week in Atlantic City. I’m not really an Atlantic City kind of guy, I swear. (I’m a Vegas guy. [Yeah, right. I wish.]) I’m not interested in playing slots, saltwater taffy doesn’t do that much for me, and I don’t have pleasant childhood memories of the Jersey Shore to draw on (I grew up 1,500 miles away, after all). Plus, when you venture about a block away from the boardwalk, you find yourself in what’s really a pretty sleazy, depressing town. If I want to get that I’m-about-to-be-mugged feeling, I can do that a lot closer to home.
So what drew me to Atlantic City? Country singer Gary Allan. I’ve seen him in concert three times now, and I have to say he’s pretty darn amazing.
Now, I’m not at all a fan of what passes for music on modern country stations. My tastes run toward “real” country music: Hank Williams (Sr., of course), Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, and the like. But in my opinion, Allan—who somehow manages to get radio airplay—is the real deal. He’s got the voice. He’s got a Johnny Cash-quality swagger. And he’s damn good in concert, where he really connects with the fans.
I first paid attention to Allan when I heard his cover of Vertical Horizon’s “Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning).” Actually—and this is a little bit embarrassing—I didn’t realize for quite some time that Allan’s “Best I Ever Had” was the cover. He just owns the song. His version makes it one of the saddest, most heartfelt country songs ever:
So you sailed away into a grey sky morning
Now, I’m here to stay, love can be so boring
Was it what you wanted?
Could it be I’m haunted?But it’s not so bad
You’re only the best I ever had
You don’t want me back
You’re just the best I ever had
I’ve grown to like Vertical Horizon’s dreamy, alternative “Best I Ever Had,” but it doesn’t make me feel the heartbreak like Gary Allan’s does. And, in fact, that entire album of Allan’s, 2003’s Tough All Over, has some of the best sad songs I know (“Life Ain’t Always Beautiful,” “Ring,” “He Can’t Quit Her,” “I Just Got Back from Hell”). If you know the back story, that makes sense because Tough All Over was sort of Allan’s musical processing of his wife’s suicide. I’m a sucker for a sad song, and Tough All Over has good, quality sad songs aplenty. I’d have to say it’s one of my two or three favorite albums ever.
Allan is touring with a new album now. Living Hard isn’t quite so thoroughly sad, naturally enough. It rocks some (“Like It’s a Bad Thing” and the title track, for instance), but it’s got some quality sad songs, too. I’m particularly enjoying “She’s So California,” “Half of My Mistakes,” and “Watching Airplanes.”
So, yeah, Gary Allan drew me to Atlantic City and the House of Blues. I sat back, armed with a significant quantity of Jack and Coke, and enjoyed. He fired the place up. He made Atlantic City seem like a good place to be. And for me, that’s really saying something.