Mickey Newbury would be best known for things other than his singing. His greatest relevance to most reading this would be his song "Just Dropped In" as covered by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, which was used ingeniously in the Gutterballs dream sequence of The Big Lebowski. Nick Cave fans should also take note; Mickey wrote the song "Weeping Annaleah" featured on his covers album Kicking Against the Pricks . He also penned the chestnuts "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye", "Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings" and "Sweet Memories" and had songs covered by Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee, Waylon and literally zillions of other country superstars.
Mickey also gets credit for writing the original arrangement of "An American Trilogy" popularized by Elvis in his Vegas act . However, that is not what he should be remembered for. The 1971 album on which the Trilogy appears, Frisco Mabel Joy is a tremendous acheivement in American songwriting. It's a truly cohesive concept album about small town dudes facing big city alienation. In his Allmusic review, Thom Jurek sums up FMJ's themes better than I could: "'Frisco Mabel Joy moves into an entire series of songs that talk of dislocation, emptiness and endless searching through regret, remorse, and ultimately acceptance and resignation."
The album was produced by Dennis Linde in a Nashville garage studio. The stark production could be interpreted as a reaction against the more typically Nashville sound of his earlier records. Occasional and surprising flecks of psychedelia are interspersed throughout. Though the record can be maudlin at times, the songwriting takes center stage and cements Mickey Newbury's spot alongside Townes and Tom T. among great American storytellers.
1. An American Trilogy
2. How Many Times (Must the Piper be Paid for His Song)
3. Interlude
4. The Future's Not What it Used to Be
5. Mobile Blue
6. Frisco Depot
7. You're Not My Same Sweet Baby
8. Interlude
9. Remember the Good
10. Swiss Cottage Place
11. How I Love Them Old Songs
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