Who wrote the song Welcome to hard times?

Anybody who thinks “they don’t make country music like they used to” just hasn’t spent enough time finding Charley Crockett. The San Benito native has released eight albums since 2015, perhaps none more impressive and indicative of his commitment to classic country than Welcome To Hard Times.

It’s the kind of album that could probably single-handedly serve as a score for a Coen Brothers film, thanks to its narrative structure, dark themes and clever turns. And while there are moments when you might forget you’re not listening to Johnny Cash or Conway Twitty (especially on songs like “Fool Somebody Else” and “Blackjack County Chain”), Welcome To Hard Times is anything but one of Crockett’s tribute albums. Other standouts include “Don’t Cry” and album ender “The Poplar Tree,” which feels particularly poignant now.

At the core of of the album’s outlaw-tinged stories are very real, very modern struggles. Heartache, confusion, injustice — things that feel as relevant to the moment Crockett released the album as they did when his musical forefathers were singing about them decades ago. And while Crockett and company clearly were looking to match the sonic characteristics from honky tonk history, there’s still a modern sheen to the album, reminding those forlorn fans that the golden days of classic country are alive and well — if Charley Crockett has anything to say about it.

It could be argued that Charley Crockett is productive to a fault. Welcome to Hard Times is his second album of 2020 and his third in less than a year, an output that can be excused as a reflection of his knowledge of the fleeting nature of life. Unlike its predecessor The Valley, Welcome to Hard Times wasn't written with the prospect of his own mortality looming over his head. By the time The Valley hit the stores in September, Crockett survived the surgeries correcting a congenital heart condition, which leaves Welcome to Hard Times as the album he wrote in its wake. Death still rears its ugly head, but it's often in scenarios as picturesque as "Black Jack County Chain," a throwback to doomed cowboy songs that experienced a revival in the middle of the 20th century. The key to Crockett's appeal is how he melds flinty storytelling with music so colorful, it feels cinematic. Welcome to Hard Times, like its predecessors, easily swings between country, blues, swing, and folk; rock & roll is never heard but felt in the passion and grit of the performances. This easy eclecticism is Crockett's calling card, also evident on his covers collection Field Recordings, Vol. 1, and it's burnished by a production that cannily recalls the echo-drenched LPs of the 1950s and early '60s without ever succumbing to nostalgic fetishism. To Crockett, this sound is as timeless and telling as old folklore, which is why the retro vibe of Welcome to Hard Times feels so vital: it's not a revival, it's part of the continuum of great American music.

If you want to know who one of the hardest working artists in music is, look no farther than Charley Crockett. In normal times, he’s out touring nonstop with his band, The Blue Drifters, and putting out albums at least twice a year. In hard times, like these, he’s put a stop to touring, but is still churning out the albums. His newest, Welcome to Hard Times, comes after his spring release of Field Recordings, a digital only release, which consisted of thirty lo-fi recordings, mainly made up of covers and deep tracks that the average listener likely hasn’t heard. Musically, Welcome to Hard Times has the signature feel of Charley’s blend of Gulf & Western. Visually, the videos that have been released to accompany the album, have the look of a Spaghetti Western. Beautiful, but empty landscapes, striking color tones and reoccurring characters make for a well-rounded and immersive experience.

Welcome to Hard Times is produced by Mark Neill and features songwriting contributions by both Pat McLaughlin and Dan Auerbach. Although the album was written last fall, somehow the dark mood of the album, coupled with the title, feels like a perfect fit with how 2020 has turned out to be. As always, Charley’s own songs are perfectly matched with covers to give this album a cohesive and well curated vibe.

Having heard a few of the songs already, like the hot to trot tempo of “Run Horse Run," I skipped around, looking for titles that caught my eye. Without a doubt, the song that drew me in from the first few tinkling notes of the piano is “Wreck Me.” Vaguely reminiscent of the piano work of Floyd Kramer, it immediately struck me with its retro feel, something that Charley exudes throughout his music, persona and styling. Lonesome, losing at love again, Charley croons “about being left alone, why do you treat me like a toy, as if I’m just a little boy? While you wreck me…like you do.”

“Rainin In My Heart” feels like the blues, something that Charley and his talented band excel at. The seamless transition from blues to country to western is something that Charley has mastered and attributes to his time as a street performer. Slinky notes of the pedal steel and a steady drum beat make you feel like getting up to dance, although the lyrics of the song are as heartbreaking as the title suggests.

The sound of the banjo in “Lily My Dear” was enough to make this song an early favorite. I know Charley also plays the banjo, but in all the shows I’ve seen, I’ve yet to catch him playing it, so to hear it on the album is quite the delight. It’s a song that sounds like it could have come from the earliest days of country music and story songs. Often I don’t know which songs on an album are covers and which are Charley’s own songs. He is one of the few artists I know that can take a song and make it his own, even if it’s been covered a million times before.

You can’t go wrong with any song you choose on the album and early single releases like the title track, “Run Horse Run” and “Don’t Cry” were the perfect choices in giving the public a taste of the additional 10 tracks to come.

With his release of Welcome to Hard Times, Charley has made an album worth listening to, again and again. The trajectory and direction of Charley’s musical career has been interesting to watch, and with each record he releases, it is apparent that he is continuing to grow and develop his sound into something that is unmistakably unique. Charley is different, but in the best, most interesting way possible. Welcome to Hard Times is the latest addition to a solid stack of albums under his belt and I think it’s safe to say that one day, when a documentary is produced about this time in music, Charley will have quite the role in its history.

Who originally sang Welcome to Hard Times?

Who writes Charlie Crockett songs?

Where is the singer Charley Crockett from?

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