Jamey Johnson – Midnight Gasoline

Jamey Johnson’s That Lonesome Song (2008) was one of my favorite albums of the ’00s. Just a few years later, he went offline as a recording artist (he continued to tour and write songs). Midnight Gasoline is his first album since 2012 (and that was a Hank Williams tribute album) – so we are long overdue for some original Jamey Johnson material.

Johnson has a gorgeous country baritone voice that echoes Waylon, Hag, George Strait, and Tony Joe White’s country funk. Musically, Johnson is country, but he also sprinkles swamp rock, the blues, and vintage R&B. If you are a fan of Chris Stapleton, Johnson is his big brother.

Returning to the studio was inspired by the death of Jamey’s buddy Toby Keith. Jamey told Billboard:

“The writing was already coming back to me, piece by piece, but I still didn’t have any ambitions on making a record. When Toby passed away, it moved everything into high gear because I realized that that was the end of his discography, that we weren’t getting another Toby Keith record. And that’s what drove me to wanting to finish my own discography. It’s what made me understand that I’m nowhere near done, and so it’s time to get busy. After he passed away, I immediately started talking about this session and started trying to get all the particulars in order. It was time for me to get in the studio again.”

Johnson recorded the album at Cash Cabin, Johnny and June Cash’s former studio now run by their son, musician/producer John Carter Cash. The first half of the album was produced by The Kent Hardly Playboys: Wayd Battle, Jim “Moose” Brown, Tom Bukovac, T.W. Cargile, Kevin “Swine” Grant, Cowboy Eddie Long, Dave McAfee, James Mitchell, and Chris Powell. The second half was Nashville Midas Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen, etc.).

The album opens with “Bad Guy,” which uses songwriting as an analogy for a relationship. The narrator wonders:

“So how did I
Become the bad guy
In this song?”

Musically, “Bad Guy” has a nice slithering swamp vibe.

The titular track, “Midnight Gasoline,” is a road song – the narrator is trying to forget a lost love.

In “What A View,” the narrator, who has seen the world, is overwhelmed by seeing his lover merely sipping a glass of wine.

“I’ve seen the lights of Paris
And I’ve seen the Taj Mahal
Those seven wonders never made me wonder at all
But I wish I could paint you a picture
And hang it up on the wall
So you could see you the way I see you
What a view”

“21 Guns” is a beautiful lament for a fallen soldier.

“Someday When I’m Old” is a simple prediction of the future: spoiling the grandkids and being a curmudgeon. But most of all being the one:

“That remembers you young and beautiful
Your dark hair falling on that pillow case
And all the secrets we shared
All the love that we made
And I’ll hold on to those precious moments
Like pieces of gold”

“Trudy” reminds me of a country-fried Van Morrison. The song has an amazing horn arrangement and features a guest vocal from Randy Houser. It is a cover of a Charlie Daniels song from his 1975 album Fire On The Mountain.

“One More Time” has a fascinating conceit: if the narrator were God, they would redo the story of Genesis and rebuild a lost love.

“Saturday Night in New Orleans” was written by Johnson, Chris Stapleton, and Tony Joe White. It has a nice swampy vibe. The song’s gist is, “Every night is Saturday night in New Orleans.”

“Sober” is a tale of the challenges of being sober while in the drinking song business. The song has a nice blues feel.

“I’m Tired Of It All” is another duet with Randy Houser. It is an end-of-your-rope country song:

“It may look like I’m having a ball
But the truth is I’m tired of it all”

“No Time Like The Past” takes a litany of cliches (time heals, count your blessings, etc.), and the narrator scoffs at them:

“If you want a heartache to last
There ain’t no time like the past”

“What You Answer To” is classic country wisdom: “But it ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”

This is an outstanding comeback. Midnight Gasoline is the first of what Johnson calls his Cash Cabin Series. Johnson spent three weeks recording about 30 songs at Cash Cabin, sleeping in his bus parked outside. I can’t wait for the next installment!