Summer, 2000
Beaver Nelson: The Last Hurrah
Take Your Mark
By G.T. Flicker, {rockstar}

A faded billboard-sized sign painted on the side of a barn along the road to Austin reads: FREE CLAMS TOMORROW . This tempting but undeliverable claim, a bottomless pit for the unsuspecting, is an apt description for the raw deal that Austin roots rocker Beaver Nelson has gotten from the music industry during the past seven years. Touted by Rolling Stone as a songwriting sensation at 19, he has seen contracts with such major (read unconcerned) labels as Columbia and Epic fall through. An entire album recorded in '93 with bassist Tony Scalzo and drummer Joey Sheffield - later of Fastball - sits on a shelf, unlikely to ever be released. According to Nelson, part of the problem was that he was seen as a potential grunge star, and if there is an upside to the years spent in obscurity, it is that his maturity has allowed him to put out a defining first album that genuinely represents him.

Entitled "The Last Hurrah", Beaver Nelson's long-awaited debut CD is available on Freedom Records, a small Austin-based label that happily lives up to its name. Beaver credits owner Matt Eskey with giving him the free rein and support that was lacking on his past efforts. Beyond the obvious irony of a first release being called "The Last Hurrah", the name not only conveys the now-or-maybe-never urgency of getting his material out to the public at this point, but also encapsulates the mood of the album's lyrics.

Over lunch at a small Mexican restaurant Beaver told me his three major musical influences were Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt. "There were many others but those are the big ones". He also mentioned Chip Taylor of "Wild Thing" fame. In comparing Nelson with the songwriters he most admires, the common threads are straightforward blues progressions and evocative storytelling. Although the melancholy griot Townes Van Zandt is the strongest influence on this CD, there is also Dylan's ambiguity and occasional bitterness, balanced with Springsteen's gritty edge. Yet it still comes across as upbeat, viewing the world in "careful hope and joyous fear" as described in the first cut. Beaver's heart-on-the-sleeve songs poetically express his unique perspective on the usual subjects: love, frustration, friendship, self-destruction, the lessons of experience. Beaver's plaintive voice is just scratchy enough; it conveys wit and raw earnestness, comfort and friction, disdain and respect, all at the same time. He does this in person too, letting you know when he is annoyed, but always holding back behind polite Southern manners and composure. The line "Could you step back, sir, while I scuffle with some bastards? " gives you the idea. He carefully articulates his lyrics, but he doesn't telegraph his punch lines. Rather the ends of phrases are typically understated, thrown away, leaving you hanging on for the next line, the way Townes Van Zandt often did.

It was attending Townes Van Zandt's funeral in 1997 that motivated Nelson to concentrate on songwriting again, after the proverbial lure of success had caused him to stray from his strengths. Beaver had grown up in Houston and started playing guitar at age 14. By high school he was selling homemade cassettes of his own songs to friends… reportedly 800 copies! He began traveling to Austin to play open mics at the Chicago House, then moved there in '91, after a summer stint as a cowboy. Soon he was a regular at the Hole in the Wall, gaining the admiration and friendship of many veterans of Austin's music scene. Among these Nelson developed a working rapport with Rich Brotherton and Don Harvey. They financed and played on a demo tape which featured some of Austin's finest musicians sitting in. The hype that accompanied his quick rise led to the aforementioned bigtime offers, but there was a catch: he had to fire his band. The record company thought the seasoned musicians he was working with looked too much older than Beaver. However without the luxury of relying on their musical experience and advice, Beaver lost control of his sound. Beaver went through a "damaged goods" phase and today regrets that during this period he didn't continue doing the solo acoustic performances that gave him a following in the first place. It wasn't until '97 that he got a band together and returned to live gigs with renewed direction.

Which brings me to the opening night of this year's SxSW Music Festival where I first encountered Beaver Nelson. Tall, lean and raggedly handsome Beaver took the stage in front of a packed house at the Hole in the Wall. It was the end of the evening and he was following some beautiful solo acoustic number's by Whiskeytown's Ryan Adams. Beaver's band consisted of George Reiff on bass, Stephen Belans on drums and his producer and longtime collaborator Scrappy Jud Newcomb on guitar. They romped through an impressive lively set until it was closing time and last call, which the bar signaled by switching the lights on and off. Now Austin is a classic music lovers town and the drinking customs are a partial indication of that. Later in the week I was at Antone's watching the Mekons when a bar employee came by and asked me to chug my beer! In order to comply with the law but allow the music to continue he had to go through the crowd of hundreds and individually give them the option to finish their drinks or turn them in - talk about good public relations! Meanwhile back at the Hole in the Wall Beaver Nelson's band didn't miss a beat when the lights started to flash. Over the music Beaver asked the patrons to kindly take their empties to the bar, so that the band could play a couple extra numbers - and the audience was happy to oblige.

Musically, Beaver Nelson is not reinventing the wheel, but he's spinning it in a tempting way, like the operator of a roulette table. It's smooth, twangy, alternative country roots rock, with Celtic, folk and pop elements thrown in. I asked Beaver how he would describe his sound. "I do what I do. It sounds like it sounds. It's just rock'n roll". The musical cast he assembled for "The Last Hurrah" includes his stage line-up with the substitution of Mark Patterson on drums and the addition of Pete "Wetdawg" Gordon on piano. Former Western New York guitarist Gurf Morlix contributes harmony vocals, as do Michael Fracasso and Jules Shear, who each also co-wrote a song. Champ Hood plays fiddle while Rich Brotherton and Kevin Carroll take turns on mandolin, and these are just some of the Austin veterans who perform on the CD. Scrappy Jud Newcomb's production is clean, crisp and sparse, with the vocals prominently out front, as they should be. The arrangements are concise and elegantly simple. This music is honest and friendly, nothing overtly fancy or complicated, with pleasing melodies and straight rhythms, but it takes talent to pull it off this flawlessly.

"Company of Kings" is a good choice to lead off the CD, with its shining fiddles and classical harmonies that stick in your head. On this song about the wisdom of fools Beaver sounds like a country Elvis Costello. When he sings "The rambler sneaks back in the palace to respect his company of kings", I believe he is referring to the musical Camelot that he was fortunate enough to be accepted by when he first came to Austin, and that he is happy to be back working with. The troubadour returned from exile, Nelson expresses his revived sense of purpose with humility and gratitude toward the great musicians he learned from along the way.

The album's second cut, "Strong As I Look", communicates reproachful sentiments in the vein of Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know", but in a more temperate although not less direct manner. Nelson's proclamations about not wanting to even be around a former lover who caused him pain are set against a laid back and deliberately paced musical track. This is one time when you wish the band would cut loose during the breaks and also at the end when the effective guitar lead instead draws to a close.

In case you're wondering , "Strong As I Look" doesn't reflect Beaver's current situation - he's married now and his friendly wife Stephanie has the fragile beauty of a Julie Haggerty or Julianne Moore. It wouldn't be surprising if she inspired the touching ballad "Too Much Moonlight". This song is unabashedly pretty; its timeless and romantic words are movingly performed with the tremolo of a mandolin in the background. In another beautiful acoustic lament "I'm Just Cryin' ", Beaver's tripping on his sincerity: "When I told you that I was bad news, I didn't mean that stuff for you to believe it enough to agree". He further explains "Living rough takes some dying, but I'm not cryin' wolf, I'm just crying".

A swirl of vivid details over jangly guitars, "Things Get Shaky 'Round Midnight" is a scary story that could be told by the campfire. The nightmare is blurry but "Somethin's surely gonna get you…It's you it wants… It knows just what you think you need!". My favorite up-tempo number on the album, "Landed in the Mud" features some hot slide telecastin' by Casper Rawls. It adeptly portrays the ironies of life's pitfalls. When I asked Beaver how he got his name, he said it was the worst thing his sister could think of to call her new little brother after his parents nixxed "Nothinghead". Later, when he was 8 years old, he accidentally broke her nose when she cartwheeled into the backswing of his whiffleball bat. The syncopated refrains of "All Over" state: "No matter the hole you fell into, you can always dig it deeper".

"Stray Dog" gives more than a passing nod to "Sympathy for the Devil" era Stones, but the cleverness of the lyrics overrides the lack of musical originality. I wish the excellent honky-tonk piano was higher in the mix, but as a pianist I'm prejudiced. There's supposed to be more piano and a horn section instead of strings on Beaver Nelson's next release, tentatively entitled "Little Brother Blues", which should be out this summer. For updated info check the attractively designed website at www.beavernelson.com.

Beaver Nelson was off to the race track after our interview. I don't know how his horses did that day, but Beaver himself is no longshot. He has the pedigree - so lay your money down.