America lost one of its finest songwriters in January with the sudden
passing of
Townes Van Zandt
but we're regaining another of the best
this week as Tom Pacheco (with Annie and two Irish cats) arrives to
resettle in Woodstock after living the last decade in Ireland. Tom
can recount myriad stories of European tours, riding as a backseat
buffer between Townes and Eric Andersen, an American invasion force
even with Eric now residing in Norway.
Townes was never quite a household word in the States but he possessed
a singular, sometimes almost errant, ability to reach places unsensed
by other songwriters which won him a sizable "cult" following among
aficionados of the art form, particularly in the musical community.
Much the same can be said about Pacheco, whose unique talents in
finding the human center of the situational life flashing past us and
rendering it with integrity in evocative, poignant and stirring metaphors
of contemporary music is something a distinct shade apart from the
compositions offered by our most standard models of excellence in
songwriting.
With the perspective of his absence from the scene for so long (save a
rare U.S. tour here and there like the Fall, 1991 excursion, which
took in states from Texas to New Hampshire and included one indelible
solo show in Woodstock), it is striking to note one standout fact
about his music in that time... There has been no decline in the
superiority of his writing or performance; no loss of edge whatsoever.
While the output and endowments of those we have held as the very best
songwriters of the generation have flagged, stumbled and lapsed in
that time, Pacheco has rolled on and even risen as he produced album
after album from the 50 or so songs he writes each year without a dud
among them.
Since there are so many who have come into the area since he left, a
brief review of Tom Pacheco's career illuminates not only his personal
path but overall rough terrain facing today's less-than-megabuck
musical heroes.
Raised on a small farm in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where his father
(who had played with the incomparable Django Reinhart) held regular
jam sessions, Tom studied classical and flamenco guitar, formed a rock
group and issued a solo folk album on a small New England label before
venturing into Greenwich Village to become part of a historic scene
which included Dylan, Ochs, Paxton, Eric Andersen and a host of
others. After writing and recording a largely forgettable album with
the group Euphoria in the 1960's, Pacheco teamed with singer Sharon
Alexander for a 1971 release on Columbia which included numerous
Woodstock-familiar musicians.
This folkrock nugget was followed by a pair of RCA Victor albums
recorded in Los Angeles in the later seventies by famed producer
Shadow Morton. Boldly invading country music turf with a slick and
gritty country-rock sound that tended to confound radio programmers,
Pacheco challenged not only the prevailing musical trends of the genre
but some of its social attitudes, as well, seeking to enlighten and
persuade from the inside of Merle Haggard territory.
Retrenching in Woodstock in 1978, Pacheco rapidly built upon his firm
reputation as an exceptional songwriter as he developed blistering
bands called The Thunderhawks and The Hellhounds. They tore up the
nights at regional clubs, gigging more frequently and furiously than
any other band in the area, forging a monument to the spirit of rock
which lingers large in memory.
A recording date in Austin in 1982 for Pacheco expanded to a stay of
almost 2 years as his legend spread through performances across the
southwest, even resulting in bootlegs of his shows. Like Texas, L.A.,
Woodstock and everywhere else he has lived, Pacheco's music has left a
lasting legacy behind that spreads outward from the informed
appreciation of other talented and savvy performers.
Tom returned to Woodstock in 1983 and recorded a never-released
classic rocker with the Hellhounds and stayed until June 1986, when he
left for Nashville and from where we can begin to fill in the gaps of
"the missing years."
When Pacheco arrived in Tennessee, he found it still stifled by the
gloss-pop Nashville veneer at the tail-end of the Kenny Rogers era.
The interesting ripples that would be brought by Steve Earle and some
others was still in the future and he found the stale baggage of
yesterday's formula still piled against the doors he sought to open.
"I was offered a songwriting job on salary by Mel Tillis Music, which
I could have used at the time," Tom recalls. "But when I saw the kind
of song they wanted me to write, I just couldn't imagine ending up
like that."
So, Pacheco stepped out of Nashville, across the ocean, and arrived in
Dublin with a blast of unexpected fanfare in September of 1987.
Pacheco and a pair of accompanists were seized by an airport official
and put into a holding cell for immediate deportation. It seems their
very appearance; leather jackets, stetsons, boots and elaborate shirts
had so alarmed the gatekeeper that he graded the "undesirables" for
departure with a stroke which made newspaper waves all the way to
London, embarrassing the Irish Justice Department, which rescinded the
order with apologies. The flack generated an interest to see the
"outlaws" which resulted in a flock of bookings and primetime
appearances on Ireland's favorite shows.
When Pacheco left Ireland in mid-September after a decade of
creditable creativity, the head of the Justice Department took Tom
aside and told him that if things didn't work out in America, "you
always have a home here." A touching sentiment provided he wasn't
gesturing to that holding cell.
Pacheco had begun earning that respect with appearances all over the
Isles and in every corner of Europe. In 1989, he signed with Ringsend
Records (later Roundtower Records) and released
Eagle In the Rain,
which brought unanimous rave reviews and "Album of the Year" acclaim.
Following its British release the following year, Pacheco was invited
to play at the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival, which opened many
doors on the continent.
"It went so well that I was scheduled for one performance but they
brought me back for 2 more shows," he recalls. "It's an important
place because if you get a bad review there they read about it in
Austria."
Albums began pouring forth, each studded with jewels;
Sunflowers & Scarecrows (1991),
Tales From the Red Lake (1992),
Luck Of Angels (another subversion of country music recorded in
Nashville, 1994) and
a true masterpiece,
Bluefields, in 1995. A collaboration with
Norway's megastar, Steinar Albrigtsen called
Big Storm Coming topped
the charts in 1993 with a full slate of Pacheco's tunes. Albrigtsen
also hit the top spot on Scandinavian charts during the 90's with
Bound To Wander, on which he did 4 Pacheco songs, and
The Troubadour,
which has 8. This silken-voiced artist has also registered number one
singles with Tom's songs and continues to do so. But, then, so have many
other artists in the Isles and Scandinavia. In fact, European artists
of every stripe-blues, folk, pop, rock, country, etc. have found
cause to dip into the Pacheco trove; Rene Andersen with several smash
hits, Daniel O'Donnell, Rita Erikson, G. Thomas, etc. Unfamiliar over
here (although some have recorded with the likes of Delbert McClinton,
Bobby Bare and others) perhaps, but well-established European artists
who share the special wonder of a Tom Pacheco song. Lyn Page, a
popular Irish recording artist, is planning an entire album of his
tunes next year.
This year alone, Pacheco has had 5 top ten songs in Norway, including
his own single ("The Sacred") from the Polygram-Mercury album
Woodstock Winter, recorded here. It's the first Pacheco album
to be released in the U.S. in 20 years.
Before leaving Dublin, Pacheco sent a tape of 21 new songs to be
whittled to album size for his next Polygram release, seeking advice
on which to consider. He sent the same tape to a British music critic
with an encyclopedic grasp, John Tobler. But Tobler, who started the
popular British music publication
ZigZag in the 60's, also happens to
have founded a recording company and asked Tom to record some of his
Irish-era songs in an acoustic singer-songwriter special project and
the result, with dispensation from Polygram, is a 34 song 2-CD review
of the material with never-before recorded songs that's scheduled for
release in the British Isles on Pacheco's birthday, November 4th.
Barring a promotional tour for that project, perhaps in February,
Pacheco has no other plans but to settle in and write some more of
those wondrous tales of love and life.
An amusing but earnest footnote to one of Tom's recent letters
concerned something surprising he found himself missing- pumpkins.
"I can't wait to see those pumpkins," he reiterated this week. "I'm
going to love driving by the fruit stand on Halloween night and seeing
all those Jack'o'lanterns lit up."
I know I speak for many of his local friends and admirers when I bid a
hearty "Welcome Home!" to what's-his-name.
-Gary Alexander
The Return of Tom Pacheco
Home Is the Hellhound...