Gary Nicholson Common Sense

August 22, 2024

Gary Nicholson

Common Sense

Qualified Records

Gary Nicholson is a Hall of Fame songwriter and Grammy winner with credits in multiple genres including Country (Willie Nelson), Blues (BB King), pop (Ringo Starr), Rock (Fleetwood Mac), Folk (John Prine), Bluegrass (Del McCoury), and Americana (Guy Clark), with over 700 recordings often in collaboration with the most iconic musical artists of our time. After a lifetime of contribution, Nicholson has focused on addressing the current polarity in politics with “Common Sense”. The new album is co-produced by Kevin McKendree and Nicholson, and recorded at the Rock House in Nashville, by McKendree.

The album opens with “What A Little Love Can Do”, “I know you’ve been feeling down & blue…let me show you what a little bit of love can do”. Nicholson not only sings but also plays acoustic and electric guitar. The ensemble is rounded out by keyboardist McKendree; Jim Hoke, harmonica, saxophones, acoustic guitar, dobro, and pedal-steel guitar; James Pennebaker (Lucinda Williams) electric and acoustic guitar; Mike Joyce, bass; and Lynn Williams, drums; while Harry Stinson supplies the backing vocals.

On “Bob Dylan Whiskey” Nicholson moans “I’m trying to write songs, listening to Bob Dylan and drinking whiskey tonight…when I first heard ‘God On Our Side’…” “The Truth About A Lie” includes Ken Blevins on drums. “Make Good Trouble” was recorded by J.J. Blair at Fox Force 5 Recorders in Hollywood California; the song features the McCrary Sisters on a “call and response”; keys by McKendree & Mike Finnegan; John Jorgensen, guitar; Hutch Hutchinson, bass; and Tony Braunagel, drums; “there is nothing more strong…then when you make good trouble…got to be willin’ to pay the price”.

“Everybody” was written by Nicholson with Keb’ Mo, and features Rick Vito on an electric 12-string guitar “why can’t everybody leave everybody alone”. On “We Don’t Talk About It” Nicholson chants “Politics, we don’t talk about it; religion, we don’t talk about it…trouble at the border, we don’t talk about it”; once again the McCrary Sisters add the harmony. “Follow The Money”, “when the numbers don’t add up …follow the money, see where it goes”. “Worry B Gone” is a song reminiscent of “Six Days On The Road” with McKendree on piano, and his son Yates on electric guitar.

“All That Makes Me Happy Is The Blues” is written by Nicholson with Tom Hambridge “I’ve been hurtin’ so bad since she’s been gone…it seems like my old guitar is the only one that knows the truth…all that makes me happy is the blues”. “Common Sense”, the title track follows, with the lyric “truth or consequences, if you want to be skinny, don’t eat the whole pie, common sense, common sense, the same thing it’s always been”, with Colin Lindon added on acoustic guitar.

On “Woody’s Dream”, “I dreamed that Woody Guthrie had a dream & that is what it is…if the rich went on strike, try to cut a better deal…try to forget what the fightin’s for…just try to think what it would be like to let the rich folk’s strike”. On the closer “There’s No Them” with a string arrangement by Chris Carmichel “there is no them, only us…the walls are built, the sides are drawn, there’s no better, only us”; with David Santos on bass.

With the release of “Common Sense”, a twelve-song collection about the current polarity in politics, Nicholson speaks of the divisions with hope and laughter. We can all use some of that. Thanks Gary Nicholson.

Richard Ludmerer

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