Truth Decay

Description

Truth Decay is the solo debut album the American singer, songwriter, and producer T-Bone Burnett of The Alpha Band fame, released on Takoma Records in 1980, manufactured and marketed by Allegiance Records and as well distributed by Chrysalis Records. The album was produced by Reggie Fisher. Described by the Rolling Stone Record Guide as “mystic Christian blues.”

T-Bone Burnett is an unabashed Christian moralist who professes the Nicene Creed and plays what might easily qualify as New Wave-country music. Burnett was a member of the Alpha Band during the second half of the Seventies and has since performed as a solo artist in secular and Christian venues.

The tunes on this LP address human relationships, crass commercialism and meaningless, material romanticism. Not every song paints a pretty picture, nor is the music in any way to be construed as simply praise-oriented. Two tunes, «Power of Love» and «I’m Coming Home» testify to the Lord’s saving grace and power; others, like «Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk», «Madison Avenue» and «House of Mirrors» record Burnett’s recoil from the illusion-hawkers and consumers who dominate today’s idea market.

Truth Decay has some good players, including David Mansfield, Stephen Bruton and Steven Soles; plus David Miner, David Kemper, Billy Swan, Jerry McGee, Gary Montgomery, K.O. Thomas and Jude Johnstone. T-Bone has dedicated this album to Dr. Joseph Lebensohn “… who doesn’t happen to be a dentist, but who does know a lot about truth decay.”

(Best cuts: «Quicksand», «Boomerang», «Power of Love» and «I’m Coming Home») [CCM, December] 1980

T-Bone Burnett released Truth Decay for John Fahey’s Takoma Records, his first solo effort since 1972. Burnett delivers a collection of parables, tales, and personal struggles propelled by his strong beliefs and some captivating roots rock. «Quicksand», with a rhythm reminiscent of «Ring of Fire», opens the proceedings with a word of caution, and from there Burnett takes you through scenes of international affairs, betrayal, pure and untamed love, need, greed, and resolution. Songs such as «Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk», «Boomerang», and «Love at First Sight» couple sophisticated lyrical content with the simplest of materials (rockabilly, blues, folk, and country), as does the album’s best cut, the bare-bones «House of Mirrors», a spoken, state-of-the-times parable in which the protagonist’s fate is summed up in a wonderful historical reference. This, along with his passion and reverence for the music – as well as a willingness to subvert it if necessary – keeps him from coming across as retro or revivalist. Aside from the more complex material here, Burnett also proves to be equally adept at a more direct lyrical approach. Whereas in the past he would tend to lean toward the abstract, much of Truth Decay, with songs such as «Come Home», «Power of Love», and «Tears Tears Tears», owe as much to the eloquent simplicity of Hank Williams, Buddy Holly, and Willie Dixon as it does to Dylan. Removed from the big label, budget, and expectations of the Alpha Band, T-Bone Burnett produced a modest, passionate gem. [Brett Hartenbach, AMG]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Quicksand” – 3:54
A2. “Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk” – 3:40
A3. “Boomerang” – 4:15
A4. “Love At First Sight” – 4:11
A5. “Madison Avenue” – 2:35
A6. “Driving Wheel” – 3:10

Side Two
B1. “Come Home” – 4:22
B2. “Power Of Love” – 2:54
B3. “House Of Mirrors” – 3:30
B4. “Tears Tears Tears” – 2:30
B5. “Pretty Girls” – 4:00
B6. “Im Coming Home” – 4:00

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Takoma Records. Later re-issued on CD by Takoma Records, digitally mixed and mastered, and manufactured and distributed by Allegiance Records.

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