Gary Bennett - "Inside and Out" DVD

Everyone remembers Gary Bennett as co-frontman of retro country BR549. Along with Chuck Mead they sang the hillbilly songs that had BR549 touted as the next big thing. In fairness they were big, but not on the Garth Brooks level that us real country fans hoped for. Bennett left the band in 2001 and stepped away from the music scene until 2006, and it's that journey that this CD focuses on. Directed by former BR549er Smilin' Jay McDowell, for his Nashville based company, Vintage Flick Productions, the DVD features live footage together with a bonus feature looking at the making of GB's Human Condition album.

The live concert was filmed in Nashville in May of 2006, and features a selection from the then current album, Human Condition together with a few numbers from the BR549 years. The band is excellent with Milan Miller on guitar and harmony vocals, Jimmy Lester on drums and the great Mark Winchester (Planet Rockers/Brian Setzer) on bass. Special guest for the show was Donnie Herron, professor of the fiddle, mandolin, steel guitar and just about anything that makes a sound. It was the first time they'd played together since the parting of the ways in 2001.

The concert kicks off with Human Condition before moving into the great brisque hillbilly number That’s What I’m here For with it’s 50’s country feel that suits Bennett to a tee. Miller plays some tasty licks and it’s the kind of number that stood BR549 from the crowd. GB’s sounds soooo country on Headin’ Home with it’s 60’s California sound. Ain’t Getting’ No Younger is introduced as the first song he wrote after moving to Nashville, and it shows his massive talent as both a writer and singer. Listen to that voice on Ship In A Bottle and tell me that Nashville can do without stars like this – Big & Rich might live up to their names but they aren’t fit to tune GB’s guitar.

The Ship isn’t my favourite song but it sees Donnie Herron join the band, and his haunting fiddle adds a neat edge to the song. Better Than This is much more like it. The BR549 years are acknowledged with the foot-tapping, While You Were Gone and an brilliant version of their biggie, Even If It’s Wrong.

The bonus documentary on the DVD includes footage from the 2005 recording sessions, interviews, rare BR549 footage, photographs, demo recordings and some home videos. It's all fascinating stuff and you get a real sense of what a great, charming bloke Gary Bennett is.

Nowadays, he's back playing on Nashville's legendary Lower Broadway, at the Full Moon Saloon on Wednesday nights. He's re-formed The McNeills with his nephew Jason Capps. They originally formed the band in Portland, Oregon back in 1991. The street is thriving and he's more than happy to be back there. "It's really changed down there," Gary says of the downtown tourist district. "There are way more good bands than there were when we were down there. People clamour to it now, and it's exciting. That street deserves that level of popularity. This is the most excited I’ve felt about going out and playing live in a long time. We are gonna have a lot of fun! We'll stick to mainly original songs, with a cover thrown in here and there.”

So what you have here is a wonderful DVD that pays homage to a great talent – one that still has more to offer. Hopefully a new album won’t be too far away.

Chuck Mead (BR549)

Born: Charles Lynn Mead, 22 December 1960, Nevada, Missouri

Anyone familiar with the retro-hillbilly band BR5-49 will know Chuck Mead as the Robert Redford look-a-like who plays lead guitar, shares lead vocal responsibilities and is pretty much the smooth talking front man of the band. He claims that he and Gary Bennett formed a partnership after they met in a bar and had a contest to see who could sing the most Johnny Horton songs - not a bad reason to form a band.

Bennett was singing in Nashville's bar/boot store Robert's Western Wear when he was joined by Mead, who'd also been playing on Lower Broadway, with the Homestead Grays. They formed BR5-49 in 1993, adding Smilin' Jay McDowell on slap-bass, Shaw "Hawshaw" Wilson on drums and Don Herron on fiddle/steel/kitchen sink/penny whistle/comb/pin-that-drops/clogs/two fingers/harmonica/coconut shells (useful for Tennessee Stud) and dobro. They built up a reputation as the city's best/only real country band, playing covers of Hank/Cash/Horton/Moon(who?)/Faron Young etc. They made their money from a tip jar. Their name came from a sketch on Hee Haw. By '95 they were becoming a tourist attraction and late comers had to settle for a view of the band from outside on the street. The place was so packed that even a few Music City Row executives turned up. Surely they were too country! Regardless, they were signed to Arista on October 13, 1995, and immediately recorded a mini-CD, recorded live at Robert's. Made up of originals and covers, it shows the band were raw, but obviously they wanted it this way. They'd insisted when they signed to Arista that they would only record for a major label if they could retain their hillbilly sound - they didn't want to sell out (just yet!).

They toured with the Mavericks and Junior Brown and in late '96 they recorded their first full length album. The album was a critically acclaimed success, with another high quality mix of originals (Even If It's Wrong) and covers (Cherokee Boogie). Country (ha) radio was typically sceptical of playing anything with a hoe-down feel, but the record still managed to enter the top 40. Other highlights of the album included One Long Saturday Night and Lifetime to Prove.
The next album came in 1998, Big Backyard Beat Show, which followed the same format as the others. Another goodie, it featured tracks that were a staple of their live show, like 18 Wheels And A Crow Bar and My Name Is Mudd. With Bennett and Mead still sharing the lead vocal role, their close harmonies had also improved. I know it's Chuck's birthday, but I can't go on without mentioning the musicianship of Herron, whose all-around work is great, but particularly his steel guitar playing.

In '99 they toured the US with the Brian Setzer Orchestra during which they recorded a full live album, Coast To Coast. When Arista's country division went the way of the dodo, the band were on the street. They were picked up by Lucky Dog (Sony) who proceeded to try to make them sound like 90% of country radio. The album This Is BR549 was a real let down. The band now looked like the Beatles, they had a heavy radio-friendly drum beat and the songs seemed far removed from Little Ramona and Sweet Sweet Girl. For some reason they even removed the hyphen from their name. As with the others, the record failed to sell (despite the drop of the hyphen).

After a long quiet spell the writing seemed to be on the wall and it came as no surprise when a split was announced. Bennett and McDowell left and were replaced by singer/guitarist Chris Scruggs and bassist Geoff Firebaugh. They band produced a mini CD but it's distribution was poor, in fact it was shit - only being for sale at gigs. Now the easy going blond guy with the big smile, the good looks and the tasty guitar licks is going solo and later this week I'll review his new album, Journeyman's Wager.