I continue to be blown away by the treasures I’m finding from the late Chris Gaffney. Some folks knew him from the Hacienda Brothers who played several times in Redding. Others knew him from Dave Alvin’s band The Guilty Men.
But Gaff’s own band, the Cold Hard Facts, was certainly one of the great bar bands of history. His double album "Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts: Live and Then Some" pounds that point home.
The first disc of live music shows captures the roots rockers in prime form in front of a crowd: Gaffney’s deep soul voice and tremendous songwriting, Danny Ott’s dynamite electric guitar, Wyman Reese’s jangly honkytonk piano, Doug Livingston’s perfectly complimentary steel playing.
In addition to Gaffney’s tremendous tunes, there are songs by Jimmie Dale Gilmore ("Dallas"), Dave Alvin ("East of Houston, West of Baton Rouge"), Joe Ely ("Are You Listening Lucky").
The record also provides a sense of Gaffney’s unique personality that made him a legendary character on par with "Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill," according to Alvin. The audio includes Gaffney bringing a basset hound ("Jacqueline Basset") on stage to bark for the audience.
Gaffney spent his career slugging it out in Southern California and southern Arizona bars, literally a lot like his tune "Six Nights a Week," where the booze and good times flowed. He deserved a much wider audience during his lifetime, and there’s a hint of sadness that the lifestyle was so rough on him (he succumbed to liver cancer two years ago at age 57).
Also, for a taste of Gaffney’s great songwriting, a must own is: "The Man of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney," which includes performances by Los Lobos, Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry, Boz Skaggs and many many others.
