LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III : T SHIRT

 

  1. Bicentennial
  2. Summer's Almost Over
  3. Hollywood Hopeful
  4. Reciprocity
  5. At Both Ends
  6. Wine With Dinner
  7. Hey Packy
  8. California Prison Blues
  9. Talking Big Apple '75
  10. Prince Hal's Dirge
  11. Just Like President Thieu
  12. Wine With Dinner (Night Cap)

Label : Arista

Release Date : May 1976

Length : 40:12

Review (AllMusic) : 1976's T Shirt was Loudon Wainwright III's first album for Arista Records, and marked his third major-label deal in six years. With this in mind, T Shirt occasionally sounds as if Wainwright was trying to give the label something it could actually market - backed by the band Slowtrain, Wainwright pulls off a few credible stabs at rock & roll, such as "Bicentennial" and "California Prison Blues," and even delivers a genuinely funky disco number, "At Both Ends." Of course, the minute any radio programmer heard the lyrics to any of these songs, the jig would have been up: "Bicentennial" is a cynical celebration of America's birthday that pays homage to Jack Ruby and Audie Murphy, while "California Prison Blues" includes shout-outs to would-be presidential assassin Squeaky Fromme and her friend Charles Manson, and "At Both Ends" celebrates all manner of sexual and chemical debauchery. Which is to say this is a Loudon Wainwright III album, full of acidly witty tunes whose humor never quite gets in the way of his industrial-strength cynicism. Wainwright also embraced his inner drunk on this album, celebrating the joys of booze on "Prince Hal's Dirge" and the two-part "Wine with Dinner" (where he's thoughtful enough to namecheck role models Dean Martin and Foster Brooks), and those who prefer their Wainwright acoustic can content themselves with the old-timey "Hollywood Hopeful" and the solo "Just Like President Thieu." And as if Wainwright figured his fans could use a break from the rancor at the half-way point, side two kicks off with a genuinely joyous tribute to a loyal four-legged friend, "Hey Packy." T Shirt isn't as resonant as Wainwright's best music, but it's a better album than its reputation would lead you to expect, and proves he can rock out when he's in the mood, even if it isn't his greatest talent.

Review (Wikipedia) : T Shirt is a 1976 album by Loudon Wainwright III. Unlike his earlier records, this (and the subsequent Final Exam) saw Wainwright adopt a full blown rock band (Slowtrain) - though there are acoustic songs on T Shirt, including a talking blues. According to Wainwright on the 2006 CD liner notes, it received a scathing review from Rolling Stone which depressed him so much he stayed in bed for five days. By the early 1990's, he disowned the album in a radio interview broadcast in Australia. However, by the time of the CD remaster (which included Final Exam) he admitted to a much more sympathetic view of the album(s), which he referred to as his 'puppies'.