For many people, calling a musician a "one-hit wonder" implies they spent their talent in one great moment in the studio and never summoned that level of craft again. That's often a falsehood, and
Tommy McLain is one musician whose talent is not reflected by the success of his recording career. In 1966, Louisiana-born
McLain scored a smash single with a striking cover of "Sweet Dreams," first made famous by
Patsy Cline, that made it to number 15 on the pop charts.
McLain and the tiny label that released "Sweet Dreams" were never able to re-create its success, and he spent more than 50 years making his living playing clubs and casinos in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, where he had a loyal fan base, remembered by few who were not obsessive fans of Southern swamp pop. But those who were paying attention knew
McLain was a great, undervalued talent as a singer and songwriter, and a few of those people stepped up to help him cut a remarkable comeback album, 2022's
I Ran Down Every Dream. Producer and guitarist
C.C. Adcock invited two of
McLain's better-known fans to write songs with him for this project, and
Elvis Costello adds to the bittersweet regret of the title cut, while
Nick Lowe's mix of wit and brutal honesty is a good match for "The Greatest Show on Hurt." But it's clear that while
Adcock's savvy production and wise choice of backing musicians (including Cajun rock stalwart
Steve Riley, New Orleans keyboard legend
Ivan Neville, stellar composer and arranger
Van Dyke Parks, and
Sir Douglas Quintet Farfisa man
Augie Meyers) have given
McLain better surroundings than he's ever enjoyed in the past, it's his gifts as a vocalist and tunesmith that truly carry the show.
McLain's voice is grainier than it was in his youth, yet the bittersweet sadness in his delivery is as strong as ever, and if anything, his phrasing is even more effective than on his 1960s and '70s sides. And as a man who overcame drug and alcohol dependence, struggled with the fickle nature of the music business, and survived a heart attack and the loss of his home at the hands of an arsonist during the making of this album,
McLain has traveled down some of life's lost highways and knows them well. His songs about the kindness and cruelty of love and the unpredictable nature of fate have the heart-tugging ring of truth, and "No Tomorrows Now," "Livin' on the Losin' End," and "That's What Mama Used to Do" are moving and wise, a superb mix of life experience and well-honed talent.
I Ran Down Every Dream arrived when
McLain was 82 years old, and if it's not likely to be as big a hit as "Sweet Dreams," it sets the record straight that he was and remains an artist well worth knowing. ~ Mark Deming
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