Essentials: The Top Ten Chris Gaffney Songs

From a personal perspective, if I were to pick an artist who I think best encapsulates the admittedly numerous stands of what is called americana, together with a healthy dose of the attitude needed to make the most of the music, Chris Gaffney would be there or thereabouts. Gaffney, who tragically died aged 57 in 2008 from liver cancer, was hardly a household name. Fans of Dave Alvin would have known him as a member of The Guilty Men touring extensively with them; and with The Paladins’ Dave Gonzalez, he formed the Hacienda Brothers in the early 2000s to play their take on country and soul music, something artists like Charlie Crockett have recently begun taking to the bank. He was a triple threat being a great performer, vocalist and a significant songwriter, and this list looks across his career to highlight clear evidence of his talents.

While he was born in Vienna, Austria in 1950, he spent most of his childhood in Cypress, Southern California and Arizona as his father who was a former soldier and Telephone Company Executive moved frequently with his career. Music wasn’t always his passion as, after he picked up the accordion when he was eight years old, he took up boxing until a detached retina put an end to his emerging career in 1967. When his brother left the navy the brothers decided to drive to Canada and play music. Chris enjoyed it so much that he stayed for two years, and while he was there he backed Ferlin Husky and Webb Pierce as part of working the house bands of Toronto.

Chris Gaffney has said, “I’ve was always a big R&B fan, and I also like steel guitar, and I couldn’t see why the combination wouldn’t work”, and by the 70s he was a fixture on the Californian bar scene playing his blend of country, soul, R&B and Norteno music. Gaffney was playing multiple shows a night and his friend Dave Alvin had a theory as to why he never broke through commercially: “he couldn’t turn it on; he was a hundred percent honest. If Chris was in a good mood, you get an amazing show, if he was in a bad mood, he wouldn’t hide it”. Gaffney’s songwriting was on a par with Alvin’s and contemporaries’ Los Lobos, as he documented his life in Southern California and Arizona, while also adding a sense of the absurd.

While his own solo career never achieved the success that would have allowed him to break out of the Southern Californian bar scene, that isn’t to say he didn’t manage to build an impressive solo catalogue in the 80s and 90s. His friend, keyboard player Wynan Reese produced his first record, the EP “Road To Indio” in 1986, which introduced Gaffney’s sound to a wider audience and led to the release of three albums in the ‘90s, two on Hightone Records. During his time as a solo artist, Gaffney also held down a job in a boatyard, but this changed when he joined Dave Alvin’s Guilty Men, completing numerous tours and four albums. If this wasn’t enough, he formed the Hacienda Brothers with Dave Gonzalez in 2002, which built its audience for its mix of Western country, soul and R&B until Chris Gaffney’s untimely death.

There you have it; Chris Gaffney was a painfully honest artist who had a passion for the music of America’s southwest, hard country with its signature steel guitar, soul and R&B. He was also a significant songwriter who was able to get artists like Jim Lauderdale, Dave Alvin, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham to work with him. When Dave Alvin arranged a tribute album with Yep Roc Records, 2009’s “Man Of Somebody’s Dreams”: A Tribute To Chris Gaffney” he was able to coral an impressive list of guests that included Robbie Fulks, Freddy Fender, Peter Case, Alejandro Escovedo, John Doe, Dan Penn, Tom Russell, Los Lobos, Jim Lauderdale, Ollabella and James McMurtry among others, a further testament to Gaffney’s talents and legacy.

Number 10:  Chris Gaffney ‘Road To Indio’ from “Road To Indio” (1986)

Chris Gaffney was 36 when he finally got around to recording his first record, “Road To Indio”, which was a succinct calling card for his take on honky-tonk, Bakersfield country and soul with his accordion adding the sound of America’s South West. The title track featured Gaffney’s accordion on music that was the antithesis of mid-80s chart music, but while it may have looked back to older more innocent times, the lyrics put the song front and centre of the challenges facing society in the mid-80s. The live album “live and then some” included “Road To Indio” as a bonus item.

Number 9:  Chris Gaffney “’68’ from“live and then some” (1999)

While Gaffney’s voice is perfect for country ballads he is also not afraid to show his inner rocker. 1992’s “Mi Vida Loca” can lay claim to being his best overall solo album, and it included the signature rocker ‘68′  about someone who lost their best friend in Vietnam. Here it is in a live version that shows what years of playing bars does for your chops. It also provides a nice contrast to Dave Alvin’s version on his “Blackjack David” album.

Number 8:  Chris Gaffney ’Azulito’ from “Loser’s Paradise”(1995)

You can debate whether “Loser’s Paradise” or “Mi Vida Loca” is Chris Gaffney’s best solo album and while “Mi Vida Loca” may just edge it based on the quality and number of Chris Gaffney’s songs, “Losers Paradise” is probably a better representation of his whole sound. On this album, his ability to seamlessly mix and move across genres is in full flow, plus he covers a couple of best friend and producer Dave Alvin’s tunes, and an Ed Bruce song from 1964 together with Gamble & Huff’s ‘Cowboys To Girls’. ‘Azulito’ finds Chris deep in tex-mex territory with a polka that highlights his own accordion playing that manages to be lively and invoke a sense of sadness at the same time, the sure sign of an artist with a special talent.

Number 7: Hacienda Brothers ‘Cowboys To Girls’ from “What’s Wrong With Right” (2006)

Gamble & Huff’s ‘Cowboys To Girls’ was a hit in 1968 for Philly Soul pioneers The Intruders, and Chris Gaffney was so taken with the song that he recorded it as a solo artist and again with the Hacienda Brothers. The version with the Hacienda Brothers is a near-perfect example of the band’s concept of Western soul. We all know that musical genres were established to facilitate American radio programming from the 1920s onwards. However, musicians are musical omnivores and take inspiration and steal licks from wherever they find them so there always was cross-pollination between black and white musicians. The first country soul record was Ray Charles’ “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” in 1962 when he recorded country songs with an R&B backing which had a seismic impact on black and white musicians and audiences. The black and white artists and musicians who worked in Muscle Shoals and Memphis in the ‘60s developed the genre. The Hacienda Brothers’ take on ‘Cowboys To Girls’ could be seen as a template for their take on what they called Western soul, country soul with a good pinch of the American southwest, with the steel guitar of David Berzansky fittingly standing in for the horns and also invoking the spirit of Bob Wills.

Number 6: Hacienda Brothers ‘Soul Mountain’ from “Arizona Motel” (2008)

“Arizona Motel” was released after Chris Gaffney’s untimely death and is the last album of new songs from the Hacienda Brothers, though Lux Records released an album of outtakes, demos and alternative takes in 2019. As such, it is a record that helped define the band’s legacy, and while this list celebrates Chris Gaffney, we shouldn’t forget the contributions of Dave Gonzalez who continued to develop as a guitarist when he added country licks to his already impressive arsenal, David Berzansky who brought his own twist to the steel guitar, and the rhythm section of drummer Dale Daniel and bassist Hank Maninger who provide the perfect foundation for the genre-hopping sounds of the band. Chris Gaffney’s ‘Soul Mountain’ is the standout track on “Arizona Motel” and fittingly it is also one of his very best songs and performances. Given the circumstances, it would not be surprising if a pall of sadness didn’t accompany the track particularly as it is a gospel song, however, it is an uplifting song in the long tradition of gospel music, that promises something better. This is from a songwriter who is known more for his darker material. Chris also shows himself to be a deft organ player as well.

Number 5: Chris Gaffney ‘The Guitars Of My Dead Friends’ from “Man Of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute To CHRIS GAFFNEY” (2009)

Dave Alvin started planning the Chris Gaffney tribute album “Man Of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute To Chris Gaffney” as a means to help him cover his medical bills but unfortunately, it became a posthumous tribute. There have been many tribute albums over the years, and while most of them may have been well-intended, the results have missed their mark more often than they have hit it. Fortunately, “Man Of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute To Chris Gaffney” does hit its mark, probably because curator Dave Alvin knew Chris Gaffney personally and fully appreciated his talents as a singer and songwriter, secondly, the artists appearing on the album do so as friends or fans of Gaffney rather than at the instruction of their record company. Finally, Yep Roc Records issued the album and they are one of the few labels that would feel comfortable marketing what is a diverse collection of artists and genres that truly reflects Chris Gaffney’s talents.  The closing song on the album is an unreleased home recording by Gaffney of his friend Stanley Wykoff’s ‘Guitars Of My Dead Friends” with additional tracks added in the studio by Alvin. It provides a perfect coda to the album, and also to Gaffney’s career because there is a poignancy and sadness in Gaffney’s last recording that reflects what the untimely loss of Chris Gaffney means to his fans and supporters.

Number 4: Chris Gaffney ‘Psychotic Girlfriend’ from “Mi Vida Loca” (1992)

Chris Gaffney may have started playing music in the ‘70s but it took him until 1992 to release his first album on a major label, Hightone Records. Artistically, he grabbed the chance with both hands supported by The Cold Hard Facts and a few guests. Apart from Dave Alvin’s title cut, Gaffney wrote or co-wrote all the songs and they are all top-notch with no filler. He also brings his cross-genre styles and interests to the whole album and this may be the reason that such a great album never made any waves commercially. It was too eclectic and not easy to market to any particular 90s audience. For those people who have heard of Chris Gaffney, he has a bit of a reputation for writing serious dark songs, and while this is true it ignores his playful sense of humour and his appreciation of the absurd. ‘Psychotic Girlfriend’ is heavy on humour and uses the absurd to make observations of the real world that are not normally associated with boy-girl songs.

Number 3: Hacienda Brothers ‘Mental Revenge’ from “Hacienda Brothers” (2005)

The Hacienda Brothers were an immediate hit with the critics and their self-titled debut album helped them build a real audience that continued to grow throughout the band’s lifetime.  Gaffney and co-founder Dave Gonzalez had a vision of what they called Western Soul, a sweet spot between old-school country and soul music and brought in legendary songwriter and producer Dan Penn to produce their debut. While they looked back to the classic sounds of the past this doesn’t mean that the music wasn’t new and fresh because it certainly is. Chris Gaffney’s liking of various musical genres in some eyes detracts from his ability to sing old-school country, but a listen to the Hacienda Brothers take on ‘Mental Revenge’, first recorded by Waylon in 1966 and written by Mel Tillis, will quickly dispense this notion.

Number 2: Hacienda Brothers ‘Life’s Little Ups And Downs’ from “What’s Wrong With Right” (2006)

Dan Penn was back to produce the Hacienda Brothers’ “What’s Wrong With Right” the way records used to be produced before the digital age. The band also had the experience of over three hundred live shows under their belt, and the album showed a refinement of their concept of Western Soul and the band was able to bring out some great performances. Chris Gaffney was on particularly good form, and with their cover of Charlie Rich’s ‘Lie’s Little Ups And Downs’ Chris Gaffney records what is probably the best vocal of his career. Chris Gaffney may have been a product of the bars of Southern California but his talent and artistic vision were not limited by his environment. The fact that he can make this Charlie Rich classic sound like his own, and he can seamlessly blend covers of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham’s ‘Cry Like A Baby’ and ‘It Tears Me Up’ with band originals shows that the world lost a great singer as well as a great songwriter.

Number 1: Chris Gaffney ‘Artesia’ from “Mi Vida Loca” (1992)

It is always difficult to decide what any particular artist or band’s best song is and this challenge just gets harder with someone like Chris Gaffney who has so many great songs that mix genres. ‘Artesia’ may well be the most representative Gaffney song looking back as it does to his teenage years in Southern California. The Gaffney magic lies in the fact that he laments the fact that you can’t experience the nostalgic smell of cow manure in Artesia today like you could in his youth due to geographical changes in the Californian dairy industry. Gaffney’s formative experiences may have been in Southern California but time and time again he has shown in his songwriting that he can use these to not simply document his youth but also look at bigger and more fundamental issues, with a dose of humour and the absurd in case things get too serious and dark. When Dave Alvin produced his tribute record to Gaffney, “Man Of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute To Chris Gaffney”, the song he chose to cover was ‘Artesia’.