Mike Cooley
The Fool On Every Corner
Cooley Records
4 out of 5 stars
Yes, true. Technically, The Fool On Every Corner is Drive-By Trucker Mike Cooley’s debut solo album. But calling it a ‘debut’ is kind of like calling the internet a new technology. It’s not really new anymore.
‘Mike Cooley Alone’ might have been a more accurate title because the album features the guitar ace and Trucker songwriter firing through his vast repertoire of Trucker material all by his lonesome, live with just an acoustic guitar. Gone is the three-guitar assault and the raucousness of a typical DBT show — this is like an extension of the Truckers’ acoustic Dirt Underneath Tour, but with only Cooley punching the clock.
The Stroker Ace, as Cooley is known in Trucker circles, runs through versions of “Loaded Gun In the Closet,” “Cottonseed,” “3 Dimes Down,” “Carl Perkins Cadillac,” and other DBT tracks, adding in just one new song, “Drinking Coke and Eating Ice.”
In addition to getting an inside listen as to what these songs sound like when Cooley is sitting around his living room, fans will also get to hear Cooley’s nervous self-deprecation, as he confesses what it’s like to play without his DBT brethren. It’s worth the listen, for sure. — BFJ
