- I Wanna Know
- The Front Porch Song
- Goin' Down In Style
- If I Were King
- Copenhagen
- I Would Change My Life
- Stewball
- I'll Go Downtown
- The Bluegrass Widow
- Who'll Be Looking Out For Me
1988 Sugar Hill Records: SH-CD-1024
The Live Album was recorded live at the Sons of Herman Hall in Dallas, Texas. Although a live album, it contains all new songs except for a live version of "The Front Porch Song" which this time contains a characteristically witty story of Robert's.
The album has somewhat of an "unplugged" feeling to it as it's just Robert on vocals & guitar, Roy Huskey, Jr. on bass and Johnathan Yudkin on fiddle, guitar and mandolin. They had to use only the recordings from the second of two nights, though, because Roy didn't show up for the first night.
"A showcase of humor and heartbreak, hell raising and harmony," says the Austin American-Statesman.
The following is a transcription from the insert that Sugar Hill put with promo version of The Live Album
Robert Earl Keen, Jr. is at the forefront of the new breed of Texas singer/songwriters whose collective influence has become a powerful force in today's country music. Keen's songs have already been recorded by Nanci Griffith, and he and Lyle Lovett co-wrote "The Front Porch Song", on Lovett's first album. Robert Keen regularly headlines major music festivals and clubs in Texas, and, with the release of his first Sugar Hill album, will begin full-scale touring across the US and Canada as well. His awards include the Austin Chronicle Readers Poll Songwriter of the Year and first place in the Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriters Contest. His music has received raves in Billboard, The Houston Post, The Washington Post, and the Austin American-Statesman, and he recently taped the "New Country" (TNN) and "Austin City Limits" (PBS) show for broadcast in early 1989.
Robert Keen's music is an engaging blend of country, folk and bluegrass, spiced with wit, wisdom and humor. The Live Album is Keen at his best, the complete entertainer. He captivates his audience with the images of college days with Lyle Lovett picking and dreaming on the front porch on a steamy Texas Sunday ("The Front Porch Song"). Then it's Keen the invincible outlaw pushing it to the limit, off on a wild ride in his daddy's stolen Cadillac ("Goin' Down in Style"). "I'll Go On Downtown" is a tragic picture of the outlaw twenty years later, still seaching, but no longer so self-assured. Keen's love songs ("If I Were King", "I Would Change My Life", "Who'll Be Looking Out For Me") are equally poignant tales of stuggling to overcome the obstacles that life presents to lovers. But just as easily as he draws us into his dreams, Robert Earl Keen brings us back to good ole foot stompin' reality with his hilarious "tounge in cheek" tribute to the cowboy's secret weapon ("Copenhagen")!
As the Austin Chronicle says, "Robert Earl Keen symbolizes what's good about Texas." And all that good about Robert Earl Keen's music - vividly colorful images, captivating stories, powerful insights, and whimsical wit - is here, in THE LIVE ALBUM.