Vince and Rodney Crowell's Long Friendship (Commentary)

Well I mean it was
First of all it was daunting shoes to try to fill and no one can
It was trying to play when Albert you know had played and one of my great heroes of all heroes
Yeah that'd lot to do with the way I play
Umm so that was uhh daunting enough to fill Albert Lee's shoes and you can't but
The fact that I could sing too was a plus
You know I could do uhh two people's jobs, you know, all in one and uhh
Just I think umm the level of musicianship that I was then uhh in and around
And amongst was unlike anything I'd ever done
Umm, when you look at guys like Larry London, Toni Brown, Emory Gordy, Hank DeVito
I mean, there, you know, about as good as it gets in that world you know
And especially Larry I'll never forget the first rehearsal he count off the first song
And I had the intro and I start playing and I went oh my god
Right now, I have to best I've played in my whole freakin' life because he... they were that good
And it was really eye opening you know to see what kind of caliber of musician there really was out there, you know
And uhh once again? told her I'd be the best musician in the band and I was uhh
I was gonna have to really pull up my bootstraps and go you know to keep up
And so I was all prepared, I knew all the songs, I knew all the solos and I learned Albert solos
And Emory after a few songs in the first rehearsal he leaned over and said, "Thanks for doing your homework"
You know so I was glad I did you know and
You know Rose Ann always tells a story that's it's hysterical she said, "I wouldn't have on it"
"I didn't want him in my band", talking about me
So I had Albert and I had Rose Mary Butler, Great Harmony singer and 'cause I didn't... I was not about it
You know so she said first song you play the first solo I just kinda put my nose near and said, "He got lucky"
Second solo she was okay gotta give it to him pretty good
So umm Rodney always knew and he's the one that uhh umm that believed in me the deepest you know
And umm I don't think I got a better pal than Rodney and he was inspiring to me in a lot of ways
Because I think he... he's someone that saw the whole field you know
And knew how the song came about, how an arrangement came about, how to treat people in the studio
How... you know just such a great mentor you know and then even a better friend and umm
I took a lot of keys from Rod you know I think probably early on uhh people would say about my records
"He's trying too hard to be like Rodney", you know
Rodney was another interesting he wrote only songs that were hits for everybody else
And he still had to me much better versions on his own records that they didn't
They didn't support they didn't you know do all that then finally in the late '80s he finally had a huge record
And a bunch of number one songs and you know pretty hard to beat you know
And there's something about... you know it's interesting how people's voices work you know
Somebody can be a great singer but their voice won't speak to you, you know
And maybe there's something about that doesn't ring you bell, doesn't appeal to you, doesn't sound good to you
And... well I think Rodney was... would look you straight in the face and say I'm the best singer that ever lived
He's a great stylist and the sound of his voice like dreamy and like Johnny Cash's did
And that was I think still today that's been my favorite thing I've done is uhh
Gettin' to stand up there and sing the high parts above him and play some pretty fierce electric guitar
That's uhh... that's about as good gig as I've ever had that guitar player's chair was uhh an awesome place to get to shine
And those were really important days
I don't know out of all the things I've done with Rodney
I don't know what I would choose you know there was uhh Above and Beyond, Kevin and Buck you know it was a pretty good record
Uhh Couldn't Leave You If I Try, I got to sing on that
He had me singin' on a whole bunch of records over the years you know
But I think the umm probably the real pivotal song is 'Till I Gain Control Again
I don't know I think I sang on his recording of that but I'm not sure
I can't remember well enough but getting to sing that song with him meant the most