On The Record

"Set You Free"

This series, “On the Record,” will be a weekly Substack exclusive in which I’ll go through my recorded catalog song by song starting with my first album, Alabama Song, which was released on MCA Records in 1998. Photos will be attached if available and tolerable.

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I remember exactly how this song got started. Before my hands got strong enough to make a really legitimate B chord as a bar chord, I had to approximate B with a B7. Not exactly the same thing, in fact not at all the same thing, but it worked okay for my purposes at the time. One day I saw someone make a B7 and then raise their middle finger from the A string to hit the low E string and then go back to the A string to create movement within the chord and I thought, “WOW — that’s almost like a quiet little lick.” So I learned how to do it that day and “Set You Free,” was begun. The movement of the middle finger looks like this:

I love this track, of course produced by the great Kenny Greenberg. It’s slinky, easy, sparse, and cool. Rick Plant played that great B-bender electric in the understated, smart way that only he can — Dave Pomeroy played the killer bass line — and the whole thing quietly creates a smokeshow of a stew that you find yourself dancing to by the time the second verse comes along. I don’t think I was ever satisfied with the lyrics to “Set You Free,” and now find them almost unbearable to listen to, especially the line about “that already happened,” — really? Could we not get a bit more poetic? But the sentiment is there, at least. I do wish I’d been a better lyricist at the time, but we live and learn. That’s what we’re here for.

“Set You Free,” was the second single from “Alabama Song,” which meant we got to make a video. This was 1998, and by today’s music business budget standards, that was a time of largesse. Now we deal with entire album budgets that are sometimes less than a quarter of the amount of money we used to spend on one promotional item like this:

Directed by the great Thom Oliphant, I was very much in my element in New Orleans, where the video was shot in July 1998. Y’all might know I was born in Mobile, so that thick air makes me feel right at home, plus I spent my share of time in NOLA during college. I distinctly remember Thom trying to direct me before the first shot, which was me by that car in the middle of the street, and I remember looking him dead in the eyes and telling him, “I got it.” He looked back at me skeptically, looked at the label rep, and then hollered, “Action.” After the first take he looked at me again and said something like, “Okay. You certainly do have it.” Smoldering was easy — I’d been doing it for years. I love this video. It’s a sweet concept I always appreciated — the traveling suitcase took away the need for any kind of video acting (one of my most hated things) and romantic interest, and it includes a drag queen, a clown, a cop, and a precious little boy named Prince. We attempted to straighten my long hair but the humidity blew it up to perfect country music standards. Another thing that I like about it is that the clothes hold up, even in their late 1990’s ness, save for the platform boots — and I got to wear a look when I was sitting inside the car that I always equate with Deborah Winger as Sissy from Urban Cowboy — a tank top, jeans, and a beat up cowboy hat. All in all it is a visual success and I must thank MCA Records (the great Sarah Brosmer was video commissioner at the time) for giving me such a terrific platform to launch my first album. CMT played the hell out of it, as I recall.

As a single, “Set You Free,” reached #72 on the country singles chart. Disappointing, to say the least, but for whatever reason my music, and I in general, just didn’t appeal to country radio. Though I wish I’d had more success, I can’t say that I’m sorry I didn’t end up a big mainstream country star. In fact, I shudder to think about how that might’ve turned out. I wasn’t ready to be a star on any level and it might’ve turned disastrous if it had happened as I had few people in my life who would’ve really watched out for me and cared about my emotional or physical well-being. In fact, such things were never discussed and I was carrying a huge amount of trauma that threatened to, and did, come out sideways all the time. That hardly anyone ever asked how I was doing tells us a lot about not only the entertainment industry but the world. I’m glad I know myself a lot better now. And I’m glad I know others a lot better too.

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Personnel:

Kenny Greenberg: Electric and gut string guitars

Richard Bennett: Acoustic guitar

Rick Plant: Electric guitar and the solo

Dave Pomeroy: Bass

Greg Morrow: Drums

Dan Dugmore: Dobro

Recorded by Jim Demain at The Whitehouse, Mixed by Justin Niebank.

Thanks for reading these “On the Record” installments. I’m so enjoying writing them. I’ve made ten studio albums so that means I’ll end up covering more than one-hundred songs! More to come next week with “A Soft Place to Fall.”

Onward,

AM

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