One Album Wonders: Cometh A Lawman!

Since we can never have enough series on this here blog, here's another one for y'all. One Album Wonders will look at artists who for a number of reasons - lack of success, music industry malfaisance, change of lifestyle, what have you - managed only a single album. But not only that, the Wonder part already gives it away: These albums are really good! They deserve to have follow-ups and being heard by thousands instead of the hundreds or handfuls that most of these managed! And we're gonna start with one of the all-time best One Album Wonders, the kind of album that makes it worthwhile to rummage through loads of obscure stuff of unknown quality. 

If you've never heard of George Law, then you're probably not alone. A singer-songwriter who toiled away in his home state of Alabama, his sole, eponymous album was issued twice, in 1977 and 1979, both times without success. His slightly goofy look, well captured on the album cover, maybe wasn't going to help sell millions? But what a marvel it is. I don't want to throw out superlatives here, because there's a chance that folks will go "Huh? What's the big deal here?", and of course it helps that the Lawman hits my personal sweet spot, landing right between some polished country rock and a singer-songwriter album. 

Discogs has this listed as soft rock, which I think is overexaggerated, and some sites list this album as Southern Rock, which is even more exaggerated. To be fair, there is a single song that fits that mold, and it is dutifully titled "Southern Fried Rock'n'Roll". It also exemplifies what I like about this album: There is nothing fancy or show-offy about it, and unlike some of his fellow Southerners, he isn't tempted to draw things out needlessly. There is a drawn-out instrumental section, but it starts one minute into the song and is over about 45 seconds later, and the whole song is done in less than two and a half minutes. Some people can listen to various versions of The Allman Brothers Band's "Mountain Jam", all coming in over or around half an hour. I am not one of these people. I'd rather listen to Law getting the whole Southern Rock thing out of his system in about 8% of that time. 

His real strength are the mid-tempo tracks though. Songs like "Montgomery Town", "Ridge Song" and "Madison" sound like old friends, and once you've heard them you'll never want to let them leave. Well, I don't. Not to mention that in between these and Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road", Madison County starts to sound like the most beautiful place on earth. Law at times has a perfectly 70s cosmic cowboy thing going, getting metaphysical on tracks like "Tomorrow's Always Today" or "Shine Sunshine". Or, you know, maybe good ol' George was just a heavy stoner, after all he did name his label Bongwater Records. 

He is backed on the album by jazz-prog group Backwater, which includes producer Tom Nist. This might also explain the rich instrumentation, including flugelhorn, clavinet and electric organ. That is probably also one of the secrets to the beauty of this album: The warmth and richness of its sound, certainly unusual for a self-released, private press record. 

George Law really does sound like the best parts of your favorite 70s music, or at least, well, mine. "Martha's Song" sounds like Jackson Browne wrote and sings it, while on beautiful album closer "Shine Sunshine" he sounds a little like Jimmy Spheeris. Even the least memorable track on this album (my vote: "Clouded Mind") is never less than beautifully played and sung. But really, there are no losers here. All killer, no filler, as they like to say, and all that in half an hour. Short and sweet.

Listen to this, it'll be the best half hour you can spend on music, or almost. Trust uncle OBG on this, or even better, tell me what you think of Mr. Law in the comments!

And now, let Law ring throughout the land...