Imagine if Graham Parsons had hooked up with Grace Slick instead of Emmylou, and one of their offspring had moved out to Joshua Tree for a decade or so, then formed a band with a couple of his friends. Â The real story of how I See Hawks In L.A. came into being is less, well, legendary. Â But that picture paints a good story about what an ISHILA record is going to sound like, so I’m sticking to it. Â If that image doesn’t do it for you, think lots of pedal steel and twang and 70’s era country rock sounds.
Shoulda Been Gold is the fifth Hawks album. Â The title is a reference to it being an album of their greatest hits, which, if you subscribe to the Nashville or Variety way of counting, they don’t have. Â Gotta love the sarcasm. Â If you’re a long time fan, or just new to the Hawks, though, this is a good sample of some of their best work, with some new tunes thrown in for good measure.
Take for example I See Hawks In L.A., the eponymous track about being a free spirit in a town built on beauty and a perceived ideal. Â Similarly The Salesman explores selling hope in the guise of con men and televangelism.
As you can imagine, the Hawks can be master story-tellers, accomplishing political commentary with a tale about a place or time and how it affects someone. Â One of my favorites is Humboldt, the northern California county where “I’d be glad to plant corn in the ground, but corn don’t go for three-thousand a pound.” Â They also included Raised By Hippies, which is about exactly what you think it’s about.
Depending on how you count, there are 5-6 new songs on this greatest hits collection. Â Sexy Vacation is the one I’d tag as being the closest to a classic ISHILA tune. Â But the one I like better is the live version of Mystery of Life. Â It’s an a cappella, old-timey version where the boys harmonize it’s “each man’s destiny to face the mystery of life…alone.” Â And so it is.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.