An Album You Should Hear
Arc Angels — Arc Angels (1992)
Rock and Roll
Arc Angels — Arc Angels (1992)
What do you get when you cross a child prodigy guitarist, the son of American Roots Rock Royalty, Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughn’s rhythm section), AND a member of The E Street Band?
One of the best blues-rock bands from the early 90s that you may never have heard of — Arc Angels self-titled debut album.
The Arc Angels were:
Charlie Sexton — guitars, vocals
Doyle Bramhall II — guitars, vocals
Tommy Shannon — bass
Chris Layton — drums
Produced by Bruce Springsteen sideman and foil, Little Steven (Steve Van Zandt), this record from these Texans was everything you would expect from a band of this caliber; except successful.
Bramhall’s father, Doyle Bramhall, Sr. played drums for the legendary bluesmen Lightnin’ Hopkins and Freddie King. He was also a lifelong collaborator with his childhood friends Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan.
Charlie Sexton was a Texas guitar prodigy who released his first full-length album, Pictures for Pleasure. when he was seventeen. The album even yielded a top 20 hit with “Beat’s So Lonely.”
Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton played with Stevie Ray Vaughan as Double Trouble until the guitar player's untimely death in 1990.
That’s a pretty decently pedigreed band.
Released in April of 1992 on the white-hot label Geffen Records, Arc Angels self-titled debut came out at the worst possible time — grunge had just grabbed the world by the throat.
Arc Angels debut is not a grunge record — it’s a straight-up blues-based rock and roll record.
Opening with a drum intro by Chris Layton, “Livin’ On A Dream” introduces the band as a two-headed monster, led by Sexton and Bramhall. This would be one of only two songs the co-leads, Bramhall and Sexton, would co-write for the album. The rest of the songs are split between Sexton and Bramhall and collaborators like Tonio K, Marc Benno, and Sammy Piazza.
“Livin’ On A Dream” is the perfect song to introduce exactly what the band was — a no-frills rock and roll band. The vocal and guitar volley between Bramhall and Sexton is as good a combination as peanut butter and jelly.
The Arc Angels came together in Austin, Texas, the home of The University of Texas. I’m pretty certain none of them attended the university (and far too lazy to dig that deep into the research), but in their travels playing around Austin, there’s no doubt they crossed paths with loads of women they sing about in “Paradise Cafe.”
Well, now everything is rosy
And the money’s so well spent
This kind of education
Is worth every cent
When your momma pays the tuition
And your daddy pays the rent
You could learn a lot in college
Although you never went
If you’ve seen the Patrick Swayze movie Roadhouse (and why haven’t you?), then listen to this song and close your eyes. You know this is the type of place The Cooler would bounce at.
The back-to-back “Sweet Nadine” and “Good Time” play to Sexton and Bramhall’s strengths as both songwriters and singers in addition to their musical styles and sensibility.
Sexton’s “Sweet Nadine” has a bit more of a pop sound and a hint of edge to it. And if you’re lucky, somewhere in your life, you’ve known a “Sweet Nadine”
If lovin’ her is deadly
Then death is what I need
Sweet, sweet Nadine
Sweet Nadine,
That ain’t her real name,
But ya know what I mean
Hell, you might even have a “Sweet Nadine” in your life now (and good on you if you do.) This is a pop-rock joy-filled song about a woman who beguiles you.
Listen here sweet Nadine,
Honey, we got lucky this is the real thing,
Some people search their whole life through,
But still, they don’t feel like this connection
Between me and you
And then there’s Bramhall’s “Good Time” right after it. Where “Sweet Nadine” was pop, “Good Time” is muddy and considerably less innocent. When Bramhall is singing about a good time, you know what that means …and more than likely, it will involve something illicit.
I didn’t think it could get much better than this
And then Charlie said “I know a place”
So I went inside that’s when I saw her face
And then I knew I was gonna have a good time
We're gonna have a good time
She was the finest thing that I ever did see
I walked over to her just beggin’ her, please
I said, “Hey baby, Do you wanna go out with me.”
You wanna know what she said? She said
We’re gonna have a good time
And there is no doubt, a good time was had.
If you’re anything like me, after a certain age, you realize that nothing good happens after midnight. With that said, “Sweet Nadine” is what happens before midnight — still fun, not so innocent — and “Good Time” is what happens after midnight — all bets are off, but it will probably be a good time.
And as if the world needed another song about Jane, there is “The Famous Jane.” I feel bad for any woman named Jane who falls in love with a music nerd because you know they’re gonna be the recipient of a playlist full of Jane songs. Think about it, there are A LOT of Jane songs.
“See What Tomorrow Brings” is all about Stevie Ray Vaughn. Written by Bramhall, it’s a sweet send-off; however, it must’ve been hell to play for Shannon and Clayton, who played side by side with the man. Bramhall was connected to SRV through his father, and Sexton was an Austin music guy.
Stevie Ray Vaughn's footprint on music is huge -it’s a loss still felt today. But his footprint on the Texas music scene is even larger. At least, in this case, it’s true what they say — everything is bigger in Texas.
And speaking of Stevie Ray Vaughn, the song “Shape I’m In” is a foot-stomping blues number that would’ve been at home on any Stevie Ray Vaughn record.
The album clocks in at about 60 minutes, so it’s a bit long in the tooth. That’s not to say there’s a bad song on it, there isn’t …but a few could’ve been “hidden tracks.”
Lyrically, Bramhall and Sexton won’t be winning any Pulitzer’s, but this is rock and roll …and they’re not Bob Dylan.
[Fun fact: Charlie Sexton would go on to play with Dylan for a number of years on his never-ending tour.]
The musicianship here is what stands out — it’s brilliant. Both Bramhall and Sexton were 25-ish and more than holding their own with the more seasoned and legendary Clayton and Shannon. With those two sharing guitar duty, we get something similar that we got with “Sweet Nadine” and “Good Time” — one is a polished player and one is a bit muddier — and it works.
As you may expect, it’s the rhythm section that shines. In particular, Chris Layton. After you listen to the album once and then go back to cue up “Livin’ In A Dream” you’ll understand why his drum is the first sound heard on the album.
Little Steven produces Arc Angels with a deft touch. In my opinion, probably the best thing he’s produced. The production is a bit too clean and almost too perfect, but it works. And in all fairness, this crisp, clean sound was de rigueur at the time. It would be another 6–12 months before the dirtier sound of grunge had flooded the world of music production.
In 1992, the record was mostly ignored by radio stations and music fans.
Arc Angels made an honest go at a career and those people that did discover them, did like them. So much so that they were able to sell out a show at Webster Hall in NYC 15 years after that one and only album was released.
Amid the usual bullshit, Bramhall’s heroin addiction, band tensions, etc. the plans for a second album never materialized and the band just sorted drifted apart.
Charlie Sexton would go on to do solo work and play with Dylan.
Doyle Bramhall II got clean, did some solo work and would play with Eric Clapton.
Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton continued to play both together and with other artists. Both were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 as members of Double Trouble.
While Arc Angels would reunite periodically over the years, for all intents and purposes they appear to be broken-up — although there has never been a formal announcement.