Arc Angels
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.
The Arc Angels were:
Charlie Sexton — guitars, vocals
Doyle Bramhall II — guitars, vocals
Tommy Shannon — bass
Chris Layton — drums
Band Members:
Doyle Bramhall II was the son of Doyle Bramhall, Sr. who had played drums for the legendary bluesmen Lightnin’ Hopkins and Freddie King. The old man was also a guitarist and singer in addition to being a lifelong collaborator with his childhood friends Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan.
But the son was no slouch himself, touring with Jimmy Vaughan’s The Fabulous Thunderbirds when he was just 18.
Charlie Sexton was a Texas guitar prodigy who recorded his first full-length album, Pictures for Pleasure, when he was sixteen. 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.
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 as successful as it should've been.
Suffice it to say, Arc Angels are a decently pedigreed band.
Released in April of 1992 on the then white-hot label Geffen Records, Arc Angels self-titled debut came out at the worst possible time. Grunge was just beginning to grab the world by the throat and as fantastic as this Arc Angels album is, there is one thing it was not - it was not a grunge record. It’s a straight-up rock and roll record.
Opening with a drum intro by Chris Layton, “Livin’ On A Dream” introduces the band as a four-headed monster led by Sexton and Bramhall. This would be one of only three 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?), listen to this song and close your eyes. You know the Paradise Cafe' is just the type of place The Cooler would bounce at.
The back-to-back double punch of “Sweet Nadine” and “Good Time” play to Sexton and Bramhall’s strengths as songwriters and singers, as well as their musical styles and sensibilities.
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 I tip my hat to you if you do.) This is a pop-rock, joy-filled song about the woman, hell any woman, that 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 there is some experience at play and you also know that, more than likely, "good time" is more tongue in cheek, cuz you can't really title the song "Great Time" - it doesn't ring as true.
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 anything that happens after midnight could end up with a story, or end up with you in jail. With that said, “Sweet Nadine” is what happens before midnight — still fun, not too innocent — and “Good Time” is what happens after midnight — when all bets are off.
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 musician or music nerd because the odds that you’ll have a song written about you or receive a “Jane” playlist are statistically near 100%.
Think about it, there are A LOT of songs about Jane... I can only hope they’re not all about the same woman.
“See What Tomorrow Brings” is all about Stevie Ray Vaughn. Written by Bramhall who was connected to SRV through his father, and Sexton was an Austin music guy, so SRV is a through line in Arc Angels to be sure. It’s a sweet send-off; however, it must’ve been hell to play for Shannon and Clayton.
Stevie Ray Vaughn's footprint on music is huge. But his footprint on the Texas music scene is even larger. 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.
Lyrically, Bramhall and Sexton won’t be winning any Pulitzers, but this is a rock and roll record …and they’re not Bob Dylan.
The musicianship here stands out—it’s brilliant. Both Bramhall and Sexton were 24/25-ish and are more than holding their own with the more seasoned and legendary Clayton and Shannon. The parts of Arc Angels are amazing, but the sum of the parts are brilliant. With Bramhall and Sexton sharing guitar duty, we get something similar to what we got with “Sweet Nadine” and “Good Time”—one player before midnight, and one player after midnight, but both equal in awesome.
As good as Bramhall and Sexton are, 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 crack and sound heard on the album.
Little Steven produces Arc Angels with a deft touch. Aside from his own records, it’s probably the best thing that he’s produced, in my opinion. The production is polished and clean and almost too perfect, but I think that speaks more to the band and just how good they were. And to be fair, this crisp, clean sound was de rigueur at the time.
The dirtier sound of grunge was just reaching its apogee by the time this album was released.
1992 was a tough year for a record like Arc Angels; but 32 years on, it still sounds fresh and as flawless as it did then. It’s just that not too many people paid enough attention back then.
Arc Angels made an honest go at a career, and those who discovered them liked 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 band nonsense, 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 Bob Dylan and play with and collaborate with an astounding array of artists across genre’s.
Doyle Bramhall II would go on to play with Roger Waters and Eric Clapton, do some solo work, as well as produce and collaborate with a who’s who across genres.
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 and Tommy Shannon eventually retired from music.
In a decade full of GREAT albums, this album is one of the greatest.
Full stop.
While Arc Angels would reunite periodically over the years, as recently as 2022, for all intents and purposes, they appear to be broken up — although there has never been a formal announcement.
If you’ve never heard this album, and you like good clean rock and roll, you honestly could do no better than dropping the needle (is it even on vinyl? it should be) or hitting play on the Arc Angels self-titled debut album.
Also highly recommended: the Living in a Dream live “reunion” album / DVD combo released in 2009!
This was a landmark album for me. A summation of what had come before - a passing of the torch in Texas music - and a springboard for what came later (including the incredible group Storyville).
Thanks for spreading the love about this album. Oh, and the majestic “Sent By Angels” is also about SRV.