Sagebrush & Soul

What's Wrong With Right
Hacienda Brothers
(Proper American Records)

Merging country and soul is a proven and time-tested formula. It worked back in Muscle Shoals' heyday, when Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham (among others) were cranking out classics such as "Cry Like a Baby" and "Dark End of the Street." It's working today, Exhibit A being the career resurgence of soul stalwarts such as Solomon Burke (his forthcoming collaboration with the likes of Buddy Miller and Gillian Welch should do nothing to derail that comeback). And it has been successful for the Hacienda Brothers, who on June 27 released their second collection of "western soul," "What's Wrong With Right."

Brothers in arms Dave Gonzalez (of Paladins fame) and Chris Gaffney (former Dave Alvin sideman; Cold Hard Facts) again have enlisted the help of country-soul writer/producer/demigod Penn, who also produced the group's self-titled debut last year. The result is another thoroughly entertaining album that dials back the honky-tonk so prevalent on the debut in favor of more R&B flavor.

Penn's compositions, with their elements of country and classic R&B, have long defined the country-soul sound. Add an element of the southwest to the mix, as both Hacienda Brothers discs were recorded in Tucson, and you have a recipe for "western soul." One need look no further than the group's cover of Penn's "Cry Like a Baby" for a sonic snapshot of the style. The pedal steel, cool, shimmering organ and accordion solo describe it better than this review ever could. Among the other terrific covers are Penn/Oldham's "It Tears Me Up," Gamble and Huff's "Cowboys to Girls" (a '60s hit for The Intruders) and Charlie Rich's "Life's Little Ups and Downs."

Not that there's anything wrong with the originals. "Midnight Dream," written by Gaffney, Gonzalez and their manager, Jeb Schoonover, sets the perfect mood with its groove, its pedal steel fills and Gaffney's smoky, late-night vocals. They drive it home with the coupling of David Berzansky's pedal steel and a Stax/Volt vibe on track 2, the title song, which was written by Gonzalez and Penn. They channel the Bakersfield Sound on Gonzalez's "The Last Time" and "Different Today." In a Tex-Mex context, Gaffney paints a vivid portrait of an Irish boxer with his elegiac "If Daddy Don't Sing Danny Boy."

Paladins fans who come to the Hacienda Brothers to hear Gonzalez's guitar work might be disappointed to learn that he plays less lead than on the debut disc. But there still are plenty of deep, twangy Telecaster licks (especially tasteful on the closing instrumental, "Son of Saguaro"), and Gonzalez even takes a nice vocal turn on the original "Keep it Together."

The Hacienda Brothers' latest disc has the potential to appeal to a wide range of music lovers, from followers of the main players' previous bands to devotees of honky-tonk, R&B or even the Box Tops. Whether you go to the CD bins looking for country or the soothing sounds of classic soul, you're likely to find something that pleases you.

What's wrong, indeed?