Cameos by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Fats Domino, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Sonny Landreth, Dan Penn, Delbert McClinton, and Maria Muldaur dot this legendary songwriter’s definitive lifetime statement, cut in his reclusive years, and no other album captures his “lost years” better than this collection of tracks spanning the years 1971-2003, all bearing the common thread of being written and produced by Bobby Charles.
This is more than just a compilation. The quality of Charles’ work remained consistent in tone and wit over the album’s span of three decades, just as he remained true to himself. “Everyday,” recorded in 1975, flows organically into “Don’t Make a Fool of Yourself,” cut in 1997. Last Train to Memphis unfolds as a true album, built from Charles’ life.
Over the course of that life, he crossed paths with many stellar musicians who would champion him and record for him over the decades. After recording his one U.S. commercial LP release in the last century,1972’s Bobby Charles, with Dr. John, Ben Keith, and members of The Band, he retreated to his preferred state of obscurity in his hometown of Abbeville, Louisiana. But he was always writing — and recording. Indeed, his Rice ‘n’ Gravy Records partnered with international labels in the ‘80s and ‘90s to release four albums.
By the turn of the 21st century, Charles had stacks of recordings, but almost zero recognition in his homeland. He’d lost nearly everything when fire consumed his Abbeville home in the mid-‘90s. Still, the tracks he’d been quietly recording since the ‘70s — with the likes of Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Fats Domino, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Sonny Landreth, Delbert McClinton, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and Maria Muldaur sitting in on the sessions — were there to be dusted off. And so Charles joined forces with Jim Bateman and Ben Keith to craft the definitive statement on his years of “inactivity,” on his craft, his life, and his vision.
It's fitting that, as Bateman wrote in the original liner notes, the album’s title pays tribute to Peter Guralnick’s Elvis Presley biography of the same name, for Elvis embodied a primal element of Charles himself, the rock and roll rebel. Charles, too, had been mistaken as a Black singer by listeners in the ‘50s. And all of his songs had a genre-blending element, mixing soul, R&B, and country — from his first single for Chess Records in 1955, “Later, Alligator,” ultimately remade into a hit by Bill Haley and His Comets, to “(I Don’t Know Why) But I Do,” which he penned for Allen Toussaint and Clarence “Frogman” Henry, to “Walking to New Orleans,” written for Fats Domino. Over time, Charles was more and more content to have others sing his work. But that gave his voice short shrift.
As Bob Dylan quipped on his Theme Time Radio Hour many decades later, “My old buddy, Robert Charles Guidry, was better known as Bobby Charles, and he was more successful as a songwriter than a singer. And that’s a sin, because he’s a hell of a singer. He’s got one of the most melodious voices ever transmuted into a piece of vinyl, matter of fact.”
That will ring truer than ever with our reissue of Last Train to Memphis, which makes the album available on vinyl for the first time. Over two LPs, the vinyl edition spotlights Charles’ inimitable, melodious rasp over tracks from disc one of the original CD release. It’s in those 15 tracks, which Charles considered the album proper, that the soul of Last Train to Memphis lives.
The journey begins with the title track’s rock and roll pilgrimage, and Delbert McLinton’s rousing blues harp, not to mention Sonny Landreth’s fretwork. Then the album eases into the fervent passion and crushed hometown dreams of “The Legend of Jolie Blonde,” Rufus Thibodeaux’s fiddle conjuring Charles’ Louisiana roots.
From there, the album then lays out some absolute pearls of Charles’ gift for hard-won wisdom and the telling phrase. Certain recurring studio sessions captured the laid-back magic, such as those at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, or the brilliant 1984 sessions at Pendernales Recording Studio, Willie Nelson’s home studio in Austin, Texas, featuring Maria Muldaur’s singing and Nelson and Neil Young on guitar.
Then there are the Nashville sessions, including one session that produced “Sing,” featuring greats Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, David Briggs, and Chris Ethridge in the band. And that song conveys the core spirit of Charles’ soulful voice, both homespun and heartfelt, full of the warm, subtle, unassuming delivery of one living all his days in the world of song.
The double LP version contains a bonus track from disc two of the CD release—“The Jealous Kind,” Charles’ take on one of his most-covered compositions, once recorded by that other Charles, Ray, one of Bobby’s heroes.
In addition to the 15-track core album, the CD edition of Last Train to Memphis comes with the original 2004, 19-track bonus disc, featuring material from Wish You Were Here Right Now and Secrets of the Heart. Alongside “The Jealous Kind,” the set captures more magic from Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio—including a cameo by Fats Domino on a fresh take of “Walking to New Orleans.”
All told, it’s a remarkable archive of work by a trailblazing American original, championed by everyone from Dylan to Dr. John. Moreover, perhaps most importantly, these songs were written, produced, and selected by the artist himself, as the brightest gems he unearthed from over thirty years of his soul-searching sojourn in the tower of song.
Track Listing - Double LP (First Issue Vinyl)
1. Last Train to Memphis
2. The Legend of Jolie Blonde
3. I Spent All My Money Loving You
4. String of Hearts
5. I Wonder
6. Everyday
7. Don’t Make A Fool Of Yourself
8. Homesick Blues
9. Forever and Always
10. The Sky Isn’t Blue Anymore
11. Full Moon On The Bayou
12. What Are We Doing
13. Sing
14. Goin’ Fishing
15. See You Later Alligator
16. The Jealous Kind (Bonus Track)
Track Listing 2-CD Set:
CD 1: Last Train To Memphis
1. Last Train to Memphis
2. The Legend of Jolie Blonde
3. I Spent All My Money Loving You
4. String of Hearts
5. I Wonder
6. Everyday
7. Don’t Make A Fool Of Yourself
8. Homesick Blues
9. Forever and Always
10. The Sky Isn’t Blue Anymore
11. Full Moon On The Bayou
12. What Are We Doing
13. Sing
14. Goin’ Fishing
15. See You Later Alligator
Bonus CD
1. Not Ready Yet
2. Jealous Kind
3. I Want to Be the One
4. Walking to New Orleans
5. I Remember When
6. Ambushin' Bastard
7. I Don't See Me
8. Wish You Were Here Right Now
9. I Can't Quit You
10. Secrets
11. Angel Eyes
12. But I Do
13. Party Town
14. I Don't Want to Know
15. Love in the Worst Degree
16. Why Are People Like That
17. I Believe in Angels
18. Les Champs Élysée
19. Clean Water
Cameos by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Fats Domino, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Sonny Landreth, Dan Penn, Delbert McClinton, and Maria Muldaur dot this legendary songwriter’s definitive lifetime statement, cut in his reclusive years, and no other album captures his “lost years” better than this collection of tracks spanning the years 1971-2003, all bearing the common thread of being written and produced by Bobby Charles.
This is more than just a compilation. The quality of Charles’ work remained consistent in tone and wit over the album’s span of three decades, just as he remained true to himself. “Everyday,” recorded in 1975, flows organically into “Don’t Make a Fool of Yourself,” cut in 1997. Last Train to Memphis unfolds as a true album, built from Charles’ life.
Over the course of that life, he crossed paths with many stellar musicians who would champion him and record for him over the decades. After recording his one U.S. commercial LP release in the last century,1972’s Bobby Charles, with Dr. John, Ben Keith, and members of The Band, he retreated to his preferred state of obscurity in his hometown of Abbeville, Louisiana. But he was always writing — and recording. Indeed, his Rice ‘n’ Gravy Records partnered with international labels in the ‘80s and ‘90s to release four albums.
By the turn of the 21st century, Charles had stacks of recordings, but almost zero recognition in his homeland. He’d lost nearly everything when fire consumed his Abbeville home in the mid-‘90s. Still, the tracks he’d been quietly recording since the ‘70s — with the likes of Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Fats Domino, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Sonny Landreth, Delbert McClinton, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and Maria Muldaur sitting in on the sessions — were there to be dusted off. And so Charles joined forces with Jim Bateman and Ben Keith to craft the definitive statement on his years of “inactivity,” on his craft, his life, and his vision.
It's fitting that, as Bateman wrote in the original liner notes, the album’s title pays tribute to Peter Guralnick’s Elvis Presley biography of the same name, for Elvis embodied a primal element of Charles himself, the rock and roll rebel. Charles, too, had been mistaken as a Black singer by listeners in the ‘50s. And all of his songs had a genre-blending element, mixing soul, R&B, and country — from his first single for Chess Records in 1955, “Later, Alligator,” ultimately remade into a hit by Bill Haley and His Comets, to “(I Don’t Know Why) But I Do,” which he penned for Allen Toussaint and Clarence “Frogman” Henry, to “Walking to New Orleans,” written for Fats Domino. Over time, Charles was more and more content to have others sing his work. But that gave his voice short shrift.
As Bob Dylan quipped on his Theme Time Radio Hour many decades later, “My old buddy, Robert Charles Guidry, was better known as Bobby Charles, and he was more successful as a songwriter than a singer. And that’s a sin, because he’s a hell of a singer. He’s got one of the most melodious voices ever transmuted into a piece of vinyl, matter of fact.”
That will ring truer than ever with our reissue of Last Train to Memphis, which makes the album available on vinyl for the first time. Over two LPs, the vinyl edition spotlights Charles’ inimitable, melodious rasp over tracks from disc one of the original CD release. It’s in those 15 tracks, which Charles considered the album proper, that the soul of Last Train to Memphis lives.
The journey begins with the title track’s rock and roll pilgrimage, and Delbert McLinton’s rousing blues harp, not to mention Sonny Landreth’s fretwork. Then the album eases into the fervent passion and crushed hometown dreams of “The Legend of Jolie Blonde,” Rufus Thibodeaux’s fiddle conjuring Charles’ Louisiana roots.
From there, the album then lays out some absolute pearls of Charles’ gift for hard-won wisdom and the telling phrase. Certain recurring studio sessions captured the laid-back magic, such as those at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, or the brilliant 1984 sessions at Pendernales Recording Studio, Willie Nelson’s home studio in Austin, Texas, featuring Maria Muldaur’s singing and Nelson and Neil Young on guitar.
Then there are the Nashville sessions, including one session that produced “Sing,” featuring greats Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, David Briggs, and Chris Ethridge in the band. And that song conveys the core spirit of Charles’ soulful voice, both homespun and heartfelt, full of the warm, subtle, unassuming delivery of one living all his days in the world of song.
The double LP version contains a bonus track from disc two of the CD release—“The Jealous Kind,” Charles’ take on one of his most-covered compositions, once recorded by that other Charles, Ray, one of Bobby’s heroes.
In addition to the 15-track core album, the CD edition of Last Train to Memphis comes with the original 2004, 19-track bonus disc, featuring material from Wish You Were Here Right Now and Secrets of the Heart. Alongside “The Jealous Kind,” the set captures more magic from Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studio—including a cameo by Fats Domino on a fresh take of “Walking to New Orleans.”
All told, it’s a remarkable archive of work by a trailblazing American original, championed by everyone from Dylan to Dr. John. Moreover, perhaps most importantly, these songs were written, produced, and selected by the artist himself, as the brightest gems he unearthed from over thirty years of his soul-searching sojourn in the tower of song.
Track Listing - Double LP (First Issue Vinyl)
1. Last Train to Memphis
2. The Legend of Jolie Blonde
3. I Spent All My Money Loving You
4. String of Hearts
5. I Wonder
6. Everyday
7. Don’t Make A Fool Of Yourself
8. Homesick Blues
9. Forever and Always
10. The Sky Isn’t Blue Anymore
11. Full Moon On The Bayou
12. What Are We Doing
13. Sing
14. Goin’ Fishing
15. See You Later Alligator
16. The Jealous Kind (Bonus Track)
Track Listing 2-CD Set:
CD 1: Last Train To Memphis
1. Last Train to Memphis
2. The Legend of Jolie Blonde
3. I Spent All My Money Loving You
4. String of Hearts
5. I Wonder
6. Everyday
7. Don’t Make A Fool Of Yourself
8. Homesick Blues
9. Forever and Always
10. The Sky Isn’t Blue Anymore
11. Full Moon On The Bayou
12. What Are We Doing
13. Sing
14. Goin’ Fishing
15. See You Later Alligator
Bonus CD
1. Not Ready Yet
2. Jealous Kind
3. I Want to Be the One
4. Walking to New Orleans
5. I Remember When
6. Ambushin' Bastard
7. I Don't See Me
8. Wish You Were Here Right Now
9. I Can't Quit You
10. Secrets
11. Angel Eyes
12. But I Do
13. Party Town
14. I Don't Want to Know
15. Love in the Worst Degree
16. Why Are People Like That
17. I Believe in Angels
18. Les Champs Élysée
19. Clean Water
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