14. Things Gotta Change - another durn style-change: Texas blues, with a by-God organ snakin around in the background. It feels like I've been listening to this song for a hundred years in a thousand smoky bars with a million cold beers in my hand, and it always just pole-axes me how gorgeous the blues can be. I get all wrapped up in the Texas honky-tonk stuff, and rightly so, but I will never stop loving the blues shouters. Not never.

15) It's My Life - ack...slow song. Opie! Son! Put this at the beginning of the album. It's bluesy - girlfriend done left him, and he's all angsty, and getting drunk & misty. Blech. Purty, but not for me, bud.

16) If I Had A Girl Like You (I'd Shoot Myself) - this is such a classic punky Americana midwesterner song, and it rocks your lame ass. Very 'Mats circa 1992, which could quite easily be where it came from. I swear I've heard this song before, but it's not even listed as a song, and there aren't any credits. Officially, it doesn't exist, but my gosh! it's a great rocker. I just wanna pogo around and play air guitar and be a big scowling screaming punk when this one's on. If anyone knows the provenance of this song, let me know.

There you go. What I dearly love about this CD is the fact that it covers a lot of great styles that I enjoy, and Opie does it with typical Opie flair. I wish to hell that more people knew Opie Hendrix and the Texas Tallboys. I've seen him several times, but it ain't enough. He's one guy I'll stop down for and make an effort to catch when he comes to town. When I miss a Dallas show, I'm always sad, because I know I missed a good show. And in my books, Opie is one of the good guys when it comes to musicians. I genuinely like the guy, and I don't say that about many musicians I meet.

Go buy it and support independent Texas music, and support a truly great guy.

It makes me sick to my stomach that Houston gets to claim the Opester & the Tallboys. You swampy sonuvaguns better go support him — there will be no [crosses fingers] Camus quoting. You might get a Hendrix replay and walking on the bar while playing the guitar, but not Camus.