Artist:     Bill Kirchen

Album:     The Proper Years

Label:     The Last Music Company Ltd.

Release Date:     7.24.2020

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Maybe you were lucky enough to see Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in their heyday. They were one of the hardest-rocking outfits around, and, although I didn’t know it at the time, one of the reasons was a lanky guitarist named Bill Kirchen. “Master of the Telecaster” is a phrase that sometimes gets tossed around lightly, but Kirchen is the real deal. Whether you’re familiar with his brand of Dieselbilly rock or are looking for a primer of his solo work, The Proper Years combines three of Kirchen’s albums into a two-CD set.

“Proper,” in this case, refers to the British record label under which these albums were originally released: Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods (2006); Word to the Wise (2010); and Seeds and Stems (2013). Collectively, the music spans more than the seven years between releases, offering a fairly full view of Kirchen’s career and sprawling styles. With roots in his love for big-rig trucks, Dieselbilly is a close cousin of Rockabilly, with varying amounts of bluegrass, country, Western swing, Texas honky-tonk, jump blues, jazz and boogie woogie thrown in depending upon the tune.

Look no further than the classic “Hot Rod Lincoln” for proof of how flawlessly Kirchen covers them all. The song, a Top 10 hit for the Airmen in 1971, transforms the original Charlie Ryan classic from a country tune about an uphill car race into nothing less than a master class in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. The drivers that pull over to let the hot rod pass include early greats (Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison), country music legends (Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard), numerous Kings (Freddie, B.B., Albert, Ben E. and Elvis) and British invasion bands (the Beatles, Stones, Cream, Deep Purple), with Kirchen playing a tonally perfect riff from each.

The eleven songs on Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods are the most straight-ahead rockers, the title track an homage to Kirchen’s instrument of choice. “Get a Little Goner” was co-written with his wife Louise and features Kirchen’s underappreciated vocals. His soft, talky sound is often the perfect complement to his high-powered guitar.

Word to the Wise rounds up friends from both sides of the Pond, including Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Dan Hicks and Maria Muldaur. “Bump Wood” comes closest to the signature Dieselbilly sound, but the album is a more diverse collection of styles. Kirchen reunites with Commander Cody on “I Don’t Work That Cheap” while Elvis Costello provides passionate vocals on “Man in the Bottom of the Well.”

Seeds and Stems gets back to basics with Lost Planet Airmen favorites “Mama Hated Diesels” and “Truck Stop at the End of the World,” updated takes on the theme like “Semi-Truck” and “Rockabilly Funeral” plus a pair of Dylan covers: “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” and the bonus track “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

It’s tough to talk about live music in the age of Covid, with performers and music venues having been silent too long. As I write reviews like this, I find myself saying the best way to appreciate certain artists is to see and hear them live. That’s absolutely the case with Bill Kirchen, although for now we’ll have to make do with this fine retrospective.

—Lou Montesano