The Sound Of My Own Tune: An Artists’ Tribute To Patty Booker (2024) CD Review

Patty Booker started out playing a mix of classic country songs and original material with the band The Hired Hands in southern California in the 1980s and early 1990s. She then released her first solo album, I Don’t Need All That, in 1999. In 2003, she and Rick Shea released Our Shangri-La, and in 2007 she released Fire & Brimstone. Since then, Patty Booker has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. The Sound Of My Own Tune: An Artists’ Tribute To Patty Booker is a wonderful album made by friends of Patty Booker with the aim of both honoring her excellent body of work and helping with her medical expenses. It began as a digital download project in 2022, and has become a full album, produced by John Groover McDuffie and Lisa Finnie, both of whom perform on these tracks. Even if you are not familiar with Patty Booker, you will certainly know many of the artists on this album, including Rick Shea, Jann Browne, James Intveld, Dan Janisch and Rosie Flores. And this release provides a great opportunity to become familiar with her work and to become a fan. And as a bonus, two of her own recordings are included at the end, both being previously unreleased tracks.

The album opens with Jann Browne performing “Personal Life.” You probably know Jann Browne from her solo career, and also from her vocal work as a member of Asleep At The Wheel in the 1980s. This song is absolutely wonderful. It was written by Patty Booker and Jann Browne, and included on Jann Browne’s 2020 album Arrow. Check out these lines, which open the song: “Stay out of my head, stay out of my bed, stay out of my heart/Stay out of my way, stay out of my space, stay out of my car.” This is one of those songs that will conjure the image of a different person or entity for each who hears it. I can imagine many people thinking of the Republican Party and the Supreme Court while hearing it. “I don’t want you here in my personal life.” Gary Brandin delivers some nice work on pedal steel. But it is Jann Browne’s delightful vocal delivery which drives it. Rick Shea then gives us a touching rendition of “The House That We Once Lived In,” a song that he and Patty Booker had included on their Our Shangri-La album. Rick Shea plays both guitar and pedal steel on this track. Skip Edwards is on piano, Keith Rosier is on bass, and Heather Myles provides the harmony vocals. “And who’s to say what might have been/Or what might ever be/Once we were so much in love/Now you say that I should leave.”

James Intveld delivers a lively and cheerful version of “Let’s Talk It Out,” a song from Patty Booker’s album I Don’t Need All That. He plays piano, bass and guitar on this track. Marty Rifkin is on pedal steel. “Now it’s time for both of us to take the risk/Of losing everything we’ve ever dreamed/And falling back in love the way it used to be/Let’s talk it out, get it out in the open.” The energy remains high with Rosie Flores’ take on “Wake Up Little Baby,” a song from Patty Booker’s Fire & Brimstone album. Hearing Rosie Flores always makes me happy. Something about her delivery, her presence, raises my spirits every time. John McDuffie joins her on guitar on this track. John Palmer is on drums. Then Ronnie Mack covers “99,” a song that Patty Booker included on the 1992 compilation A Town South Of Bakersfield Volume 3. (Ronnie Mack also has a song on that compilation, by the way. So does Rick Shea, for that matter.) “Ain’t much use growing up around here/Unless you want to work the fields and drive a John Deere/There’s only one thing that catches my eye/It’s when I’m  looking at the cars rolling down the 99.” Ah yes, a song about being on the road, or at least wanting to be. This song was written by Gary Brandin, who plays steel guitar on this track. Paul Marshall (from I See Hawks In L.A.) plays bass and provides some backing vocal work on this track. Cody Bryant is on banjo, and Candy Girard delivers some nice work on fiddle.

Candy Girard then gives us this album’s title track, “The Sound Of My Own Tune,” a sweet and pretty song. She sings and plays fiddle on this track. Bob Gothar plays acoustic guitar, and John McDuffie is on steel guitar. “There’s no one to blame but me myself/I gave my life to someone else/I may be older now/But my heart still beats.” Patti Shannon plays bass on this track. Then Patti Shannon delivers a really good rendition of “I Didn’t Want To Go,” a song that Patty Booker wrote with Jann Browne. Patti Shannon delivers a strong, passionate vocal performance here. Paul Marshall provides the harmony vocals, and John McDuffie plays both baritone guitar and steel guitar. Dan Janisch gives us “I Know What’s Wrong (But I Just Can’t Get It Right),” a song title that I love. This is a song that Patty Booker and Rick Shea included on Our Shangri-La. It’s one of those wonderful, slow, sad country numbers, and Dan does a phenomenal job with it, delivering a heartfelt performance. “I lost it all before I ever knew/Just how much I needed you/And all the things we used to do/I know it’s wrong, but I just can’t get it right.” John McDuffie plays bass and steel guitar on this track. Laura Jo DeWitt and Lisa Finnie provide the backing vocals.

Walter Clevenger and Wyman Reese (of The Dairy Kings) deliver a cheerful-sounding rendition of “The Hand That Rocked His Cradle,” a song from Fire & Brimstone. This one has a somewhat different tone from Patty Booker’s original, sounding almost like something Jimmy Buffett would do at the start, but it works. By the way, Walter Clevenger also played on Patty Booker’s original version. Zach Silva plays mandolin on this track, and Dave Brock is on fiddle. John Sleeger is on bass, and John Crawford is on drums. Then Laura Jo DeWitt delivers an absolutely wonderful vocal performance on her version of “Please Don’t Lie To Me,” another song from Fire & Brimstone, this one co-written by Jann Browne. “There’s no shame in being human/That’s all we really are/We make mistakes/Sometimes we go too far.” This track also features some cool work by John Palmer on drums, Keith Rosier on bass, and Sarah Kramer on trumpet, and it is one of my personal favorites. I love its vibe. It has more of a jazz flavor than the original, which featured a bluesy electric guitar lead. The intimate spoken word delivery at the end is sexy. “Good boys tell the truth.”

John Groover McDuffie gets things moving and hopping with “The One-Way Hula,” which also comes from Fire & Brimstone. I’ve seen John McDuffie play with several artists over the years, usually on pedal steel or electric guitar, and it’s great to hear him on vocals on this track. “I’m tired of sleeping lonely in this big old double bed/Please come a little closer, you’re too close to the edge/Let’s do the one-way hula like we used to do.”  He also plays electric guitar, bass, cornet and maracas on this track. There is a playfulness to this song that I enjoy. Sarah Kramer plays trumpet on this one too. And I like those backing vocals by Laura Jo DeWitt and Lisa Finnie near the end. That’s followed by a pretty rendition of “River Of Love” by Lisa Finnie, who is backed only by John McDuffie on guitar. This song comes from Patty Booker’s I Don’t Need All That, where it had a full-band sound. I love how the musicians on this disc put their own spin on these songs, as Lisa Finnie does here. Her delivery of a line like “Oh, the river of love has run dry” is particularly moving. This song was written by Gary Brandin.

Renee Brooks gives us a strong rendition of “It’s Been Nice Knowing You,” a song from Fire & Brimstone. This track features a beautiful and passionate vocal performance. Renee is backed by John McDuffie on guitar, Peter Freiberger on bass, Skip Edwards on piano and organ, and Shawn Nourse on drums. Shawn Nourse played drums on Patty Booker’s original recording, and is also known for his work in I See Hawks In L.A., and with Tony Gilkyson, among several other artists. That’s followed by “Hey, Little Darlin’,” a sweet number that is here performed by Bob Gothar, Lisa Finnie, Laura Jo DeWitt, Dan Janisch and Renee Brooks, with John McDuffie on electric guitar and mandolin (just how many different instruments does this guy play?), Skip Edwards on accordion, and Candy Girard on fiddle. Gary Brandin, who wrote the song, plays steel guitar on this track. There is a wonderfully uplifting vibe to this one. “Buy me some flowers and a bottle of wine.” The main section of the album then concludes with an excellent instrumental reprise of “River Of Love,” performed by Gary Brandin on dobro, and Bob Gothar on guitar, bass and mandolin.

As I mentioned, the disc contains two recordings by Patty Booker herself, both previously unreleased, and both featuring Johnny Jake on multiple instruments. The first is “Back Scratch Boogie,” a fun, lively, rockin’ number. Johnny Jake plays guitar, piano, bass, drums and saxophone, and joins Patty on vocals. “It feels so good/It feels so good/Well, it feels so good/Yes it does, it feels so good/It feels so good/Just like I knew it would.” Yes, it certainly does! Funny to think that the delicious jam in the middle is done by just one guy. This song was written by Patty Booker and Johnny Jake. The second is “Blue Wahine Girl,” written by Patty Booker as an adaptation of “Blue Kentucky Girl.” On this one, she plays bass. Johnny Jake plays guitar, piano, mandolin, and drums, and does some whistling. This sweet, slower number features an absolutely wonderful vocal performance. What a great ending to this excellent disc!

CD Track List

1. Personal Life – Jann Browne
2. The House That We Once Lived In – Rick Shea
3. Let’s Talk It Out – James Intveld
4. Wake Up Little Baby – Rosie Flores
5. 99 – Ronnie Mack
6. The Sound Of My Own Tune – Candy Girard
7. I Didn’t Want To Go – Patti Shannon
8. I Know What’s Wrong (But I Just Can’t Get It Right) – Dan Janisch
9. The Hand That Rocked His Cradle – Walter Clevenger & Wyman Reese
10. Please Don’t Lie To Me – Laura Jo DeWitt
11. The One-Way Hula – John Groover McDuffie
12. River Of Live – Lisa Finnie
13. It’s Been Nice Knowing You – Renee Brooks
14. Hey Little Darlin’ – Bob Gother, Lisa Finnie, Laura Jo DeWitt, Dan Janisch, Renee Brooks & The Elysian Heights Glee Club
15. River Of Love (Reprise) – Gary Brandin & Bob Gothar
16. Black Scratch Boogie – Patty Booker & Johnny Jake
17. Blue Wahine Girl – Patty Booker

The Sound Of My Own Tune: An Artists’ Tribute To Patty Booker was released through Tres Pescadores Records on February 9, 2024, Patty Booker’s birthday.