Trouble in Mind

This guy is just too much! What a voice, I just really think he is my long lost cousin from the backwoods of Tn. Just a good old boy with simple needs and wants. He will touch your soul with the kindness of a relative that loves you and the world around us. At the same time HC knows how to rock a country tune.

In our house, we like the tunes, we like the words, we like his voice. The fact that Carll's concerns are so typical of singer-songwriters make it even *more* impressive that this album succeeds so well. There's not a bad song, and the Tom Waits cover is very apropos. Plus, he rocks out, and we were very impressed that when we saw him live he had Jimmy Page (1968 version, with red polka-dot shirt) playing lead guitar in his band)!

Hayes Carll. Not a bag song on his CDs. Some of his older ones are harder to get but I highly recommend tracking down Flowers and Liquor and Little Rock.

Attended the Stagecoach Festival in California and heard a lot of great old music and some very ordinary new music that was more heavy metal than country. Just when I was about to give up on the young artists, I stumbled upon Mr. Carll at a side stage and I immediately knew I was in the company of something special and unique. His music caught me and his personality drew me in. Best thing I heard in three days and I love the CD. If he ever tours the northeast, I'll be there. If you like Hayes Carll, check out Alive and Wired from another Texas band, Old 97's. Discovered them the previous year at Stagecoach.

Listening to a cut from this CD on NPR's World Cafe, I fell in love with Hayes Carll. Purchased the CD and am crazy for almost every song. Great talent!

Like most folks, I've taken to picking up a track or two from each release. After hearing a couple of Carll's tracks I bought the plastic. So great, I picked up the plastic on his previous album "Little Rock" just a week later. This is what country should be. Fans of Bobby Bare Jr will find a lot to like in Carll's songs.

Just picked this up after listening to its recommendation from the music guru on CBS Sunday Morning -- and it delivers!

"You be the sinner, I'll be the sin"

Are you kidding me? This man is a genius! His way with words is amazing!

Musically, this is a very typical country sound, with the twang, rhythms and instruments used in the genre. But it's the words that make this an outstanding listen.

Once again, I have used CBS sunday morning tv show as a recommendation for music. it is just so so, nothing really sticks out to recommend the CD, lasted less than 3 days in the truck.

I heard Hayes Carll on XMRadio twice and bought the CD - it's outstanding. I saw him in Tampa recently and he is funny, sincere and very talented. Buy and enjoy!!

Hays Carl is a story teller for sure, and he has a fine eye for catching off-kilter details and nuances that make his characters seem as real as a whiff of warm beer on a morning with a bad hangover. But after half-a-dozen spins, I'm having trouble connecting with the music on "Trouble in Mind." Drunken Poet's Dream seems strangely flat despite its being collaboration with Ray Wylie Hubbard. She Left Me for Jesus wears thin after a few listens. As for everything in between, it's good, solid country with a bit of a modern flair, all well-played, but not really anything new or fresh for its genre.

And about the sound quality of this recording . . . yep, it's not up to the standards on any of the half dozen or so recordings I have from this label.

The title I stole from another review I read of this CD. I've had this disc in heavy rotation for about 2 weeks now. Excellent stuff. More country than anything on country radio and yet still rockin' as well. If weren't for that geezer show "Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood" I would have missed out on this.

It's nice to enjoy an album that is just plain fun with great guitar and fantastic band playing perfectly with a singer with fascinating lyrics that sometimes make me laugh out loud. If you enjoy a touch of country mixed with a touch of rock and you have a free spirit, this one is truly for you. I particularly love "She Left Me for Jesus", the humor that glides through the song of a poor fellow whose girlfriend tells him she has become saved by Jesus with him confused is pure knock out funny. And a "Girl Downtown" about a simple boy meeting simply girl with plunking guitar is another fun one that is just entertaining fun that sounds great particular with backing vocals that sound like a mature Dolly Parton. There are beautiful songs as well such as "It's a Shame" about two potential lovers that somehow just missed. I played this album several times and I have never tired of Carll's voice , he matches the empathy of whatever song he sings, joy or sorrow, he sings just the way the song writer wants it sung. My only regret is that Carll is not touring in VA!

love hayes, just wish he'd play my way. i guess i don't have the ear like some of the other reviewers cause i didn't have sound issues.

Just got a copy of Hayes Carll's "Trouble in Mind".
Let me state at the outset that I really wanted to find something to dislike about this album/artist. Really. I put on my cynical big boy pants and black beret and tried to poke him with the derivative mashup label (which would rightfully stick), but it seemed like he just donned it like a Wall Drug trademark and waved it at me. And it worked.
Carll is the unholy spawn of a "Country Bob" Dylan, pre-prison Steve Earll, an apolitical John Prine with a couple of fingers of Hank Williams. Roll `em all up, give `em a tax stimulus check and send them out into the south east Texas night to find a bar with generic neon beer signs and you have Hayes Carll.
Funny as hell without working too hard for it, interesting like a hand waving bar conversation between William S, Burroughs and Dolly Parton and just plain enjoyable. If you like the badboy/alt.country/Americana stuff this would be a great addition to your collection. It should come with a bottle of whiskey (of uncertain pedigree)....you know, the kind you get drunk on rather than sip.

I'd never heard of Hayes Carll. I mean, here in Illinois, we don't get a whole lot of info about Texas musicians, unless they sell out and go national (Pat Green, Jack Ingram, etc), or have a long-standing history of being songwriting legends (Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, etc). So when I read a review of this album in a magazine, I basically skimmed it over--until I read that Carll covered a Tom Waits tune. That stopped me. Texas country singers are known for their, um, guts...but covering a Tom Waits tune? That can make or break ya. I just had to check it out.

Well, I'm glad I did. The Waits tune is "I Don't Wanna Grow Up," and Carll certainly does a good job covering it. But, let's face it--there's a hell of a lot more. Carll's own songwriting is downright admirable: from the fun-loving (yet dark-undertoned) "Drunken Poet's Dream" to the heart-wrenching "Willing to Love Again," Carll proves that he can hold his own amongst his legendary songwriting neighbors. "She Left Me For Jesus" is of course the attention-grabbing tune here, bound to offend anyone with weak sensibilities who can't detect irony; but there's more to the album than that, too. "I Got a Gig" perfectly captures the troubled arrogant stance of a six-night-a-week musician (as Carll growls "Good Lord I hope I get paid tonight/I got a gig, baby!"); "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart" pretty much sums up the songwriter's ambition ("Doesn't anybody care about the truth anymore/I guess that's what songs are for"); and "A Lover Like You" takes playful honky-tonk jabs at the opposite sex ("I could never be friends with a lover like you").

Hayes Carll is a force to be reckoned with. He's bound for glory; maybe not commercial fame, but that's never been a good judge of talent, anyways. Carll is the real deal; he's a honky-tonk poet, and radio just isn't ready for that yet. One day, maybe. But until then, we can all sit back, listen to TROUBLE IN MIND, and realize that here, right here, is one of the new great songwriters on the country music circuit.

Smokey, hard-livin', hard-lovin' rock 'n roll lyrics may not be the life recipe most of us end up choosing, but I sure do love the sense of humor, and rambunctious, devil-may-care rhythm of these songs. I first heard Hayes Carll on my local public radio station, WUTC, Chattanooga, and bought it on an impulse. Glad I did.

First off, what a dreadful tinny recording, either the recording engineer or the mastering engineer should be taken out and shot at dawn!! I played Ryan Bingham's Mescalito straight after this (also on Lost Highway) and it is in a different league from a sound quality perspective (better music too).

As for the CD, I have to say I find much less satisfying than either Flowers & Liquor or Little Rock. I am a huge Hayes fan and have seen live a few times and he is fantastic on stage but on this CD it seems like he is trying too hard and the songs have lost much of the spontaneity and freshness of his debut and sophomore efforts. It may be that now Hayes has "made it" with a deal with Lost Highway records it seems like he has over thought the arrangements and is trying too hard. Both of his first two CD's are much better than this one. I give it 3 stars only a Hayes fan.....

I heard the song and laughed so hard, I looked up the album. The first song is Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Drunken Poet's Dream." The last is a hilarious cover of "I don't want to grow up." I was sold and the tracks in the middle weren't just empty filler. "Trouble" just kept on delivering.

"Trouble in Mind" is a pretty good title for this bluesy sardonic collection of thoughtful and cynical humored country. This is Texas singer Carll's first release on a major label, Lost Highway.

My only complaint with this CD is the sound quality which is worth half a star. It's marginal in iTunes format and acceptable on my stereo. But, for the quality of the musicianship and the thought in the lyrics--I'll be looking up the rest of Carll's music very shortly.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008

Lost Highway should be ashamed of themselves. Even in this ipod world this recording (ProTools) sounds as if it were recorded in a tin barn (and is as metallic sounding as only bad digital can be)! Cmon guys - you can do better than this for a very talented singer/songwriter. Buy "Little Rock" and skip this one (unless they rerecord it - which probably will never happen). If you enjoy rubbing your fingernails on fine grit sandpaper - then by all means - put the disk in the tray and turn it up!

I love Hayes Carll's new CD. I gave it to my boyfriend for a gift and we listen to it everyday. Thanks for suggesting it. We had never heard of him before then and we will continue to seek out his music.

Hayes has grown both as a songwriter and as a performer with this major label debut. I have been following his career for several years now and could not be more proud of this effort. Well worth it at twice the price!

Do yourself a favor and check out his older stuff as well, particularly Little Rock and Flowers and Liquor. You will not be disappointed.

Enjoy!

-TW