- Ain't Living Long Like This · 1978
- Ain't Living Long Like This · 1978
- Rodney Crowell · 1981
- Fate's Right Hand · 2003
- The Houston Kid · 2001
- God Blessed Texas (feat. Rodney Crowell, Aaron Watson, Pat Green & Kevin Fowler) - Single · 2023
- Fate's Right Hand · 1986
- Old Yellow Moon · 2013
- Rodney Crowell · 1981
- The Houston Kid · 2001
- Keys to the Highway · 1989
- Rodney Crowell: Greatest Hits · 1992
- Keys to the Highway · 1989
Essential Albums
- The Houston Kid is replete with the imagery of a Texas childhood. The power pop tune “Telephone Road” summarizes all the sense memories Rodney Crowell can conjure, but in a larger way The Houston Kid is about those memories’ thorniness. As much as Crowell remembers the fun he had as a youngster, his memories also bring back the terrors of “The Rock of My Soul” and “U Don’t Know How Much I Hate U,” both of which address his father’s violence. In spite of its uptempo demeanor, “Topsy Turvy” is one of music’s more harrowing portraits of domestic violence, told from a 10-year-old’s perspective: “Momma's on the sofa with a big black eye/I cross my heart and tell myself I hope they die.” Country music has long had a preoccupation with nostalgia, and it’s to Crowell’s credit that he refuses to burnish his childhood memories by erasing his pain. The Houston Kid is uniquely powerful for how it incorporates moments of fear and rage alongside the sights and smells of Houston in the ‘60s.
- 2017
- 2019
Artist Playlists
- A perennial country outsider with an inside track.
Singles & EPs
Compilations
Appears On
- Randy Rogers Band, Josh Abbott Band & Casey Donahew
More To Hear
- Rodney Crowell retraces his 45-year career making great music.
- Nick dives into the neotraditional country movement of the 90s.
About Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell first gained recognition as a leader of country's mid-'80s new traditionalist movement, though he had ambitions far beyond that perimeter. Fusing the Texas singer/songwriter sensibility with a sound that honored country's past but added a rock & roll punch, Crowell's first success was as a writer and a sideman, spending three years as part of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band. Crowell produced several fine albums for Rosanne Cash and penned hits for Crystal Gayle, Bob Seger, and Highway 101 before enjoying a commercial breakthrough with 1988's album Diamonds & Dirt. 1992's Life Is Messy and 2001's The Houston Kid found Crowell moving into more personal territory, and as he stepped from the major labels to independent imprints, he pleased both critics and fans with smart and insightful releases such as 2014's Tarpaper Sky and 2023's The Chicago Sessions.
- HOMETOWN
- Houston, TX, United States
- BORN
- August 7, 1950
- GENRE
- Country