What I Really Mean

• Artist: Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
• Rating:
• Release Date: May 10, 2005
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Folk

Review

Robert Earl Keen, Jr. has built a career out of making albums that straddle the line between the thoughtful and the comic, and twenty years into the game he isn't about to stop now -- nor should he, since he's still quite good at it. What I Really Mean, Keen's ninth studio set, typically veers back and forth between compelling meditations on life and love (such as the sweeping album opener "For Love," the impassioned "The Wild Ones," and the lonesome travelogue of the title cut), and surreal comic vignettes which show that his sense of humor is getting a bit stranger with the passage of time. "The Great Hank" imagines meeting a risen Hank Williams as he performs in drag in Pennsylvania; "Mr. Wolf and Mamabear" takes an old fairy tale into wholly unexpected directions, and "A Border Tragedy" is easily the oddest of his many tunes about traveling through Mexico (with a beautiful but wildly incongruous cameo from Ray Price). If there's news here, it's that after years of being regarded as a songwriter who isn't much of a singer, Keen has been gaining an impressive new control of his instrument, and What I Really Mean features some of his most compelling performances to date, especially on a superb cover of Jimmie Driftwood's "Long Chain," and the production by longtime associate Rich Brotherton shows him off to fine advantage. In some respects, What I Really Mean is "another Robert Earl Keen album," but it's also another good one, and shows he's still one of the most viable voices in the Texas singer/songwriter community. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
For Love	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(4:23)
Mr. Wolf and Mamabear	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(3:45)
What I Really Mean	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(3:46)
The Great Hank	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(4:51)
The Wild Ones	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(4:27)
Long Chain (Lyrics)	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(5:31)
Broken End of Love	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(3:24)
The Dark Side of the World	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(4:52)
The Traveling Storm	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(4:27)
A Border Tragedy	Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Edward B. Marks, Traditional	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(4:10)
Ride	Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Bill Whitbeck	Robert Earl Keen, Jr.	(3:42)

Credits

Wendy Meeker (Group Member), Robert Hadley (Mastering), Raymundo Garcia (Trumpet), Jorge Luis "Papiosko" Torres (Group Member), Jorge Luis "Papiosko" Torres (Vocals), Eamon McLoughlin (Viola), Tom Van Schaik (Drums), Glenn Sweitzer (Package Design), Rich Brotherton (Cittern), Rich Brotherton (National Steel Guitar), Rich Brotherton (Engineer), Jorge Luis "Papiosko" Torres (Guitar), Bill Whitbeck (Bass), Rich Brotherton (Guitar (Electric)), Eamon McLoughlin (Fiddle), Rich Brotherton (Vocal Harmony), Ed Cherney (Mixing), Bill Whitbeck (Vocals (Background)), Tom Van Schaik (Percussion), Rob Brill (Assistant), Robert Earl Keen, Jr. (Vocals), Wendy Meeker (Violin), Stuart Sullivan (Engineer), Riley Osbourne (Piano), Raymundo Garcia (Group Member), Riley Osbourne (Organ), John H.R. Mills (Sax (Soprano)), Rich Brotherton (Piano), Bill Whitbeck (Vocal Harmony), Rich Brotherton (Producer), Rich Brotherton (Guitar (Acoustic)), E.J. Jones (Northumbrian Smallpipes), Rich Brotherton (Mandolin), Rich Brotherton (Synthesizer), Marty Muse (Guitar (Steel)), Nick Connolly (Organ), Glen Rose (Photography), Danny Barnes (Banjo)

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