Album flashback

Cowboy Junkies - The Caution Horses [1990]

Following up an album that puts you on the map must be a huge challenge for an artist.

I suspect most want to find that sweet spot between staying familiar, but also bringing something new to the party.

Cowboy Junkies were critical darlings following The Trinity Session and it brought them from their indie label to the big house at RCA.

The initial instinct was to try to recapture the famous and intimate feel from Trinity. An attempt was made at another Ontario landmark, but this session was not hitting the same mark. More on that later.

One thing that was also notable was the group’s decision to lean more into original material. Music business rule #312 states that if your big breakthrough is a cover that you will still be broke, after all.

Fortunately, Michael Timmins had been growing as a songwriter and placing more and more original work on each subsequent album.

Musically, the gang’s all here again - alongside Peter Moore to assist behind the board. The project that emerged initially had the critics nonplussed, but they eventually came around and The Caution Horses is now highly regarded in what is now a massive Junkies catalogue.

Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning - peaked #22

The first single released was the fantastic album opener Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning. Also video of the year in Canada for 1990 as chosen by MuchMusic.

Michael Timmins has a few songs on this record that are obviously sung from a female POV, and it doesn’t feel like he’s missing the mark. I’d be curious what my feminine audience make of this theory. Case in point:

Here comes that feeling that I'd forgotten
How strange these streets feel
When you're alone on them
Each pair of eyes just filled with suggestion
So I lower my head, make a beeline for home
Seething inside

As always, the musicianship here is exquisite. I adore the outro on lap steel from Kim Deschamps as well as the harmonica of Jeff Bird.

‘Cause Cheap Is How I Feel - peaked #68

The relationship is over, maybe a rebound will help? Maybe not, but it’s better than being alone and thinking about someone that you’re not quite over, right?

I think I'll find a pair of eyes tonight to fall into
And maybe strike a deal
Your body for my soul, fair swap
'Cause cheap is how I feel

The ending words really cut deep for me. And I’m not sure why.

I suspect that part of my reaction is that Margo Timmins sings the hell out of this tune. And pretty much anything. Please forgive the hyperbole, but she is far and away my favourite female vocalist. I’d buy an album of her singing an atlas.

Rock And Bird - peaked #34

And rock became her anchor

And bird became her dream.

Do you want stability? Or freedom? Can you have both?

This track has a lot of gorgeous parts, but I always get mesmerized by Alan Anton’s twisty bass line. This version of the song features piano by Bruce Hornsby.

And yes, that’s comic and actor Steven Wright at the player piano for some reason. ‘Friend of the band’ is the only mention I can find.

Powderfinger - did not chart

In 2022 Cowboy Junkies released the album Sharon, which captures the three days of sessions that were called off before moving to the studio to record The Caution Horses.

The attempt to recapture the one-mic magic of The Trinity Session at the Sharon Temple historic site didn’t turn out the way they’d hoped.

While the band only included one cover on TCH, they chose a doozy. Neil Young’s Powderfinger, which many consider to be his best ever song. Once Margo overcomes her itchy armpit, the version that the Junkies lay down here is a touch slower, but brings all the heartache of the original.

The album sold platinum in Canada eventually, and Sun Comes Up almost hit the US Modern top ten, slotting in at #11. And, of course, the band are still active on the road and in the studio - their discography continues to grow almost every year.