The 1970s were not kind to Johnny Darrell. The decade started out on a promising note with the uneven but still worthwhile California Stop-Over, but that album also marked the end of his tenure with United Artists. Its failure to sell certainly factored into the company's decision not to offer him another recording contract. Between 1970 and 1975, Darrell didn't release any LPs at all, although he did have a handful of singles issued by the Cartwheel and Monument labels. Despite his low commercial profile, the press began to identity Darrell with country music's quickly growing Outlaw movement during this time. Several sources have mentioned his close friendships with Waylon Jennings and Kris Kirstofferson, and I imagine that he spent these years consuming large quantities of marijuana and liquor frequently in their company. Perhaps due to the successful crowd with which he was associated, Capricorn Records, the preeminent Southern rock label, was willing to give Darrell a final shot at reestablishing his once-promising career. When he entered the recording studio in late 1974 to begin work on Water Glass Full of Whiskey, it seemed like the beginning of an ideal match. Unfortunately, the LP failed to sell in significant numbers, and the singer was cut adrift by yet another record company.
Big Johnny Darrell fan that I am, I wish I could tell you that Water Glass Full of Whiskey is a lost country music masterpiece that simply went over the heads of too many of its listeners. However, that's simply not the case. It's not a terrible album, but it's not a particularly remarkable one, either. The back of the sleeve identifies it as part of Capricorn's "Kickin' Country" series even though there is very little kick to be found in any of these songs. People who bought this LP back in 1975 must have wondered what the fuss concerning Darrell's Outlaw credentials was all about. Some of the blame might be attributable to Billy Sherrill's involvement as a recording engineer since his preferred modus operandi at the control panel was to bury everything under his characteristic saccharine arrangements. That said, if you like mid 1970s countrypolitan records, Water Glass Full of Whiskey might be right up your alley.
The opening track, a fairly spirited interpretation of the country standard "Orange Blossom Special," starts off well enough, especially with Reggie Young's impressive electric guitar picking. When those telltale Billy Sherrill strings kick in, however, they rob the performance of the rootsiness that characterize the best renditions of this song. Selected as a single, it peaked at #63 on the country charts. This album gets its title from a line in the lyrics of "Pieces of My Life," a Troy Seals composition featuring Darrell's typically superb vocals that also happen to be encased in a coating of fluff. One can assess "Hardtime Charlie Softshoes" and "Love's Lullaby" in similar fashion. Things pick up with the stripped-down and relatively rockin' "Glendale, Arizona," a rare example of Darrell doing his own material (it was co-written with Judy Riley). Nevertheless, it's back to the easy-listening country formula that typifies Water Glass Full of Whiskey on "Rose Colored Gin," "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," and "Singin' Lonely Songs," the last of which would have sounded a lot better had it been recorded by the singer with only the accompaniment of his own guitar. The same issues that prevent "Orange Blossom Special" from being completely successful also plague this LP's version of Bill Monroe's "Uncle Pen." That sterile string section in the mix leaves the song sounding about as far removed from its bluegrass origins as possible. The closing track, "Crazy Daddy," an updated take on another tune written by Darrell that first appeared as a single on Monument in 1973, has lyrics that suggest it may have been written with his daughter Lisa in mind. As touching as that sentiment may be, it doesn't prevent the performance from being as lightweight as most of the other songs on this record.