William Clark Green: Baker Hotel
15 years into his music career, William Clark Green found himself turning 35 and suddenly forced off the road by the pandemic. Like so many other artists, he took that time to take a hard look at what he was doing and re-evaluate everything. “It’s like, ‘Where am I at in life? Where do I want to be? Where did I think I would be?’ Not being able to work [during the lockdown], I had a lot of time to sit and think about myself, and what’s really locking me down,” Green says. The result of that self-scouting is Baker Hotel, his sixth studio album (out on March 25 and released on his own Bill Grease Records label).
Photo by Zack Knudsen
Most fans would argue that there was nothing wrong with what WCG had been doing and they will be happy to know that Baker Hotel carries on a familiar feeling established by his past work. They should also be encouraged that the songwriting is better than ever and now shows a maturity that is obviously a result of his introspection. But even a more grown-up Green can’t hold back his playful side and “Dog Song” is a perfect example of just how much fun he has always been:
I know she loves you, I just don’t know why / Watchin’ you watch tv on my couch / I think I saw the silver lining / Well you can’t catch a ball and you won’t catch a bird / Now I’m startin’ to see / If she can love an old stray like you / She can love somebody like me.
That is vintage William Clark Green.
Baker Hotel opens with the rocker “All Pot No Chicken,” with Green expressing his take on current affairs. Other new songs that already feel like comfortable WCG standards and will immediately fit right in to his set list include “All You Got,” “Feel Alive,” “Give A Damn,” “Gun to Your Head,” “Leave Me Alone,” and “Love to Hate.” Each is a mid- to up-tempo track often prominently featuring Green’s acoustic guitar and his clever lyrics. William Clark Green has always had a softer side and those melancholy songs are also well-represented on Baker Hotel. Check out “Best Friends,” “Anymore,” “Getting Drunk,” and especially “Me, Her and You” if sad songs make you happy.
The title track will challenge you to learn more about the “14 stories of Hell” that comprise the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas. The building has quite a history and a reputation among enthusiasts of the paranormal as being haunted by the spirits of past guests who came to “take the waters” of the once-fashionable spa. The story of the hotel is fascinating and I encourage you to search it out and learn about the efforts to revitalize it. Maybe that is WCG’s intention, after all.