Capricorn icon keeps music playing with posthumous album

If I hadn’t worn it out ages ago — and if it still fit — I’d be wearing my favorite T-shirt from the ‘70s on Friday.

It was a band T-shirt, of course, a band by the name of Cowboy. The shirt bore cover art from its first album, “Reach for the Sky,” a 1970 Capricorn Records release.

Cowboy co-founder Tommy Talton will release his final studio album, “Seven Levels,” in stores and on streaming services by Strolling Bones Records Nov. 7.

Sadly, Talton died in late 2023, but not before recording seven songs with the help of some old friends at their former stomping grounds: Macon’s Capricorn Sound Studios.

There’ll be an album release show Nov. 9 at Hendershot’s Coffee & Cafe in Athens

and a roundtable discussion on Talton and his work Nov. 19 in Macon at Capricorn Sound Studios. The Macon event will feature conversation and music from Chuck Leavell, Charlie Haywood and Rick Hirsch who all have history with Talton and played on “Seven Levels.” Cost will be $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

This week is a good time to celebrate the release of “Seven Levels” and to honor Talton and his music through history notes, comments by collaborators and a few remembrances of my own. All this was collected through personal conversations, interviews and loads of research and press materials.

“Seven Levels”

The seven tunes in Talton’s final studio album were recorded over several days in April of 2022, featuring Talton alongside former band members and Capricorn label-mates Leavell, Hayward, Hirsch, Randall Bramblett and Bill Stewart, according to press information.

“Seven Levels” is the last of Talton’s nearly a dozen solo and Cowboy releases, though he is featured on the albums of many other performers and included on a good number of compilation-type albums.

“Seven Levels’” songs were mixed and mastered by Hirsch to suit Talton’s exacting preferences. Hirsch was Wet Willie’s guitarist and has operated recording studios in Los Angeles for many years.

Talton was courageously fighting terminal cancer all the while and much of the post-production work took place between treatments. Many involved attest they all knew the tunes would be his epitaph.

Happily, it’s a good one, but more on that later.

A quick history

Talton was a Florida native from the Orlando area and he began playing guitar at 13 years old. That would be about two years before The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, so kudos to him for predating that landmark event which prompted so many to take up the instrument. 

He experienced regional success in a band called We the People, then founded Cowboy with the late Scott Boyer in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because The Allman Brothers Band also formed in Jacksonville in 1969 before heading to Capricorn Studios in Macon. In fact, it was Duane Allman who put in a good word at Capricorn and got Cowboy to come to Macon during the late ‘60s-early ‘70s heyday. Cowboy was the Allman Brothers’ opening act on several tours.

Talton and Boyer were the mainstays in Cowboy with other members rotating in and out. However, they and a few others were essentially the Capricorn studio band. The others included folks like Levell and Bramblett, who at times were part of — or as good as part of — Cowboy.

When Gregg Allman recorded his first solo album, Cowboy and the crew came to the studio with him and hit the road as his band. Cowboy also opened for him and a couple of their tunes were included in the tour’s considerably well-received output.

Despite an occasional reunion gig and album, Cowboy was essentially finished by the end of the ‘70s and Talton started his solo career working and recording with artists from Gregg Allman to Bonnie Bramlett, Paul Butterfield to Billy Joe Shaver, Dickey Betts to Kitty Wells, Clarence Carter to Johnny Rivers and the Allman Brothers Band to Martin Mull.

Talton moved to Luxembourg in the mid-’90s, staying until the 2000s when he moved back to the U.S., settling in the Atlanta area.

On a personal note

Talton and Boyer were both remarkable songwriters and together crafted a sound that many would simply term as country rock but to me was more. 

To my ears, the Allman Brothers didn’t really have the same sound as Southern Rock bands that followed them but a uniquely rich blend of rock, blues and jazz. Similarly, Cowboy went beyond Country Rock by blending country, folk, rock and some really jazzy sounds. I can’t think of any other Country Rock bands that delved into odd time signatures, but Cowboy did. And they jammed, too.

Talton played guitar remarkably well with fire and passion and with ease and soul — something that shines through in“Seven Levels,” along with his clear storyteller’s voice. 

Though I’m glad there’s a little more pain and knowing in it. I was bound to like the album because of my fanboy Cowboy/Talton roots, but I was able to love it as a modern work of a man who knows how to put music and words together, make a guitar speak like it needs to and has a few last things to put out there before his time is done.

I’ve had my advance CD on repeat in my truck. The album is brief with just seven songs, but very optimistically sweet/bittersweet.

There’s a lot of variety in style and Talton obviously made thoughtful decisions about what to include. Still, his lovely guitar tone, phrasing and overall artistry shine through along with the skills of the A-list accompanists around him.

Some choices are surprising because, for instance, how can you beat a song already so beloved? But it’s there for good reason and shines brighter than ever. 

Another song comes from back in the Cowboy days: “Ramblin’ Man” never made it on a record, because though it might have been written first, another southern guitarist put a song by the same name out ahead of it and it did rather well, so that made it a no-go. But I’m glad it’s there now as a solid nod to Cowboy days.

Check out “Seven Levels.” It’s not a half-hearted attempt at a final record. It’s a solid, heartfelt piece of work by an immensely talented songsmith/player. Then, check out the other music Talton’s put out.

A slightly more personal note

Talton was in town a few times during that last year or so. He played at Grant’s Lounge on a couple of occasions and was involved with some other things while in the studio. 

He remembered Grant’s as the place to hang out in the Capricorn days. 

“It was really the only place to go and feel comfortable and jam,” he said. “At least I wasn’t aware of any other place back then that welcomed Black and white people and us musicians. We were mostly on the road or in the studio but when we did have time, that’s where we’d aim. A lot of great music went down in that place and a lot of good, late-night jams started at 11 or 11:30 p.m. and went to 2 a.m.”

I’m more than happy that we got to know each other in a small way and enjoyed a number of phone conversations while he was traveling from Augusta to Atlanta.

He’d also waxed philosophical now and again, mainly as someone who’s been there, done that and glad to have the times he did with music and friends. 

He frowned upon an overreliance on technology at the expense of enjoying real life. 

“We get caught up in recording things and miss actually enjoying the moment,” he said. “All that can be too distracting.”

There was more but suffice it to say, he was someone clearly at peace with himself and who cared deeply for family and those around him.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.