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Singer-songwriter Denny Lile was only 21 years old when a newspaper headline proclaimed “Maybe THIS time it’s Denny Lile’s turn,” but he was already a veteran of the music business and its vagaries.  A couple of singles came and went with his band Elysian Field on Imperial Records; the same fate befell Soul, Inc. and its handful of singles on the Laurie label.  At the time of that headline, Lile was striking out with his own group Otis for the single release of “Hear the Bang.”  A self-titled album followed shortly thereafter in 1973 on Louisville’s Bridges Records, but Denny Lile, too, disappeared without a trace.  A brief moment of victory was enjoyed when Waylon Jennings turned Lile’s song “Fallin’ Out” into a top 10 Country single in 1987.  But by 1995, Lile was dead, a victim of alcoholism.  Now, in 2015, it’s finally Denny Lile’s turn thanks to the release of Hear the Bang: The Life and Music of Denny Lile, due this Friday on the Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum label.

Hear the Bang reissues Lile’s 1973 album together with a number of bonus tracks to paint a full portrait of a prodigiously talented songwriter who fell between the cracks.  Denny Lile’s nephew Jer Lile tracked down the album masters at Louisville’s Mom’s Music.  Marvin Maxwell, owner of Mom’s, remained in possession of the tapes along with Ray Allen, who owned both Bridges Records and the Louisville studio where the songs were cut, Sambo Studios.   Maxwell knew Lile well, as he had played in both Soul, Inc. and Elysian Field.  Bruce Watson of Fat Possum arranged to purchase the tapes from Maxwell and Allen, paving the way for the new reissue.

In addition to singing the confident lead and harmony vocals and playing the guitar, Lile wrote and arranged all of the tracks on Hear the Bang.  Its sixteen evocative and atmospheric tracks reveal a melodic, laid-back and gently twangy country-rock sensibility that stylistically could have placed Lile in the company of contemporary “New Country” singer-songwriters like Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson or even Townes Van Zandt; comparisons have also been made of Lile’s album to Neil Young’s seminal Harvest.  Lile’s lived-in voice is supported by spirited fiddle, dobro, piano, acoustic, slide and pedal steel guitars on both yearning, plaintive ballads and lightly uptempo compositions.  The album isn’t lo-fi; rather, it’s as polished as many major label releases of the same time period.  A major’s push might well have gotten Lile and his fine songcraft the exposure his timely and heartfelt recordings warranted.

Writer-director Jer Lile’s documentary about his late uncle, also titled Hear the Bang, is included on DVD with Big Legal Mess’ CD release. It draws on interviews with Lile’s family and friends as well as rare photographs, footage and Lile’s own lyric notebooks.  Both discs are housed in a digipak also accompanied by a booklet containing liner notes from Justin Kinkel-Schuster, Michele Pelton and Keith Sykes, all shedding light onto the tragic life and death of this enigmatic music man.  This lost slice of Americana is available on Friday, October 16 on CD, vinyl and DD, and can be pre-ordered at the links below!

Denny Lile, Hear the Bang: The Life and Music of Denny Lile (Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum BLM 0516-2, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD:

1. Hear the Bang
2. Oh Darlin’
3. Looks Like the Feeling’s Slowly Dying
4. If You Stay on Solid Ground
5. Once More with Feelin’
6. Love Is On a Freight Train
7. Rag Muffin
8. Will You Hate Me When I’m Gone
9. If I Had My Rain It’d Rain
10. After All
11. Sugar Daddy
12. She’s More to Me Than Friend
13. Meet Me by the River
14. Good-Byes and Other Sad Things
15. Things Don’t Stay the Same
16. Cause You’re Mine

DVD:

1. Hear the Bang: The Life and Music of Denny Lile documentary