The Waterboys – Life, Death And Dennis Hopper

What does it sound like?:

After more than forty years in the music business and fifteen studio albums, plus two as a solo artist, how does a songwriter like Mike Scott keep the creative juices flowing? Your heart might sink a little when you learn he has gone for a concept album, a chronological song cycle based on the life and times of Dennis Hopper, especially if you’ve heard the rather bland track, Dennis Hopper, from 2020’s Good Luck, Seeker. However, there is hope in that Scott has always been a decent story teller with an ear for a catchy tune, chooses his collaborators wisely and the life he describes here was certainly eventful. His mastery of a range of musical genres means he can capture the flavour of the psychedelic sixties, the cynical, narcotic seventies and the chaotic, narcissistic eighties, and throw in curveball ventures into thrash, lounge jazz, country, Hollywood strings and collage to capture the milestones in Hopper’s story. After all, The Waterboys have been through various phases themselves: “Big Music”, folk, “raggle taggle”, rock, Celtic, soul, blues, hip-hop, electronica, dance and funk. A Scott biography of Hopper is a tantalising prospect.

Dennis Hopper’s first films were Rebel Without A Pause and Giant, starring James Dean, he quickly established a reputation as “difficult”, was present at the birth of Pop Art (he bought Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup for $75), himself a prolific artist, sculptor and photographer, responsible for the cover of River Deep, Mountain High, present on Martin Luther King’s marches for freedom, made his name directing and starring in Easy Rider, a film that triggered a wave of indie movie making, was one of Hollywood’s major drug addicts, gave Dylan the coat he wears on Desire, became almost typecast as a “tormented maniac” reaching a zenith as Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, lost a defamation law suit with Rip Torn for $475,000, appealled and lost an additional $475,000, married five times, once to Michelle Phillips of The Mamas And Papas for just eight days, but still managed to survive until the age of seventy-three finally succumbing to prostate cancer. There is a lot to pack into one album. Fortunately, someone with the character and talent of Hopper attracts a wide range of fans willing to help. Guests include Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, Steve Earle, Nashville-based Alt Americana artist Anana Kaye, young English singer Barny Fletcher, Norwegian country-rockers Sugarfoot, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s, and punk arch-priestess Patti Palladin. Throw in some news clips, adverts, Hopper quoting Rudyard Kipling’s If on The Johnny Cash Show and various bits and pieces stitched between the songs and you have a labour of love that took four years to complete.

Steve Earle kicks off with a personal, yet clear eyed view of Kansas, Hopper’s birth place. Fletcher and Sugarfoot add some Beach Boys sweet psychedelia to The Tourist. Springsteen brings grandeur and drama to Ten Years Gone. A perfectly cast Fiona Apple steals the show by convincingly capturing the wild madness of a relationship with Hopper on Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend. Goldsmith is suitably angelic for I Don’t Know How I Made It. Kaye’s adorable and playful piano adorns the tune for his fourth wife, Katherine.

Dennis Hopper was a complex human being of many talents, a maverick, an outsider, someone who deployed the term “man” with conviction. A single album is never going to do him full justice, but, too often, the lyrics are a skim through newspaper headlines. Nevertheless, we should be grateful to Scott and his fellow Waterboys, Famous James and Brother Paul. The result is fast-moving and kaleidoscopic. None of the twenty-five tracks outstay their welcome. The genre hopping is fun for both the listener and the musicians with lots of great songs and plenty of good moments. It’s very easy on the ear and the whole gives a decent encapsulation of the man’s character. It simply breezes by. However, it’s not the kind of album that reveals secrets over repeated listens, even if you aren’t familiar with Hopper’s story. A quick run through a couple of times and then dip into individual tracks that take your fancy will satisfy most people.

Mike Scott and his Waterboys are inspired. Life, Death And Dennis Hopper is their best album since their imperial phase.

What does it all *mean*?

The Waterboys tour starts 1st May

Goes well with…

If you want to learn more about Dennis Hopper, try Mark Rozzo’s Everybody Thought We Were Crazy, or, better still, Dennis Hopper: Photographs, 1961–1967

Release Date:

04/04/2025

Might suit people who like…

Musical documentaries.

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