Stacked Deck, the 1977 follow-up to
Rusty Wier's classic
Black Hat Saloon, is one of the finest records of his career, and one of the most surreal. Leaving Nash Vegas completely out of the picture this time,
Stacked Deck was recorded entirely in California. It is a dirtier, funkier affair than
Black Hat, which has at its root the city of New Orleans as its inspiration. (Why it wasn't recorded there is anybody's guess, but New Orleans via L.A. and its studio musicians is quite a concept, don't you think?) The opener, "Walkin' Through New Orleans," though it sounds like it could have been written by
Dr. John, is actually
Wier with a couple of collaborators. It uses the second-line rhythm and standard, strolling R&B feel that
Dr. John employs as a pianist and arranger. On the very next track, "Sundown Sally," even with the Crescent City serving once again as its backdrop, there seems to be a conscious effort to evoke the gritty funkiness of
Tony Joe White, though it's far too slick to capture the same swampiness. There's another change-up with the soulful, R&B-tinged "Good Good Lovin'," with its bluesy, velvety-smooth sheen and production; it makes
Wier sound (almost) like he's not southern and was looking for the Northern soul feel of Chicago or Detroit with a NO rhythm track. The album gets grittier from there with some confusing moments thrown in, like the
Thin Lizzy-styled twin lead guitar lines on "Midnight Angel," before it gives way and gets all muddy and funky.
Stacked Deck has very few lulls in the action -- it moves, grooves, slips, slithers, and snakes its way through all ten tracks and by the end it feels like
the Meters met
Wier and the L.A. studio mafia and got rough and tumble in the alley -- after a good bout of drunkenness. Along with
Black Hat Saloon, this album sounds as weird and innovative -- with its fusion of styles, songwriting skills, and production techniques -- as it did in the mid-'70s. ~ Thom Jurek