Whatever Happened to Robbie Fulks?

The man worked his ass off to make some great records and get some good buzz going, then he just seemed to implode.

He followed his biggest record, South Mouth, with the good-but-not-great "crossover" record, Let's Kill Saturday Night. It's a fine record, but nowhere near the quality of Country Love Songs or South Mouth.

Mr. Fulks released the faux-greatest hits comp The Very Best of Robbie Fulks in 2000, which was really just an odds n' sods collection. There was some good material, for sure, but it was what it was.

Couples in Trouble followed in 2001 - a dense, often bizarre record with little payoff for the listener. There was hardly a bigger Fulks fan than I at the time, yet even I couldn't bear to listen to this record. It was released almost in tandem with a ho-hum collection of obscure hillbilly covers, 13 Hillbilly Giants.

And just when he really, really needed a solid effort to redeem his meanderings (and seeming writer's block)...silence. I was a member of the Robbie Fulks bulletin board for a while, hoping for any kind of news, any kind of hope; but I eventually just gave up. He toured during the fallow time following South Mouth, but usually as a solo acoustic act. That kind of thing is cool to see, but after a while, you just want to hear his songs with a full band.

He finally released Georgia Hard in 2005, which I heard was great. I never bothered to buy it, and to this day I haven't heard it. I just didn't care any more. I prefer to remember his work before he committed career suicide.

But he was...is...great no matter how you slice it. Give the guy props...he wrote this song which is basically a very big "FUCK YOU" to the only people who buy his records.

Full disclaimer: At the last Robbie Fulks I saw, he singled me out as the "Roots Rock Weirdo" and took many between song opportunities to belittle me. I, of course, was honored and after the show I forced upon him a CD of my own songs, of which the nicest thing I can say is, they were Robbie Fulks Lite. If Robbie Fulks is whole milk, these were not 2%, they were non-fat. Never found out if he bothered to listen.

More RF to listen to whilst I rant...

Mad at a Girl
The only "great" song off Couples in Trouble. For the record, there were two others that were "good."

Best R.F. lyric evar...
No, I don't need a close friend's ear,
that gut-spilling's only for squares
And I never go around mirrors,
I don't wanna see someone that cares.

Big Thinkin'.
Written by Mr. Fulks, but sung by his pal Dallas Wayne. Robbie wrote and produced his album (in 2002, I think), and it's a must-have for Fulks fans, because this is apparently where the good songs were going, instead of a proper Robbie Fulks CD.