One doesn’t have to be a Buddhist to know life is full of pain and suffering, and then you die. Sure, there’s more to it than that, but the existential reality cannot be denied. How we deal with it reveals a great deal about our character.
Singer-songwriter/guitarist Tommy Talton knew he was dying of cancer when he made these recordings back in April 2022. So did all the other players on Seven Levels. The first song is tellingly named “Time Will Take Us”. The last is “Say a Prayer on My Behalf”. It’s not a concept album on a particular theme as much as one that suggests a shared awareness of Talton’s condition. The seven songs are not directly related to Talton’s illness, but rather philosophically rooted in our shared mortality.
Talton is best remembered as a Southern rocker. His recording career began back in the 1970s as co-founder of the band Cowboy. He and musical partner Scott Boyer released four albums for the legendary Macon, Georgia, record label Capricorn, known for its lineup of Southern rockers, including the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, and the Dixie Dregs. Talton was also a touring musician with the Allman Brothers Band, featuring Gregg Allman and Bonnie Bramlett.
The other players on this posthumous release include well-known Georgia rockers Randall Bramblett on organ and Chuck Leavell on electric piano. Talton sings lead and plays various guitars (acoustic, electric, 12-string). The music has a funky feel, especially on the tale of bootlegging and an obese, dumb sheriff, “I’ve Got the Sun in My Heart” and “Ramblin’ Man”—not the Dickey Betts tune, but one written before the Allman Brothers classic, according to the liner notes. The songs purposely meander to highlight the importance of being laid-back. To appreciate life, one needs to chill.
There is magic in the world that one can discover in the beauty of a melody or in the arms of another person. “Maybe we can come together. What else is it all about?” Talton sings on “I Can Pick You Up”. He’s not being lewd, but instead suggesting that we remember we are at our best when we are with others. Talton’s lyrics are generally straightforward, more than complex, as if plain speech and common sense are the same thing, and mostly they are.
The same is true for the instrumentation, which follows simple grooves and allows the players to improvise while not indulging in pretentious solos. There are moments of beauty in both language (i.e., “the frozen rain reflected in the golden yellow sliver of the moon, I became a dark blue silhouette”) and playing (the opening acoustic guitar intro of “I Want to Do It All Again”). The project’s unpretentiousness is part of its charm.
It’s unclear what the album title Seven Levels refers to: the seven songs, the seven stages of transcendence, or something else. These are the last songs of a dying man, joined by his peers. He’s not asking one to mourn or falsely celebrate. Tommy Talton is just doing what he loves one more time with his friends.