Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat

Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat
Studio album by Johnny Copeland
Released	1982
Genre	Blues, Texas blues, soul blues
Label	Rounder
Producer	Dan Doyle
Johnny Copeland chronology
Copeland Special (1981) Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat (1982) Texas Twister (1983)

Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat is an album by the American musician Johnny Copeland, released in 1982. ^{[1] [2]} He supported it with North American and African tours. ^{[3] [4]}

Production

The album was produced by Dan Doyle. ^[5] Copeland was influenced in part by the playing of Gatemouth Brown and T-Bone Walker. ^[6] He was backed by a 4-piece horn section. ^[7] Many of the songs were arranged with help from his keyboardist, Ken Vangel. ^[8] "Boogie Woogie Nighthawk" was written by James "Widemouth" Brown. ^[9] "Well, Well Baby-La" is a cover of a song most associated with Nappy Brown. ^[10] "Rock 'n' Roll Lilly" is a version of Copeland's first single. ^[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All Music Guide to the Blues	[12]
Robert Christgau	B [13]
Houston Chronicle	[14]
Lincoln Journal Star	[15]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide	[16]
Omaha World-Herald	[17]
Valley Advocate	[7]

The New York Times said, "The saxophonist Joe Rigby merits special praise for his lunging solos, but the entire group plays punchy, percolating music, and Mr. Copeland displays his soulman's sandpaper voice, his arsenal of aggressive guitar licks, and the ability, relatively unusual in modern blues, to write strikingly original lyrics." ^[18] The Globe and Mail found the horn section to be lacking but praised "the original songs, any one of which could become an instant standard in any blues band's repertoire." ^[19] The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that Copeland "rarely takes extended solos, preferring instead to add color and emotion to the music stirred up by his crack back-up band". ^[20]

The Star-Ledger noted that Copeland's playing "cuts through the fine small band arrangements with anarchic heat tempered by classic phrasing". ^[21] The Press praised his "flexible and on-target voice". ^[22] The Lincoln Journal Star labeled the album "soul blues". ^[15] The Telegraph & Argus called Copeland "a gritty contemporary blues maestro." ^[23] The Boston Globe 's Jeff McLaughlin listed Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat among the 10 best albums of 1982. ^[24]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Natural Born Believer"
2.	"Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat"
3.	"Devil's Hand"
4.	"Cold Outside"
5.	"Love Utopia"
6.	"Boogie Woogie Nighthawk"
7.	"Honky Tonkin'"
8.	"Well, Well Baby-La"
9.	"Old Man Blues"
10.	"Rock 'n' Roll Lilly"

References

1. Swenson, John (October 14, 1982). "Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat". Rolling Stone. No. 380. p. 72.
2. Govenar, Alan B. (2008). Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound. Texas A&M University Press. p. 550.
3. Alvarez, Rafael (November 13, 1982). "Copeland: blues from a Texas soul". The Sun. Vol. 291, no. 155. Baltimore. p. 9.
4. Morthland, John (February 20, 1983). "Living in New York, playing the blues". Part II. Newsday. p. 27.
5. Kelp, Larry (March 20, 1983). "Johnny-come-lately arrives". Calendar. Oakland Tribune. p. 25.
6. Claypool, Bob (December 18, 1982). "Johnny Copeland". The Houston Post. p. H1.
7. Duval, Paul (November 17, 1982). "Records". Valley Advocate. p. 26.
8. White, Jim (December 12, 1982). "Copeland Still Singin' the Blues". The Pittsburgh Press. p. H10.
9. Young, Ron (June 16, 1982). "Blues fest". San Antonio Light. Vol. 102, no. 148. p. 6C.
10. Young, Ron (March 6, 1985). "Mighty Joe Young, Copeland at St. Mary's". San Antonio Light. p. D3.
11. Hirsch, Marina (July 1, 1983). "Record Reviews". The Sacramento Bee. p. C6.
12. All Music Guide to Blues (3rd ed.). Backbeat Books. 2003. p. 128.
13. "Johnny Copeland". Robert Christgau. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
14. Racine, Marty (December 19, 1982). "Records". Zest. Houston Chronicle. p. 9.
15. Becker, Bart (November 9, 1982). "Bits and pieces". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 4.
16. MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 97.
17. Smith, Will (January 23, 1983). "Jazz Sounds". Entertainment. Omaha World-Herald. p. 4.
18. Palmer, Robert (November 3, 1982). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C22.
19. Lacey, Liam (March 12, 1983). "Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat Johnny Copeland". The Globe and Mail. p. F6.
20. Tucker, Ken (April 15, 1983). "A Powerful, Idiosyncratic Blues Artist". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E26.
21. Kanzler, George (October 24, 1982). "Roots music unites masters of all modes". The Star-Ledger. p. 4.16.
22. Allen, Greg (October 29, 1982). "The Vinyl Word". The Press. p. V9.
23. Kitson, Steve (December 7, 1982). "Albums". Telegraph & Argus. p. 10.
24. "On the Record with 1982's Best Albums". Calendar. The Boston Globe. December 23, 1982. p. 1.