Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - 1981 "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls"

As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls is a collaborative album by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, released in 1981. The title makes reference to Wichita, Kansas and Wichita Falls, Texas. The title tune is just under 21 minutes.

It is one of the few albums where Metheny not only acts as both the lead and accompanying guitarist but also the bassist, as each track uses fair amounts of overdubbing. The track "September Fifteenth" is in reference to September 15, 1980, the day the American jazz pianist Bill Evans died. Metheny and Mays cite Evans as a main influence. Both "September Fifteenth" and "It's for You" appear in the score for the 1985 film Fandango. "It's for You" would later be covered by Akiko Yano, with Metheny on guitar, for her 1989 album Welcome Back.

“Guitarist Pat Metheny and his longtime keyboard collaborator/alter ego Lyle Mays saw in their rural American roots a mystical connection to an entire world of sounds, and with As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, they began the process of fashioning an idiomatic folk expression all their own. With the help of master percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, they create a whistlestop tour of musical outposts on the extended title track that is at once gothic and atmospheric in the manner of Weather Report, bucolic and harmonious like the Byrds – with echoes of small towns, strip malls, and lonely rail yards, over expanses of wide-open space that reflect their familial origins and countless miles wandering the interstate on a string of college-town one-nighters. In the four square major modes of ‘Ozark’ and ‘It’s for You’ you can hear the beige tinge of the American experience that melded with African American music to give the U.S. its musical depth and breadth, while ‘September Fifteenth’ is a prayerful, ruminative reflection on the spirit of their romantic forebear, pianist Bill Evans.”

This joint solo effort by Metheny and regular pianist and collaborator Lyle Mays is an impressive outing. In the process of stretching out away from the confines of the quartet setting of prior albums, Metheny and Mays presage the sleeker and more ethereal sound of the band's Geffen years on portions of the title track. And while this side-long number has some dreamy moments, it also bogs down in a trite climax or two; one gets the sense of a jazz fusion and prog rock marriage Metheny luckily never fully explored.

Minor flaws, really, since the piece holds together in spite of the worrisome lapses of taste. The balance of the album is just fine, with the highlight being the Bill Evans remembrance, "September Fifteenth" (the date of Evan's passing, which occurred while the album was being recorded). Metheny and Mays appropriately opt for a serene and slightly elegiac piano and acoustic guitar duet. The set is balanced out by the fleet Americana of "Ozark" and the streamlined swinger "It's for You." Topped off by integral and tasteful percussion by future band regular Nana Vasconcelos, this 1981 Metheny date is certainly a worthwhile disc for fans to seek out.

An specific section of first song (14:56), "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls", is frequently used by Christian Dior for the Fahrenheit perfume and cologne ads since 1988.

The front cover photograph is a reference to the lyrics of the song "Wichita Lineman" by Jimmy Webb.

Track listing

All music is composed by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.

1.    "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls"    20:44
2.    "Ozark"    4:03
3.    "September Fifteenth" (dedicated to Bill Evans)    7:45
4.    "'It's for You'"    8:20
5.    "Estupenda Graça"    2:40

Total length:    45:32

Personnel:

    Pat Metheny – electric and acoustic 6- and 12-string guitars, bass guitar
    Lyle Mays – piano, synthesizer, electric organ, autoharp
    Naná Vasconcelos – berimbau, percussion, drums, vocals