For those who didn't know, Harry Dean Stanton, the beloved actor with a career spanning more than six decades, also loved to sing and play music.

His trusted musical partner for 15+ years was Jamie James (The Kingbees, Dennis Quaid & the Sharks), as evidenced in the acclaimed documentary and soundtrack Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction. Omnivore Recordings released the soundtrack to the movie in 2014.

On February 12th, 2021, Omnivore will release Harry Dean Stanton With the Cheap Dates, October 1993, a collection of never-before-heard music from the man Los Angeles Times described as a “prolific character actor who brought a soulful, hangdog presence.”

Produced by Jamie James, the album features four tracks from the studio alongside five recorded live at Doug Weston’s Troubadour in West Hollywood (the album will be available on CD, LP and Digital).

1. 'I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight'
2. 'Promised Land'
3. 'You Don’t Miss Your Water'
4. 'Across the Borderline'
5. 'You Never Can Tell' (Live at the Troubadour)
6. 'Spanish Harlem' (Live at the Troubadour)
7. 'Miss Froggie' (Live at the Troubadour)
8. 'Bright Lights, Big City' (Live at the Troubadour)
9. 'Canción Mixteca' (Live at the Troubadour)

The album opens on the mid-tempo roll of 'I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight' and backs that up seamlessly with the uptempo 'Promised Land,' the laid back and lonesome 'You Don’t Miss Your Water,' and then one of my personal favorites, the achingly beautiful 'Across the Borderline.'

The expanded portion of this CD now includes live tracks from the Troubadour, and first brings us the harmonica-driven 'You Never Can Tell,' which is masterfully backed by the lofi 'Spanish Harlem,' the gently frenetic 'Miss Froggie,' rounding out on the lush orchestrations of 'Bright Lights, Big City,' closing on the Latin-flavored 'Canción Mixteca.'

James sets the scene in his liner notes: “Together, Harry and I had been doing some dates around Los Angeles as a duo,” he writes. “And I remember suggesting to Harry to have Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) come over and play drums with us."

"In doing so, he brought along Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (The Doobie Brothers) to play pedal steel, which then led to Slim and I asking Tony Sales (Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Todd Rundgren) to play bass, and that’s how we became the Cheap Dates.”

October 1993 documents that collaboration. Featuring covers of Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Ben E. King, and Jimmy Reed, among others, it’s a celebration of friendship, music, and love.

Official Harry Dean Stanton with the Cheap Dates October 1993: Expanded CD Purchase Link

www.OmnivoreRecordings.com