Saturday, August 6, 2022
Bandcamp Download of the Month: Old Town Crier's You
A lot of contemporary bands are looking for big dollar, “Big Rock Candy Mountain” levels of success, but a few are using their art as a catalyst for social change. “You”, a five-song digital EP and the second recording by Massachusetts outfit Old Town Crier, is a great example of rock ‘n’ roll being used to further a progressive political agenda that would benefit society. The EP’s title track is an infectious slab of guitar-driven power-pop with an energetic melody, cool vocal harmonies, and a stinging guitar solo that conceal some deceptively pointed lyrics. “Thin Blue Line” uses a throwback 1960s sound and Spector-esque production with chiming keyboards and crashing drumbeats to support its message whereas “Dawnland” is slower, more nuanced, evincing a shimmering psychedelic vibe with colorful guitars and gorgeous keyboards.
“Coal River Mountain” is an Americana-styled romp with wiry fretwork and a rhythmic sense of urgency (like a locomotive teetering down the track), a story-song set in the wilds of West Virginia with imaginative lyrics. The EP’s fast-paced five closes with “Radio On”, a clever, lofty pop-rock construct with hints of the Beatles, Big Star, and Harry Nilsson. Old Town Crier is the solo musical project of Massachusetts multi-instrumentalist Jim Lough, whose previous release was 2021’s five-song EP I’m Longing For You Honey In Middleboro, Mass. Recorded at The Fallout Shelter in Norwood, Massachusetts, You features Lough on vocals, guitarist Garrett Jones, bassist Alex Bilodeau, keyboardist Jenn Hwan Wong, drummer Avery Logan, and saxophonist Stephen Byth, who blows up a storm on a bonus live recording of “You”.
A mere five simoleons for five rockin’ tunes is a better deal than you’re gonna get on anything you’ll find at Dollar General or Wal-Mart, so what are you waiting for? Buy it! All proceeds from the sale of the album will be donated to progressive Democrats running in key races, namely Christine Olivo (FL-26), Jason Call (WA-02), and Melanie D’Arrigo (NY-03), and if you have anything left after buying this Old Town Crier digital EP, consider throwing a few shekels to the progressive candidates in your area.
You’ll find both of Old Town Crier’s EPs for sale RIGHT NOW on Bandcamp:
https://oldtowncrier.bandcamp.com/album/you
Friday, August 5, 2022
Archive Review: Katrina & the Waves’ The Original Recordings 1983-1984 (2003)
Unfortunately, the Waves’ first big hit pretty much turned out to be its last. Even though they would continue to record some fine music (their Waves album is vastly underrated), they would soon be steamrolled on the charts by cro-mags like Guns ‘N’ Roses, Motley Crue, and Poison as pop music took a decidedly aggressive turn towards nerf metal. Somewhere along the way, the band’s excellent two Canadian albums became obscure footnotes in Waves’ history. Thanks to Ralph Alfonso, a long-time champion of the band and the personable boss at Bongo Beat, these long-lost albums have been revived on CD for the first time. The two albums fit comfortably on one disc, the remastered tracks overseen by Kimberley Rew and released in observance of the 20th anniversary of the band’s first album.
Katrina and the Waves’ The Original Recordings 1983-1984
The Original Recordings 1983-1984 collects ten songs each from
1983’s Walking On Sunshine album and 1984’s
Katrina and the Waves 2, updating the sound for the digital age from
the best tapes possible but otherwise leaving the songs raw and unadorned.
Capitol cherry-picked the best songs from these two Canadian albums,
originally released by Attic Records, having the band re-record them for its
American debut. These original versions are fantastic, however, with an
immediacy and vibrancy that eludes the better-known Capitol versions.
The Original Recordings 1983-1984 includes four previously unreleased
bonus tracks, a 24-page booklet with exhaustive historical notes on the band,
band interviews and more pictures than you can shake a stick at. A DVD
accompanies this 20th anniversary release, featuring the 25-minute
Live At Shepperton Film Studios video, documenting a 1983
“live-in-the-studio” performance of many of the band’s best songs and also
includes the original live concert video for “Walking On Sunshine.”
Of the unreleased bonus tracks, “That’s Just The Woman In Me” is a slow-paced, soulful Stax-inspired tear-jerker magnificently belted out by Ms. Leskanich. The band’s version of the classic “River Deep, Mountain High” leaves other covers of the song in its wake, evoking the spirit of Ike & Tina Turner’s hit, reinterpreting it as a revved-up rocker with wicked fretwork courtesy of Mr. Rew. A reverent, by-the-numbers cover of Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat” leads into an early live performance of “Walking On Sunshine,” a wonderful version of one of the decade’s best-known songs, the band’s spirit and onstage energy amplified and framed by the echo and spaciousness of the live recording. The band’s best songs are those written by Rew, whose deft hand at pop songwriting is easily the equal of such acclaimed tunesmiths as Marshall Crenshaw or Matthew Sweet.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
If they are only remembered for one song, the forever-frozen-in-time
“Walking On Sunshine,” Katrina and the Waves have achieved a degree of musical
immortality. After listening to The Original Recordings 1983-1984,
however, I’d say that it’s time for music lovers to rediscover one of the
finest pop/rock outfits that the ‘80s had to offer. With bands like Hot Hot
Heat and other ‘80s-era revivalists garnering critical acclaim and radio
airplay these days, perhaps it’s time to take another look at the recorded
legacy of Katrina and the Waves and finally provide the band the respect it
has earned. (Bongo Beat Records, released October 21st, 2003)
Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™
Friday, July 29, 2022
Archive Review: The Zombies’ Recorded Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios, London (2012)
The Zombies had spent a couple years of hard touring across the United States, performing alongside folks like Dusty Springfield and the Searchers when they signed a last-gasp deal with CBS Records which resulted in what has since become known as the band’s magnum opus, the wonderful Odessey and Oracle. An inspired mix of the band’s British R&B roots and contemporary late 1960s psychedelic pop/rock with symphonic overtones, support by the label for the making of Odessey and Oracle was virtually non-existent. This forced the band to use a then-novel Mellotron to mimic orchestral passages because they couldn’t afford studio musicians on the miniscule recording budget provided by CBS. When the label demanded a stereo mix of the album (which was recorded in mono), Argent and White footed the cost themselves.
Odessey and Oracle
The album sank like a stone in the band’s homeland, and was only
released in the U.S. because of support from Columbia Records A&R man Al
Kooper, a talented musician and songwriter in his own right, who had bought a
copy of Odessey and Oracle during a trip to London and recognized its
brilliance. By the time of the album’s late 1968 U.S. release, the Zombies had
already broken up and Rod Argent had begun forming his self-named hard rock
band with Zombies bandmate Chris White…all of which made the unexpected
success of “Time of the Season,” which would rise to #3 on the U.S. charts in
late 1969, all the more awkward. The band members declined to tour in support
of the album and hit single, resulting in at least three counterfeit versions
of the band touring the states as “the Zombies” well into the 1980s.
In 2008, Blunstone and Argent got back together and re-formed the band with White and Grundy to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Odessey and Oracle with a series of live shows. The duo has been at it ever since, touring annually as the Zombies featuring Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, the two joined by former Argent/Kinks bassist Jim Rodford and his son, drummer Steve Rodford, along with guitarist Keith Airey, who would be replaced by Tom Toomey by the time the re-vamped Zombies recorded their critically-acclaimed 2010 album Breathe In, Breath Out.
The Zombies’ Recorded Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios, London
In
January 2011, the Zombies were invited to perform in front of a small, albeit
enthusiastic “invitation only” audience in London’s Metropolis Studios, an
intimate concert that was documented for the subsequent release of Recorded
Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios, London, a two-disc audio/visual
extravaganza certain to thrill the pants off of any longtime fans of the band.
The CD and DVD offer up 19 tunes, most of ‘em bona fide classics, including
six from Odessey and Oracle as well as the earlier hits, and even a couple of
cuts from the Zombies’ most recent, Breathe In, Breath Out.
The
show starts out with “I Love You,” a popular but failed 1965 single that
features a distinctive riff and forceful melody. How can a “failed single” be
popular, you ask? Well, it was originally released as the B-side to a meager
U.S. single, “Whenever You’re Ready.” But the song would become a hit when it
was later recorded by the California pop band People! in 1968, rising to #14
in the U.S. and working its way into the top ten in Japan (twice!), Mexico,
Israel, the Philippines, and elsewhere. Decca reissued the Zombies’ original
as a single in late ‘68 but it sank like a stone. Still, it’s remained one of
the band’s more popular live songs, and here it’s provided a strong
performance, with solid vocal harmonies, psychedelic fretwork, and plenty of
Argent’s manic keyboard-pounding.
The band acquits itself nicely
on the Jimmy Ruffin smash “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted,” which was a
U.K. hit for Blunstone and keyboardist Dave Stewart (not the Eurythmics guy)
back in 1981. With the band providing Motown-styled backing harmonies,
Blunstone imbues the song with a longing and wistfulness that falls just short
of Ruffin’s original. An odd instrumental interlude mid-song detracts somewhat
from the performance, but Argent’s soulful keyboard riffing hits just the
right note. Toomey’s guitar solo near the end is elegant and tasteful,
extending the song to its short, discordant ending. “A Rose For Emily” is the
first of a half-dozen songs pulled from Odessey and Oracle, a wan pastoral
ballad that displays moments of Beatlesque melodic brilliance and interesting
vocal harmonies.
Time of the Season
The audience is
preternaturally patient waiting for the hits, and they get the first in the
form of “Time of the Season,” an uncharacteristic song in light of the rest of
the band’s more sedate psyche-pop milieu. With its familiar riff, unusual
melody, chiming keyboards, and oblique lyrics it’s an instantly accessible
tune and while it originally flopped as a 1968 single in the U.K. it would hit
#3 in the U.S. and top the charts in Canada a year later. “Tell Her No”
suffered a similar fate previously when released in 1964, hitting big in North
America while the band’s hometown audience largely yawned. “Tell Her No”
offers a similar syncopated melody and chorus, and the 21st century Zombies do
it well, Blunstone’s soft lead vocals providing a counterpoint to the band’s
almost overwhelming backing harmonies. It’s an engaging moment that thrills
the audience.
The Zombies’ version here of “Hold Your Head Up” is stretched out and definitely over-the-top, allowing Argent to bang away at the keyboards with reckless abandon, his vocals assisted by the band’s harmonies on the chorus while Toomey delivers the song’s timeless guitar lick. Although the audience came to hear the hits, the Zombies had a lot of good-to-great songs that never received their due. “I Don’t Believe In Miracles,” from the band’s 1991 reunion album, is a bittersweet ballad that features a strong vocal turn, beautiful harmonies, a melancholy melody, and finely-crafted lyrics. “Care of Cell 44” is a deceptively catching slice of sunshine pop with a uniquely British ambience and instrumentation similar to colleagues the Kinks while “Beechwood Park,” at times, reminds of Procol Harum with classical-tinged baroque instrumentation and somber yet effective vocals.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
While some 1960s-era bands touring the
oldies circuit these days are living entirely on past glories, you can’t say
the same of the Zombies. Sure, Recorded Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios,
London strikes all the highlights of the band’s career for an appreciative
audience, but the hits are a small part of the 19 inspired performances caught
on audio and video that night. There’s a reason why Odessey and Oracle is
considered a rock ‘n’ roll classic, and it has a lot to do with the depth of
the band’s songwriting chops, their instrumental prowess, and their often
whimsical imagination, all of which are on full display on both the CD and DVD
of Recorded Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios, London. (Convexe
Entertainment, released May 24th, 2012)
Review originally published
by Blurt magazine, 2012
Archive Review: Todd Rundgren's Todd Live (2012)
Although he’s been making music for better than 40 years now, the anything-goes 1970s were Rundgren’s era, the prolific musician cranking out eleven critically-acclaimed albums that hit the charts with varying commercial returns over the ten year period. The double-disc 1972 album Something/Anything? provided Rundgren with a modicum of pop stardom, a not entirely-welcome status that the artist quickly denied with the following year’s difficult-albeit-exciting album A Wizard, A True Star. Featuring nearly 56-minutes of music crammed onto two sides of vinyl…a technological marvel in and of itself for the time…side one of the album featured a Beatlesque extended medley of proggish rock, side two a few pop/rock songs surrounding a ten-minute medley of R&B hits.
A Wizard, A True Star
Against this backdrop, the release of the double-album Todd in
February 1974 found the artist’s fans wondering which Todd Rundgren would show
up in the grooves. While Todd ventured further into the musical
experimentation that Rundgren began with A Wizard, A True Star,
especially considering the artist’s growing fascination with synthesizers and
other technological means to shape music, in truth the album also crossed
paths with Todd’s Something/Anything? era pop-rock cheap thrills and
Utopia’s just-over-the-horizon electronic adventures.
Although
Todd didn’t set the woods on fire commercially, the pricey double-LP
did climb to #54 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, and yielded a
minor hit (#69) in the lofty, ethereal-pop tune “A Dream Goes On Forever.”
Undaunted, Rundgren moved onward and upward with 1975’s aggressive
Initiation, a reckless synthfest that further pushed the boundaries of
vinyl capabilities with better than 30-minutes of music squeezed onto each
side, the album’s electronic-rock soundscape furthering the artistic sojourn
that Rundgren had begun with the release of the
Todd Rundgren’s Utopia album a few months after
Todd.
Whereas Todd Rundgren’s Utopia would initially
best Todd in sales, rising to #34 on the album chart without the
benefit of a hit single, through the years the equally-difficult Todd has
taken on an aura of its own, the album’s reputation often preceding the actual
listening, with gems like the aforementioned “A Dream Goes On Forever,” rocker
“Heavy Metal Kids,” and Rundgren’s flirtations with Gilbert & Sullivan
satisfying the curious and influencing a generation of like-minded
fellow-travelers to follow in Rundgren’s considerable wake.
Todd Rundgren’s Todd Live
While some of the more technologically-created fantasia from the original album has been stripped from this live performance, modern electronics allow a lot of the factory showroom sheen to rise out of songs like “I Think You Know,” a discordant albeit lovely mid-tempo ballad with shimmering fretwork and squalls of electronic snowfall. Rundgren’s operatic satire of the music biz, “An Elpee’s Worth of Toons,” mixes Gilbert & Sullivan with a dash of Utopia-styled electronica and a pop/rock vibe to deliver its devastating lyrical message amidst a cacophony of instrumentation and Todd’s best bent vocals. Changing directions so rapidly that it could give the listener whiplash, Rundgren and crew slide effortlessly into the ethereal “A Dream Goes On Forever,” this live version slightly less busy than the studio reading, but lacking none of the bittersweet melancholy of the original.
Rundgren further indulges in his Gilbert & Sullivan obsession with a spry cover of “Lord Chancellor’s Nightmare Song,” evoking memories of Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons. This performance is pure delight, Rundgren’s unabashed enthusiasm dripping from his nimble vocals as Greg Hawkes’ provides the rhythmic backdrop with his chopping piano play. One of the overlooked gems from the original Todd was the hard rocking “Everybody’s Going to Heaven/King Kong Reggae” mash-up, the live version pounding at the pavement with jackhammer ferocity, guitar-drums-bass-keyboards slam-dancing behind Todd’s strained vocals, the man finally cutting loose with a fire-and-brimstone guitar solo before breaking down into the monster jam that is “King King Reggae.”
Another overlooked cut from Todd was the smooth-as-silk pop song “Izzat Love?” With an undeniable melodic hook and harmony vocals rising about the swirl of low-key instrumentation, the song sounds like something from Todd’s early band Runt, updated with a few modern flourishes but otherwise a lofty example of Rundgren’s 1960s-styled pop/rock chops. The song ends abruptly, descending into madness in an electronic storm, leading into the muscular, blustery “Heavy Metal Kids,” an up-tempo rocker with malevolent intentions, crashing drumbeats, and tortured guitarplay. Todd Live ends with the gospel-tinged pop of “Songs of 1984,” a perfect showcase for both Rundgren’s songwriting skills but also his immensely diverse musical sense, the mid-tempo verses brought up a notch by the uplifting, choir-like choruses.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
While it’s unlikely that Todd Live will gain Rundgren many new
fans, it’s certain to appeal to his horde of longtime followers…but if a
couple of young pups are curious after hearing the live versions of these
songs and decide to check out the originals, or other equally-exciting entries
in Rundgren’s large early catalog – many of which have been repackaged by
British archival label Edsel Records as reasonably-priced double CD sets – all
the better! (Rock Beat Records, released 2011)
Review originally published by Blurt magazine, 2012
Friday, July 22, 2022
Archive Review: Robin Trower’s Farther On Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983 (2012)
Although Trower continues to burn up the highways in both the U.K. and the United States with frequent touring, and the guitarist releases new records on a fairly regular basis, it’s not too soon, perhaps, to take another look at the roots of a legendary career that is now in its sixth decade. In 2010, Chrysalis Records (a Capitol Records subsidiary) released the three-CD Robin Trower compilation A Tale Untold, which included the guitarist’s first four solo albums as well as his 1975 concert disc Live!, along with a handful of rare bonus tracks. Although this first box set neatly wrapped up Trower’s breakthrough years with Chrysalis, circa 1973 through ‘76, it only told part of the story.
Robin Trower’s Farther On Up the Road
To fill in the blanks, Chrysalis/Capitol has released
Farther On Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983, another
three-disc set that features the six albums that made up the rest of Trower’s
tenure with Chrysalis, as well as a pair of obscure bonus tracks. Trower’s
transition from pop star to bluesman is quite apparent across these three CDs,
beginning with 1977’s In City Dreams. Moving away from the
psychedelic-blues sound of his earlier solo discs, Trower tried to update his
sound for end-of-the-decade audiences with some success; the album would rise
to #25 on the Billboard magazine albums chart.
Trower made
changes to his band line-up with In City Dreams, relegating his
longtime bassist/vocalist James Dewar to the microphone and bringing in new
bass player Rustee Allen to keep the rhythm with veteran drummer Bill Lordan.
Allen would bring a funkier edge to the material, his fluid basslines
throbbing behind Trower’s soaring fretwork. Nowhere is this more obvious than
on the album’s lead-off track, “Somebody Calling,” Allen’s strutting rhythms
straining in counterpoint to Trower’s screaming psyche-blues guitarplay. The
album’s highlight is “Farther On Up the Road,” from which this set takes its
name, Trower and crew delivering a raucous take on the blues-rock standard
with plenty of raging guitar and crashing drumbeats. “Little Girl” comes the
closest to Trower’s early 1970s work, while the album’s title track virtually
channels Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs” both sonically and emotionally.
Victims of the Fury
Trower kept the band line-up intact for 1978’s Caravan To Midnight,
further pursuing the previous album’s funk-infused sound with tracks like the
flaccid chamber-pop of “Birthday Boy” or the misguided “My Love (Burning
Love),” which sounds too much like a bad Foreigner single. The album is not a
complete loss, however, as the instrumental title track crosses over to truly
ethereal turf with melodic guitarplay that reminds of Carlos Santana, sans the
obvious Latin influences. Allen’s bass playing on the song is jazzy rather
than funky, and the backbeat is kept to a minimum; ditto for “Fool,” a bluesy,
smoldering, mid-tempo track with riff-happy guitars that evinces a pub-rock
vibe similar to Frankie Miller’s best work.
Perhaps
unsatisfied with the reception and direction of his previous two albums,
Trower stripped the band back to the power trio format he made his reputation
on, putting Dewar back on bass and vocals for 1979’s Victims of the Fury.
Working with new producer Geoff Emerick, who had engineered the guitarist’s
first two solo albums, and bringing in songwriter Keith Reid from Procol Harum
to help with lyrics, Trower begins his evolution back to the blues. Starting
with “Jack and Jill,” a tough-as-nails tale with scorched-earth fretwork and
squalls of bass and drums, Victims of the Fury pursues a blue-hued,
harder-rocking sound. Trower cuts loose and lets his freak flag fly with
“Roads To Freedom,” the guitarist’s Jimi Hendrix-styled Stratocaster sound
accompanying a moody, psychedelic-blues soundtrack. “Into The Flame” sounds
like early 1960s-era Eric Clapton mixed with late 1960s-era Cream…with Eric
Clapton, while “Mad House” pairs a locomotive rhythm with an unrelenting
barrage of riffs to great effect.
Truce With Jack Bruce
Truce, released a year later, continued Trower’s artistically-satisfying collaboration with Bruce, this time with original Trower band drummer Reg Isidore (who had also played with Peter Green) on the cans. Stylistically, the album differs little from B.L.T., the performances mixing blues and rock with a few progressive elements and even strains of funk and soul. Recorded across two full days of intense session work, Truce brought out the best of all the players, and even the normally-pedestrian Isidore rises to the occasion and bounces rightly off of Bruce’s taut bass lines. The album also features a few Bruce/Peter Brown songs, the bassist teaming up with his old Cream songwriting partner for gems like the invigorating “Thin Ice,” Bruce’s vocal gymnastics matched by a spry syncopated soundtrack and Trower’s wiry guitar. Bruce and Brown tag-team with Trower on the fascinating “Last Train To the Stars,” the guitarist’s shimmering fretwork exploring new frontiers of sound while Bruce’s soulful, soaring vocals jump all over the place.
In 1983, Trower recorded his last album for Chrysalis, the hard rock collection Back It Up. Reuniting with vocalist Dewar, and sporting a fine new rhythm section in bassist Dave Bronze and drummer Alan Clarke, the album seemed an attempt to appeal to the heavy metal-crazed early ‘80s youth market, to no avail. Trower’s normal inclination towards a blues-oriented sound is downplayed here in favor of a straight-forward, six-string Sturm und Drang, and while tracks like the riffish “Black To Red,” the psychedelic-tinged “Benny Dancer,” and the beautiful, mesmerizing instrumental “Islands” evoke the Robin Trower of the early 1970s, it proved to be too little, too late for a generation fascinated by MTV and insipid British pop music. Back It Up would fail to crack the Billboard Top 100 albums chart, leaving Trower in the commercial wastelands for the rest of the decade until his U-turn to the blues during the 1990s.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Farther
On Up the Road provides an intriguing coda to Robin Trower’s years with the
Chrysalis label, preserving both the guitarist’s creative triumphs and musical
missteps during the era. The three-disc set is worth the price of admittance
(around $20 last I checked online), if only for the two albums recorded with
Jack Bruce, which remain out-of-print in the U.S. and available only as a
British import from our friends at BGO Records.
You can’t beat six
Trower albums for the price of two, and for less than the cost of a night at
the club, you can grab both Farther On Up the Road and A Tale Untold and have
eleven vintage Trower albums in two nifty box sets! An innovative and
imaginative guitarist who has taken blues music to new artistic heights, Robin
Trower is one of the true giants of the blues-rock style. (Chrysalis
Records/Capitol, released March 13th, 2012)
Friday, July 15, 2022
Short Rounds: Shemekia Copeland, Jade Warrior, Gwil Owen, Prince & the Revolution, Sour Ops, Supersonic Blues Machine & 'Heroes and Villains' (July 2022)
Shemekia Copeland – Done Come Too Far (Alligator Records)
One of today’s finest singers in any genre, Shemekia Copeland has been on an impressive roll, delivering three consecutive career-making albums, the last two working with Nashville producer/musician Will Kimbrough. Third time’s a charm, Copeland returning to the Music City to collaborate with Kimbrough again on Done Come Too Far, which features talented friends like Sonny Landreth, Cedric Burnside, and Aaron Lee Tasjan complimenting the steady backing of bassist Lex Price and drummer Pete Abbott. The results are pure magic (again). Copeland blows the doors down with the defiant “Too Far To Be Gone,” her powerful vocals soaring atop Landreth’s serpentine slide-work. The African-flavored “Gullah Geechee” ties Delta field hollers to their deeper roots while the Cajun romp “Fried Catfish and Bibles” is a sheer delight. Socially-conscious songs like “Pink Turns To Red” are turbocharged by Copeland’s awesome, pissed-off, pummeling vocals while a cover of Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Barefoot In Heaven” adds a blues tint to the Americana gem. The heavyweight title track is fueled by Copeland’s fierce voice and Burnside’s mesmerizing fretwork. Closing with her father Johnny’s “Nobody But You,” Copeland cements her blues bona-fides with blistering intensity. What are you waiting for; go buy it! Grade: A+ BUY IT!
Jade Warrior – Last Autumn’s Dream (Esoteric Recordings U.K.)
The third album from British art-rockers Jade Warrior, 1972’s Last Autumn’s Dream found the relatively obscure (stateside) band exploring much the same musical turf as fellow 1970s-era proggers King Crimson, Family, or Gentle Giant, but with loftier intent, more reliance on English folk traditions, and seemingly less of an eye on rock stardom. Which is to say that it’s every bit as interesting and multi-textured as any other prog-rock album released the time, its tracklist jumping from the pastoral, classicist beauty of “A Winter’s Tale” to the bristling, angry hard rock of “Snake,” and right back to the darkly-atmospheric ambient nightmare tones of “Dark River,” all in the course of a quarter-hour. That’s not even mentioning the exotic instrumentation, whiplash time signature changes, and oblique lyrics that inhabit each performance like a hallucinogenic fungus. Guitarist Tony Duhig and percussionist Jon Field were bandmates in 1960s psych-rockers July (their self-titled 1968 LP is a psych classic), and their combined vision drove Jade Warrior to maddeningly-delightful heights of creativity. The band’s self-titled 1971 debut may rock harder, and their sophomore effort, Release, is artier but, with Last Autumn’s Dream, they found the sweet spot in the eye of the hurricane. Grade: B BUY IT!
Gwil Owen – The Road To the Sky (self-produced)
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Gwil Owen is one of the many talented outsiders looking in on Nashville’s mainstream music biz, a DIY lifer making music on his own terms. The Road To the Sky is Owen’s follow-up to 2020’s excellent Flying Dream, and it follows a similar vein with touches of rock, country, and Little Feat-styled funk. Owen is accompanied here by talented friends like multi-instrumentalist Joe McMahan, keyboardist Tony Crow, and bassist Dave Jacques, and it shows in the grooves. “When the Songwriter’s Gone” displays a few Springsteen-esque flourishes within its loping backroads vibe and gorgeous guitarplay while “Ghost Town” rocks with brilliant poetic imagery. “Change” relies on minimal instrumentation and Owen’s gritty, twangy vocals (think Delbert McClinton) and the haunting, bluesy “Murder” reminds of Tom Waits. Owen uses a pre-recorded guitar coda from his late friend David Olney to fittingly punctuate the beautiful ballad “She Does It All With Her Eyes.” Owen is a gifted story-teller and a charismatic lyricist with an ear for melody and the ability to create deceptively-complex and lush soundscapes. An adventuresome, old-school tunesmith in the vein of Olney or Guy Clark, Owen is an artist worth your time to discover. Grade: A BUY DIRECT!
Prince and the Revolution – Live (NPG Records/Sony Legacy)
If you’re a Prince fan (and who isn’t?), don’t let the nearly $40 price tag of this swanky set deter you from jumping, headfirst, into the deep end of the pool. Documenting an especially electric 1985 performance in Syracuse NY, Live offers 20 dynamite songs across two CDs and a Blu-ray disc with 5.1 surround sound, as well as a groovy 24-page color booklet with liner notes and rare photos. Prince and the Revolution were 93 shows into a 98-show tour in support of the chart-topping, thirteen-million-selling Purple Rain album and they’re firing on all cylinders. Prince’s trademark blend of psych-drenched guitar rock, slinky funk, and sizzling soul was on full display on a “greatest hits” setlist that includes crowd-pleasers like “1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry,” and a mind-bending, expanded reading of “Purple Rain” showcasing the Purple One’s justified ‘Guitar God’ status (and the band’s tight-knit musical chemistry). There’s nothing here from Around the World In A Day, which was released a month after this show, but there are plenty of choice cuts from 1999 and Purple Rain alongside the deep cuts, making Live an invaluable snapshot of Prince and the Revolution at the peak of their powers. Grade: A BUY IT!
Sour Ops – Deep Fake (Feralette Media)
Nashville rockers Sour Ops break up the crushing monotony of reality with another id-tickling album, Deep Fake, a collection guaranteed to scratch whatever musical itch is currently plaguing your fever-dream cerebellum. Ringmaster Price Harrison leads his crackerjack band through ten high-voltage, hair-raising performances that range from the bright, buoyant power-pop of “Navy Blue” and the jagged satire of the dark-hued “Doomsday Prepper” to the pop-metal edge of “Texas Punk 66,” which wears its gorgeous guitar tone like a magic cloak. The title track is a fierce mid-tempo rocker with brilliant lyrics about fleeting celebrity that is combined with stunning, chaotic fretwork while “Another Letdown” turns a keen eye towards modern society with 1960s-styled psychedelic pop and vintage ‘70s muscle car rock overkill, resulting in a bloody good time. The insightful “I Followed You Down” explores the dangers of falling prey to a cult of personality while Deep Fake closes its too-short 30-minutes with “Fall Into the Sky,” a shimmering, ethereal love song with yearning instrumentation. With Deep Fake, Sour Ops has moved beyond the obvious Replacements/Stooges/Cheap Trick references to truly find their own musical voice, one that masterfully blends everything that came before into something unique, personal, and entirely stunning. Grade: A+ BUY DIRECT!
Supersonic Blues Machine – Voodoo Nation (Provogue Records)
Supersonic Blues Machine is the trio of bassist Fabrizio Grossi, guitarist Kris Barras, and journeyman drummer Kenny Aronoff, the band showing itself to be a well-oiled, high-performance engine of destruction with Voodoo Nation, their third studio album (and the first to feature Barras, a British fretburner in the Rory Gallagher tradition). As with their first couple of blues-busting albums, Voodoo Nation offers up an inspired blend of blues, rock, and funk all delivered with no little heart and soul. Also as with previous LPs, they invited a slew of blues-rock axe-manglers along for the ride, with talents like Eric Gales, Ana Popovic, Joe Louis Walker, Kirk Fletcher, and Sonny Landreth jumping into the rumble seat. King Solomon Hicks brings a Hill Country vibe to the sonic-grind of “You and Me” and “Devil At the Doorstep” benefits from Gales’ fluid tones and imagination. Popovic is an underrated gem whose duel with Barras is pure blues-guitar heaven while the Supersonic guitarist lights a wildfire with the inspired “Too Late” and its Leadbelly licks. The title track is a swamp-rock masterpiece with swagger, stunning fretwork, and a dark-hued ambiance. Supersonic Blues Machine ain’t your grand-pappy’s blues, but they could be yours. Grade: B BUY IT!
Various Artists – Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Lost Angeles 1965-68 (Grapefruit Records U.K.)
From pop, rock, and proto-Americana to blues, folk, and psychedelia, there’s no denying that the mid-‘60s L.A. music scene was bursting at the seams with creativity and vision. Leave it up to those madmen at U.K. archival label Grapefruit to document the history of this influential era. Heroes and Villains collects a whopping 90 (!) tunes on three CDs in a nifty clamshell, the accompanying guidebook offering comprehensive liner notes and rare photos. The “usual suspects” to be found here, well-known chart titans like the Monkees, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Steppenwolf, Sonny & Cher, and the Mamas and the Papas, among others, but not always the songs you might think you’d find. There are oddities like the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart; talented obscurities like Tim Buckley and Ruth Friedman; and cult rockers like Love, Kaleidoscope, and Merrell Fankhauser’s various bands. Where the box set really shines, though, is with the too-cool unknowns like the Rose Garden, Children of the Mushroom, the Laughing Wind, or the Chyldren, et al. There’s a lot of meat on these discs, a myriad of musical possibilities and styles, more than a few of which are guaranteed to satisfy your musical needs... Grade: A BUY IT!
Previously on That Devil Music.com:
Short Rounds, December 2021: Calidoscopio, Deep Purple, Tom Guerra, The Specials, The Wildhearts, Sami Yaffa & 'I'm A Freak Baby 3'
Short Rounds, September 2021: Marshall Crenshaw, Crack The Sky, Donna Frost, Mark Harrison & the Happy Tramps, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, the Rubinoos, and Jon Savage’s 1972-1976
Short Rounds, June 2021: The Black Keys, the Bummers, Michael Nesmith, Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost, Quinn Sullivan, and the Vejtables
Short Rounds, April 2021: Peter Case, The Fortunate Few, David Olney & Anana Kaye, Sour Ops, Joe Strummer, and the Thieves
Archive Review: Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze (2012)
A few years back, however, Trout began a transformation, subtle at first, but picking up steam through albums like 2008’s The Outsider and the 2009 compilation Unspoiled By Progress, featuring the new track “They Call Us the Working Class.” With the release of his 21st album, Blues For the Modern Daze, Trout’s evolution seems complete – the singer, songwriter, and guitarist is now the populist voice of the blues, following in the footsteps of artists like Big Bill Broonzy, J.B. Lenoir, and Blind Willie Johnson, whose influence on these songs Trout has frequently cited.
Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze
Blues For the Modern Daze opens with the scorching “Saw My Mama
Cryin,” a high-flying bit of bluesy social commentary that provides anguished
insight into the working class struggle. Trout’s tortured vocals convey
heartfelt emotion while his guitar weeps and moans and screams with some
intensity. Trout’s solos here cut deep as the band delivers a solid groove,
and the song rocks and rolls itself to an inevitable conclusion. By contrast,
“Lonely” is no less powerful a performance, the mid-tempo ballad-like rocker
featuring a nuanced vocal turn and mournful guitar licks. Although it’s a fine
showcase for Trout’s exemplary six-string skills, it’s also a solid example of
his songwriting chops and underrated, potent vocals.
The
doom-and-gloomish “The Sky Is Fallin’ Down” is a cautionary tale with a
bonfire soundtrack that nearly rages out of control as Trout levels
accusations and proffers his advice in the face of impending disaster, his
dark lyrics matched by incendiary fretwork that threatens to ignite your
speakers with its red-hot riffs, notes sparking from the fretboard. Trout’s
“Blues For My Baby” is a more traditionally-styled tune, with gorgeous piano
tinkling behind the guitarist’s smoky string-pulling. Close your eyes while
listening to this one and you could easily believe that you’re sitting in a
West Side Chicago club circa 1964 or so listening to Magic Sam or Otis Rush
wail on the blues.
Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous
For old-school classic rock fans, “Recovery” is a real find, Trout
channeling his inner Robin Trower with a phenomenal six-string performance
that matches Trower’s swirling, Jimi Hendrix-inspired psychedelic-blues sound
with a 1970s-styled, openly atmospheric blues-rock sound. A tale of romantic
woe, “Recovery” literally wears its heart on its sleeve, the song drenched in
the pathos of Trout’s effective, emotional vocals and imaginative fretwork.
“Turn Off Your TV” is both insightful and humorous, Trout delivering a
rollicking vocal performance above a slight boogie refrain, his lyrics
pointing to the hypocrisy of commercialization and the overall absurdity of
much of what one witnesses on the tube. Trout’s guitarwork here is more upbeat
and less provocative, delivered with energy and vigor while his hoarse vocals
reinforce the song’s themes.
Trout continues in his populist vein
with “Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous,” a slow-burning blues tune with
deliberately-paced guitar riffs and the constant joyful din of rolling piano
notes on this reverse “rags-to-riches” tale that cautions the wealthy1% that
life isn’t always a bowl of cherries, and that what goes up may one day come
back down to earth. Trout’s solos on the song are stunning, rich with tone and
sharp-edged, infused with the spirit of the blues while still rocking
hard.
Pray For Rain
The odd, albeit poetic spoken word piece “Puppet Master” offers Trout’s
somber vocals hauntingly applied above an evil keyboard riff, the brief
interlude leading into the rampaging “Money Rules the World,” a spot-on
lyrical condemnation of the effect of unbridled wealth and corporate
interference on the fate of the average person. A virtual theme song for the
“Occupy” movement, Trout layers on the blues with delightfully-tortured
guitarplay which frantically fire-dances above the song’s locomotive rhythms.
It’s a 21st century rocker worthy of Hendrix but offering a contemporary blues
edge. “Brother’s Keeper” is in a similar vein, a mid-tempo rocker with a
gospel frame of mind that calls out the self-righteous in no uncertain terms,
Trout’s flamethrower guitar solos throwing fuel on an already out-of-control
blaze.
The title track of Blues For the Modern Daze displays
the Blind Willie Johnson influence that Trout mentions in talking about the
album; the song an effective bit of intelligent social commentary delivered
with an undeniable Delta blues vibe and gospel fervor. Trout’s acoustic guitar
strum gives way to squalls of cyclone-strength electric riffs, the singer
shouting and screaming above an apocalyptic tango that reminds of Charley
Patton’s “High Water Everywhere” with its doomsaying lyrics and powerful
instrumentation. The album ends with “Pray For Rain,” a comparatively gentle
performance delivered in an acoustic country-blues style that is no less
effective for its seemingly innocent nature. Beneath Trout’s spirited
guitarplay and wailing vocals, however, you’ll real concern and some
metaphorical hard questions without easy answers.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
In the spring of 2012, a lot of words have been spilled out in print and
online talking about Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball and the album’s
frequently vague political and social commentary. While I’m not going to diss
on the Boss, I’d argue that another New Jersey native has delivered the
essential protest album of the year.
Walter Trout’s
Blues For the Modern Daze is smart, insightful, and 99% to its core,
displaying an undeniable populist viewpoint while retaining the guitarist’s
trademark turbocharged blues-rock sound. As a songwriter, Trout has never been
better, and his voicing of his social concerns – bolstered by an unbridled
six-string rage – is delivered with plenty of heart and soul. This is Walter
Trout at his very best, and we should all be listening… (Provogue Records,
released April 24th, 2012)
Buy the CD from Amazon:
Walter Trout’s Blues For the Modern Daze
Friday, July 8, 2022
Archive Review: Tommy Bolin's Great Gypsy Soul (2012)
Tommy Bolin’s Great Gypsy Soul
Tragically, Bolin’s fledgling solo career was derailed by a heroin overdose in 1976, with only two proper studio albums – 1975’s Teaser and the following year’s Private Eyes – released during his lifetime. His younger brother Johnnie, himself a musician, has kept the flame burning through all the years since Bolin’s tragic death, and there have been a wealth of posthumous releases showcasing Bolin’s six-string skills in both live and studio settings released under the Tommy Bolin Archives label. Among the best of these is the Live At Ebbets Field album, which documents a 1974 performance by Bolin’s post-Zephyr band Energy, with the guitarist proving himself the bridge between Jimi Hendrix’s jazzier six-string excursions and Jeff Beck’s later jazz-rock fusion.
There have also been a number of Bolin tribute albums released over the years. Great Gypsy Soul is the latest of these tributes designed to cement Bolin’s status, albeit with an interesting twist. Working from unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs previously recorded by Bolin, producers Greg Hampton and Warren Hayes brought in a cast of talented guest musicians to add their instrumental flavor to Bolin’s original vocals and guitar. The resulting effort is credited to “Tommy Bolin and friends.”
Pros & Cons
While I’m not personally convinced that this entire effort is necessary, one can’t deny the talents of the invitees to this party, a partial list which includes Haynes, Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, and Bolin’s former Deep Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes. In the absence of detailed liner notes, it’s sometimes difficult to separate the original performance from new additions, but Trucks’ flourishes on Bolin’s “Smooth Fandango” sound mighty good; ditto for Sonny Landreth’s scorching slidework and Hughes’ throaty vocals on “Sugar Shack.” Hughes, with Bonamassa and Nels Cline, take “Lotus” to another spiritual plane altogether.
Other tracks fail to impress, however, Peter Frampton’s take on “The Grind” lacking something seminal in its execution, while Myles Kennedy – singer with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash’s band – falls flat on his face on Bolin’s “Dreamer,” a performance only partially redeemed by Nels Cline’s (too) sublime fretwork. Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford adds bombast to Bolin’s “Wild Dogs” where the late guitarist would have brought stealth, and even the great Warren Haynes experiences a rare misfire in taking on Bolin’s signature tune “Teaser.” Guitarist John Scofield seems entirely lost here, while Lukather seems to be still trying to find his way to the studio with a lukewarm reading of “Homeward Strut.” Bolin’s work is too often overshadowed by the contributions of his “friends,” and the listener would be better off slapping a well-worn vinyl copy of Private Eyes on the turntable.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
If you’re already a Bolin fanatic, you’re probably going to want to grab a copy of Great Gypsy Soul; I’m telling you that you should resist the urge to spend your money on an album that adds absolutely nothing to the guitarist’s legacy. I realize that there’s a legitimate dearth of quality Bolin material available, but you’d be better served in spending your money on one of the guitarist’s incredible ventures into the world of jazz-rock fusion, notable among these Billy Cobham’s Spectrum and/or Alphonse Mouzon’s Mind Transplant.
On the other hand, if you’re a newcomer to the Tommy Bolin mystique, pass this one by in favor of one of the several variations of Teaser that you’ll find available; even with a myriad of dodgy demo tracks and raw alternate takes on expanded versions of Teaser, you’ll fare better than you will with Great Gypsy Soul if you’re looking to discover Bolin’s enormous charms. (429 Records, released March 26th, 2012)
Friday, July 1, 2022
Archive Review: Various Artists - Jail House Bound (2012)
To document the purest form of the African-American folk song, performances untarnished by radio, records, or the creeping influence of Anglo culture, the Lomaxes traveled to the prison farms of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Lugging around a 300-pound cylinder recorder in the trunk of their car, the pair captured for posterity the voices of unremarkable men often imprisoned for the slightest of offenses. While many of the performances that can be found on Jail House Bound have been available in various formats since their original 1933 recording, never before have they been presented in as scholarly a form as this release by the West Virginia University Press.
Because of the primitive technology used, there’s only so much that digital mastering can do to make antique cylinder recordings presentable, but Jail House Bound makes a valiant effort. While Southern prison recordings are admittedly an acquired taste shared by few blues fans, there is a lot of great music to be heard here nonetheless. Moses “Clear Rock” Platt’s reading of “That’s Alright Honey” sounds like a 1950s-era R&B hit, while Ernest “Mexico” Williams does an admirable job with the standard “The Midnight Special.” James “Iron Head” Baker and a couple of other convicts bring a soul groove to “Black Betty” while unidentified Mississippi State Penitentiary prisoners rock the classic “John Henry.” Capturing nearly two-dozen seminal examples of the African-American folk song, Jail House Bound closes out with an interesting interview with John Lomax.
Jail House Bound includes a booklet with new liner notes and song-by-song annotation which put the collection in context. While the Lomaxes would later discover legends like Leadbelly and Muddy Waters, it was with these field recordings that they first began documenting the art form known as the blues. (West Virginia University Press, released February 28th, 2012)
Review originally published by Blues Revue magazine, 2012