Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Dave Alvin, Hamell On Trial, Rebel Meets Rebel, The Socially Retarded, Jeff Watson (July 2006)

July 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music...

DAVE ALVIN – West of the West
It’s a pretty cool idea, really, roots-rocker Dave Alvin delivering an inspired concept album of songs written exclusively by California scribes. Of course, Alvin knew that he was hedging his bet to begin with – when you’re drawing from a roster as deep and talented as that of West Coast songwriters, how could you go wrong? West of the West offers up Alvin’s take on a baker’s dozen of Cali’s best, songs from both well-known wordmongers like Jackson Browne, Brian Wilson, and Tom Waits to lesser-known-but-equally-talented folks like Kate Wolf, Jim Ringer and, well, Dave Alvin.
    Alvin’s warm, friendly vocals seldom overshadow the lyrics, and the band reinvents these tunes with subtlety and loose-limbed elan. So, whether it’s Browne’s “Redneck Friend,” John Fogerty’s “Don’t Look Now,” Merle Haggard’s wonderful “Kern River” or Blackie Ferrell’s “Sonora’s Death Row,” Alvin does an admirable job of honoring his home state’s rich musical heritage with his finest collection of Americana yet. (Yep Roc Records)

HAMELL ON TRIAL – Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs
Pursuing an original, unique folk-rock style that positively bristles with punk energy and attitude, singer/songwriter Ed Hamell has what Frank Zappa once called “no commercial potential.” A self-proclaimed loudmouth with leftist tendencies, Hamell has never shied away from confrontation, both with himself and the powers that be. Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs, Hamell’s sixth studio effort, finds the songwriter’s observations as keen and as deadly as ever. “Inquiring Minds,” a conversation between father and son, is spot-on – funny and smart and all-too-true-to-life for many of us of the “lost generation” between the boomers and Gen X, while “Values” reveals the child’s innocent wisdom.
    Hamell likes to tease the bear at least once per album and “Coulter’s Snatch” takes the fight to the conservative right’s reigning bottle-blonde pin-up queen. The artist’s story-songs are generally populated by the junkies, dealers, whores, and petty criminals that exist on the fringes of polite society, and most songs eschew political correctness in favor of sex, drugs, or political binges. Aided and abetted by producer and fellow traveler Ani DiFranco, Ed Hamell is anything but polite, the raucous wordsmith swinging wildly at his targets like a punch-drunk pugilist, connecting with the knock-out blow more often than not. (Righteous Babe Records)

REBEL MEETS REBEL – Rebel Meets Rebel
The senseless death of metal giant “Dimebag” Darrell is all the more tragic considering that the talented guitarist had a lot of music left to share. The best example of this is Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaborative effort between Dimebag, his brother Vinnie Paul, and outlaw country legend David Allen Coe. Growing up in Texas, the brothers were huge fans of Coe’s music, and somewhere along the Pantera/Damageplan road-to-ruin they had the pleasure of meeting their longtime idol. As musicians are often want to do, they agreed that they should get together sometime and write some songs. Mind you, these informal agreements seldom bear musical fruit, but in the case of these three madmen, they created the metallic twangfest that they called “Rebel Meets Rebel.”
    With Coe supplying vocals and lyrics in front of a band that includes brother Vinnie blistering the skins, Dimebag delivering his typical scorched-earth six-string pyrotechnics and bassist Rex Brown holding down the bottom end, these songs kick serious ass! An unlikely mix of honky-tonk country, Southern-fried funk and uber shred-metal, this bastard hybrid actually works! The album’s inspired instrumentation reveals previously unseen facets of Darrell’s talents, the hard-rocking results both breathtaking and invigorating. This is muscular music that takes the best of its myriad influences and proceeds to knock down the house with a sonic fury, creating a fitting epitaph to the amazing career of the one-and-only Dimebag Darrell. R.I.P. (rock in peace) big guy! (Big Vin Records)

THE SOCIALLY RETARDED – As One Voice
Punk rock has become a fragile thing, as overrun with poseurs as any other genre. It’s all grubby guys in torn jeans and weird haircuts trying to score chicks and a major label deal, fighting in vain to keep their “street cred” while pursuing a musical vision that is long on radio-friendly pop melodies and short on bone-crunching, three-chord riffery. Not so with T.S.R. – The Socially Retarded are a throwback to the gabba gabba heyday of the Ramones and the sturm-und-drang of the Clash. No mindless cretins, these ‘tards, but rather a ‘nad-knocking, eardrum-jarring trio of teen punk diehards delivering some tasty tunes with socially conscious lyrics and a blur of ripping leads and crashing rhythms.
    As One Voice may be short, clocking in at a mere 30 minutes, but it’s street-tuff and hits as hard as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse playing the girl next door’s birthday party. Guitarist Ryan Reyes has a great punk voice, throaty and passionately spitting out lyrics, while bassist Aaron Chaney and drummer Matt Garcia stir up their monster rhythms with something more adventuresome than your typical punk-rawk clickbeat. It’s all the more amazing that these guys are still in high school, ‘cause they’ve got a better grasp on their music than a lot of older, more established bands. T.S.R. remind me a lot of the old SST label bands, and that’s a high compliment. As One Voice scores on my charts as one of the best punk albums you’ll hear this year. The Rev sez “check it out!” (Mental Records)  

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Hopelessly Devoted To You, Vol. 6
Epitaph Records may get all the press, and Victory Records gets all the chart action, but while many indie labels have inched closer and closer to the mainstream, Hopeless Records and its sister label, Sub City, have kept the flame alive for punk and underground rock. As is the custom with many indie labels, Hopeless has used low-priced compilations as a way to introduce potential fans to the label’s bands, and the sixth volume of their popular Hopelessly Devoted To You series is their biggest and baddest set yet. Imagine two CDs, packed with three-dozen songs, complimented by a bonus DVD featuring music videos from better than two-dozen bands…all for less than a sixer of fancy imported brew!
    Disc one features music from new/recent Hopeless/Sub City releases from bands like Against All Authority, Kaddisfly, All Time Low, and Ever We Fall, including previously unreleased and live tracks from Thrice, Amber Pacific, and Mustard Plug. Disc two revisits the storied history of Hopeless/Sub City, with essential (and oft-times rare) tracks from Guttermouth, the Queers, Against All Authority, Thrice, Avenged Sevenfold, and Dillinger Four, among many others. The bonus DVD includes cheap video thrills from most of the aforementioned bands as well as Scared of Chaka, the Weakerthans, and 88 Fingers Louie. It’s altogether a very cool package, lots of rocking audio and video for very little money, so what the hell are you waiting for? Go get it already! (Hopeless Records)

JEFF WATSON – Now Hear This One
The Reverend was never much of a Night Ranger fan back in the day. They were too commercial, too polished to be of real interest, much less to hold my attention beyond the opening chords of “Sister Christian.” Don’t hold his stint in Night Ranger against Jeff Watson, though – any guitarist that releases an album on Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records label is OK in my book. Judging from the tunes on Now Hear This One, Watson’s new “digital only” release on Universal’s UMe Digital label, there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Freed from the constraints of a purely commercial release, Watson has allowed his six-string muse to explore various styles of playing and musical genres on Now Hear This One, and the results are simply intoxicating.
    It helps Watson’s cause that he weaves intricate, hypnotic ‘60s-inspired jams like “Moment of Truth,” sounding like Quicksilver Messenger Service’s best psychedelic moments, or that he waxes ecstatic with muscular tracks like “Wander Lust” or “Simple Man.” Both songs would sound too cool on rock radio if such a thing still existed. Now Hear This One is a fine album for fans of rock guitar, AOR, and ‘60s-styled musical experimentation that you just can’t get anywhere else these days. Jeff Watson is an unheralded talent, often overlooked because of his success with Night Ranger. However, even a casual listen to Now Hear This One proves that there’s much more to Watson than his hit songs. You’ll find this one only in cyberspace, on iTunes, and other fine digital download services. (UMe Digital)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Against All Authority, Arctic Monkeys, Demiricous, Lacuna Coil, Mardo (May 2006)

May 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music…

AGAINST ALL AUTHORITY – The Restoration Of Chaos & Order
While many of their ideological brethren have fled the punk-rock playground in search of corporate sponsorship, respectability, and a pension plan, Against All Authority has done an admirable job of adhering to its D.I.Y. aesthetic. The Restoration of Chaos & Order doesn’t break any new ground, lyrically or musically, but for Warped Tour kidz whose only exposure to radical politricks comes from The Daily Show, this should hit ‘em like a typhoon.
    The disc reveals just enough skankin’ riddims to soften the band’s hardcore punk sound a bit in the face of an unrelenting barrage of blistering guitars and throbbing bass lines, every song displaying honest “rage against the machine.” AAA is unafraid to tackle issues like corporate greed, televised warfare, corrupt politics, and the homogenization of punk with a righteous anger earned by a decade of living right, and a defiance that hasn’t budged an inch in over a decade. “We turn it up ‘cause we like it loud,” indeed. (Hopeless Records)  

ARCTIC MONKEYS – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Arctic Monkeys, England’s hot shit simian rockers, were recently picked by UK audiences as the best…British…band…ever. Better than the Beatles, better than the Rolling Stones, better than the Who and the freakin’ Kinks! After listening to Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not tho’, I’d have a hard time placing the band ahead of even the Animals, tell ya the truth. Yeah, the Arctic Monkeys display an undeniable energy and a contagious “devil may care” attitude, and pop/rock workouts like “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor” and “Riot Van” prove these chimps are no mere loafish cads looking for a good time and a bit o’ notoriety. But in ten years time, if these trendy fops haven’t been lumped together with the brothers Gallagher and Mr. Cocker in the mid-tier ranks of Brit-pop history, I’ll gladly eat my fedora. (Domino Recording Company)

DEMIRICOUS – One (Hellbound)
There’s that magic moment on any classic heavy metal disc when the guitar strikes your eardrums like a freakin’ mutant bumblebee, poking a hole in your consciousness. The vocals become just another heavy riff hanging in your thoughts and the drums merge with your own rapid heartbeat. For Demiricous, on their debut disc One (Hellbound), that moments comes ‘round on song three, “Vagrant Idol.” If this toxic narcotic doesn’t blister and peel the skin from your bones and kick yer scrawny, Satan-lovin' ass back to hell, then you just haven’t turned the stereo up loud enough, chuckles! The rest of One (Hellbound) is ruled by a similar vibe, songs like “Repentagram,” “Ironsides” and “Cheat the Leader” serving up enough flame-thrower axework, demonic vocalese and galloping rhythms to put the average listener into a coma (or a rubber room). (Metal Blade Records)   

LACUNA COIL – Karmacode
Pipes like Christina Scabbia’s don’t come along but once or twice in a generation, so ‘tis a shame that Italy’s Lacuna Coil has been forced to play second fiddle, stateside, to Evanescence in the great Goth-metal sweepstakes. But while Ms. Lee and company verge on self-destruction due to scandals, betrayals and the benefits of rock stardom, Lacuna Coil has delivered the strongest effort of its career in Karmacode.
    Emphasizing more of the progressive elements of their sound and eschewing the pop-metal trappings of bands attempting to woo the mainstream, Lacuna Coil rocks hard on the wings of Scabbia’s incredible vocals. Although the diva’s vox put anything you’ll hear on American Idol to shame, the band’s technically-proficient musicianship, sense of space and theatrics, and its larger-than-life personality creates a sound that sticks in your mind long after the CD’s done playing on the stereo. Fans of Evanescence should trade up to the real deal while anybody that has a hard rock jones would do well to score a fix of Lacuna Coil. (Century Media Records)

MARDO – The New Gun
None of the current crop o’ revival kiddies trying to relive the boozy glory days of their grandparents can walk the ‘70s-styled cock-rock mambo line like the brothers Mardo. Weaned on mildew-crusted 45s by the likes of T-Rex, Slade, Sabbath, and Zeppelin, the band’s self-titled debut was a brilliant bit o’ retro rock. With this second shot at overnite success, it seems like a committee of advisors, consultants, image-shapers, and other ne’er-do-wells have chopped and screwed, flanged and wah-wah’d away the psyche-drenched booger-rock of Mardo’s debut in favor of a blatant grab at respectability. The money men behind the band smell a quick return on their investment and they’ve brought back producer Les Pierce to make sure that the boys play ball.
    It’s the jazzman that fumbles the pill this time out, though, cleaning the band up a little too much, injecting bits-n-pieces of balladry where there should be strutting, funk where there should be mindless riffing, and jazzy licks where there should be, well…more mindless riffing. The New Gun has its moments, tunes like “Lolita Live & Learn” displaying the Mardo of yore, the guys showing more chops than a Kobe chef. Far too often, however, they’re reduced to merely mimicking Bon Scott and AC/DC, or worse yet, Bret Michaels and Poison. It may grab them some airplay, but it sure won’t get them any respect. Better luck next time, boys... (House of Restitution)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Anti-Flag, The Kickbacks, Saga, Michael Sanders & One Nation Tribe, Wolfmother (June 2006)

June 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music...

ANTI-FLAG – For Blood and Empire
Since punk rockers are an argumentative bunch of boojies under any circumstances, I’m sure that the major label defection of indie hardcore stalwarts Anti-Flag has already been chewed over and spat out on dozens of chat rooms and message boards across the star-spangled ‘net. Maybe the Reverend is too old for this sort of hijinx, or maybe I just don’t give a damn. These ears honestly can’t hear much diff between For Blood and Empire, Anti-Flag’s controversial major label debut, and the three or four other AF CDs that rotate off my shelf and onto the music box from time to time. Let’s take a peek at some of AF’s new major label concerns, shall we? Anti-war? Check. Anti-racist? Check. Anti-corporate? Check. Anti-WTO, “Big Media,” and social injustice? Check, check, and checkmate.
    The music on For Blood and Empire still blisters and peels, the guitars cut all the way down to the bone, and frontman Justin Sane’s vocals still spit out venomous lyrics with an admirable fury. Is Anti-Flag signing with Sony BMG to reach a wider audience with its radical agenda any different than Bad Religion releasing albums through WEA? I say that Justin and crew should grab the cash and hightail it back to Steeltown before the Germans running RCA wake up and realize what they’ve done. In the meantime, all you young punx relax…Anti-Flag still kicks ass and For Blood and Empire is the balls. The Reverend sez so… (RCA Records)

THE KICKBACKS – Motel Stars
Is there room for intelligent music in today’s corporate environment? Probably not, but thank gawd that some bands still have the balls and brains and desire to crank out 90-proof rawk ‘n’ roll. Take, for instance, the Kickbacks. The Boston band’s fourth trip to the plate is an infectious and lively sonic brew of jangling, guitar-driven pop, gilded riff-happy rock, and enough twang to appeal to the Americana crowd. Motel Stars may tip the scales at a lightweight half-hour, but the album’s carefully constructed tunes hit your ears like ten perfectly-timed, three-minute jolts of electricity. Back in the day, once upon a time, in a land far away and all that rubbish, songs like the punchy “Lazy Eye,” the shimmering, dreamy “SSS,” and the wickedly delightful “Lethal Charm” would have been snapped up on 45rpm vinyl by music lovers and blasted by discriminating radio stations out of car radios across the fruited plains. In the modern world, however, where Sturgeon’s law* has been diluted by corporate greed and listener fatigue, the Kickbacks will have to rely on word of mouth and live performances to drive people to their page on CD Baby. It’s worth the trip, though, Motel Stars a long shot at rock stardom but a short walk to some of the highest quality pop-rock jams that your ears will ever enjoy. (Peeled Label Records)
         

SAGA – Trust
Canadian proggers Saga hit the racks this month with Trust, the band’s 17th album and, perhaps, their best effort yet. With thirty years under their creative belts, Saga stands as one of the original graybeards of the prog-rock genre, and with Trust they extend their already impressive rep with a solid collection of melodic rock that combines the best elements of AOR vibe with prog grandiosity. Mainstream critics, corporate hacks that wouldn’t know King Crimson from King Diamond (or King Missile), have pointed to instrumental doodlers such as Mars Volta or Coheed & Cambria as today’s progressive rock bands. Sez who? They should pull their heads (and ears) from their collective patoots!
    Those bands are fine, but if screeching axes alone made a prog-rock band, why isn’t Ted Nugent fronting the Flower Kings, eh? No, Saga is the real deal, the tunes on Trust a sturdy amalgam of perfectly blended, complex instrumentation (driven by guitar and synth/keyboards), imaginative lyrics, soaring vocals, and a musical chemistry that doesn’t happen by chance, but rather through hard work and plenty of nights spent on stage. These guys helped built the foundation for modern prog-rock; hopefully Trust will earn Saga their rightful place in the progressive pantheon. (Inside Out Music)

MICHAEL SANDERS & ONE NATION TRIBE – Servants of A Lesser God
Growing up in the shadows of Motown in London, Ontario, Canadian guitarslinger Michael Sanders may have been poor, but he soaked up some impressive musical influences. At first fronting the brutal hardcore cult band Dyoxen, Sanders later left Canada and made his way to LA to pursue his own unique musical vision. Sanders’ debut, Servants of A Lesser God, brings together a myriad of influences. Fronting the “One Tribe Nation,” a pick-up band of like-minded young talents and grizzled session pros like percussionist Luis Conte and vocalist Bernard Fowler, Sanders strikes with the stealth of a stage magician and the menace of a coiled rattlesnake.
    Servants of A Lesser God runs the gamut of hard rock, blues, jazz, funk, and Latin genres, all of them tied together by Sanders’ amazing six-string abilities. He reminds me a lot of a young Carlos Santana in tone and range, but Sanders aspires to achieve much more. The guitarist is not afraid to sit back and allow his band to fill in these songs with a joyful noise, resulting in the same sort of groundbreaking performances we heard back in the day from titans like Santana and Weather Report. Sanders & One Tribe Nation experiment with both style and sound, creating a satisfying multi-cultural stew and one breathtaking debut. (Esoterica Records)

WOLFMOTHER – Wolfmother
Yeah, so they sound like Led Zeppelin jamming with Black Sabbath in some sort of Jim Morrison wet dream. This is a bad thing, eh? Aussie shrimpboaters Wolfmother wax ecstatic with self-titled debut, pursuing their childhood dreams of a big boot beat and the endless, eternal riff. Yeah, we’ve all heard this sonic wind before, but for those of us who teethed on strats-n-stadium booger rock, Wolfmother is a blast of nostalgia so real you can smell the pot smoke. Besides, any argument about retro-sounds or the derivative nature of Wolfmother’s chosen milieu are ill-conceived and quite possibly stoopid. These songs rock with a fierce passion that trendier popcrit moozak-fantasies like Coldplay or the Arctic Monkeys will never muster in our lifetimes. God bless ‘em, but these boys really wish they were living their bell-bottom dreams back in ’73 (shudder). Slap “Woman” on the box and prepare to have your eardrums slapped back to yer high school daze. It’s just that damn good... (Interscope Records)

Archive Review: Reverend Gary Davis’s New Blues and Gospel (2011)

When hardcore, old-school blues music fans sit around and chew the fat, arguments usually evolve around the usual suspects – either Delta bluesmen like Charley Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson or influential, modern era Chicago blues pioneers like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Howlin’ Wolf. Even if the debate eventually turns towards the more folk-oriented Piedmont blues sound that emanated from the Carolinas and Georgia during the 1920s and ‘30s, legends like Blind Willie McTell and Blind Boy Fuller are usually the names discussed.

One name that is spoken in reverent, almost hushed tones is that of Reverend Gary Davis. A Piedmont blues guitarist originally hailing from South Carolina, Davis is often overlooked in the aforementioned discussions, but his influence is widespread and mighty powerful. His songs have been recorded by folkies like Dave Van Ronk, blues artists like Taj Mahal, and even rockers like the Grateful Dead, while his groundbreaking six-string style would inform that of such accomplished pickers as Ry Cooder, John Fahey, and even Davy Graham across the pond in England.

Reverend Gary Davis

A self-taught guitarist, while Davis himself was influenced by bluesmen like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Willie Johnson, he is also said to have had a major impact on the playing style of Blind Boy Fuller. Like many of his Piedmont contemporaries during the 1920s, Davis’s original sound was a lively mix of blues, ragtime, hokum, gospel, and even jazz styles, but after turning to the ministry in the late ‘30s, Davis leaned more towards spiritual and gospel material, often infusing the sacred with the profane influence of the blues, whether he meant to or not.

Davis first recorded in the 1930s but, dissatisfied with the money paid him, wouldn’t venture back into the studio for nearly 20 years. He moved to New York City in the 1940s, where he would undertake a street corner ministry, preaching and performing for passersby in Harlem. Davis would be “rediscovered” during the folk-blues boom of the late 1950s and ‘60s, and he performed and recorded regularly until his death in 1972, releasing material on a number of folk, blues, and jazz record labels like Prestige, Bluesville, Biograph, and Vanguard. For a man of the cloth, Davis could be awfully cagey, and in interviews he often contradicted himself or left questions about his past unanswered.   

New Blues and Gospel

Much like Davis’s lengthy career, the story behind the guitarist’s New Blues and Gospel LP is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Originally recorded for Arnold Caplin’s Biograph Records label, varying references claim that the album was released in 1968…or maybe 1971, which makes more sense when considering that blues historian Stephen Calt’s liner notes refer to Davis as 75 years old (he was said to have been born in 1896; you do the math). Regardless, this true-blue Sutro Park reissue slaps Davis’s timeless songs onto a thick slab of pristine 180-gram vinyl packaged in a sturdy cardboard sleeve with the album’s uber-cool original cover art on the front and Calt’s rambling notes, along with the album’s track list, on the rear.

New Blues and Gospel lives up to its advertising, the album’s ten songs displaying some of the gospel bluesman’s most accessible performances. Even at 75, Davis could swing his 12-string guitar like nobody else, out-picking pretenders like Jimmy Page with a deft, fluid hand while laying down some of the fieriest, sermon-on-the-mount vocals that you’ve ever heard. The LP leads off with the upbeat, distinctively Piedmont blues-styled “How Happy I Am,” a wonderful showcase for Davis’s spry finger-picked guitar style and soaring vocal style. With “I Heard the Angels Singing,” Davis veers more towards the spiritual side of his catalog, his somber vocal performance tempered by a darker, more intricate guitar line that is stunning and effective.

Davis’s “Samson and Delilah” is, perhaps, the best-known tune in his songbook, recorded by the folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary in 1962 for their chart-topping debut album. The Rev. Davis’s version remains without peer, however, and his performance of the time-tested song on New Blues and Gospel is joyous, transcendent, and mesmerizing, his voice leading the listener in one direction while his complex, busy guitar line embroiders the song with a zeal that veers in an entirely different direction. Another well-known chestnut in Davis’s repertoire is “Children of Zion,” on which the singer delivers a haunting vocal performance that is made all the more powerful by his carefully-crafted, dark-hued six-string soundtrack.       

Whistling Blues

Side two of New Blues and Gospel follows much the same well-traveled path as the first five songs, perhaps one of the best-known tunes here being “Sally, Where’d You Get Your Whiskey?” A rollicking Piedmont-styled blues story-song with a recurring riff (not dissimilar in nature to what Fred McDowell was creating Hill Country blues with in Mississippi at the time); Davis lays his gymnastic vocals atop the lively guitar licks. The traditional “Hesitation Blues,” popularized by W.C. Handy in 1915, may have originally been a spiritual number, and it has frequently been recorded in different versions by artists as diverse as Louis Armstrong, Jerry Garcia, Doc Watson, and the Holy Modal Rounders, among many others.

Davis’s take on the song displays a soft ragtime influence with its talking blues construct, the guitarist speaking rather than singing the seemingly stream-of-consciousness vocals while his busy fingers pick out an energetic melody. “Whistling Blues” is a similar talking blues tune, even more so, really, Davis delivering the song’s rambling story with vocals accompanied by both laid-back guitar passages and the odd squeals and screams of string-bending notes. The album closes out with “Lost John,” a traditional folk song that features Davis on harmonica rather than guitar, the mostly instrumental performance reminding of 1940s-era harpslingers like DeFord Bailey, Davis’s freight train chromatics punctuated by random hollers and whoops.       

“The Legendary” Reverend Gary Davis, as he’s billed on the cover of New Blues and Gospel, is a joyful and charismatic performer, a gospel-blues artist whose closest peer would probably be the great Blind Willie Johnson. Unlike Johnson, who certainly influenced Davis’s music, Davis himself would influence a generation of young white blues enthusiasts who would subsequently carry his music and message well into the future.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

New Blues and Gospel, for those who haven’t heard it, is an unexpected treasure, a fine introduction to the skills and charms of the good Reverend, and a bona fide classic of the gospel-blues genre. Even at 75 years old, Davis could still swing that hammer like nobody else, and contemporary guitarists could certainly learn something about melody, song construction, timing, and technique from this legendary, albeit frequently overlooked blues-cum-gospel performer. (Sutro Park Records, released ‎July 16th, 2011)

Review originally published by Blurt magazine

Buy the vinyl from Amazon: Reverend Gary Davis’s New Blues and Gospel

Remembering David Johansen, R.I.P.

Former New York Dolls front man and solo artist David Johansen passed away this week after a lengthy battle with various health issues. “David Johansen passed away peacefully at home, holding the hands of his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, in the sunlight surrounded by music and flowers,” his family posted on the Sweet Relief fundraising website. “After a decade of profoundly compromised health he died of natural causes at the age of 75.” A unique and charismatic performer, Johansen never quite received the commercial success his music would seem to demand, but his star continues to shine as young generation of rockers discover the infectious and energetic sound of the first two New York Dolls albums…

Born in Staten Island in 1950, Johansen was, in many ways, the quintessential New Yorker – brash, bold, and loud while performing, but with a reputation as friendly and engaging off stage. Johansen began performing in the late ‘60s, singing with a local band called the Vagabond Missionaries. Johansen later hooked up with guitarists Johnny Thunders and Rick Rivets, bassist Arthur Kane, and drummer Billy Murcia, forming the New York Dolls in 1971. Rivets was later replaced by Sylvain Sylvain, going on to form proto-punk outfit the Brats. The band members weren’t necessarily serious about the Dolls, but after developing a unique musical vision that placed them firmly on the ramshackle side of the Rolling Stones, the Dolls began to developing a loyal following via raucous performances at Max’s Kansas City and the Mercer Arts Center.

The New York Dolls

The Dolls were dismissed by record labels at the time as a less-talented version of the Stones; the band’s frequent onstage vulgarity and tongue-in-cheek penchant for cross-dressing ruffles some corporate feathers, to be sure. Critics first noticed the Dolls after they opened for the Faces in England in 1972, the band subsequently touring the U.K. Tragically, Murcia overdosed on alcohol and Quaaludes during the tour, the Dolls subsequently bringing in drummer Jerry Nolan, who would later join Thunders in the Heartbreakers. Thanks to support from rock critic and Mercury Records A&R man Paul Nelson, the band received a label deal and it was arranged for musician/producer Todd Rundgren to produce the band’s self-titled 1973 debut.

With original songs penned mostly by Johansen with either Thunders or Sylvain, tunes like “Personality Crisis,” “Trash,” and “Jet Boy” created a blueprint for punk rock to follow. A lively cover of Bo Diddley’s “Pills” was provided a similar proto-punk makeover. Given a meager budget to work with, the Dolls nevertheless delivered a rock ‘n’ roll classic; The New York Dolls album was recorded for a mere $17,000 (the bulk of which was probably Rundgren’s fee). The album was deemed a commercial failure, though, peaking at #116 on the Billboard album chart, but its econo-production costs meant that it likely still made money on its 100,000+ sales. Although it has been reported that the album has only moved around 500k copies to date, it’s a steady-seller year-to-year and has since become regarded as one of the most important debut albums of all time, influencing bands on both sides of the ocean like Kiss, the Ramones, the Smiths, the Sex Pistols, the Replacements, and the Damned among many others. Mercury Records must have seen some light at the end of the tunnel, as they approved a second Dolls album.

Recorded and released in 1974 with veteran producer George “Shadow” Morton (The Shangri-Las, Janis Ian, Vanilla Fudge) at the helm, Too Much Too Soon offered a mix of band originals (“Babylon,” “Who Are the Mystery Girls?,” “Chatterbox”) largely written by Johansen and Thunders, and inspired R&B covers like “Stranded In the Jungle,” “Don’t Start Me Talkin’,” and “(There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown.” Although Morton’s polished production smoothed out the band’s raw edges somewhat, critics like Dave Marsh and Robert Christgau were firmly in the Dolls’ corner; sadly, Too Much Too Soon sold less than 100k copies, but likely turned a profit as Mercury had the band lined up to record a third album. A U.S. tour in support of Too Much Too Soon turned into a disaster, with cancelled shows and increased drug and alcohol use by the band creating tensions. Subsequently dropped by Mercury, Thunders and Nolan left in 1975 to form the Heartbreakers, with Johansen and Sylvain carrying on for another year with substitute players before breaking up.

David Johansen In Style

Johansen launched his solo career with a self-titled debut album in 1978; produced by NYC ‘guy at all the best parties’ Richard Robinson along with Johansen, it was released by the CBS-distributed Blue Sky Records label associated with blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter and his manager, Manhattan club owner Steve Paul. The album included musical guests like Dolls’ guitarist Sylvain, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, singer Nona Hendryx, violinist Scarlet Rivera, and Rascals’ keyboardist Felix Cavaliere. Johansen’s critically-acclaimed sophomore effort, In Style, followed a year later; produced by former Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson, it featured guest musicians like Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) and Dan Hartman (Edgar Winter Group) as well as Johansen’s old friend Sylvain.

In Style didn’t sell particularly well, but the album yielded lasting songs like “Melody,” “Swaheto Woman,” and “She Knew She was Falling in Love.” Given another bite of the apple by Blue Sky, Johansen recruited South African musician Blondie Chaplin (who had played with the Beach Boys and Rick Danko of the Band) to produce Here Comes the Night. Released in 1981, Here Comes the Night saw Johansen working closely with Chaplin to craft a more commercial sound but, when the album peaked at #180 on the Billboard chart, Blue Sky cut him loose after releasing Live It Up in 1982. The energetic and entertaining live set displayed a portion of Johansen’s enormous onstage charisma on original songs like “Frenchette,” “Melody,” “Funky But Chic” and the Dolls’ tracks “Personality Crisis” and “Stranded In the Jungle,” the album scoring a Top 30 hit with a medley of the Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out of this Place,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “It’s My Life.”

Johansen signed with Passport Records for 1984’s overlooked Sweet Revenge LP which, like virtually all of the singer’s previous albums, received widespread critical acclaim along with modest sales. Johansen had already cooked up his third act, however – the pseudonymous ‘Buster Poindexter’ – a sort of R&B revue bandleader backed by the Uptown Horns. Performing an upbeat mix of pop, swing, jump blues, and novelty tunes, Johansen scored a Top 40 hit LP with 1987’s Buster Poindexter and its single “Hot Hot Hot.” Johansen appeared frequently on Saturday Night Live as part of the house band, and a video for “Hot Hot Hot” received heavy airplay on the MTV cable network. Johansen released four albums under the ‘Buster Poindexter’ persona circa 1987-1997, each exploring a different musical style.

Coaxed by longtime Dolls fan Morrissey of the Smiths to reunite for the 2004 Meltdown Festival in London, the performance by the surviving members of the band – Johansen, Sylvain, and Kane – led to a live album and DVD. Following Kane’s unexpected death of leukemia a few weeks after the festival, Johansen and Sylvain recruited guitarist Steve Conte, bassist Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks), drummer Brian Delaney, and keyboardist Brian Koonin to record the 2006 album One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This, which was followed by several festival appearances. This Dolls line-up also recorded 2009’s Cause I Sez So; 2011’s Dancing Backwards In High Heels proved to be the band’s swansong.

David Johansen & the Harry Smiths

Johansen channeled his longstanding love of blues and folk music with the Harry Smiths, a band formed with multi-instrumentalists Brian Koonin, Larry Saltzman, and Kermit Driscoll along with percussionist Joey Baron. Named after music historian Harry Smith, whose 1952 compilation of 1920s and ‘30s country and blues music, The Anthology of American Folk Music, inspired many an aspiring musician in the 1950s and ‘60s, Johansen and the Harry Smiths released two albums – 2000’s David Johansen & the Harry Smiths and 2002’s Shaker – comprised of whip-smart covers of timeless tunes by legends like Lightnin’ Hopkins, Furry Lewis, Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Sonny Boy Williams, songs that Johansen’s aging voice was more than world-weary enough to sing convincingly.

Over the years, Johansen also dabbled in acting, his expressive face and over-the-top personality leading to roles in the 1988 Bill Murray film Scrooged (as the ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’), Mr. Nanny, Freejack, and Car 54, Where Are You? as well as TV shows like Miami Vice, Oz, and Bill Murray’s Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas. Award-winning filmmaker (and fellow New Yorker) Martin Scorsese directed a documentary film on Johansen for the Showtime cable network, Personality Crisis: One Night Only, which was released in April 2023. Johansen also contributed songs to several compilation albums over the years, including 1984’s A Diamond Hidden In the Mouth of A Corpse, 1994’s September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill, 2003’s Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen, and 2005’s Jim White Presents Music From Searching For the Wrong-Eyed Jesus. He also hosted a weekly show for Sirius satellite radio called David Johansen’s Mansion of Fun.

After reading about the New York Dolls in Creem magazine – where they were honored with awards as both the “Best New Group of the Year” and “Worst New Group of the Year” in a reader’s poll – I quickly latched onto the first Dolls LP. While in high school, I’d be invited to parties at a former girlfriend’s house, knowing that I’d show up with a stack of records and, plied with a six-pack of beer, would gladly play DJ all night. As my classmates paired up and disappeared up a hill for extracurricular activities, I’d slap on the New York Dolls album…I got all the way through side one once before somebody came down the hill and demanded that I change the record to something like Billy Joel. I remained a steadfast Dolls fan ever since, and I’ve seen initial dismissal of the New York Dolls as low-rent clones of the Rolling Stones give way to acceptance as one of the most groundbreaking bands in rock ‘n’ roll history.

David Johansen may never have gotten rich, or even received anything more than a modicum of commercial success, but his work with the Dolls and his underrated solo albums continue to find new converts to this day. His music has influenced a heck of a lot of people, which is more than you can say about many of those that came before and after the Dolls. Johansen is a legend and his death makes the world of rock music far less interesting. R.I.P.

Archive Review: Robert Johnson’s The Centennial Collection (2011)

There are few musicians as legendary, as essential to the history of their genre as Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson is to the blues. Perhaps only Hank Williams (country), Elvis Presley (rock ‘n’ roll), and Charlie Parker (jazz) cast as long a shadow on their respective musical styles as does Johnson. It doesn’t hurt his legacy that a larger-than-life mythology has grown up around the enigmatic Delta bluesman, or that his life is largely shrouded in mystery, and that his youthful death at the age of 27 remains a subject of academic and historic controversy.

What is certain is that Johnson seemingly emerged out of nowhere as a great blues vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist that reportedly shook hands with the devil in a Faustian bargain to obtain his immense talents. Only two known photographs exist of the guitarist, and in spite of the general confusion about the specifics of Johnson’s life as a wandering blues troubadour, we know that in 1936 and 1937, Johnson made his way westward to San Antonio and Dallas, Texas to record 29 songs that were destined to change the course of blues music history.  

King of the Delta Blues Singers

Because of his itinerant ways, wandering from town to town across the southeast and performing in juke-joints and on street corners, Johnson experienced little commercial success during the brief six years (1932-38) that he plied his trade. Although he sometimes traveled with bluesmen like the younger Johnny Shines or Robert Lockwood, Johnson would disappear from an area for months, and his music had little impact, at the time, on but a few musicians that he had personal contact with like David “Honeyboy” Edwards.

In 1961, Columbia Records released King of the Delta Blues Singers on vinyl, the album representing the first modern-era release of Johnson’s performances. To say that the 16 songs included on the album had a major impact would be an understatement, King of the Delta Singers firing the imagination of young British musicians like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Keith Richards and others, jump-starting the British blues-rock boom of the 1960s. The album would have a profound effect on American musicians like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix as well, and would go on to be successfully reissued in various incarnations in the decades to come, including a second volume in 1970 with unreleased songs. Digging up every extant Johnson recording, Sony Music released The Complete Recordings as a two-disc set in 1990, earning the producers a Grammy™ Award and selling a truckload of copies.     

Robert Johnson’s The Centennial Collection

Robert Johnson – The Centennial Collection was released as a celebration of what would have been Johnson’s 100th birthday. Truth be told, Johnson only ever cut 29 original songs in his lifetime, with a handful of alternate takes pushing the number of performances up to 42, and The Centennial Collection differs from The Complete Recordings set only in sequencing and in slightly improved sound…to be honest, there’s only so much you can do when sourcing from antique 78rpm shellac recordings. Throw some interesting new liner notes from historians Ted Gioia and Stephen C. LaVere into a lavishly-illustrated CD booklet and you’ve accomplished putting a modern sheen on the same old songs…

These are some great old songs, however, regardless of the format in which they’re preserved. The Centennial Collection changes up the song sequencing somewhat and sticks the alternate takes at the end of each disc, behind the original versions, which makes for smoother listening in my mind. The improved re-mastering doesn’t seem compressed, and the songs are heard with a nice flow. The first CD, taken from the 1936 San Antonio sessions, offers up some of Johnson’s most popular material among its 16 songs, from the often-recorded “Kind Hearted Woman Blues,” which offers up sweetly warbled vocals and laid-back fretwork, to the blues standard “Sweet Home Chicago,” a spry stomp with soulful vocals and a vamping rhythm.

Hell Hound On My Trail

Johnson’s sly “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” with an incredible descending guitar riff, would later be re-worked into a hit by the Johnson-influenced slide-guitar master Elmore James, while the up-tempo rocker “Terraplane Blues,” the closest Johnson ever came to a hit song during his short career, is an overlooked gem in the bluesman’s catalog. The well-trodden “Cross Road Blues” loses not a lick of its emotional power due to familiarity, Johnson’s arcane tale as potent today as it was in 1936. “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day” is equally strong, Johnson sounding like Blind Willie Johnson with his apocalyptic lyrics, haunting vocals, and energetic guitarplay.   

The second CD of The Centennial Collection documents the 13 song, 1937 Dallas sessions and includes some of Johnson’s most moving and lasting work. Most notable, of course, is Johnson’s “Hell Hound On My Trail,” the singer’s chilling voice wrapped around darkly poetic lyrics, accompanied by imaginative fretwork. In the same vein, “Me and the Devil Blues” offers a taut performance, Johnson’s voice often rising to a spine-tingling high falsetto. “Love In Vain Blues” is another often-covered Johnson song, and here it’s delivered as an almost unbearable romantic lament. Some overlooked treasures came out of the Dallas sessions, like “I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man,” a tale of lonely life on the road, or “Little Queen of Spades,” Johnson’s vocals rising and falling from warble to falsetto while his guitar line incorporates familiar Delta blues patterns with contemporary jug band licks.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

 
There’s not much that can be said about Johnson’s life and these 29 original songs that hasn’t been rehashed and worn out by critics, academics, and historians for 50 years since the release of King of the Delta Blues Singers. If you don’t already have a copy of Johnson’s The Complete Recordings on your shelf, then get thee hence to a record store (or online) and get your copy of The Centennial Collection, the latest and greatest reissuing of these blues classics. These are the songs that modern blues and rock music were built on, and if you’re a blues fan and have never heard Robert Johnson, you’ve only been hearing half of the story. (Sony Legacy Recordings, released April 26th, 2011)

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Archive Review: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s Greatest Hits (1996)

There have always been blues guitarists on the fringe of pop music – a few of them great, most of them not quite so. By the late 1970s/early ‘80s, however, the blues had been eclipsed by rapidly changing currents in music. Punk, new wave, no wave, new romanticism, hardcore punk, disco, funk, punk funk...musical styles and trends were changing almost weekly during this period. A few dedicated artists kept the faith, faithfully working in the blues genre night after night in dirty little clubs in Memphis, in New Orleans, in Austin and elsewhere.

By 1983, with the musical world in flux, independent labels were providing a training ground for the stars of the ‘90s. College radio was making great inroads at breaking unknown “alternative” artists who played almost exclusively on a club level. Major labels had all but abdicated any effort at finding and signing original artists of any merit. It was into this vacuum that A & R great John Hammond stepped, unearthing one last musical jewel in what was already a lengthy and legendary career. Hammond had always loved the blues, and it was he who was to discover and bring to the world at large a young guitar wizard that had already created a buzz in his hometown of Austin, Texas: Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Vaughan was quite a find, a master technician who was capable of tearing down the boundaries between rock and the blues with some ease. He was a charismatic performer who, at his best, could mesmerize audiences as he brought his guitar to life on stage. Subsequent recordings could only attempt to capture the raw, primal energy and incredible talent that Stevie Ray brought to his art. Vaughan popularized the blues to a rock audience unlike any artist since his professed idol, Jimi Hendrix. Like Hendrix, Vaughan was a casualty of rock ‘n’ roll, dying in a fatal helicopter crash after a memorable performance alongside greats like Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and his brother Jimmie.

During his brief six year career, Stevie Ray, and his Double Trouble band released only a single live and four studio albums. It is a tribute to Vaughan, the artist, that the quality of his work was so high that this handful of albums has yielded so many memorable moments. As documented by the long-awaited Greatest Hits album, Stevie Ray was a true meat and potatoes artist, pouring every ounce of his talent into every performance. Choosing from so many Vaughan classics would be a daunting task for any producer, but Greatest Hits compiler Tony Martell does an admirable job, filling the disc with Vaughan standards like “Texas Flood,” “Pride and Joy,” and “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” Lesser known cuts like “Life Without You” or “Crossfire,” or covers like the Hendrix classic “Little Wing” or the Beatles’ “Taxman,” the collection”s lone unreleased cut. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more unreleased material; maybe on a second volume, eh?

The first time that I ever heard of Stevie Ray was from his brother Jimmie, a talented axeman in his own right. Hanging out backstage after a Fabulous Thunderbirds performance in Nashville, I complimented the older Vaughan on his skills with a six string. He replied with something along the lines of “hell, you think that I”m good, you should see my brother Stevie.” A couple of months later, I did get to see Stevie Ray play, shortly after the release of Texas Flood, his debut. A rowdy audience in the auditorium was silenced by the artist’s quiet dignity and enormous talent as Stevie Ray came out and played like the hellhounds of Robert Johnson’s nightmares were on his tail. Greatest Hits only reinforces this lasting impression I have of Vaughan, a great artist who conquered his own demons of addiction to forever influence the future of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s been five years since his death, and his absence is still strongly felt. No one will ever fill his shoes... (Epic Records, released 1996)
                
Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine

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Archive Review: Sam Cooke’s The Rhythm & the Blues (1996)

Sam Cooke is often forgotten during any discussion of the great R & B masters. Whether this is due to his late ‘50s break from the gospel tradition that nurtured him, and the resulting string of chart-topping pop hits that was to follow his entry into the secular music world, or due to the fact that Cooke worked outside of the soul factories of the era, R & B labels like Stax, Hi-Lo, and Atlantic that have their own passionate defenders; who can say. Either way, Cooke”s presence during the late 1950s and early ‘60s was immense, his recorded output magnificent, well deserving of another look.

The recently-released The Rhythm and the Blues is that long-awaited second look at Cooke’s vocal abilities. As pointed out in Cliff White’s extensive and appreciated liner notes, Cooke was a prolific singles songwriter, creating some of the most enduring moments that pop music has to offer. On album, however, which the conventional wisdom of the time declared must be aimed towards an adult audience, Cooke often forsook his own songwriting skills in favor of jazz and blues classics. It is from this background that The Rhythm and the Blues has been created.

The Rhythm and the Blues is primarily drawn from three early sixties Cooke albums: My Kind of Blues, the classic Mr. Soul, and Night Beat. Many of the cuts culled from these three discs showcase the kind of big band arrangement given R & B material in that day and time, with lush strings and sensual horns backing Cooke’s already formidable vocals. There’s little of anything really new and surprising to be found here for the long-time Cooke fan, although The Rhythm and the Blues stands well on its own as an introduction to the singer’s non-pop charting material.

Cooke’s wonderful vocal interpretation of classic gems like “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” or “Cry Me A River” – his voice swollen with passion, silky with soul – easily stand with the masters of the genre, serving to firmly place Sam Cooke’s name alongside the great performers of R & B, where it belongs. (Sony Legacy Recordings, released 1996)

Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine

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Archive Review: Various Artists - Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary box set (1995)

Living in suburban Nashville during the early ‘80s, my first exposure to rap music was what I read in Spin magazine, who were early champions of rappers like Schooley D and Kurtis Blow. At the time, I was more interested in the growing indie rock scene across the country, the hardcore punk sounding loud in Southern California and in the Music City’s first bands to be inspired by the changes occurring in rock. Rap music was, at the time, a largely urban phenomena, but at the urging of Spin, I sought out and grabbed 12” releases from folks like Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash.

By the time my short stint in the military had ended, mid-decade, rap was beginning to make waves in even the timid capital of country music and I was a big fan. “Big City” friends made during basic training turned me onto a whole slew of artists. About this same time, 1985 or so, Rick Rubin, along with local N.Y.C. music promoter Russell Simmons, formed Def Jam Records in order to promote their favorite rappers. A handful of successful single releases led to a distribution deal with Columbia Records. What has happened in the ten years since is a major part of rap and rock history.

Def Jam’s first national release was from James Todd Smith, a personable seventeen year old rapper with the street name LL Cool J. Hailing from Run DMC’s hometown of Hollis, Queens, Smith was part of Simmons’ Rush Productions stable of artists. LL Cool J’s “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” was an enormous success, the first major rap song to break through to a mainstream audience and the foundation upon which Def Jam’s success would be built, the label becoming a major music industry player and one of a handful of indie labels to bring rap to the mainstream masses.

The Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary collection chronicles the label’s history, culling material from throughout their decade of hits. The artists represented on the disc have helped shape rap into the commercial and critical force that it is today, stretching the genre’s musical boundaries, influencing subsequent generations of rappers and retaining rap’s popularity in the face of the ever-changing nature of popular music. The collection draws heavily from the works of its most popular and successful artists, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys, stretching 28 cuts from the trio across the 59-song, four CD collection. Other performers featured include Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, Onyx, EPMD, and Method Man, among others.

Some powerful moments from the history of rap are gathered together on the Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary set. LL Cool J’s hits “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and “Rock the Bells” are joined with influential, ground-breaking cuts like Public Enemy’s “Welcome To the Terrordome,” “Bring Tha Noize” (with Anthrax), and “Fight the Power.” The Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party,” along with its accompanying video, made the trio MTV favorites and successfully crossed hip-hop lyrics and style with punk attitude and a heavy metal soundtrack. More than just a mere rap label, Def Jam has also spawned hits from more soulful, R & B oriented artists like Montell Jordan, Warren G. and Oran “Juice” Jones, all of whom are also represented here.

With almost five dozen songs and over four hours of classic music (including a handful of bonus tracks recorded in 1995 exclusively for this collection), Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary is a marvelous document of the label’s history, and quite deserving of space on the shelf of any music lover or fan of rap. (While you’re out buying this set, you may want to drop by a bookstore and seek out a copy of Havelock Nelson and Michael A. Gonzales’ Bring The Noise, an integral guide to rap and hip-hop music that covers many of the Def Jam artists in depth). (Def Jam Records, released November 21st, 1995)

Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine