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)

Hot Wax: Can't Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney (2024)

The late David Olney was a superlative songwriter and a natural storyteller, capable of spinning tales with an imagination the equal of any novelist or poet. A Rhode Island native who landed in Nashville by way of North Carolina and Georgia, Olney and his band the X-Rays were early pioneers of the Music City’s bourgeoning late ‘70s rock scene, recording two albums for Rounder Records. Olney launched a solo career in the mid-‘80s that resulted in better than 30 studio and live albums, his last being 2021’s Whispers and Sighs, a posthumous collaboration with singer/songwriter Anana Kaye. Olney passed away of an apparent heart attack in January 2020 while performing onstage at the 30A Songwriter Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

Although Olney never received the commercial returns an artist of his talent deserved, he was well-respected by other artists and songwriters. Musical legends like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Del McCoury, and Linda Rondstadt thought enough of his skills as a wordsmith to record Olney songs like “If My Eyes Were Blind,” “Women Cross the River,” and “Jerusalem Tomorrow” while talents such as John Hiatt, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt considered him a peer. As Olney told me in an interview for my 2012 book The Other Side of Nashville, “I used to be pissed-off about not being more famous. But I got to see the world in an intimate kind of way, and that’s OK.”    

Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney

It’s been almost five years since Olney’s death and he’s been provided an honor afforded few of even the most commercially-successful of his contemporaries – a bona fide tribute album. Released by Americana label New West Records, Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney compiles 17 of Olney’s tunes on four sides of vinyl (also available on CD), performed by folks like Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Dave Alvin, Mary Gauthier, and Willis Alan Ramsey. Olney makes an appearance himself with the eerie, previously-unreleased “Sonnet #40,” while Executive Producer Gwil Owen, a longtime friend of Olney’s, dug up a vintage, unreleased live recording of Townes Van Zandt performing Olney’s “Illegal Cargo” in 1977 in Chapel Hill NC.

Although Olney is usually pigeonholed as a country or folk artist, as I wrote in my review of his 2014 album When the Deal Goes Down, “much like Van Zandt, Olney brings country and folk influences to his songs, but he also imbues his performances with a punk-rock intensity and attitude.” In truth, Olney brought whatever tool he needed – country, folks, blues, rock – to crafting his songs. Can’t Steal My Fire opens with Lucinda Williams’ take on Olney’s “Deeper Well,” the title track of his 1988 album for Rounder Records. Williams is a kindred spirit, a fellow musical outsider who has tasted fleeting success, and an incredible vocalist. When she sinks her teeth into a performance like she does here on “Deeper Well,” she transforms the song, this time into a powerful Delta blues dirge, her haunting vocals supported by Stuart Mathis’s otherworldly guitar playing. It’s an electrifying reminder of what a singer like Williams can do with an already great song.

By contrast, Olney’s longtime friend Steve Earle applies his own considerable vocal talents to “Sister Angelina,” a standout track from 1992’s Border Crossing album. A folkish ballad with Mexican instrumental flourishes, Earle’s nuanced performance is boosted by Jeff Hill’s engaging and exotic fretwork. It’s a gorgeous song, done right by Earle. The McCrary Sisters – unknown to me before now – take “Voices On the Water,” co-written by Olney with Gwil Owen, and apply a Gospel fervor to their performance, magnifying the lyrics and raising a joyous noise. Buddy Miller doesn’t so much interpret “Jerusalem Tomorrow” as much as he moves in and inhabits the song with a strong spoken/sung performance that focus more on the song than the singer.

David Olney 2019, photo by Scott Housley

If My Eyes Were Blind

The Steeldrivers open side two of Can’t Steal My Fire, bringing a bluegrass fury to “If My Eyes Were Blind,” also from Deeper Well. The band weaves elegant instrumentation around Olney’s poetic lyrics, creating a lush soundscape that perfectly captures Olney’s emotional original. Acclaimed Texas singer/songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey brings a bit of whimsy to his performance of “Women Across the River,” his atmospheric vocals accented by Tammy Rogers’ lovely mandolin and fiddle-play. Louisiana folkie Mary Gauthier brings a minimalist Southern Gothic vibe to “1917,” from 1999’s Through A Glass Darkly. Although she’s accompanied by subtle and subdued instrumentation, her vocals are simply mesmerizing, drawing your focus to the story so that everything else falls away.

Americana legend Jimmie Dale Gilmore kicks of the album’s third side with “If It Wasn’t For the Wind,” a co-write with Joe Fleming from Olney’s first solo LP, 1986’s Eye of the Storm. Gilmore applies his warm, high-lonesome vocals to the winsome ballad, imbuing the song with a dreaminess that is punctuated by Warren Hood’s fiddle and guitarist Rich Brotherton’s lovely guitarplay. Olney collaborated with young singer/songwriter Anana Kaye and her musician husband Irakli Gabriel on Whispers and Sighs and they return the favor with an inspired performance of “Running From Love,” Kaye’s breathless vocals adding an urgent sensuality to the lyrics while guitarist Joe McMahan fiery leads lead the song to blues-rock territory. “That’s My Story,” from one of Olney’s more obscure albums, 1991’s Top To Bottom, is provided a talking blues-styled reading by folkie Greg Brown, who brings a Tom Waits vibe to the offbeat, absurdist story.

Olney’s “Sonnet #40” is equally bizarro, a short, shocking spoken-word vamp with Olney’s studio-altered vocals accompanied by jazzy instrumentation and lyrics that surprise. Afton Wolfe is another artist unfamiliar to these ears, but his high-energy, hard-rockin’ version of “Titanic” is as steely as its namesake’s hull. With gritty vocals driven to madness by McMahan’s metallic fretwork, it’s a dino-stomp in a league with Sabbath or Zeppelin. Dave Alvin digs all the way back to the X-Rays’ 1981 album Contender for “Steal My Thunder,” the Americana pioneer transforming the song into a bluesy roots-rocker with help from the Rick Holmstrom Trio. Jim Lauderdale brings a honky-tonk authenticity to “Delta Blue,” complete with enchanting Dobro and fiddle. The aforementioned Townes Van Zandt performance of “Illegal Cargo” closes out Can’t Steal My Fire. Another great song from Deeper Well, what this 1977 live recording lacks in sonic quality it more than makes up for with pathos and sincerity.        
 

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

I was privileged to have known David Olney, and to have seen him perform a number of times – more than enough to stand in awe of the man and his music. A singular talent, Olney’s skills as a lyrical storyteller are unequalled in popular music, and his ability to perfectly capture the human condition in the unyielding amber of song is his legacy. As shown by the 17 songs on Can’t Steal My Fire, Olney was a hell of a wordsmith, and it’s because his work drew so deeply from the entirety of American music that it is truly timeless and open to endless interpretation. Can’t Steal My Fire provides a wonderful introduction to David Olney, and will motivate more than a few first-time listeners to dig into his rich and varied catalog of music…for which they’ll be suitably rewarded. Grade: A+ (New West Records, released August 27th, 2024)

Buy the album from Amazon: Can’t Steal My Fire: The Songs of David Olney

Also on That Devil Music: Gwil Owen talks about David Olney & the Can’t Steal My Fire LP

The Reverend’s tribute to Olney on the Rock and Roll Globe website

Archive Review: Dave & Phil Alvin’s Common Ground (2014)

It would be pretty safe to say that without legendary bluesman Big Bill Broonzy, the sound of Chicago blues – and all of blues music, really – would be vastly different than it is today. A country bluesman with roots in Mississippi and Arkansas, Broonzy served his country during World War I. When he returned home he found that farming no longer held any interest and, relocating to Chicago, he started a life in music. Broonzy would become a popular bluesman, talented songwriter and guitarist, and a prolific recording artist as well as an important catalyst in the evolution of the country blues sound into big city urban blues during the 1940s and ‘50s.

Through the years, Broonzy performed in country blues, ragtime, hokum, R&B, and folk blues styles and wrote for, performed and recorded with talents like Memphis Minnie, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, and Tampa Red. His kindness was legendary, and he helped Southern immigrants to the Windy City like Muddy Waters get a toehold in the city, arranging gigs and recording sessions for the newcomers. It is Broonzy’s influence on blues and rock music that is most keenly felt, however, not just on Chicago bluesmen like Waters and Buddy Guy, but also on young rock guitarists like Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, among many others.    

Dave & Phil Alvin’s Common Ground

Two young musicians that Broonzy influenced were brothers Dave and Phil Alvin. Growing up in Downey, California in the 1960s, the brothers shared a love of music. As Dave Alvin remembers in the liner notes to Common Ground, Broonzy’s music was a revelatory discovery for the two teenagers, an artist that remains their musical touchstone to this day. The brothers would go on to form the Blasters in 1980, the band recording a handful of critically-acclaimed albums featuring a high-octane blend of roots-rock, rockabilly, blues, and R&B that found an appreciative audience on the Southern California punk rock scene. The band called it quits by the end of the decade, though, with Dave Alvin launching an acclaimed solo career in much the same musical vein as that of his former band that is still winning the artist accolades today.   

Part of the reason for the break-up of the Blasters was the notoriously combative relationship between the two brothers. As Dave has been quoted as saying, “we argue sometimes, but we never argue about Big Bill Broonzy.” It is the brothers’ shared love of the revered blues legend that brought them back together in the studio for the first time in nearly 24 years to record Common Ground. Credited to Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin, and subtitled “Play and Sing The Songs of Big Bill Broonzy,” Common Ground is exactly that – a heartfelt tribute to Broonzy by a couple of musicians that felt his influence at an early age.   

The Songs of Big Bill Broonzy

Broonzy was a gifted songwriter, so there was no dearth of material for the brothers to choose from, and it’s a credit to Broonzy’s talents that the Alvin’s duplicate only two songs from Muddy Waters’ tribute to his mentor, the 1960s album Sings Big Bill Broonzy. The album opens with the jaunty “All By Myself,” an upbeat ragtime-styled romp that features the brothers’ shared vocals and Dave’s elegant National steel guitar. If not for the modern recording technique, the performance might be mistaken for an old slab o’ 78rpm shellac, the brothers playing it straight and having a ball with their careful interpretation of the song. “I Feel So Good” differs from the aforementioned Waters’ rendition, skewing closer to Broonzy’s courtesy of Gene Taylor’s light-fingered piano-play and drummer Lisa Pankratz’s lively percussion. It’s a swinging tune, and tailor-made for Phil’s yelping vocals.

In contrast to the pair of openers, “Southern Flood Blues” rocks like a juke-joint Saturday night, with Dave’s wiry electric guitar licks and ominous vocals punctuated by Phil’s mournful blasts of harp. It’s a fine performance, the song’s disturbing lyrical tale emphasized by the strength of the instrumentation. It’s probably the furthest the brothers get from Broonzy’s original intent, sounding more like a long-lost Blasters’ outtake, but it’s also entirely appropriate. “Big Bill’s Blues,” one of Broonzy’s first recorded sides, returns to a country blues sound, the performance fueled by Phil’s wonderful heartbreak vocals and Taylor’s lonesome piano runs.

Key To The Highway

Since first recording the song in 1941, Broonzy’s “Key To the Highway” has become a blues standard, recorded not only by blues legends like Waters, Little Walter, and John Lee Hooker but also by rockers like Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos and the Rolling Stones. The Alvins’ reading of “Key To the Highway” is a country-styled blues tune capturing the spirit of the original with Dave’s engaging National steel play and Phil’s friendly harp and acoustic guitar. The jazz-flecked “Tomorrow” is another one of those songs perfectly suited to Phil’s soulful twang, and his vocals here swing on one of Broonzy’s better R&B tunes. Taylor’s hands dance across the keyboard and bassist Brad Fordham holds a steady rhythm while Dave lays down a hearty solo that fits in perfectly with the other instrumentation.

“Just A Dream” is the other Broonzy tune recorded in tribute by Muddy Waters, and the brothers Alvin hew closely to Waters’ electric Chicago blues styled romp here. Phil’s vocals are lower and slower, perfectly capturing the moment as Taylor does his best Otis Spann imitation, Dave layers in some fine, fuzzy fretwork, and Phil adds dashes of energetic James Cotton-styled harmonica. The brothers share vocals again on the underrated Broonzy gem “Stuff They Call Money,” Taylor’s piano tinkling low in the mix beneath the hearty rhythmic play of Fordham’s bass and Pankratz’s drums, with blasts of icy harp underlining the song’s insightful social commentary. The instrumental “Saturday Night Rub” is a perfect showcase for the brothers’ intertwined guitarplay – Dave on the steel, Phil on acoustic – while the Fordham/Pankratz rhythm section rides along. It’s a joyous performance and an appropriate choice to close out the album.  
 

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

What’s not to like about Common Ground? It’s the first album from Dave and Phil Alvin together in two decades, and for an old Blasters fan such as myself, that’s like manna from heaven. Plus, these are Big Bill Broonzy songs, so it’s hard to go wrong. The brothers are obviously familiar with the material, and not only bring a reverence to their performances, but also a playfulness that is completely in the spirit of the late blues legend.

There are tribute albums where it’s obvious the performers are going through the motions for a payday, the publicity, or the cache of being associated with a project considered “hip.” Then there are great tribute albums where the contributors truly love the artist and songs they’re honoring and they juice up their performances with passion and energy…Common Ground is one of those kind of albums, a tribute that truly lets the music do the talking. Get it! (Yep Roc Records, released June 3, 2014)

Buy the CD from Amazon: Dave & Phil Alvin’s Common Ground

Short Rounds: Dave Alvin, Blue Öyster Cult, Shemekia Copeland, Coyote Motel, The Fleshtones, Little Richard, Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, Midnight Oil, The Pretty Things, Walter Trout & Brown Acid

New album releases in 200 words or less…

Dave Alvin – From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (Yep Roc Records)
This “odds ‘n’ sods” collection of rare, unreleased, and barely-released songs by Americana pioneer Dave Alvin stands with any of the artist’s albums due to his talent and passion. Offering the listener every shade of American music, from acoustic and electric blues to country, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll, Alvin mixes original songs with those written by friends like Peter Case and Chris Smithers as well as tunes by musical idols like Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan, and Willie Dixon. There’s really no ‘hard sell’ needed here – if you’re already a fan of Alvin’s charms as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist then you’re going to pick up From An Old Guitar no matter what I write. But whether it’s the energy provided a spry reading of “Highway 61,” the heartbreaking cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Amanda,” or the exciting, electrifying guitar-play of “Variations on Earl Hooker’s Guitar Rumba,” Alvin knows his way around a song. Originals like the swinging, bluesy romp “Albuquerque” or the country blues-flavored instrumental “Krazy and Ignatz” display other facets of Alvin’s immense skills. A true legend of American music, the performances documented by From An Old Guitar are a welcome addition to an often-varied, always-impressive Dave Alvin catalog. Grade: A   BUY!

Blue Öyster Cult – The Symbol Remains (Frontiers Records)
BOC’s first studio album since 2001’s Curse of the Hidden Mirror was pronounced ‘D.O.A.’ has been hailed by many critics as a “return to form,” but is it really? The 1970s/’80s-era Blue Öyster Cult is long gone, although the (arguably) two most important old guys remain – guitarist Buck Dharma and singer Eric Bloom – backed by a longtime touring band with chops honed to a razor edge by a thousand nights on the road. So, The Symbol Remains offers a new sort of BOC sound, the guitar-driven slab o’ granite released by Italian hard rock specialists Frontiers Records. Whether there’s a market for this sort of rock ‘n’ roll two decades into the new millennium is beside the point, as aging fans will eat up the jagged power-pop of “Box In My Head” or the haunting Goth-metal palace intrigue of “The Alchemist.” All 14 tunes here are originals, written, co-written, sliced & diced with collaborators like musician/cyberpunk author John Shirley and rockcrit legend Richard Meltzer. The results are a crazy-quilt of ‘70s-inspired classic rock with a contemporary sheen. Dharma’s guitar cuts like a knife, the vocals-by-committee approach works, and the album rocks. Hard. What more could a po’ boy ask for? Grade: B   BUY!

Shemekia Copeland – Uncivil War (Alligator Records)
Returning to Nashville to record a follow-up to her award-winning 2018 album America’s Child, blues singer Shemekia Copeland is working again with producer, songwriter, and musician Will Kimbrough, who collaborates with Copeland’s longtime creative foil, John Hahn, to put together a helluva slate of songs for the talented singer. Musicians like guitarists Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jason Isbell, Steve Cropper, Duane Eddy, Webb Wilder, and Kimbrough himself as well as steel-guitar maestro Jerry Douglas and mandolin wizard Sam Bush add to the bluesy gumbo that is Uncivil War. Make no mistake, though – this is Copeland’s show, and her confident, inspired vocals make for transcendent performances. The blues-gospel title track is a gem with heavenly vocals grounded by Douglas’s dobro and Bush’s mandolin while “Walk Until I Ride” is a gospel-tinged treasure with Copeland’s soulful vocals displaying a powerful defiance in the face of discrimination. The wonderful “Dirty Saint” displays a nuanced New Orleans mojo in tribute to the late Dr. John and “Apple Pie and A .45” is a devastatingly powerful blues-rock dirge. Copeland doesn’t ignore straight blues here, as the smoky “In the Dark” will attest, Copeland proving once again that she’s among the best the blues has to offer. Grade: A+   BUY!

Coyote Motel – Still Among the Living (Dolly Sez Woof Records)
I’ve heard enough of ‘em over the past 50 years that it’s a rare live disc that really makes me wish that I’d been at a particular show. As for actually going to shows anymore, I’ve paid my dues several hundred times over in clubs with bad air, muddy sound, and overpriced beer. After listening to Coyote Motel’s Still Among the Living, documenting a February 2020 performance at The 5 Spot in Nashville, damn if I don’t wish that I’d been there that night. Pursuing what he calls “cosmic roots music,” musician and scribe Ted Drozdowski leads Coyote Motel through songs from their self-titled 2019 debut, offering a unique hybrid of blues, rock, and roots music. The guitarist imbues opener “Still Among the Living” with otherworldly fretwork and haunting vocals while Luella Melissa Mathes’ ethereal vocals offer a nice counterpoint to Drozdowski’s wiry vox, taking a song like the devastating “The River” into a higher dimension. An appearance by jazz legend Stan Lassiter on the classic “Tin Pan Alley” compliments Drozdowski’s scorched-earth approach to the song. Overall, Still Among the Living captures a truly electrifying performance by a talented band as scary as the wrong end of a .44 revolver. Grade: A   BUY!  

The Fleshtones – Face of the Screaming Werewolf (Yep Roc Records)
Although I found the band’s previous album (2016’s The Band Drinks For Free) somewhat tepid (by the Fleshtones’ lofty standards), I’m happy to say that your fave “super rock” garage band is back in the groove with the rowdy Face of the Screaming Werewolf. Released on CD and vinyl for this year’s third Record Store Day “drop” in October, the album is the rock ‘n’ roll tonic we need for 2020. Featuring Keith Streng’s stellar fretwork, Peter Zaremba’s haunted vocals, and lusty, deep-throated bass drums, the title track will have you hiding under the bed from monsters, but tapping your toes nonetheless. The tribute “Alex Trebeck” takes on a new look with the beloved TV host’s recent death, pairing erudite lyrics with a throwback ‘60s rock vibe (trembling guitars and jangly rhythms) for a respectful homage. Much of the rest of Werewolf offers different shades of guitar-happy, reckless rhythm rawk, from the harmonies of “Child of the Moon,” which reminds of the Stones’ “We Love You,” to the Kinks-styled buzz and hum of “You Gotta Love, Love,” the Fleshtones leave no tasty musical stone unturned, putting their own signature on nearly 60 years of rock ‘n’ roll cheap thrills. Grade: A   BUY!

Little Richard – Southern Child (Omnivore Recordings)
Signed to Reprise Records in 1970, Little Richard decided that his third effort for the label would be a country album. After all, if Ray Charles could pull it off, so could the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. The result – 1972’s Southern Child – was produced by longtime friend Robert “Bumps” Blackwell and featured a brace of original songs…and it was promptly shelved by Reprise until finally appearing as part of a 2005 box set. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think that if the label had released the album, it may have gotten some traction. As shown by Omnivore’s CD reissue of this lost gem, Mr. Penniman sings country as effortlessly and with the same charisma as he does rock, soul, and gospel. Some of the material – notably “Burning Up With Love” or “California (I’m Comin’)” – are really just rockin’ soul tunes with a bit of added twang. But others, like the slow-rolling “Ain’t No Tellin’” or the raucous title track certainly could have found a home on country radio in the pre-playlist days of the early ‘70s. Altogether, Southern Child is a successful experiment in style, Little Richard proving (again) that he was the best at whatever he chose to do. Grade: B+   BUY!  

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – Live At the Roundhouse (Legacy Recordings)
I had my doubts about Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason reliving his glory days with live performances of the band’s classic psych-era tunes, but my fears were erased soon after slapping this sucker on the turntable. Mason does his old mate Syd justice with Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets and their Live At the Roundhouse album and concert film. Documenting performances from two nights in May 2019 at the historic Roundhouse in London, England, Mason’s talented band rip and roar through almost two-dozen tracks that pre-date Floyd’s commercial ‘monsterpiece’, Dark Side of the Moon. Mason’s band includes former Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, guitarists Gary Kemp and Lee Harris, keyboardist Dom Beken, and Mason himself on the cans; they honed these songs with theatre dates across North America, Europe, and the U.K. The musical chemistry shows, gems like “See Emily Play,” “Arnold Layne,” and “Saucerful of Secrets” hewing close enough to the originals to please the hardcore faithful but offering enough originality to entertain any classic rock fan. FYI, the vinyl packaging is gorgeous, a cardboard slipcase with a cut-out revealing the colorful gatefold double-LP cover beneath, the two albums sheathed in full-color paper sleeves and thick slabs o’ vinyl. Also available as a double-CD set with concert DVD…buy ‘em both! Grade: A-   BUY!

Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project (Sony Music Australia)
The first full-length studio album from Australian rock legends Midnight Oil since 2002’s Capricornia, The Makarrata Project is a special collaboration, a meeting of minds whose ponderous description may scare off the casual listener (and even a few hardcore fans). Don’t buy into the ignorance – The Makarrata Project is every bit a Midnight Oil album, from Peter Garrett’s stunning vocals and Jim Moginie’s razor-sharp fretwork to the thunderous rhythms of bassist Bones Hillman and drummer Rob Hirst. Where it differs from the usual politically-charged Midnight Oil joint is its worthy cause and inclusion of indigenous voices from ‘First Nation’ artists like Jessica Mauboy, Alice Skye, Tasman Keith, Sammy Butcher, Frank Yamma, and others. So, you get some spoken word passages, tribal chants, and other singers, all united in service of the ‘Uluru Statement of the Heart’ which, basically, calls for Constitutional power and protection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. It’s a powerful use of rock ‘n’ roll for social change, and the band is donating its royalties (matched by Sony) from the album to organizations seeking to elevate the Uluru Statement. Midnight Oil has always “walked the walk;” with The Makarrata Project, they’ve upped the stakes. (Bones Hillman, R.I.P. November 2020) Grade: A   BUY!     

The Pretty Things – Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood (Madfish Music)
The final recording from these British rock legends is pretty much a collaboration between Pretty Things founders Phil May and Dick Taylor, with occasional instrumental contributions from friends and fellow bandmates. An acoustic collection of blues, rock, and folk music that places an emphasis on May’s expressive, soulful vocals and Taylor’s deft fretwork, Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood masterfully blends songs like the PT’s George Woosey’s haunting title track or Will Varley’s “To Build A Wall,” which features May’s gorgeous, fragile vocals with traditional blues tunes by Robert Johnson (“Come Into My Kitchen”) and Willie Dixon (“I’m Ready”), the likes of which the PTs cut their teeth on five decades ago. A cover of folk songwriter Gillian Welch’s hillbilly dirge “The Devil Had A Hold of Me” displays another facet of May’s immense talent while Sheryl Crow’s “Redemption Song” benefits from May’s nuanced vocals and Taylor’s elegant guitar playing. Tragically, May’s death earlier this year ends the 55-year musical partnership between the singer and guitarist but, as swan songs go, Bare As Bone is a hell of a note to go out on. Grade: A+   BUY!

Walter Trout – Ordinary Madness (Provogue Records)
The blues-rock maestro returns with Ordinary Madness, a quick follow-up to 2019’s critically-acclaimed Survivor Blues. There are no signs of rush recording here or a drop-off in song quality, though – the guitarist’s tone, tenor, and tenacity have never been fiercer. The title track is a smoldering jam with gorgeous guitar and lyrics that barely hide their menace. The production on “Wanna Dance” (by longtime Trout collaborator Eric Corne) is spectacular, lush tones and power chords pumping up the instrumentation, underlining Trout’s mournful vocals; forty years ago, this would have been a chart-topper. Much of Ordinary Madness follows the same blueprint – electrifying blues-rock with scorching guitar, soulful vox, and a stout backing band. Trout’s guitar talents often overshadow his vocals, which are displayed nicely on the ballad “My Foolish Pride,” Walter capable of expressing great emotion. “The Sun Is Going Down” may be the best performance of Trout’s lengthy career, Robert Johnson’s hellhounds picking up the scent again, the guitarist facing the passage of time with unflinching defiance. Since his near-death experience six years ago, Walter Trout has been making the best music of his life, Ordinary Madness an album so good that I bought it twice (on CD and vinyl!). Grade: A+   BUY! 

Various Artists – Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip (Riding Easy Records)
The folks at RidingEasy Records scour the back rooms, under-the-shelf crates, and other dark record store crevasses to find the most far-out psychedelic garage-rock cheap thrills possible and slap ‘em on vinyl as part of their “Brown Acid” series of rock ‘n’ roll obscurities. One would think this well-trodden turf to be mined out, what with all those Nuggets, Pebbles, and Back From the Grave compilations clogging up the shelves, but here’s Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip with ten more roller-coaster time machine trips circa 1969-1977. Like every LP of this kind, there are hits and misses – some 7” wax should remain lost– so I’ll only mention the winners. Adam Wind’s “Something Else” is a cool psych-blues jam with flanged guitars while Grump’s “I’ll Give You Love” is a raucous R&B rave-up with swirling instrumentation. Larry Lynn’s “Diamond Lady” is a slab o’ guitary blues-rock with prog tendencies, old faves Zendik deliver a shimmering bit of chaotic hard rock, and West Minist’r offer a red-hot, Brit-sounding rocker. Kudos also to Debb Johnson for a brassy, soul-blues romp. Since six outta ten ain’t too shabby a batting average, I’ll happily recommend The Eleventh Trip for any fan of old school-dropout psych-cum-garage-rock. Grade: B   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:

Short Rounds, October 2020: Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite, The Hangfires, Kursaal Flyers, Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Toots & the Maytals, Crawling Up A Hill

Short Rounds, May 2020: The Burrito Brothers, Richie Owens & the Farm Bureau, Webb Wilder, Lucinda Williams & X

Short Rounds, April 2020: Datura4, Dream Syndicate, Drivin’ N’ Cryin, Bryan Ferry, Game Theory & Supersuckers

Short Rounds, March 2020: The Bluefields, Dave Clark Five, Marshall Crenshaw, Gwil Owen, Gary Moore & Watermelon Slim

New Music Monthly: November & December 2020 releases

It's the end of 2020 (thank Crom!) and new music releases begin to slow to a trickle over the next couple of months. That's not to say that there won't be some rad new tunes for us to chew on, though! Check out new albums by folks like Jules Shear, blues guitarist extraordinaire Duke Robillard, the Avalanches, and the Drive-By Truckers. If that's not enough, how about vinyl reissues of a classic pair of albums by Pylon, long-lost live sets by Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and John Lee Hooker, and archival collections from Dave Alvin and former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips to whet yer whistle?

Release dates are probably gonna change and nobody tells me when they do. If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy! If you're boycotting Amazon and don't have an indie record store close by, may we suggest shopping with our friends at Grimey's Music in Nashville? They have a great selection of vinyl available by mail order, offer quick service, and if you don't see what you want on their website, check out their Discogs shop!

NOVEMBER 6
John Lee Hooker - Live At Montreux 1983 & 1990 [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Pylon - Chomp [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Pylon - Gyrate [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
SVT - Always Come Back [No Regrets w/bonus tracks]   BUY!
The Uptones - Get Outta My Way   BUY!

NOVEMBER 13
The Cribs - Night Network   BUY!
Bob Marley - Uprising Live [3-LP vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Jules Shear - Slower   BUY!
Swans - Children of God [CD & vinyl reissue]   BUY!

NOVEMBER 20
Dave Alvin - From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings   BUY!
Cabaret Voltaire - Shadow of Fear   BUY!
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Live In Maui [2-CD/Blu-Ray]   BUY!
Duke Robillard & Friends - Blues Bash!   BUY!

NOVEMBER 27
Jon Anderson - Song of Seven   BUY!
Hatebreed - Weight of the False Self   BUY!
Anthony Phillips - Missing Links I-IV [5-CD box set]   BUY!
Smashing Pumpkins - Cyr   BUY!
Various Artists - The Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music 1969-70 [3-CD set]   BUY!

DECEMBER 4
George Thorogood & the Destroyers - Live in Boston, 1982: The Complete Concert [CD & vinyl reissue]  BUY!
The White Stripes - Greatest Hits   BUY!

DECEMBER 11
The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You  BUY!
Osees - Panther Rotate  BUY!
The Ready-Mades - San Francisco: Mostly Live 

DECEMBER 18
Kevin Godley [10cc] - Muscle Memory   BUY!
The Drive-By Truckers - The New OK   BUY!

Album of the Month: The Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music 1969-70 is a three-disc set commemorating the 50th anniversary of the historic festivals, held in June 1969 and 1970 and promoted by Freddy Bannister. One of the earliest such events in the U.K. these two festivals featured performances by talents like Ten Years After, Blodwyn Pig, Taste, (early) Fleetwood Mac, Donovan, Steppenwolf, John Mayall, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, the Byrds, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, and many more! The standard three-CD set offers 35 stellar performances culled from the two festivals while a full-blown deluxe box set (show above) also includes reproductions of program booklets from both events, posters, and much more. Check it all out at Music Glue, which is also selling t-shirts and other authorized memorabilia from the festivals!

 

New Music Monthly: June 2019 Releases

We're standing on the brink of summer and the outlook is groovy! There are only four weeks in June's release schedule, but there's a lot of rock 'n' roll goodness here to kick off the season. You'll find new albums by folks like the Black Keys, Chris Stamey, Bruce Springsteen, the Raconteurs (with Jack White), the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Santana, Peter Frampton, and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, among many others. There are a few choice archival releases this month as well, including a long-lost live Neil Young album, a vinyl reissues of James Taylor's One Man Band and a 25th anniversary vinyl reissue of Americana legend Dave Alvin's classic King of California album (with bonus tracks).

Speaking of the archives, Krautrock and prog fans will like Universal's reissues of seven classic mid-to-late '70s albums by the legendary Tangerine Dream on CD with bonus tracks. Isaac Hayes' classic soundtrack to the movie Shaft gets a deluxe reissue, Prince is represented by a collection from his vaults, and Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule return with a red-hot live set. It's safe to say, no matter your taste in music, there's something in June to tickle your fancy!

If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy!

JUNE 7
Perry Farrell - Kind Heaven   BUY!
Peter Frampton Band - All Blues [w/Sonny Landreth]   BUY!
Dylan LeBlanc - Renegade   BUY!
Gary Nicholson - The Great Divide   BUY!
Gary Nicholson (as 'Whitey Johnson') - More Days Like This   BUY!
Pelican - Nighttime Stories   BUY!
Santana - Africa Speak   BUY!
Silversun Pickups - Widow's Weeds   BUY!
Slowness - Berths   BUY!
James Taylor - One Man Band [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Neil Young & Stray Gators - Tuscaloosa [1973 concert]   BUY!

JUNE 14
Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Servants of the Sun   BUY!
Roger Daltrey - The Who's Tommy Orchestral   BUY!
Isaac Hayes - Shaft (Music From the Soundtrack)   BUY!
Iron & Wine/Calexico - Years To Burn   BUY!
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real - Turn Off the News, Build A Garden   BUY!
Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Cyclone [CD reissue]   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Encore [CD reissue]   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Force Majure [CD reissue]   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra [CD reissue]   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Richochet [CD reissue]   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Rubycon [CD reissue]   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear [CD reissue]   BUY!

JUNE 21
Collective Soul - Blood   BUY!
Def Leppard - Def Leppard - Volume Two [box set]   BUY!
Hollywood Vampires - Rise   BUY!
Hot Chip - A Bath Full of Ectasty   BUY!
Chuck Mead - Close To Home   BUY!
Prince - Originals   BUY!
The Raconteurs - Help Us Stranger   BUY!

JUNE 28
The Allman Betts Band - Down To the River   BUY!
Dave Alvin - King of California [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
The Black Keys - Let's Rock   BUY!
Generation Axe - The Guitars That Destroyed The World [Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde]   BUY!
Gov't Mule - Bring On the Music  [live]   BUY!
Magma - Zëss
Chris Stamey - New Songs For the 20th Century   BUY!

Album of the Month: The Black Keys' Let's Rock. It was another tough decision this month, with cool new music coming from talents like Chris Stamey, the Raconteurs, Bruce Springsteen, and Lukas Nelson, among many others. I'm going with the Black Keys this month, tho' as Let's Rock is the blues-rockin' duo's first new LP of studio material in five years and is said to be a return to the guitar-heavy sound of their early material. Recorded in the frontman Dan Auerbach's Nashville studio, it will be good to hear singer/guitarist Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney back in the groove again!

Return of Chris D and the Flesh Eaters!

The Flesh Eaters were one of the fiercest and most sophisticated of the 1980s-era punk-rock outfits. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1977 and featuring the poetic songwriting of band frontman Chris Desjardins (i.e. ‘Chris D’), the Flesh Eaters line-up was a revolving door of talented musicians from better-known L.A. bands like X, the Blasters, and Los Lobos. During the four decades since their founding, the Flesh Eaters have released roughly a dozen studio and live albums, from 1980’s bona fide classic No Questions Asked to their most recent effort, 2004’s Miss Muerte, recording for a slate of indie labels including SST Records, Enigma Records, and Desjardin’s own Upsetter Records imprint.

Fifteen years after the release of the band’s last album, the Flesh Eaters are back, baby! On January 18th, 2019 Yep Roc Records will release an all-new collection of songs titled I Used To Be Pretty. Chris D. is backed on the new album by what many consider to be the “classic” Flesh Eaters line-up that recorded 1981’s A Minute To Pray, A Second to Die – guitarist Dave Alvin and drummer Bill Bateman of the Blasters, bassist John Doe and percussionist D.J. Bonebrake of X, and saxophonist Steve Berlin of Los Lobos (and punk legends the Plugz).

The Flesh Eaters’ I Used To Be Pretty was produced collectively by the band members and also features singer Julie Christensen, from Desjardin’s other legendary band, Divine Horseman, on five of the album’s eleven songs. Six tracks on I Used To Be Pretty are reinterpretations of previously-released Flesh Eaters songs, including “Pony Dress” from the 1970 compilation Tooth and Nail; “My Life to Live” and “The Wedding Dice” from 1982’s Forever Came Today; “Youngest Profession” from 1991’s Dragstrip Riot; “House Amid the Thickets” from 1999’s Ashes of Time, and the title track from Miss Muerte. 

The album also features three inspired covers including a psych-drenched reading of the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac’s “The Green Manalishi,” a raucous take on “Cinderella,” originally by garage-rock legends the Sonics, and a cover of the Gun Club’s “She’s Like Heroin to Me,” taken from that band’s Desjardins-produced album Fire of Love. In a press release for the new album, Chris D. says “some of Jeffrey’s songs could have been Flesh Eaters songs so easily. Some of his phrasing and his lyric images I really feel a kinship with.”
  
I Used To Be Pretty will be released on CD and as a double-LP vinyl version, and the band will launch a short tour to bring their music to fans outside of the West Coast (tour dates listed below). Quoted in the aforementioned press release for the new album, band member Dave Alvin states “it’s six old friends who rarely get to see each other or play music together and decided to make an album while we’re all still alive.”   

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Flesh Eaters’ I Used To Be Pretty

The Flesh Eaters 2019 Tour
January 16 @ Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix AZ
January 17 @ 191 Toole, Tucson AZ
January 18 @ Pappy & Harriet's Place, Pioneetown CA *
January 19 @ Echoplex, Los Angeles CA *
January 20 @ Independent, San Francisco CA
January 22 @ The Star Theater, Portland OR
January 23 @ The Crocodile, Seattle WA
February 21 @ The Continental Club, Houston TX
February 22 @ The Continental Club, Austin TX
February 23 @ The Continental Club, Austin TX
February 24 @ Club Dada, Dallas TX
March 9 @ Turf Club, Saint Paul MN
March 10 @ Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL
March 11 @ The Pyramid Scheem, Grand Rapids MI
March 12 @ El Club, Detroit MI0
March 14 @ City Winery, Boston MA
March 15 @ Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia PA
March 16 @ Union Stage, Washington DC
March 17 @ Bowery Ballroom, New York NY

* with special guests Mudhoney