Archive Review: Tommy Bolin’s Great Gypsy Soul (2012)

The late Tommy Bolin is one of the great lost guitar heroes of the 1970s. A player of amazing vision and imagination, Bolin was equally versatile in a diverse range of styles, whether it was blues, hard rock, funk, or freewheeling jazz, and he did so with an incredible fluidity of tone and emotion in his playing. From his roots with the blues-rock band Zephyr and his ground-breaking session work on Billy Cobham’s fusion classic Spectrum, to a two-album stint with the James Gang (replacing Domenic Troiano, who himself had replaced Joe Walsh) and a brief tenure with Deep Purple (admirably filling Ritchie Blackmore’s shoes), Tommy Bolin brightened up every recording he touched.

Tommy Bolin’s Great Gypsy Soul

Tragically, Bolin’s fledgling solo career was derailed by a heroin overdose in 1976, with only two proper studio albums – 1975’s Teaser and the following year’s Private Eyes – released during his lifetime. His younger brother Johnnie, himself a musician, has kept the flame burning through all the years since Bolin’s tragic death, and there have been a wealth of posthumous releases showcasing Bolin’s six-string skills in both live and studio settings released under the Tommy Bolin Archives label. Among the best of these is the Live At Ebbets Field album, which documents a 1974 performance by Bolin’s post-Zephyr band Energy with the guitarist proving himself the bridge between Jimi Hendrix’s jazzier six-string excursions and Jeff Beck’s later jazz-rock fusion.  

There have also been a number of Bolin tribute albums released over the years. Great Gypsy Soul is the latest of these tributes designed to cement Bolin’s status, albeit with an interesting twist. Working from unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs previously recorded by Bolin, producers Greg Hampton and Warren Hayes brought in a cast of talented guest musicians to add their instrumental flavor to Bolin’s original vocals and guitar. The resulting effort is credited to “Tommy Bolin and friends.”

Pros & Cons

While I’m not personally convinced that this entire effort is necessary, one can’t deny the talents of the invitees to this party, a partial list which includes Haynes, Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, and Bolin’s former Deep Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes. In the absence of detailed liner notes, it’s sometimes difficult to separate the original performance from new additions, but Trucks’ flourishes on Bolin’s “Smooth Fandango” sound mighty good; ditto for Sonny Landreth’s scorching slidework and Hughes’ throaty vocals on “Sugar Shack.” Hughes, with Bonamassa and Nels Cline, take “Lotus” to another spiritual plane altogether.

Other tracks fail to impress, however, Peter Frampton’s take on “The Grind” is lacking something seminal in its execution, while Myles Kennedy – singer with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash’s band – falls flat on his face on Bolin’s “Dreamer,” a performance only partially redeemed by Nels Cline’s (too) sublime fretwork. Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford adds bombast to Bolin’s “Wild Dogs” where the late guitarist would have brought stealth, and even the great Warren Haynes experiences a rare misfire in taking on Bolin’s signature tune “Teaser.” Guitarist John Scofield seems entirely lost here, while Lukather seems to be still trying to find his way to the studio with a lukewarm reading of “Homeward Strut.” Bolin’s work is too often overshadowed by the contributions of his “friends,” and the listener would be better off slapping a well-worn vinyl copy of Private Eyes on the turntable.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

If you’re already a Bolin fanatic, you’re probably going to want to grab a copy of Great Gypsy Soul; I’m telling you that you should resist the urge to spend your money on an album that adds absolutely nothing to the guitarist’s legacy. I realize that there’s a legitimate dearth of quality Bolin material available, but you’d be better served in spending your money on one of the guitarist’s incredible ventures into the world of jazz-rock fusion, notable among these Billy Cobham’s Spectrum and/or Alphonse Mouzon’s Mind Transplant.  

On the other hand, if you’re a newcomer to the Tommy Bolin mystique, pass this one by in favor of one of the several variations of Teaser that you’ll find available; even with a myriad of dodgy demo tracks and raw alternate takes on expanded versions of Teaser, you’ll fare better than you will with Great Gypsy Soul if you’re looking to discover Bolin’s enormous charms. (429 Records, released March 26, 2012)

Archive Review: Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Made Up Mind (2013)

The Tedeschi Trucks Band grew out of the 2010 summer tour dubbed “Soul Stew Revival,” which itself was planned as a way for the real life married duo of singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Truck to spend some time together on the road with their family as opposed to launching solo tours. The Soul Stew Revival included members of each artist’s band as well as talented friends and, as time passed, it grew into the eleven-piece ensemble that makes up the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Revelator, the band’s 2011 debut album, dominated the blues chart for a couple of years with its inspired mix of blues, soul, gospel, and rock ‘n’ roll while Everybody’s Talkin’, a two-disc 2012 live set, picked up the slack on the charts when Revelator’s sales began to flag.

Now it’s 2013 and the Tedeschi Trucks Band returns after two years on the road with its second studio effort, Made Up Mind. While a lot has been made of the similarity of Tedeschi’s vocals to those of the great Bonnie Raitt, Made Up Mind brings another comparison to my mind, to the underrated Bonnie Bramlett and her late 1960s/early 1970s collaborations with her late husband Delaney. Much like Bramlett, Tedeschi wrings every bit of juice out of a lyric, and what is the Tedeschi Trucks Band but a modern-day conglomeration of talent like Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, with Trucks playing the role of both Delaney Bramlett and Eric Clapton?    

Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Made Up Mind

Made Up Mind opens with the title track, Trucks’ chunky guitar scrape accompanied by a funky, choogling groove and full, rich backing instrumentation. Tedeschi’s lovely voice kicks in, displaying her Etta James influences, the singer rolling with the groove and soaring above the fray when necessary only to trail off in favor of Trucks’ fluid, sizzling guitar solo. This is the kind of ready-made, radio-friendly jam that would have dominated the AOR airwaves in the early-to-mid-1990s but today it plays to a mainstream blues audience ill served by corporate radio.

“Do I Look Worried” takes the band back to an even earlier era, Tedeschi’s stunning torch-song styled performance creating a 1950s R&B vibe, as seen through a 1970s blues-rock lens, the sound reinforced by the band’s subtle, elegant use of horns in the background. The song’s lush instrumentation threatens to overwhelm the singer, Tedeschi nevertheless rising to the occasion, assisted by Trucks’ gorgeous guitar lines and stinging solos. “Idle Wind” is a pure 1970s construct, the sort of bluesy, folkie, acoustic rock hymn that many of us cut our eye teeth on back in the day, the song darkly imaginative, with a lovely use of Kofi Burbridge’s feathery flute runs and a soft layer of horns.

Calling Out To You

 

The throwback soul of “Part of Me” is delivered pitch perfect by the fine vocal interplay between Tedeschi and trombonist Saunders Sermons, who sounds like a young Curtis Mayfield. The 1960s soul ambiance is undeniable and, just in case you may not have caught the song’s reference point, Trucks kicks out his best Steve Cropper/James Burton guitar licks, spicing up an already enchanting performance. Tedeschi’s vocals on “It’s So Heavy” further underline the Bonnie Bramlett connection, the singer evoking no little emotion in an otherwise deceptively understated performance; Trucks’ accompanying solos are also appropriately muted, albeit with the strength of a rushing river.

Hands down, the most raucous tune on Made Up Mind, “The Storm” amps up Trucks’ rattletrap guitar riffs while the rhythm section cranks out a ramshackle juke-joint groove straight out of the Junior Kimbrough/R.L. Burnside playbook. There’s more at play here than a Mississippi Hill Country influence, however, Tedeschi throwing a little Memphis soul into her vocals while Trucks tosses off a golden jazz-flecked solo that invokes Luther Johnson as much as Luther Dickinson while Burbridge’s gospel-tinged keyboards ride shotgun before chaos descends at around the five-minute mark as Derek clearly loses his mind (speaking instrumentally, of course) and tears off a deadly swamp-blues solo mixing Duane Allman’s greasy tones with John Campbell’s Delta dirt. Providing a stark contrast, the album closes with the acoustic “Calling Out To You,” a fine showcase not only for Tedeschi’s vocal skills but also for Trucks’ six-string dexterity as the two record sans band for a charming and entirely intimate performance.   

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

The album’s songwriting is, admittedly, the weakest part of Made Up Mind, too many of the album’s tunes composed by committee and lacking a lyrical cohesion (several songs co-written by the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris). The best material seems to be that which echoes a singular voice, the title track, “Do I Look Worried,” and “Misunderstood” particularly standing out from the crowd. Whereas the size of the band may have created an obstacle in the instrumental composition of the material, the talents involved and the chemistry created by a couple years on the road has created an entertaining and musically exciting blend of blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band has been accused of recording an album that is more “pop” than blues with Made Up Mind, and there’s no denying the mainstream appeal of these bright, shiny performances. It’s the band’s love of the music, however, that makes Made Up Mind a winner. This may not be your daddy’s blues, but this is a big tent that we’re all under, with plenty of room for newcomers, and Tedeschi Trucks Band is redefining rhythm and blues with a sound entirely its own... (Sony Masterworks, released August 20, 2013)

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Archive Review: Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Everybody’s Talkin’ (2012)

On paper, it seemed like a perfect match – take the husband and wife team of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, surround them with nine talented musicians culled from their individual bands, put them in a studio and see what happens. Considering that Tedeschi and Trucks are two of the most popular, talented, and innovative artists on the blues scene today, expectations were high for the Revelator album. Nobody could have predicted what happened next, though. The album has spent over a year on the blues chart and won both a Grammy® and a Blues Music Award, while Tedeschi and Trucks also took individual BMAs.

Revelator was supported by a lengthy tour by the eleven-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band, several dates of which were recorded for Everybody’s Talkin’, a deluxe two-disc live set that is a real gift for the fans that climbed on board with the first album. In concert, the band stretches out on stage to jam on their signature blend of blues, rock, gospel, Southern soul, and funk music. While the two CDs here only offer up a mere eleven songs, every one of them is a revelation, with the well-chosen cover songs so perfectly meshing with the band’s original material that the listener would be hard-pressed to tell the difference if they weren’t already familiar with the song.  

Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Everybody’s Talkin’

The set kicks off with the Fred Neil-penned title track, a well-worn chestnut that was recorded by the great Harry Nilsson for the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy. Since Nilsson’s up-tempo version first rode the airwaves to top ten chart success, the song has been covered in dozens of styles, from King Curtis’s jazz-tinged R&B take to Stephen Stills bluesy, guitar-driven version. Tedeschi straddles a line between the two, applying her warm voice to the Southern soul-flavored arrangement as the band creates a funky, fat groove behind her vocals, which capture the wistful nature of Neil’s original folkish lyrics. Trucks spices up the song with a tasteful, albeit short solo that cranks up the amperage for a big finish.

With a high energy level established, Everybody’s Talkin’ only soars higher towards the stratosphere from here. The hauntingly beautiful “Midnight In Harlem” is provided a (slightly) raga-styled intro with Trucks’ nimble fretwork at the fore before rolling into a mid-tempo performance that is dominated by Tedeschi’s languid, sultry vocals and Kofi Burbridge’s lively keyboard riffs. Another track from Revelator, the seeped-in-the-Delta “Learn How To Love,” is stretched out at better than twice its original length, the song dominated by Trucks’ fierce guitarplay, icy blasts of horn, the explosive  twin drums of Tyler Greenwell and J.J. Johnson, and Tedeschi’s powerful, roaring vocals. Trucks’ scorched-earth solo a little more than three minutes in is strong stuff, indeed.

Bound For Glory

“Bound For Glory” is introduced by Trucks’ scrappy Mississippi front porch country-blues picking before sliding into a deep Southern rock groove. Bassist Oteil Burbridge is the band’s secret weapon, a talented fat-string player that provides a subtle but ever-present rhythmic foundation for the rest of the band build upon. Tedeschi’s vocals sound a lot like Bonnie Raitt here, soaring from a whisper to a joyous shout, while the performance itself evolves into a swaggering instrumental jam with Kofi’s slippery keyboard licks and a spry percussive backdrop leading the way.

While usually credited to Muddy Waters, the raucous “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” has become a hallowed blues standard, with versions recorded by everybody from Elmore James and Memphis Slim to Cream and Johnny Winter. Tedeschi and Trucks build off the James’ version here, the band delivering an energetic shuffle behind Trucks’ raging guitar and Tedeschi’s roaring vocals. Disc one closes out with an inspired take on songwriter John Sebastian’s “Darling Be Home Soon,” Tedeschi displaying her excellent emotional phrasing on the song’s wan lyrics, backing harmony vocals lending a sort of Stax/Motown gospel/soul vibe to what is a wonderfully moving performance.

Stevie Wonder’s Uptight

Disc two is slightly shorter that the first set’s 70-minute runtime, clocking in at four songs and three-quarters of an hour, but the performances are no less potent. The R&B gem “That Did It” is afforded a big band-styled performance with gospel revival fervor, Tedeschi channeling her inner Koko Taylor with fine soul-shouter vocals bolstered by her often-overlooked guitar playing, which lends great tone and texture to the Bobby “Blue” Bland classic. A finger-snapping cover of the great Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight” is delivered as a quarter-hour-plus long rant ‘n’ rave-up that mix soul and jazz with Oteil Burbridge’s scat-singing, Tedeschi’s fine vocals, Kebbi Williams’ manic sax, and some of Trucks’ greasiest slide-guitar playing on the record.

Another Revelator gem, “Love Has Something Else To Say,” is funked-up on steroids, cranked way up to eleven minutes on the back of the R&B drenched horns of saxophonist Williams, Maurice Brown’s trumpet, and Saunders Sermons’ trombone. The horns get to be a bit much for my tastes, a little too free-wheeling and bleating for these ears, but Trucks’ fluid solos are just the tonic you need, and Sermons’ sonorous vocals provide a fine counterpoint to Tedeschi’s sweeter tones. The Sam Cooke classic “Wade In The Water” provides a big finish to Everybody’s Talkin’, showcasing everything that is good and grand about this band. A gospel-blues tune with hints of swamp-blues malevolence and dark-hued lyrics, the band’s reverent vocal interplay is complimented by a claustrophobic instrumental arrangement and shards of broken-glass guitar and crafty percussion work that slips in beneath the radar.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

While the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Revelator provided fans of both Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks with a long-awaited musical collaboration, the album’s mainstream appeal has gone a long way towards bridging the gap between rock, pop, and blues fans across the globe. Everybody’s Talkin’ takes the band’s enormous musical chemistry one step further, showcasing an outfit at the top of its game and opening the door for break-out success. If you were lucky enough to catch the Tedeschi Trucks Band on tour, Everybody’s Talkin’ will be a fond souvenir of the experience, and if you missed them last time around, this live set will assure that you’ll never make that mistake again! (Sony Masterworks, released May 22, 2012)

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Archive Review: Tommy Bolin's Great Gypsy Soul (2012)

The late Tommy Bolin is one of the great lost guitar heroes of the 1970s. A player of amazing vision and imagination, Bolin was equally versatile in a diverse range of styles, whether it was blues, hard rock, funk, or freewheeling jazz, and he did so with an incredible fluidity of tone and emotion in his playing. From his roots with the blues-rock band Zephyr and his ground-breaking session work on Billy Cobham’s fusion classic Spectrum, to a two-album stint with the James Gang (replacing Domenic Troiano, who himself had replaced Joe Walsh) and a brief tenure with Deep Purple (admirably filling Ritchie Blackmore’s shoes), Tommy Bolin brightened up every recording he touched.

Tommy Bolin’s Great Gypsy Soul

Tragically, Bolin’s fledgling solo career was derailed by a heroin overdose in 1976, with only two proper studio albums – 1975’s Teaser and the following year’s Private Eyes – released during his lifetime. His younger brother Johnnie, himself a musician, has kept the flame burning through all the years since Bolin’s tragic death, and there have been a wealth of posthumous releases showcasing Bolin’s six-string skills in both live and studio settings released under the Tommy Bolin Archives label. Among the best of these is the Live At Ebbets Field album, which documents a 1974 performance by Bolin’s post-Zephyr band Energy, with the guitarist proving himself the bridge between Jimi Hendrix’s jazzier six-string excursions and Jeff Beck’s later jazz-rock fusion.  

There have also been a number of Bolin tribute albums released over the years. Great Gypsy Soul is the latest of these tributes designed to cement Bolin’s status, albeit with an interesting twist. Working from unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs previously recorded by Bolin, producers Greg Hampton and Warren Hayes brought in a cast of talented guest musicians to add their instrumental flavor to Bolin’s original vocals and guitar. The resulting effort is credited to “Tommy Bolin and friends.”

Pros & Cons

While I’m not personally convinced that this entire effort is necessary, one can’t deny the talents of the invitees to this party, a partial list which includes Haynes, Derek Trucks, Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, and Bolin’s former Deep Purple bandmate Glenn Hughes. In the absence of detailed liner notes, it’s sometimes difficult to separate the original performance from new additions, but Trucks’ flourishes on Bolin’s “Smooth Fandango” sound mighty good; ditto for Sonny Landreth’s scorching slidework and Hughes’ throaty vocals on “Sugar Shack.” Hughes, with Bonamassa and Nels Cline, take “Lotus” to another spiritual plane altogether.

Other tracks fail to impress, however, Peter Frampton’s take on “The Grind” lacking something seminal in its execution, while Myles Kennedy – singer with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash’s band – falls flat on his face on Bolin’s “Dreamer,” a performance only partially redeemed by Nels Cline’s (too) sublime fretwork. Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford adds bombast to Bolin’s “Wild Dogs” where the late guitarist would have brought stealth, and even the great Warren Haynes experiences a rare misfire in taking on Bolin’s signature tune “Teaser.” Guitarist John Scofield seems entirely lost here, while Lukather seems to be still trying to find his way to the studio with a lukewarm reading of “Homeward Strut.” Bolin’s work is too often overshadowed by the contributions of his “friends,” and the listener would be better off slapping a well-worn vinyl copy of Private Eyes on the turntable.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

If you’re already a Bolin fanatic, you’re probably going to want to grab a copy of Great Gypsy Soul; I’m telling you that you should resist the urge to spend your money on an album that adds absolutely nothing to the guitarist’s legacy. I realize that there’s a legitimate dearth of quality Bolin material available, but you’d be better served in spending your money on one of the guitarist’s incredible ventures into the world of jazz-rock fusion, notable among these Billy Cobham’s Spectrum and/or Alphonse Mouzon’s Mind Transplant.  

On the other hand, if you’re a newcomer to the Tommy Bolin mystique, pass this one by in favor of one of the several variations of Teaser that you’ll find available; even with a myriad of dodgy demo tracks and raw alternate takes on expanded versions of Teaser, you’ll fare better than you will with Great Gypsy Soul if you’re looking to discover Bolin’s enormous charms. (429 Records, released March 26th, 2012)

CD Review: Landslide Records 40th Anniversary (2021)

It’s a tough road for any independent record label these days, which makes it all the more impressive when one beats the odds and makes a go of it in spite of the obstacles and trials inherent in recording and releasing music for a dwindling audience of record buyers. Landslide Records was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1981 by Matthew Rothschild at the urging of his friend Col. Bruce Hampton, who told him that “we would all be riding around in limousines.” Rothschild launched the label and released as his first title Outside Looking Out by Hampton and his band the Late Bronze Age. According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, positive early reviews raised expectations for the album which, Rothschild later confessed, “probably sold two copies in every state.”

Considering that Hampton was the evil genius behind the Hampton Grease Band, whose surreal 1971 experimental jazz-rock album Music To Eat was reportedly one of the worst-selling releases in the history of Columbia Records, Rothschild should have thought twice before taking his musician friend’s advice. Luckily, he forged right ahead with Landslide Records and, undaunted by the lack of success with Outside Looking Out, would move forward with a singular vision and great taste in music to make Landslide Records into the champion of American music. Four decades after their first album release, the label is celebrating its 40th anniversary with the release of a two-disc compilation featuring some of the best artists and music from across its storied history.  

Landslide Records 40th Anniversary

The first disc of Landslide Records 40th Anniversary opens with bluesman Tinsley Ellis’s incendiary “Drivin’ Woman,” a swingin’ little sucker from 1986 that fuses Southern grit and Chicago-styled urban sophistication into a rompin’, stompin’ musical thrill ride. Ellis’s flamethrower guitar licks and gruff, whiskey-soaked vocals are matched by the gleeful sound of Dave Cotton’s bleating sax and a rock solid rhythmic foundation. It’s a great way to pull the listener in, followed by the equally charming “Phone Don’t Ring” by the Bluesbusters. A veritable roots ‘n’ blues supergroup, the band features the talents of Little Feat’s Paul Barrere, Catfish Hodge (a longtime fave of mine), and Terry ‘T’ Lavitz of the Dixie Dregs. A bluesy, soulful tune featuring Barrere’s underrated vocals and Hodge’s distinctive fretwork, it’s another treasure from the mid-‘80s.

Both of the aforementioned outfits feature on another pair of songs dating earlier, from 1983, with Ellis and his band the Heartfixers kicking out the jams with a little help from singer/harmonica player ‘Chicago Bob’ Nelson. Covering the Chicago blues classic “Walking Thru the Park,” Ellis and the Heartfixers rock ‘n’ roll like a trailer park in a typhoon. The Bluesbusters’ romp through Hodge’s “Elmo’s Blues” features the Detroit bluesman on the microphone while Barrere tears up the strings. Much of the rest of the first disc follows a similar vein, offering choice cuts by folks like legendary juke-joint pianist Piano Red; guitarist Damon Fowler and his blues-infused Southern rock sound; and Mike Mattison’s sorely overlooked roots-rock outfit Scrapomatic, which combines Delta blues with Southern-fried soul, and even a bit of funky New Orleans in creating a unique and exhilarating sound.

Hard Luck Blues

The late Tom Gray’s beloved band Delta Moon is represented by “Coolest Fools,” a languid rocker with deep blues roots and a pop-rock heart fueled by Gray’s and Mark Johnson’s stellar guitar playing. Late blues guitarist Sean Costello is remembered with a live take of “Motor Head Baby,” the on-stage setting a perfect showcase for the underrated fretburner’s immense talents. Nashville’s own Webb Wilder has recorded several albums for Landslide over 40 years, and his “Dance For Daddy” offers up the sort of livewire roots-rock and twang that had built the great man’s legend. Nappy Brown is an underrated R&B vocalist in a field dominated by great singers, and his performance of “Hard Luck Blues,” backed by Ellis and the Heartfixers, is a thing of pure joy.

Disc two of Landslide Records 40th Anniversary offers a more eclectic mix of styles, ranging from the improvised jazz vibes of David Earle Johnson and the jazzy fretwork of a young Derek Trucks to Widespread Panic’s modernized Southern rock sound and Col. Bruce Hampton’s eclectic, and electrifying avant-garde noisemaking with his band the Late Stone Age. One of the earliest tracks on the set is from Tom Gray’s band the Brains, their rare 1982 track “Dancing Under Streetlights” the perfect fusion of synth-pop and guitar rock. Scrapomatic frontman Mike Mattison’s solo effort “Midnight In Harlem” is a wonderful old-school soul ballad with gorgeous instrumentation while his band’s “Night Trains” is a greasy slab o’ funk with plenty of Paul Olsen’s imaginative guitarplay.

Webb Wilder checks back in with the spry “The Nail Right On the Head,” featuring his infectious vocals, a strong melody, and the talented George Bradfute’s six string skills while Jan Smith’s upbeat “Woman Your Guitar” is a charming blend of country and rock, Smith’s lofty vocals and nimble fretwork backed by an all-star band that includes guitarist Johnny Hiland and bassist Byron House. Curlew’s “Panther Burn” is a slice of avant-garde jazz by a little-known band that nevertheless can boast of a roster that includes saxophonist George Cartright, bassist Bill Laswell, and guitarist Nicky Scopelitis. Americana artist Gary Bennett delivers an upbeat honky-tonk rave-up with “Human Condition,” featuring guitarist Kenny Vaughan, pedal steel maestro Lloyd Green, and Marty Stuart on mandolin. There’s plenty of other fine music to be heard across the two discs, including tracks from talented folks like Jim Quick, the Cigar Store Indians, Geoff Achison, the Lost Continentals, Paul McCandless, and probably a few that I’ve forgotten.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

If you know nothing about the Landslide Records label, this budget-priced anniversary set offers plenty of reasons to discover why the plucky lil’ indie imprint has successfully carried the torch for authentic American music for four decades now. There are plenty of gems to be found among the 33 songs on the two discs, which provide over two hours of consistently enjoyable listening and, if you’re intrigued by an artist or three, you can dig into their individual catalogs with reckless abandon. Yes, it’s a celebration of 40 years of great music – a milestone by any standard, but Landslide Records 40th Anniversary set is also a great introduction to a label (and artists) worth your time to hear. Grade: A (Landslide Records, released October 29th, 2021)

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