CD Review: Greg Prevost's After The Wars (2024)

After the break-up of garage-rock royalty the Chesterfield Kings in 2009 (accept no weak-kneed substitutes!), band frontman Greg ‘Stackhouse’ Prevost returned to his roots and launched a solo career with 2012’s critically-acclaimed effort Mississippi Murderer that has resulted in four bodacious collections of git-driven blues-rock that is equal parts Johnny Winter and early Rolling Stones with a double-shot of Lightnin’ Hopkins to clear your head.

Of Prevost’s previous album, 2021’s Songs For These Times, I wrote that “the singer, songwriter, and guitarist has crafted an impressive collection of material that not only defies previously-held expectations but also explores the possibilities of roots ‘n’ blues music.” Flash forward three years and Prevost’s much-anticipated fourth solo effort, After The Wars, which represents a quantum leap forward in the artist’s creative evolution that, even after 40+ years, proves that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Greg ‘Stackhouse’ Prevost’s After The Wars

With After The Wars, Prevost expands his musical palette beyond scrappy blues-rock to incorporate folk, country, and even psychedelic-pop for a dozen songs that provide the listener with a mini-history of the last six decades of music while pushing beyond expectations with every single of them. Opening with the obscure Felix Pappalardi/Mountain song “Traveling In the Dark,” Prevost eschews a hard rock approach in favor of a feathery, shimmering psych-folk arrangement that emphasizes the song’s lyrics, delivered in a wan voice above a lofty acoustic guitar strum that belies the distraught lyrics.

Throwing listeners a curveball, Prevost delivers a spry reading of the traditional Gospel tune “Twelve Gates To the City,” best known for its rendition by singer Don Lewis. Accompanied by singer Danielle Colbert-Parrish, whose vocal talents elevate Prevost’s grittier vox to heavenly heights, it’s an inspired and fiery performance peppered by Prevost’s raging harmonica fills. The original “No Hallelujah For Glory” is a sort of gospel-blues tune with a lively six-string pull and Texas blues-styled vocals and mournful harmonica while a cover of cult-rocker Roky Erickson’s “I Have Always Been Here Before” offers a fresh perspective on one of the underrated songwriter’s best tunes, delivered with reverence and energy in a psyche-folk style.

Prevost’s relationship with obscure ‘70s rocker Armand Schaubroeck – owner of the world-famous House of Guitars store in Rochester NY – dates back decades to when Greg worked at the HOG, so his cover of Schaubroeck’s “Babe We’re Not Part of Society” isn’t totally unexpected, but is nevertheless a welcome surprise. Two flash minutes of raging vocals, fiery harmonica, and jagged guitar strum underlines Schaubroeck’s original vision with reckless abandon, and although I can’t find the song on any of Schaubroeck’s albums, if you dig it, maybe you’ll check out the recent CD reissue of Schaubroeck’s classic 1974 album A Lot of People Would Like To See Armand Schaubroeck…Dead.

Roadkill Rag

By contrast, Prevost’s cover of the Buddy Holly rarity “Learning the Game” is downright pastoral in its delivery, sort of a pop-psych construct with gorgeous strings and an arrangement that draws out the romantic nature of the lyrics. The original “Roadkill Rag” is a blustery, up-tempo blues-rocker with echoing guitar licks, growled lyrics, and a ramshackle performance befitting both juke-joint and honky-tonk. A cover of Johnny Paycheck’s “Apartment #9” is totally unexpected, yet cleverly fits into the album’s track list, the honky-tonk tearjerker gliding to Nashville on the wings of Al Keltz’s subtle pedal steel guitar. Prevost’s twangy vocals hint at another musical direction; maybe he’ll cover a David Allen Coe song next album?

Riding out on some elegant guitar and harmonica work, “Apartment #9” effortlessly segues into a cover of Phil Och’s late-career folk gem “No More Songs.” Accompanied by Karl LaPorta’s beautiful, low-key piano, Prevost imbues what is basically a funeral dirge for Och’s career with dignity and presence. “Dust My Blues” breaks the tension with an up-tempo reading fueled by soaring harmonica riffs and howling vocals. The album’s title track is a sort of extended song cycle that blends Prevost’s imaginative four ‘suites’ with David Bowie’s glam-infused psych-rocker “Memory of A Free Festival” in the creation of a mesmerizing head trip that has more in common with 1969 than 2024.

Stream-of-consciousness vocals, cacophonic instrumentation, and overall chaos is tempered by a unique musical vision that delivers an energetic and entertaining miasma of sound and texture which points towards a new psychedelia that is informed by, but not beholden to, the sounds of the ‘60s. The suite ends with seeming destruction before the triumphant message of “Memory of A Free Festival” breaks out. It’s a heady trip, and a helluva seven minutes! After The Wars closes out with the traditional folk tune “He Was A Friend of Mine.” Covered by folks like Bob Dylan, Dave van Ronk, and the Byrds, Prevost brings a bluesier take to the song, which dates back to at least the 1930s. I like Prevost’s reading, which tacks towards a joyful remembrance of the friend in question despite the mournful nature of the instrumentation.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

As much as I enjoy Prevost’s previous solo albums and, indeed, much of the Chesterfield Kings’ worthy album catalog, After The Wars is a much more nuanced and intricate collection of songs. The artist is accompanied by a larger cast of musical friends here, including longtime collaborator Paul Morabito on guitar, and co-producer Dave Anderson, of the very cool band Calidoscopio, who contributes various instruments. Greg’s wife Caroll makes the album a family affair by providing vocals on several songs, and the world-famous Felix the Cat even makes his voice heard (on “Zen Cats,” part of the title song suite).

After The Wars is Greg Prevost’s most considered, creative, and complex album to date, the artist paying tribute to his considerable past efforts and influences while still defying expectations with his sojourn towards the future. (Mean Disposition Records, 2024)

Buy the LP from Get Hip Records: Greg Prevost’s After The Wars

Also on That Devil Music: Greg Prevost’s Universal Vagrant CD review

Short Rounds: The Black Keys, The Bummers, Michael Nesmith, Greg Stackhouse Prevost, Quinn Sullivan & The Vejtables (June 2021)

New album (and 45) releases in 200 words or less…

The Black Keys – Delta Kream (Nonesuch Records, CD)
The Black Keys’ much-vaunted “return to the blues” is really a musical sojourn through the Mississippi Hill Country with a collection that would feel right at home on Fat Possum Records, their former label. One of the punk-blues innovators of the early ‘00s, the Black Keys pairing of singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney dabbled in soul, pop, and mainstream rock with a modicum of success over the past decade. With Delta Kream, however, they enlist the six-string talents of Hill Country stalwart Kenny Brown and jump headfirst into the songbooks of Mississippi blues legends R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Their hypnotizing reading of John Lee Hooker’s classic “Crawling Kingsnake” is patterned after Kimbrough’s recording rather than Hooker’s 1949 hit, and much of Delta Kream delivers a similarly-mesmerizing mind-trip with reverent but unique takes on songs like Burnside’s eerie “Going Down South” or Kimbrough’s powerful “Sad Days, Lonely Nights.” Auerbach’s vocals have never sounded better, and his guitar interplay with Brown is electrifying. Carney’s percussion is spot-on as well, providing nuanced timekeeping throughout and explosive locomotion when needed. Delta Kream isn’t the sound of rock stars “slumming” but that of bluesmen reviving their mojo. Grade: A   BUY!

The Bummers – “I Can’t Imagine” b/w “L.S.D. (Long Silent Dream)” (Mojo-Bone Rekkids, 7” vinyl)
If not for the good folks at Mojo-Bone Rekkids, Royal Oak, Michigan rockers the Bummers may have been lost to the ignoble grave of rock ‘n’ roll obscurity – as the label’s Birdman writes in the liner notes to this groovy 7” single, “a few grungy acetates recorded for $35…and one grainy photograph were all that remained of their visionary genius.” Boy howdy! The single’s A-side, “I Can’t Imagine,” is a dreamy, mesmerizing slab o’ late ‘60s psychedelic rock with cool vox, shimmering keyboards, and the occasional stab of guitar, the song a tale of love and betrayal, the musicianship years ahead of its time. B-side “L.S.D. (Long Silent Dream)” is a similar ballad, but with shoe-gazing harmonies, an engaging melody, and a lush instrumental backdrop against which singer/songwriter Ray Bane spits out his lyrics. Although re-mastered by the notable Alec Palao, the sound is fair-to-middlin’ (Palao can’t work magic every time), but the band’s youthful energy and enthusiasm simply jump out of the grooves and demand your attention. Mojo-Bone 45s ain’t cheap ($14 plus shipping for this pancake), but if you’re a collector of 1960s-era psych and garage-rock, you’re gonna want to get in touch with the Birdman by email: mbrekkids (at) gmail.com Grade: B+    

Michael Nesmith – Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings (Real Gone Music, CD)
Michael Nesmith’s post-Monkees solo career has undergone reconsideration of late, various pundits nodding their heads in unison, agreeing on Nez’s status as a “serious musician.” Some of us grokked this 50 years ago, with the release of 1970’s brilliant Magnetic South, which was soon followed by two more trailblazing country-rock LPs displaying the engaging singer’s talent and charisma. Different Drum follows recent reissues of Nesmith’s trio of albums with the talented First National Band and is cut from similar cloth, i.e. finely-crafted country-rock performed with plenty of twang and soulfulness. The first 14 cuts here are alternative takes and studio outtakes that do a fine job in displaying the band’s immense talents and the dirty work of fine-tuning a song, and the contrasts are often stunning – Nesmith’s take on the title track is as different from Linda Ronstadt’s hit version as night is from day, and “Bye, Bye, Bye” is a rollicking cowpunk anthem. “Six Days On the Road” belches smoke and fire while rolling down the asphalt while an alternative “Some of Shelley’s Blues” is as wistful and charming as the original. Different Drum tacks on seven instrumental tracks that, while entertaining, lack the magic of the vocal performances. Grade: B+   BUY!    

Greg“Stackhouse” Prevost – Songs For These Times (Mean Disposition Records, Spain, CD)
With Songs For These Times, the third solo album from bluesman Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist has crafted an impressive collection of material that not only defies previously-held expectations but also explores the possibilities of roots ‘n’ blues music. Working with guitarist Andrew Patrick of the Rochester NY band Dangerbyrd, Prevost makes old rock ‘n’ blues tunes sound contemporary while his handful of original songs sound positively antiquated. The guitarist’s “Free As the Wind” is a powerful acoustic-blues number with subtle, mournful harmonica while the folk-blues dirge “Distant Thunder Calls” reminds of Son House crossed with Johnny Winter (and features some mighty fine guitar pickin’). “Acid Rain Falling” is probably my favorite here, the folkish blues-rock tune offering elegant guitarplay and an overall intoxicating, exotic vibe. Covers of songs by bluesmen like Rev. Gary Davis and Big Bill Broonzy are appropriately reverent, but it’s when Prevost colors outside of the lines – like his haunting reading of Hoyt Axton’s “Snowblind Friend” or Piedmont-styled take on Donovan’s “Colours” – that Prevost’s talents and unique vision of the blues really shine. If you love the blues, you owe it to yourself to discover Greg “Stackhouse” Prevost and Songs For These Times! Grade: A    BUY! 

Quinn Sullivan – Wide Awake (Provogue Records, CD)
Blues guitar prodigy Quinn Sullivan is taking the Bonamassa road to riches – work with a legendary mentor (for Sullivan, it was Buddy Guy); make your bones by playing high-profile gigs (Quinn was the youngest musician to play the Montreux Jazz Festival); and work to find your voice over a number of records. Wide Awake is the 22-year-old’s fourth LP, and while he’s a skilled musician and better-than-your-average-Joe songwriter, he’s clearly still forging a unique sound to hang his hat on (to be fair, it took Joey Bones until Sloe Gin, his fifth LP). When letting his instrument do the talking, Sullivan is a stunning six-string talent who plays with great imagination and energy; he’s also miles ahead of where Bonamassa was at this age as a singer, Sullivan imbuing his material with great soul and emotion. The songwriting – mostly co-written by Sullivan with producer Oliver Leiber – is the weakest link here, largely treacly R&B-infused pop with the slightest of bluesy undertones. The album’s production is so maddeningly slick and glossy that I’ll never question Kevin Shirley’s choices again. There’s nothing on Wide Awake that’s horrible, it’s just that with a talent of Sullivan’s caliber, it could have been SO much better… Grade: B-   BUY!   

The Vejtables – “Hide Yourself” b/w “Good Things Are Happening” (Mojo-Bone Rekkids, 7” vinyl)
Another small record with a big hole from the good folks at Mojo-Bone, the Vejtables are, perhaps, one of the label’s better-known bands, and although the cover art here is mind-numbingly bad, the four-panel insert with Birdman’s liners, rare photos, and cool cartoon drawing of the band make up for it. Musically, the Bay Area rockers were on the cutting edge of psychedelic rock, these two 1966 tracks show a band whose talents could hang with big boys like Blue Cheer, the Other Half, or Jefferson Airplane. “Hide Yourself,” the single’s erstwhile A-side, is the next best thing to dosing yourself and bouncing off the walls for a few hours, the song’s ringing instrumentation, Bob Bailey’s half-buried vox, and Frank Smith’s scalpel-sharp leads defining “psychedelic” while Richard Fortunato’s 12-string brings an exotic feel to the recording. “Good Things Are Happening” is a similar banger, a bluesy, harmonica-drenched rave-up around the corner from “Tobacco Road” with snotty vocals, sleazy fretwork, and a locomotive rhythm that would have been right at home on a Nuggets or Pebbles compilation LP. Equally adjacent to both psych-rock or garage-rock, the Vejtables were on the cusp of something big. Extra credit for the cool mono sound! Email the Birdman for info: mbrekkids (at) gmail.com Grade: A

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Previously on That Devil Music.com:

Short Rounds, April 2021: Peter Case, The Fortunate Few, David Olney & Anana Kaye, Sour Ops, Joe Strummer, and the Thieves

Short Rounds, December 2020: 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, and Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip

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