Archive Review: Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters’ Just For Today (2013)

While guitarist Ronnie Earl’s enormous talents are certainly well-regarded in the blues world, he remains one step behind friends and contemporaries like Duke Robillard or Jimmie Vaughan in the respect department. It could be because Earl doesn’t sing and typically plays complex, intricately-constructed instrumentals, bringing in an outside vocalist only occasionally. While these vocal experiments usually work out quite well – check out soul man Dave Keller wailing away on a handful of songs on Earl’s 2009 album Living In the Light – the fact remains that better than a quarter-century into his career, Earl’s talents are still too-often overshadowed by younger, flashier players with a fraction of his talent.   

Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters’ Just For Today

While Just For Today is unlikely to win many converts to Earl’s subtle charms, for the hardcore faithful, it’s another treasure from the virtuoso guitarist. Recorded live in a handful of venues in Earl’s home state of Massachusetts, Just For Today features the guitarist’s longest-lived Broadcasters line-up, featuring keyboardist Dave Limina, bassist Jim Mouradian, and drummer Lorne Entress as the band celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. And what a celebration it is! The album offers up thirteen red-hot performances, a mix of Earl’s thoughtful originals and a brace of inspired covers, delivered with all the power and passion that have made Earl a popular concert draw.

Earl is capable of packing more emotion into a few notes than a lot of singers can muster during an entire performance, and his instrumentals are always exciting, exhilarating artistic expressions. Witness the emotional “Miracle,” which opens with a swell of Limina’s keyboards, Earl’s wiry fretwork, and washes of bass and drums. Earl speaks through his instrument and the notes paint pictures of heartbreak, hope, and fulfillment in a way that few musicians could achieve. The jaunty “Rush Hour” is a tribute to Chicago blues legend Otis Rush, the song’s walking bass line joined by lively keyboards that would make Otis Spann grin. But it’s Earl’s livewire picking that evokes the spirit of Rush’s South Side blues style.

“Blues for Hubert Sumlin” is a tribute to an equally esteemed, but often overlooked Chicago blues giant. While “Rush Hour” was electric and raucous – befitting a 10:00 or 11:00 PM club vibe – Earl’s tribute to Mr. Sumlin is pure late-night blues, measured and intense with a nuance and emotion directly opposite of “Rush Hour.” The band tackles jazz legend John Coltrane’s “Equinox” with equal aplomb, and it serves, as sorts, as an extension of “Blues for Hubert Sumlin,” taking the instrumentation into jazzy, dark-hued territory that announces that it’s definitely closing time. Singer Diane Blue acquits herself well on an emotional cover of Etta James’ classic “I’d Rather Go Blind,” showing what Earl and the band can do behind a good singer.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Just For Today is an excellent representation of the underrated, but never under-achieving talents of Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. The live setting allows the band to shine, and provides the perfect showcase for Earl’s six-string mastery as the crew romps across a set list that includes blues, boogie, and a taste of jazz. Just For Today will please longtime fans and serves as a fine introduction to this great band for the adventurous and uninitiated. The Rev says “check it out!” Grade: A (Stony Plain Records, released April 9, 2013)

New Music Monthly: September 2020 releases

September is upon us and the new music is flying high in spite of the pandemic and the lack of live shows across the country. The next best thing to rockin' your local venue is getting your kicks with new music, so pick yer poison, kiddies! There's blues and roots music from the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers, Grant-Lee Phillips, Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, and the adept pairing of legends Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite. There's classic prog-rock from King Crimson and Flying Colors; high-octane rawk from Bob Mould and the duo of James Williamson and Deniz Tek; and groovy reissues from Little Richard, Johnny Thunders, and the Rolling Stones. Who could ask for anything more? 

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!

SEPTEMBER 4
King Crimson - The Elements 2020 Tour Box   BUY!
New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers - Volume 1 [w/Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus & friends!]   BUY!
Grant-Lee Phillips - Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff   BUY!
Throwing Muses - Sun Racket   BUY!

SEPTEMBER 11
Blitzen Trapper - Holy Smokes Future Jokes   BUY!
Doves - The Universal Want   BUY!
Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters - Beyond the Blue Door   BUY!
The Flaming Lips - American Head   BUY!
Gasoline Lollipops - All the Misery Money Can Buy   BUY!
Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos   BUY!
Mastodon - Medium Rarities   BUY!
Johnny Thunders - Que Sera Sera: Resurrected [3-CD box set]   BUY!

SEPTEMBER 18
Ace of Cups - Sing Your Dream   BUY!
Flyer Colors - Third Stage: Live In London [prog-rock supergroup w/Steve Morse, Mike Portnoy & Neal Morse]   BUY!
Gazpacho - Fireworker   BUY!
Little Richard - King of Rock and Roll   BUY!
Little Richard - The Rill Thing   BUY!
Napalm Death - Throes of Joy In the Jaws of Defeatism   BUY!
Sugar Ray & the Bluetones w/Little Charlie - Too Far From the Bar   BUY!
James Williamson & Deniz Tek - Two To One   BUY!

SEPTEMBER 25
Ayreon - Transitus   BUY!
Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite - 100 Years of Blues   BUY!
Bruce Cockburn - True North (A 50th Anniversary Box Set) [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Deftones - Ohms   BUY!
Thurston Moore - By the Fire   BUY!
Bob Mould - Blue Hearts   BUY!
The Pretty Things - Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood   BUY!
The Rolling Stones - Steels of Wheel Live [unreleased 1989 concert]   BUY!
Surfer Blood - Carefree Theatre   BUY!

 

Album of the Month: Man, there's a lot of great music to choose from this month but I'm going to have to go with the Pretty Things' Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood LP. The final recording by legendary PTs' frontman Phil May, this collection of acoustic performances is basically May and PTs' guitarist Dick Taylor, literally finished up days after Mays death in May 2020. This promises to be a fitting swansong to a great, unheralded band. Check out the latest issue of Ugly Things music zine for more info on May's enormous musical legacy.

New Music Monthly: November & December 2017 Releases

We're in the home stretch for 2017 as the number of new releases slows to a trickle, the big exception being Record Store Day's Black Friday event at the end of February (which brings more than a few vinyl goodies for we collectors!). Still, there's a wealth of crazy cool stuff coming in November/December including new albums from Billy Bragg, blues guitarist extraordinaire Ronnie Earl, and the great singer Mavis Staples, among others. We also have reissues and archive releases from the legendary Little Richard, Chuck Berry, King Crimson, Apples In Stereo, Richard Thompson, and the Rolling Stones!

If we wrote about it, there'll be a link to it in the album title; if you want an album, hit the 'Buy!' link to get it from Amazon.com...it's just that damn easy! Your purchase puts money 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! Y'all have a great holiday season and we'll be back with a fresh 'New Music Monthly' column in 2018!

 
NOVEMBER 3
Anti-Flag - American Fall   BUY!
Billy Bragg - Bridges Not Walls   BUY!
Cannibal Corpse - Red Before Black   BUY!
Converge - The Dusk In Us   BUY!
Little Richard - Here's Little Richard   BUY!
The Apples In Stereo - Tone Soul Revolution [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Strawbs - The Ferryman's Curse   BUY!
Richard Thompson - Live at Rockpalast   BUY!

NOVEMBER 10
King Crimson - Earthbound [deluxe reissue]   BUY!
Quicksand - Interiors   BUY!
R.E.M. - Automatic For The People [deluxe reissue]   BUY!

 
NOVEMBER 17
Chuck Berry - Rockit   BUY!
Dead Ending - Shoot the Messenger [vinyl]   BUY!
Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters - The Luckiest Man   BUY!
Morrissey - Low In High School   BUY!
Mavis Staples - If All I Was Was Black   BUY!

NOVEMBER 24
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Who Built The Moon?   BUY!
The Apples In Stereo - Her Wallpaper Reverie [vinyl reissue]   BUY!

DECEMBER 1
The Rolling Stones - On Air   BUY!
 
DECEMBER 8
The Searchers - Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981   BUY!

Album of the Month: The Rolling Stones' On Air is a multi-format (CD/2-CD/2-LP) collection of early-era Stones performances on various BBC programs like Saturday Club, Top Gear, and Blues In Rhythm. The single CD and vinyl formats feature 18 tracks, from the band's first single – a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On” – to classic tunes like “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Memphis, Tennessee,” “Mercy, Mercy,” and “Down the Road Apiece.”

(Album release dates are subject to change without notice and they don't always let me know, so there...)

CD Preview: Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters' Maxwell Street

Chicago, Illinois enjoys a lengthy and well-deserved reputation as the “Home of the Blues.” Such giants as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, and Junior Wells called the ‘Windy City’ home, and Chicago still offers some red-hot blues in the form of Nick Moss, Dave Specter, and Toronzo Cannon, among many others. But even for a city steeped for decades in the blues, no single street in Chicago is more indentified with the blues than Maxwell Street, former home of the Maxwell Street Market. From the 1930s until around 2000, the sound of blues could be heard up and down the street every Sunday as artists like Big Bill Broonzy and Blind Arvella Gray played for shoppers for spare change.

On September 9th, 2016 Stony Plain Records will release Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters’ Maxwell Street, the new album a tribute to both the famed Chicago street but also former Broadcasters member David Maxwell, who passed away in February 2015. The album was produced by Earl and recorded at Wellspring Studios in Acton, Massachusetts and Wooly Mammoth Studios in Waltham, Massachusetts. The current Broadcasters line-up includes guitarist Earl, bassist Jim Mouradian, keyboardist Dave Limina, drummer Lorne Entress, and singer Diane Blue. Guitarist Nicholas Tabarias is a special guest on Maxwell Street.

Maxwell Street features ten tracks, including six original songs as well as covers like Otis Rush’s “Double Trouble” (Rush a musical idol of Earl’s), Gladys Knight’s “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination,” Eddy Arnold’s “You Don’t Know Me,” and Don Robey’s R&B standard, “As The Years Go Passing By,” which has been recorded by a veritable ‘who’s who’ of blues and soul music, including Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Boz Scaggs, George Thorogood, Carlos Santana, and Eric Burdon & the Animals, among others.

“This album is dedicated to my big brother David Maxwell,” says Ronnie Earl in a press release for Maxwell Street. “We were born on the same day ten years apart. His playing was as deep as the ocean, as high as the sky and as bright as a quasar. When he passed, I felt a huge loss as I still do. David was a Broadcaster and he and I made a few records together. It was always a supreme honor to play with him. He played blues as well as jazz with incredible expression from Otis Spann to Cecil Taylor. He knew and loved it all. He became Otis Spann in the later years. Our pianist David Limina wrote a tune (“Elegy for a Bluesman”) that captures the feeling of the album and we all send our love and respect to David’s family and all of our love and gratitude for David Maxwell.”

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters’ Maxwell Street

CD Preview: Ronnie Earl’s Father’s Day

Blues guitarist Ronnie Earl will celebrate “Father’s Day” a little late with the July 17th, 2015 release of his album by the same name, coming to blues fans courtesy of Stony Plain Records. If you’re unfamiliar with Earl, he’s a phenomenal string-bender who earned his 2014 “Blues Guitarist of the Year” Blues Music Award by touring constantly with his red-hot and rockin’ band the Broadcasters.

Father’s Day will be the ninth album on Stony Plain from Earl and the Broadcasters, and he’s mixed up his typical musical mix for the release. The album includes the first appearance of a full horn section on an Earl album in over a decade, and he’s shaking up his normal instrumental fare with by featuring the talents of a couple of great vocalists – Diane Blue, who has lent her enormously soulful voice to Earl’s material before, and Michael Ledbetter, singer with the Chicago-based Nick Moss Band. Unlike Earl’s previous sparse use of vocalists, Father’s Day features just one instrumental track.  

Earl pays tribute to two of his blues mentors on Father’s Day, covering two songs each by the great Otis Rush (“It Takes Time” and “Right Place, Wrong Time”) and Magic Sam (“All Your Love” and “What Have I Done Wrong”). Earl’s stellar fretwork adds a new dimension to the West Side Chicago sound of the original versions. Earl pays tribute to the great B.B. King with “I Need You So Bad,” and flirts with some old-school soul on covers of Brook Benton’s “I’ll Take Care Of You” and Fats Domino’s “Every Night About This Time.” Earl revisits one of his early original songs, “Follow Your Heart,” and adds a pair of new compositions in “Higher Love” and “Father’s Day.”

Much as he has now for a quarter-century, Earl is backed on Father’s Day by his longtime band the Broadcasters – bassist Jim Mouradian, keyboardist Dave Limina, and drummer Lorne Entress. Guitarists Nicholas Tabarias, Tim O’Connor, and Larry Lusignan came into the studio to play alongside Earl, as did the horn section of tenor sax player Mario Perrett and baritone saxophonist Scott Shetler. Fathers’s Day was produced by Earl himself and recorded at Wellspring Sound studio in Acton, Massachusetts.

The album’s packaging includes a photo of Earl’s father reading a newspaper feature about Ronnie and includes a dedication from the guitarist: “this album is made for my beautiful father, and we came to peace in the end. Don’t ever give up on your family and don’t quit until the miracle happens.” An son who has clashed with their father will easily recognize the sentiment, and Father’s Day promises to be a showcase for the sort of energetic, emotional, and textured guitar playing that has earned Ronnie Earl a well-deserved reputation as one of blues music’s most talented players.