Eric Clapton • Joe Bonamassa • Watkins Glen • Dave

Eric Clapton • Joe Bonamassa • Watkins Glen • Dave Mason • Cyril Neville
Issue 79 • U.S. $6.00
2013 • $8.00 CAN
www.hittinthenote.com
Check Out
WaneeFestival.com
for all new announcements!
@WaneeFestival
/WaneeFestival
Features
8
Chris Robinson:
Betty’s S.F. Blends, Volume One
by John Lynskey
12
8
Behind The Scenes of Eric Clapton’s
Give Me Strength: The ’74-’75 Recordings
with Bill Levenson
by Brian Robbins
20
Joe Bonamassa: Into the Limelight
by Tony Sclafani
12
Special Notes
26
Photo Session: Sidney Smith & the
Allman Brothers Band
32
Watkins Glen Remembered:
A Conversation with Bunky Odom
by John Lynskey
36
48
Dave Mason: The Road Behind... and Ahead
by Paul Antonello
20
Cyril Neville Cooks up Some Magic Honey
by Leslie Michele Derrough
Departments
7
Editor’s Notes
42
Compact Dreams: Exposing the Gold In a
Mountain Jam of CDs by Tom Clarke
46
In Tune: Documenting Up & Coming
Musicians by Jamie Lee
52
HTN 6-pack: North
58
CD Reviews: Emmylou
32
36
Mississippi Allstars, Humble Pie,
Black Sabbath, Drive-By Truckers, Buddy Guy, Michael Lee Firkins
Harris, James Maddock, Buffalo
Killers, Jared James Nichols, Kettle of Fish, Los Lobos, Jack Johnson,
Hard Working Americans, Jim Weider’s Project Percolator, Joe Pitts
Band, The Todd Wolfe Band, Gregg Allman
48
Chris Robinson - Michael Stewart
Joe Bonamassa - Jeff Katz
Dave Mason - Dino Perrucci
Cyril Neville - Leslie Michele Derrough
Chris Robinson Cover photo - Paul Natkin
DIXIE
PEAC
H
IRA STA
N LEY |
LEAD &
STEVE
SLIDE
B E N SO
GU ITARS
N | DRUM
, VOCA
TONY PA
LS
S/ PE RC
U LUS |
USSION
KEYBOA
, VOCA
M IKE R
LS
RDS &
OUSCU
GU ITAR,
LP | BA
VOCALS
STEVE
SS, VO
WILLIA
CALS
M S | KE
FR IE N
DS
YBOARD
S, VOCA
LS
LE E RO
Y PAR N
E LL | GU
JACK P
ITAR, VO
EARSO
CALS
N | GU
ETTA B
ITAR
R ITT |
VO
CALS
SCOTT
Y B RAT
CH E R |
LE E SW
GU ITAR
IS H E R |
GU ITAR
STACE
Y STAN
LEY |
DAN C
KE
YB
OARDS
ON NAU
G HTON
LAR RY
| BASS
VE ST |
BASS,
TON I V
VOCALS
E ST |
VOCALS
DAVE B
E N SON
| VOCA
M ICHA
LS
E L LOS
E KAM P
| VOCA
Rick G
pport:
emba
r • Lee
Jack
Roy P
Pears
arnell
on • E
Bud S
tt
a
B
ritt
nyd
e
r
•
Scotty
Lee S
Bratch
wishe
er
r • Je
Johnn
ff Carl
isi
yA•R
ob W
Steve
e
il
Dobo
• Lisa
Dave
Vinciq
Ben
uerra
s
o
n
• Mike
Rob H
Mantia
aney •
Mick M
all the
ontgo
guys
m
e
a
ry
t
th
eG
S
ta
ib
n
s
H
o
ertzm
n Cus
a
tom S
n
• Jam
o
u
hop
r
es Hig
fr
ie
nds a
gins
t the R
Mark
ock H
Kaise
all
r • Ton
Mik
i&
L
e
a
L
rr
o
y
sekam
Vest
p • Da
Gary K
n Con
ing • M
naugh
ark Ca
ton
Rod
p
n
p
e
s
y
Mills •
Antoin
Kip M
ette F
eyer *
ollett
Rick G
Rikk
arc
i
ia
P
o
u
los • M
arla B
Stan
le
e
n
y
s
•
o
and a
n • Sta
ll our fa
cey
mus
ic
milies
-l
o
vi
ng frie
and
nds. A
SPEC
IAL TH
ANKS
to ou
r
p
a
re
nts
fo
rock &
r
letting
roll in
us pla
our ho
y loud
mes.
HOR N
LS
S ON
“POR
GARY K
K CH
ING |
OP B
TROM BO
LU ES
M ICHA
NE
EL GRE
”
ENE |
MATT Q
BA
RITONE
U IN N |
SA
X
SAXOPH
B RADY
ON E
HAG E N
| TRUM
Blues
Wi t h
Fr i e n
Too M
uch T
rouble
Pork
Chop
Blues
Night
Ride
Comin
g Hom
e Tod
Don’t
aFyE A T U R I N G
Want
To Wa
Bottle
it
Hymn
of the
Troub
Repu
le Wit
blic
h Lov
It’s Cry
e
ing Tim LEAD AND SLIDE GUITAR
e
Wait A
Minute
Rick’s
Shuffl
e
DIXIE PEACH
Ira Stanley
Blues With
Friends”
“
Special
Guest A
ppearanc
LE E RO
es by:
Y PAR N
E LL • JA
CK PEA
RSON
• ETTA
B R IT
© Copyr
ight 2012
Big Shew
T
Record
s
SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCES BY
Lee Roy Parnell
Jack Pearson
Etta Britt
w w w. d i x i e p e a c h . c o m
ON SALE NOW
cdbaby.com • iTunes • amazon.com
MANY
THAN
K
S
to the
fo
llo
wing fr
family
iends
for the
and
ir su
ds
PET
1. TOO
M
UC
H TRO
(Stanley
UB
-P
Ira – slid eachsongs B LE | 5:05
M
e | Lee
S. – mid I)
2. POR
dle solo
KC
(Stanley HOP B LU E
S
-Peachso
| 4:13
Ira – intr
ng
s BM
o
Lee Roy & 1st solo | Ja I)
ck – 2nd
– 3rd so
lo
solo
3. N IG
HT
(Stanley R IDE | 4:50
-Peachso
Jack – so
ngs B M
lo guita
I)
r
4.
COM IN
(Stanley G HOM E TO
-Peachso
D
ngs B M AY | 5:22
I)
(Stanley WANT TO W
-P
A
Lee Roy eachsongs B IT | 5:03
M I)
– slide
guitar |
6. B OT
Etta - vo
TLE
cals
(Stanley HYM N OF
TH
-Peachso
Ira – 1st
ngs B M E R E PU B LIC
slide | Ja
I)
| 4:24
ck – 2nd
7. TRO
slide | Le
UB
e Roy –
(Paulus- LE WITH LO
3
rd slide
P
V
Etta – vo eachsongs B M E | 5:20
I)
Ira – so cals
los with
Scotty –
8. IT’S
middle
CR
& end so
los
(Stanley YIN’ TIM E |
5:24
-Peachso
ngs B M
9. WAIT
I)
A M IN U
(Stanley
TE | 4:
-P
Ira – intr eachsongs B 06
M
o & 1st
solo | S I)
10. R IC
cotty –
K’S
2nd solo
(Stanley SH U FFLE |
-P
2:
Ira – so eachsongs B 44
los & sl
M
I)
ide
Lee S –
3rd solo with
5. DON
’T
PRODU
CE R
IRA STA
N
ASSOCI
ATE PR
O
LEY
DUCE R
STEVE
B E NSO
BU
N
AT SPIR D SNYDE R
IT RAN
SARASO
CH STU
TA, FLO
DIOS
RI DA
M IXER
PRO TO
OLS ED
ITI NG
MAR K
CAPPS
INTU
ARTISTS
’ STU D ITIVE R ECOR
IO DAYT
AN D LR
DING
ON, OHI
P STU D
O
IO NASH
RECORD
ED AT
MASTER
ED AT
RODN
ATLANT
A, G EO
EY
RG IA
COVE R
ART
G RAPH
IC DESI
R ICK G
ARCIA
GN
R IKKI P
VI LLE, TE
M ILLS
OU LOS
www.dix
www.fa iepeach.com
cebook.
com/Dix
iePeach
© Copy
right 20
Band
12
Big Shew
Record
s
NN ESSE
E
MASTE
R HO
USE
photo by Rhiannon Bradley
by John Lynskey
Singer/songwriter Chris Robinson is a very busy man these days, and very happy about it.
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood has just released a quadruple live album, Betty’s S.F.’s
Blend, Volume One, which captures the band at their psychedelic jamming best. While on
a break from a just completed run with the Black Crowes, the legendary frontman took
a few minutes with HTN to talk about the CRB and what the group means to him at this
stage of his career.
8
HittinTheNote.com
“From the very beginning of the Chris Robinson Band,
the main thing is that I always want to be confident about
the material we present. At the same time, I’ve always
been very anti-corporate throughout my entire career. I
think that as we live in this day and age, music has become
even more status-driven, and there is a lot of pretense about
it. People like to talk up the role of the artist or the musician, but it doesn’t really add up with their actions and/or
their work. So for me, the real quandary regarding the Chris
Robinson Brotherhood was that I didn’t want to do it in any
way that I would have done it before. I didn’t want to start
with a record deal, but if that’s the case, how do you get
your music out there? What do you do? So I looked at the
Grateful Dead world, and being part of the Grateful Dead
family has had a big influence on me. I was like, ‘OK, we
need to start our mythology now.’ We’re going to have this
band, and it’s not going to be just a side project – if anything, that is what the Black Crowes have turned into. The
CRB is now the meat of the matter for me, if you will.”
Thus stated Chris Robinson about the Chris Robinson
Brotherhood, the group he formed in 2011 and has nurtured
ever since. Joined by guitarist Neal Casal, keyboardist
Adam MacDougall, drummer George Sluppick and Mark
Dutton on bass, the CRB hit the road hard and heavy and
has not looked back since, gaining a following one show
at a time. As Chris explained, “So the idea came about that
people in this kind of concert culture really listen to the
live stuff and are truly interested in what the band sounds
like. So in 2011 we booked nine weeks in California to get
things started. It was like Tuesday and Wednesday nights
in little clubs – we hardly played any weekend dates, and
we put 13,500 miles on a van just in California. We had no
road crew − it was nothing but us and Brian our tour manager, which was very important as well, because it helps
you build the temple every night, brick by brick. Like for
me as a guitar player, I wanted to learn from the ground up
how to set up my own gear and got through what everyone
else had gone through earlier in their career.
“The other part of the quandary was, ‘What are the expectations for this band?’ There were no interviews, there were
no photographs − you had to seek it out and see if you liked
it. That tour was the galvanizing factor in why this band became so tight, and it also gave us a safety latch, if you will,
in that you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew
before you know what’s happening. Within a few weeks
of us being a band, being on the road and playing together
three hours a night, it all clicked for us. We realized that
there was only progression for us − as musicians and as
friends, as songwriters and as a unit.”
In 2012, the CRB took the next step in their progression
as a group and recorded two outstanding studio albums −
Big Moon Ritual, released in June, and The Magic Door,
which followed three months later. Both recordings capture
what the band does best: long, bluesy psychedelic jams
from Casal, built around esoteric lyrics, Robinson’s distinctive vocals and soaring harmonies.
“We ended up taking the energy of our road shows from
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
that first year right into the studio,” Chris recounted. “That
opened up a lot of cool possibilities – to me, the future is
interesting musically because I think it is going to be more
of a connoisseur-driven thing. I mean, why make music
that is watered down? Why would you dumb it down?
To make money? To make it easier on the audience? The
answer is ‘No.’ As a matter of fact, we need to get heavier
and deeper into what we are doing. I think that is where the
real reward comes down for us artistically. The rewards are
also found in the little culture that the Brotherhood is – not
just for us, but for the audience as well. Everybody is part
of something at a unique period of time − they are there for
the birth of our psychedelic rock band. That is the mentality
that we want to keep going. It’s a genuine, homespun thing.
We don’t want to depend upon outside influences – the
band will grow exponentially as it is supposed to. People
overuse this word, but our band is an organic thing that we
are in the midst of.”
Chris also pointed out that “Our music gives us an openended opportunity to experiment, and there is another cool
aspect to that. All of us − with the exception of Adam − are
in our forties, and in my case I’m getting into my late-forties. We’ve all been doing this for years and years and years
– we’ve been on lots of sessions, made records and done
monster tours. I think we use my name because it allows
us to skip a few places in line here and there, and that’s
cool, but no decisions are made without all of us discussing
them.”
One of the keys to the sound of the CRB is the everevolving relationship between Chris and Neal Casal, and
as Chris put it, “I think what people are seeing is a real
progression in the songwriting, the playing and in the direction of where we want to take this. A lot of that comes from
the relationship that Neal and I have developed; originally,
Neal and I were collaborating a little bit, but now as we
have progressed, our songwriting is now about 50/50. I
write a part, he writes a part − it is an awesome collaboration, and it is exciting.”
Another aspect to the Chris-Neal relationship is the stepup in Chris’ role as a guitarist. While Neal is one of the
most-respected lead players in the business, Chris is taking
on larger guitar responsibilities, adding an important nuance
to the group. “I think the best part of it for me − coming
in kind of late in the game − is a perspective thing,” stated
Chris. “My sound is very unorthodox when compared to
the guys who sat around and learned all of Eric Clapton’s
licks, or people who grew up studying the blues. When
I’m surrounded by so many talented players, I have to find
some other kind of musical dialogue that fits, because I am
not a flashy player – I don’t have a lot of licks and chops.
This band, however, allows me to be very expressive, and
that is one thing I can bring; the sound I’m into brings a
different color palette. Neal is so encouraging to me – he always has time to talk about guitar playing. The other thing
is I have put in a lot of work into my guitar playing, a lot of
woodshedding, man. Getting to play three hours a night, an
hour at soundcheck, playing in the hotel − you rack up the
9
10
HittinTheNote.com
masses in our world, hatred, fear, racism − music plays a
role in combating those things, and music allows us to find
solace amidst all that.
“That is why I am writing all the time. I need to express
my feelings about what is going on. My whole entree into
music was lyric writing. I decided not to go to a university,
where I thought I was going to write a novel, teach literature and become a decrepit old guy with bad teeth, wearing
a sweater with holes in it! Writing was always my interest; I
found my way to being a singer, I found my way to becoming a performer, but the very initial thing was the lyrics.
Again, when we talk about this day and age, where kids
want to go on American Idol and it’s all about ‘Like me; oh
please like me. Vote for me please!’ That was never part of
my inner dialogue. As a matter of fact, being a musician in
the ’80s in Atlanta, the only social class that would have me
was the freaks and weirdos. Poets, junkies, transvestites,
artists, historians and dropouts represented what I found
interesting about life. I was never interested in posh things
or safe things. Now times have changed, of course; I’m a
husband and a father, so my life has a lot of focus there,
but I’ve always felt that writing songs for me is, in a sense,
like a bat with radar. I was such a dyslexic child and my
brain is wired different, so, for me, the world I lived in in
terms of literature and poetry was a world away from the
normal adolescent stuff. The songs I wrote as a kid are very
angry songs, more charged and edgy. Where I am now, my
songs are more introspective − as they should be. I like the
imagery, I like the lushness. I want people to be able to sort
of wrap themselves up in them and find a meaning. I want
to stay away from clichés, and I want to be as expressive
as possible with the language. The whole thing is to have
this canvas where these songs can unfold and these stories
about life and love and loss and joy can be told. ‘Star or
Stone’ is a great example of that – it was about the first
thing I wrote for the CRB. The whole idea of ‘dreams burning on the side of the road’ − anybody who has lived long
enough can understand what that is like.”
Chris disclosed that the band’s next record “is going to be
called The Phosphorescent Harvest, and we are very, very
proud of it – we really look at it as our first serious record.
That one will be out in April, and we can’t wait to see
where we will go from there.”
In summation, Chris stated, “The CRB is very important to us, and it is special to me to have this come about
twenty-odd years into my career. We are very humble and
blessed to be doing this. Whether people liked it or not,
we would feel that way. This music we make is divinely
human. It is something that is part of the vibration of our
eternal past and our eternal future. It is where the finite and
the infinite all coalesce, and it is a beautiful thing.”
(www.chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com)
photo by Dino Perrucci
photo by Ian Rawn
hours, and I just love it. It’s exciting to me to be able to contribute in a meaningful way to the musical conversation.”
When the decision was made to cut a live album, the
CRB already knew who was going to record, engineer, mix
and produce the record – the one and only Betty CantorJackson, who had made her mark while recording and
engineering for the Grateful Dead from the late-60s into the
’80s. Deadheads have special affection for the soundboard
recordings she made for the band. “Betty Boards” have
always been among the most-coveted tapes for Dead collectors. Chris explained how the CRB crossed paths with
Betty, and how she became an vital part of the Brotherhood: “In May of 2011, we were in Berkley playing at
Wavy Gravy’s birthday party and it was a fantastic event, of
course – Wavy’s birthday parties are always amazing. After
the show I met Betty; she came up to me after our set and
she said, ‘I love this band − that was incredible! Whether
you like it or not, I want you to know that I am recording
your band!’ Of course I knew who Betty was and what she
had done with the Dead, so we were very flattered. Our
friendship began to blossom and she would come to our
shows, and she actually started taping some shows in 2011.
She told us at one point, ‘In all sincerity, I haven’t felt like
this about music since Jerry [Garcia] passed − I just love
your whole scene.’ To be honest, to have someone say that
to us who had that kind of access to Jerry and had such an
intimate relationship with the music and the whole Grateful Dead scene meant the world to us, and we knew we had
something special with Betty. When we decided to release
a live album, there was no doubt that Betty was going to be
in charge of the project.”
The 19 tracks that make up Betty’s S.F.’s Blends were
culled from the 96 songs the CRB performed during a fiveshow stint at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall
last December, and this quadruple vinyl album captures
the free-flowing vibe and groove that defines a Brotherhood concert. All the hard work and many miles on the
road paid off, as the group pushes the limit on the already
wide parameters of their sound. There are five cuts off of
Big Moon Ritual and The Magic Door (including “Star or
Stone,” “Tulsa Yesterday” and “100 Days of Rain” ), four
CRB tunes that have yet to be released on an album (the
provocative “Meanwhile In the Gods” is one), three songs
from Chris’ New Earth Mud-era, two lesser-known Crowes
recordings (“Roll Old Jeremiah” and “Tornado”) and a
plethora of cover songs (Dylan’s “Crash on the Levee”
and “Do Right Woman” from the Burrito Brothers are two
that made the cut). These combine to make for a riveting
listening experience from start to finish. When asked about
the compelling song selection and wonderful sequencing
of tracks, Chris responded: “Let me tell you – we didn’t do
that. That was all Betty. That was the whole deal I made
with Betty: I said, ‘Listen: I have the idea for the record, but
I want you to curate this.’ She agreed, and by the way, we
didn’t hear anything. Betty doesn’t send MP3s, man – she
is old school, and that is the way we like it. Betty made all
the calls – we had no say in the matter, and she didn’t ask.
This is her thing, and that’s why the album is called Betty’s
Blends.”
As Chris noted, “Trust was a big part of making this
record. Betty has such great ears, so it was easy to trust her.
It’s funny. [Grateful Dead bassist] Phil Lesh didn’t know
we were working with Betty, and when he came to one of
shows, he asked, ‘Is that Betty Cantor?’ I told him yeah, it
was, and then he gave me his Professor Lesh look, with one
eye cocked, and simply said, ‘Best ears in the business.’ I
said, ‘Don’t I know it, man!’ After meeting her, there was
never any doubt in my mind of what this album could be.”
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Betty’s S.F.’s Blends
is the wonderful musical presentation of Robinson’s lyrics.
Chris has written songs for the CRB that are loaded with
poetic imagery − think Robert Hunter meets Jack Kerouac,
with a dash of Bob Dylan. “In the jamband world, I think
there are a lot of players who are good musicians, but composition isn’t really their forte,” Chris said. “That’s cool, because it is about getting high and having a good time with
your friends. Clearly I understand that. When I was young I
was all into blowing my mind and going to see the Grateful
Dead as much as I could, so I understand what that kind of
communal feeling is. In this day and age, man, we live in
one of the most anxiety-ridden eras in history. Whether it is
the brutalization of our planet or the plight of the oppressed
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
11
photo by Sid Smith
Hittin’ the Note: Bill, did you feel at all a need to
vindicate this period of Clapton’s music? Once you’ve
been labeled “God” – as Clapton was in what began as
graffiti on a London subway wall and grew into an everlasting cultural statement – everything you do from
that moment is viewed under a microscope. It seems,
though, that this particular chapter of Eric’s story has
taken some critical heat over the years.
Bill Levenson: I think what I came up against right from
the start wasn’t a vindication of the music or the artist − it
was the vindication of the There’s One In Every Crowd and
E.C. Was Here albums. When people talk about this era,
they invariably talk about 461 Ocean Boulevard – it was
a hit record. It’s part of the trilogy of that era: Layla, 461
and Slowhand – those are the three that keep getting refocused on, and for good reason. They have hits on them, and
they’re really good records.
So when you were approached about doing this …
by Brian Robbins
The new Give Me Strength: The ’74/’75 Recordings box set focuses on a period of Eric Clapton’s career that is often overlooked: the 1974-’75 run that produced the 461 Ocean Boulevard and There’s One
In Every Crowd studio albums, along with the live E.C. Was Here. Coming on the heels of Clapton’s
heroin-fueled, three-year, self-imposed post-Layla exile, the 461/Every Crowd/E.C. trilogy is truly the
soundtrack of Clapton’s reemergence.
While 461 Ocean Boulevard received its share of attention over the years (just the cover of Bob Marley’s
“I Shot the Sheriff” alone was enough to ensure its status as a classic FM radio album), There’s One In
Every Crowd and E.C. Was Here frequently fell through the cracks – until now.
Produced by Bill Levenson (whose impressive list of accomplishments includes the recent historic
Duane Allman Skydog box set), Give Me Strength digs deep in the vaults and proves its point with a
wealth of treasures. The collection explores the relationship between Clapton and the “Tulsa Gang”
(bassist Carl Radle, Jamie Oldaker on drums, and Dick Sims on keys), along with keyboardist Albhy
Galuten and guitarist George Terry – one of E.C.’s all-time best picking partners. Packed with numerous
previously-unreleased tracks and full, unedited performances, Give Me Strength sheds long-overdue
light on this point in Clapton history.
Bill Levenson was kind enough to take HTN behind the curtain, providing a look at the birthing process of
Give Me Strength … which was, as we will see, a true labor of love.
12
HittinTheNote.com
I was asked to do a 40th anniversary version of 461 Ocean
Boulevard. I said I’d love to do the project. I love the era,
but I didn’t think just looking at 461 was going to be nourishing enough. That’s where the concept of the 1974-’75
recordings came about. Once I started it, I realized we were
on the right path – it was fun to do, it felt good, the music
was willing, the tapes sounded great and it never felt forced.
You know, you have to edit yourself: you have a palette to
work with – but as long as you acknowledge that palette, it’s
actually a lot of fun to do … short of making deadlines and
budgets! (laughs)
Sometimes the records that fall in between don’t get the
attention that they deserve, however. The “vindication” − or
the concept going forward once we started − was to use 461
Ocean Boulevard as the anchor. It was the starting point
of Eric reclaiming his career after a couple of years on the
sidelines. 461 didn’t need an argument other than making a
good transfer of it and finding a few more interesting, viable
pieces that would raise the understanding of the record to
another level.
From there the idea was to present There’s One In Every Crowd and E.C. Was Here in their best light – to have
people hear them as a unit of three albums, to have a better
understanding of this ’74-’75 arc. Arcs are strange things –
these days, arcs are 10 years long, you know? Artists release
records in much longer cycles – they’re not in the studio
like Eric was in ’74-’75: a record in April/May; a record in
September; a record in June – bang-bang-bang. You don’t
see that kind of prolific activity anymore. Or rarely, anyway.
What this project gave me was the ability to take the focus
off of 461. Obviously, that’s the draw – and 2014 will be
the 40th anniversary of its release – but we were able to step
right into There’s One In Every Crowd, which is my favorite
of the three records. That sounds like blasphemy, doesn’t it?
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
It’s OK; you’re safe with me!
Well, I actually happen to like There’s One in Every Crowd
a lot. I understand why it’s overlooked – there’s no big hit
on there, and the cover was probably not the most striking. I
think most people don’t realize the business of the business
– There’s One In Every Crowd and E.C. Was Here were cut
out in 1976 because RSO Records left Atlantic and went to
Polydor. There was a housecleaning of product, and when
those records got cut out, they didn’t come into print again
for a decade. People think that they were cut out because
they weren’t good or they weren’t selling, but they were cut
out because distribution stopped on the Atlantic side. When
RSO reintroduced 461 back into the market in 1976, they
jerry-rigged it by adding “Better Make It Through Today”
because they felt it was the only song off There’s One In
Every Crowd worth salvaging – leaving that album and
E.C. Was Here on the shelf until the mid-80s. This was my
chance to settle that score and to put the focus back on these
two records.
The beauty of the There’s One In Every Crowd exploration
was we were able to reintroduce every single outtake from
the sessions for that record. And the live E.C. Was Here was
an interesting process, because the original album only had
six tracks.
To tell you the truth, it always felt to me that there had
to be more music from that tour that deserved to be
heard.
It’s a record that people have always really liked when
they listened to it. They love the guitar tone. They love the
interplay. They love the choice of material − but the record
was rushed. It was actually issued twice, back-to-back −
first with “The Sky Is Crying” on it, which was withdrawn
almost immediately and replaced with “Further On Up the
Road,” and “Further On” became one of the benchmark
songs on the record. The original E.C. Was Here is wonderful, but it’s brief. This time was a good opportunity to
revisit those six concerts and draw out of it an expansive
two-CD set that, I think, tells a much more thorough story. It
gives you the full arc from July ’74 to June ’75 for those six
shows.
And then just to add something to the soup, we have the
full set of multi-tracks from the Freddie King sessions that
Eric and the band recorded in August of ’74. Plus, we were
able to include a previously-unreleased Surround Sound
mix of 461 Ocean Boulevard by Elliot Scheiner in the package, along with the original quadraphonic mixes of 461 and
There’s One In Every Crowd that were done back in ’74 and
’75. I think it’s as complete a project as we could do, given
the time, the budget and the practicality of keeping it to five
discs.
13
I agree, I agree. And you know what really makes this
package hold together? John Lynskey’s liner notes. John
had some wonderful interviews with band members Albhy
Galuten, Jamie Oldaker and George Terry, along with engineer Karl Richardson. The final result was a great essay
that ties together everything we tried to accomplish, touching on things so that if you’re not sure why something is
there, John puts it into perspective.
Couple that with the imagery from David Gahr’s 461
photo shoot − which quite honestly was the only significant photo shoot from that era – and I think it’s a really
nice package. When someone takes this home for Christmas and sits down with it for however long it takes, I think
they’re going to get a lot out of it.
This period of Eric’s music is often referred to as him
embracing JJ Cale’s sound – which is accurate – but
to me it’s more a case of the Tulsa gang’s presence and
about them wrapping themselves around him.
That expresses itself on the “Getting Acquainted” bonus
tracks on 461. That’s exactly what they were: the guys
came into Miami from Tulsa, set up in Criteria Studios and
said, “Let’s see what we’ve got.” And they would jam –
but they weren’t blues jams − they were Tulsa jams. They
had riffs, they had rhythms and if you listen to the “Getting Acquainted” tracks, you can probably spot the genesis
of songs like “Motherless Children” – that’s where the
riffs came from. Those tracks are the perfect example of
what you just mentioned: they wrapped themselves around
Eric − he gave them room, they gave him room, and you
can hear it.
the other players’ respect … I don’t think he ever played
it hard-handed, but when he did speak up and directed, I
think people listened. Tom was a musician himself and he
was very comfortable in the musical language, so I think
he had ideas about arrangements and was able to communicate them. If you look at Tom’s record from that period,
all of his albums are very musical; he brought a musicality
to his projects.
Even though the vibe of 461 and There’s One In Every
Crowd is much more laid-back than Layla, the music
itself almost feels raw in terms of live takes and fewer
overdubs.
And there are imperfections in there, too, because Tom
was OK with imperfections. He was more about the feel
… and that’s old-school producing from the ’50s and ’60s.
Those great old records that he worked on aren’t immaculate (laughs). But they certainly are musical and they sure
do feel good – and the same can be said for these records.
There are things that, if we were doing this today, we’d
fix this or re-do that – but it all adds to the flavor. And it
makes them very real.
Yvonne Elliman’s presence − and later on, Marcy
Levy’s – break up that “boys club” vibe that Layla
had. Layla was focused on a woman – Eric’s aching
love for Pattie Boyd – but it was constructed by men.
Tom was happy to just sit back and capture the moment,
but he also was smart enough to know when to speak up
and give direction. I think Tom had Eric’s respect and
14
photo by Sid Smith
How would you describe Tom Dowd’s production style
as far as knowing when to let things roll and when to
reach in and nudge the rudder?
You know, I’d forgotten how close together Layla
and 461 Ocean Boulevard were done: three years
and change, which is a hiccup nowadays – but
back then it was an eternity in many ways. The two
records were recorded in the same studio and had
the same producer, but as close as they are, they’re
very different as well. It’s an interesting dichotomy.
And one of the reasons is just what you said: having
Yvonne − and then Marcy − changed it up a little bit.
Do you think it’s fair to say that – next to Duane
Allman − George Terry was one of Eric’s best
co-pilots as far as blending and weaving and challenging Eric in a good way?
Oh, I’d agree with that whole-heartedly. On songs
like “Gambling Woman Blues” – the Freddie King
track − where you have George in the left channel,
Eric in the right and Freddie in the center, you can
really hear the interplay between them. The way we
spread it out gave everybody room – you can get a
sense of what George Terry was capable of doing.
Technically, he was probably as good a guitarist as
anyone who’s played with Eric. George’s intonation, technique and creativity are pretty unbelievable … but because
he’s playing with Eric Clapton, he knew where the line
was, even though he was given the room.
On the studio records, George’s contributions are unbelievable, but they’re just short of stealing the spotlight.
George Terry played a really good role for Eric. I think
Eric needed the support early on – but by the time the arc
closes, I think he had gathered all of his strength and all
of his abilities that were put on the back burner in ’72 and
’73. Eric comes out of this era a much better guitarist for
playing with George Terry.
After 461 Ocean Boulevard the setting moves to Kingston, Jamaica, for There’s One in Every Crowd. Marcy
comes in, but we have the same core band on hand.
Absolutely – and they’re not cutting on each other.
There are no egos, no sharp edges.
And it was all recorded in a very short period of time.
For 461 they started in the studio on April 18th and by
May 10th they were done. In three weeks, they went from
“Let’s get acquainted and see how we feel” to having a
10-track record.
These albums are different that way.
HittinTheNote.com
That’s right − and we still have Tom and Karl. Think what
changes, however: the studio, the environment; and now
they were on top of the world with a hit record.
I suspect that Atlantic wanted another record, so they went
in and made the most of it. It’s an interesting mix of material. It didn’t come together the same way that 461 did, where
you had the “Getting Acquainted” jams and growing from
there – they had songs. They went in with songs to work
on. It’s a much more straightforward session: they tracked
down in Jamaica; they came back to Criteria and mixed …
and they mixed right up until the end of the year. According
to Albhy, the last song was “Opposites,” and they actually
mixed it on New Year’s Eve.
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
photo by Barry Fisch
I think a lot of people are going to be slapping their
foreheads when they hear this music and saying, “How
did I miss this the first time around?” – aside from all
the archival material that no one has heard prior to
this.
I love the interplay between the guitars on “High.”
“High” was originally an outtake from the sessions for the
second Dominos record that never happened. They made
a song out of it for There’s One In Every Crowd. I sort of
liken it to the way that Jimmy Page would put together
a Led Zeppelin track – where every guitar part had its
place. They were sort of doing that on “High,” only not
as layered – it’s more organic. Every note counts on these
records.
Next comes the live album, E.C. Was Here − and for
anyone jonesing for the guitar hero Eric, here you go.
I sense so much confidence in the band listening to
the tracks on the Give Me Strength collection. There’s
a difference between confidence and cockiness, which
I think is best summed up by Eric’s yelling out the
key changes as they work their way up the neck on
the “Ramblin’ On My Mind/Have You Ever Loved
a Woman” jam. Not everyone would be comfortable
enough with themselves and each other to call out
“D!” “E!” in that setting.
I think you have to take into consideration, too, that they
went out on the road in July of ’74 with no expectations – they were just happy to be out there. It got bigger
than any of them anticipated, and by the end of June
’75, there’s a whole different dynamic going on. They’re
slicker, they’re more well-rehearsed – they’re playing at
a different level. They coalesced into a great band within
15
a year, and you can feel the confidence growing showby-show.
Were there any surprises for you as you put together
the bonus tracks?
I’d actually visited these tapes twice before – once many
years ago and then again in 1995 for the Crossroads II
box. This time around, I wanted to find more material
that sort of rounded us out a bit.
We were reviewing the tapes from July 20th and there
was this natural progression of “Presence of the Lord”
into “Crossroads” and “I Shot the Sheriff” into “Layla”
and “Little Wing” − and they were fabulous. I said,
“Wow – how did we miss those last time? That’s exactly
what we’re looking for!” “Sheriff” was stunning to me
because it’s molded off the album version, but it’s better:
they’re building on it – they’re excited to be playing it
and you can hear it. Those tracks made everything else
work.
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I’d never heard
anything from the Freddie King Burglar sessions with
Eric, Tom, and the band prior to this.
Freddie King is interesting: he had three records on RSO,
the first of which was Burglar, and only the song “Sugar
Sweet” was issued while Freddy was alive − if you
16
blinked you missed it. “Keep Me Mama” and an edited
version of “Gambling Woman” Blues” were revisited
after Freddy died, mixed for the 1934-1976 compilation.
Here you have the full 22-minute version of “Gambling
Woman Blues” and you hear it as a fly on the wall, just
the way it went down. And for reasons I don’t know,
“Boogie Funk” just never got used at all until now. So
the fact that these are all together is really the first time
that speaks to these as a session rather than spread over
different records.
That’s another example of what this collection is.
This isn’t just a repackaging – it’s bringing some lost
music to light. Or maybe I should say misunderstood
music.
You know, the term “Southern rock” is sort of overused
… but if you are going to use the term, this record fits
right in there. It’s not a “British blues record” or an
“American blues record” or a “superstar guitar record.”
It’s a good musical record that you could put right there
alongside of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Marshall
Tucker … anything of its day. Give Me Strength is right
in there at the top of the heap, and it was an enjoyable
project to be a part of.
(www.ericclapton.com)
HittinTheNote.com
photo by Christie Goodwin
The New York-bred guitar prodigy emerged in the
1990s around the same time as fellow six-string wunderkinds Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and
Derek Trucks. But he’s received only a fraction of the
publicity those players have gotten, even though he’s
released almost twenty solo or collaborative albums
and played alongside such big-time guitar-slingers as
Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Warren Haynes. Besides
his own aversion to playing the fame game, a major
reason for Bonamassa’s low profile is that his music
has been categorized under the esoteric blues umbrella rather than in the more popular jam band camp.
As such, you won’t catch him playing large outdoor
venues with Tea Leaf Green, Umphrey’s McGee and
the like: “We take the summers off. People ask, ‘Why
do you do that?’ I say, ‘Let the kids fight it out at the
festivals – I don’t want to get muddy.’”
He also believes the uptown image he’s cultivated
for himself – sunglasses and suits – has also put off
potential listeners. “Some people have this preconceived notion about me,” he explains. “The reason I
wear sunglasses is because I’m really light-sensitive.
Pickup, which is at www.thepickupradio.com. Most
important of all, Public Television has taken to airing
some of his concert DVDs, like the recently-released
Beacon Theatre: Live from New York and An Acoustic
Evening at the Vienna Opera House. There’s nothing
like continuous exposure to millions of TV viewers to
bring in new listeners. It’s probably not a coincidence
that Bonamassa’s last studio album, 2012’s Driving
Towards the Daylight, was his most successful, reaching number 23 on the Billboard album chart.
“The initial success for me started over in Europe,”
Bonamassa explains. “But thanks to the lovely folks
at the Public Broadcasting System, a lot of my DVDs
are constantly on TV in some way, shape or form,
during a pledge drive or something like that. They’re
very supportive of my music. All of a sudden, we
found ourselves doing our biggest show ever not in
Europe, but here, which is strange because we’ve
been doing basically arenas over there for two or
three years. We came to Denver during this past tour
run and it was the biggest crowd we ever drew.
“We serve up a family show,” he continues. “It’s
Warren Haynes is a big influence
on my singing.
by Tony Sclafani
If Joe Bonamassa isn’t a household name, well, that’s sort of been by design. “I’ve been
primarily underground for my whole career, which is quite frankly the way I prefer it,” says
the 36-year-old musician while on break during a recent sojourn to Nashville to co-write
songs. “I’ve never been on The Tonight Show − I’ve never been asked. I was on Letterman
as a guest musician in the band a couple of years ago, but I’ve never been asked to play anything in the mainstream.”
20
HittinTheNote.com
Spotlights make my eyes tear up to the point where I
can’t see. I wear a suit because, quite frankly, I think
it’s my job to look the part. But based only on a picture, people will prejudge your personality, and they
think I’m too cool for school or that I think too much
of myself. I’m the most self-deprecating guy in the
world. I’m spending a week in Nashville, and I mean,
the guy I bought Starbucks from today can probably
outplay me in a heartbeat. I’m just a lucky guy who
has been able to figure something out and find an audience. There is no best or worst. Music is just 100%
a matter of opinion.”
But things have been changing lately for Bonamassa. His name is starting to become as recognizable to
the public as it’s been to guitar aficionados. The three
albums he recorded as part of the now-defunct hard
rock band Black Country Communion exposed him
to a more mainstream audience. So did the pair of albums he did with Los Angeles-based songstress Beth
Hart. In August 2013, he began hosting an online
radio program about guitars and their players, The
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
something where the lyrics are not offensive and you
don’t have to worry about anyone taking off their
clothes. You don’t have to worry about anything other
than maybe too many notes. That’s the most dangerous it gets around here. We don’t get overtly political.
My job is that I sell an escape. There’s plenty of ways
to get bad news. So my job in the time they’re in the
venue is to bring an escape. You forget your problems, you turn off your phone.”
A New Day Yesterday
Fame probably wasn’t on the young Bonamassa’s
mind when he first picked up the guitar. That’s because he was just a tyke when he started playing. It
came naturally since his parents ran a guitar shop
and his family was musical. “Even before I had a real
electric guitar when I was like three or four I had a
plastic guitar and I just loved it,” he says. “I loved
records. I loved looking at pictures of guitars. Not a
lot has changed. I always knew that’s what I wanted
21
photo by Christie Goodwin
effort was produced by Kevin Shirley, who had
worked with Journey, Iron Maiden and Rush and tops
the previous efforts with its crackerjack energy and
sizzling six-string licks.
“I kind of go pre- and post-Kevin Shirley when it
comes to my albums,” he says. “On the first four or
five we were kind of wandering around trying to find
a direction. When I did my first one, which was produced by Tom Dowd, he was very, very patient with
me to let me kind of find my footing. I wasn’t really
ready to record an album. But we got through it and
luckily we were able to survive and kind of went on
to do some other stuff. And then in 2005, I met Kevin
Shirley and we started You and Me in Vegas in late
2005. Over the years we’ve made seven or eight studio albums and four or five DVDs. It’s been a great
relationship.”
The Shirley-Bonamassa combination bore both
artistic and commercial fruit. On the musical front,
the pair began to explore acoustic and roots music
on albums like 2010’s The Ballad of John Henry
and 2011’s Dust Bowl. Although Bonamassa’s albums have always been big hits on the blues chart,
he finally cracked the Billboard Top 200 album chart
22
taxing because we’d only tour in the summertime and
be holed up in northern California writing for the rest
of the year. I was in that band six and a half years. It
took us three years to get the record together.”
Although Bloodline disbanded shortly after hitting
the modern rock chart with “Stone Cold Hearted,”
Bonamassa’s time in the group gave him a chance to
learn about the music business and make some important connections. One such connection was Warren Haynes, whom Bonamassa counts as a big influence. “I’ve known Warren probably since I’ve been
fourteen or fifteen. He produced a couple of tracks on
the Bloodline album and wrote a couple of the tunes.
As far as singers, Warren Haynes is a big influence on
my singing.”
Honing his singing chops became important when
Bonamassa decided to forge a career as a solo artist.
His first two albums, A New Day Yesterday from 2000
and So, It’s Like That from 2002, show him finding
his voice, literally and figuratively, mixing hard rock
with his bluesy lead lines. His next two albums, Blues
Deluxe (2003) and Had to Cry Today (2004), lean
more heavily in a blues direction, as their titles might
suggest. But it was with You & Me that Bonamassa
says his career really began to take shape. The 2006
HittinTheNote.com
photo by Christie Goodwin
to do. I would jam along to records but I wasn’t really
interested in the book work. I subsequently went back
and taught myself all the adult chords. I kind of know
how to use them but I cheat − I listen to the song
first as opposed to reading the chart. But it was the
most fun just sitting in my room jamming along with
records trying to mimic the sounds I was hearing.
I’d listen to Cream’s Wheels of Fire, grab a Les Paul
from my dad’s guitar collection and a small Silvertone amp and play at a low volume and figure out the
tones and try to get into the guitar player’s head.”
Bonamassa was around thirteen when he first joined
the fledgling blues rock group Bloodline as lead guitarist. It was a hell of a gig for a kid musician, since
the ensemble was made up of the sons of legendary
rock and jazz musicians and guaranteed to get press.
The group, which featured Berry Oakley, Jr. on bass
and Miles Davis’ son Erin on drums, released its
first and only album in 1994 when Bonamassa was
seventeen. By then Bonamassa had decided to leave
school and pursue music full time. “I was tutored,” he
says. “My mother said, ‘Nobody likes a dumb guitar
player.’ I’m like, ‘OK I get that.’ So basically from
eighth grade to my senior year of high school I was
pretty much tutored. That was easy and it wasn’t too
in 2007 with Sloe Gin, which hit Number 184. Each
album since then has charted higher than the last
and his latest live album, An Acoustic Evening at the
Vienna Opera House, from March 2013, was his first
live release to crack the Top 100, ultimately charting
at Number 52.
Over the years, Bonamassa has also broadened his
musical palette by playing with a surprisingly wide
variety of artists. Vince Gill pops up on Had to Cry
Today; Brad Whitford of Aerosmith can be heard on
most of Driving Towards the Daylight, and B.B. King
guests on Black Rock. Bonamassa says having such
a legendary musician voice support for his music
helped boost his confidence early on.
“I met him when I was around twelve. He’s always been a really good friend of mine − a friend to
me in the sense that he would give me advice and a
stage and a platform to play on. Obviously, I’m not
the only guy he’s done that for – he’s done that for
myriad of us younger guitar players. And now there’s
a whole other generation of kids playing the blues,
and that’s encouraging. That’s what B.B. King wants;
that’s the reason he would give you that stage to sit in
on. It’s because he wanted the music to carry on for
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
23
From Acoustic to Funk
What has come to define Bonamassa’s career recently is his versatility. The mellow An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House came on the heels of
the albums of blazing, ’70s-styled rock he did with
Black Country Communion that featured Jason Bonham’s pounding drums and Glenn Hughes’ aggressive
bass and vocals. It was also released around the time
of his second collaboration with Beth Hart, Seesaw.
Like the first album the pair did together, 2011’s
Don’t Explain, it was a record filled with re-workings
of blues, R&B and swing-era tunes. That’s a lot of
musical ground covered in a short time frame.
“I’ve always had these kinds of multiple influence
continues. “I’ve been playing thirty-two years. I
took lessons from the late Danny Gatton. He was
kind enough to teach me some guitar. The thing he
taught me was to listen to as much music as possible and try to be as eclectic a guitar player as you
possibly can. Listen to everything from stone cold
country to heavy rock to real rock ’n’ roll − which
is like Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and Buddy
Holly. So with me, you get these odd back-to-back
pairings. You get Black Country Communion and
you get the collaboration with Beth Hart. And, you
know, all I’m trying to do is play the right part for
each band. I wasn’t trying to show off or anything.
I just thought, ‘Well, this band is like a ’70s throwback rock band, and then this other band is like a
’60s soul band.’ So all you do is just grab a different
guitar and amp and have a blast.”
On both Seesaw and Don’t Explain, Bonamassa
and Hart sound so natural together you wonder why
they didn’t come together sooner. “The whole thing
with Beth started when she opened up for us in
Lucerne, Switzerland,” Bonamassa says. “I’d heard
of her for many, many years, ever since the ’90s. We
Music is just 100% a matter of opinion.
stuff going on, even historically with my records,”
explains Bonamassa. “They’ve been almost painfully
eclectic. If I was to criticize my own work, I’d be like
‘Just pick something, for Godsakes!’ Warren Haynes
was an influence, but so is Paul Rodgers, Rod Stewart and B.B. King. I’m an equal opportunity thief. I
reserve the right to steal a lick from anybody! There
are a lot of influences. Lately, I’ve been getting into
Mike Bloomfield.”
Bonamassa’s records at this point are becoming
stronger because of their diversity of sound, not in
spite of it. Like Neil Young, Elvis Costello and even
Bobby Darin, he’s taken his love of different types
of music and used it to his advantage. This is nowhere more evident than on Seesaw. On the opener,
the standard “Them There Eyes,” both his tone and
style are reminiscent of twangy leads the great James
Burton played on records by Elvis or Ricky Nelson.
No one would ever connect the guitar on the track
with the frantic, distorted leads Bonamassa brought
to the Black Country Communion albums or some of
his own records.
“I’ve learned a lot of guitar over the years,” he
24
kind of shared a label over in Europe, which was
the Mascot Label Group. So I’d heard of her and
listened to a few albums. And I think I caught a gig
in London. But I really got to see her full-on in Lucerne. She sounded to me like a cross between Steve
Marriott and Tina Turner − and I had just happened
to purchase the full Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya-Ya’s
Out collection, which had Ike and Tina Turner as
the opening act. I had put the Ike and Tina on the
iPod through my little Bose speakers and I heard
this voice and I was like, ‘Holy shit − it sounds like
Beth Hart!’ Back in the ’70s, Ike and Tina were doing these amped-up soul tunes and I got to thinking:
what would happen if we did this same playbook?
That’s kind of how the whole thing started. We’ve
now done three projects together − two albums and
a DVD.”
If that’s not enough variety for one career,
Bonamassa has recently dipped his toes into the
liquid grooves of retro ’70s funk, playing on
the self-titled debut record by the instrumental
groove ensemble Rock Candy Funk Party. Besides
Bonamassa, the band is made up of drummer Tal
Bergman, guitarist Ron DeJesus, bassist Mike
Merritt and keyboardist Renato Neto. “I’m actually
just an invited guest on that record,” he says. “The
drummer, Tal Bergman, who is in my solo band,
had been doing these jams at the Baked Potato club
in Los Angeles. It’s something everybody does for
fun; we don’t take it too seriously. Tal and I came
up with this deal and said, ‘What would a record of
all of this stuff sound like?’ We used Herbie Hancock and the album We Want Miles by Miles Davis
as a template, and we just made a record. We made
a record in like twelve days – wrote it and recorded
it. It’s not for everybody, but it’s certainly a lot of
fun. It gives me the opportunity to play over adult
chords and the musicianship in the band is pretty
great. So that’s been a real win and a super amount
of fun for everybody.”
The many facets of Bonamassa’s career are captured on his newest live DVD set, Tour De Force
– Live In London, which was released in October,
2013. The four-disc package shows Bonamassa
playing in a bunch of different styles in as many
settings. He performs with a three-piece band in
the small, 200-seat London Borderline and plays
both acoustic and electric sets (the latter with his
full band) at the expansive Royal Albert Hall.
In between, he performs a short acoustic gig at
the Hammersmith Apollo and plays an old-timey
blues-themed set with a horn section at Shepherd’s
Bush Empire. Each night’s performance offers a
unique selection of songs, some of which he never
performed live previously. In all, there are over
sixty songs performed, all of which were recorded
in the space of a week or so.
Says Bonamassa: “We taped it, so we did four
different shows on four different nights with four
different bands and four different set lists. We did
an entire review of my career from soup to nuts −
everything from the three-piece stuff to the acoustic stuff. It’s actually five different bands, because
we split the night at the Albert Hall. It was a lot
of work, to be honest. It was the most work I’ve
ever done. But I’m excited for people to hear it. It
is seven-and-a-half hours of music. I don’t expect
people to listen to it in its entirety ever − maybe in
small doses. It’s one of those things that you get
the merit badge and you say you did it, thank you
very much.”
And for his next move? Bonamassa will be cowriting songs. Late this past summer he trekked to
Nashville to collaborate with songwriters on com-
positions slated to be on an album he’s set to release in 2014. Among his collaborators is Jonathan
Cain, the Journey keyboardist who co-wrote some
of their biggest hits. “We’re doing a bit of writing
down there this week and it’s been fun,” Bonamassa says. “I haven’t co-written songs probably for
ten years. I’m getting totally back into it, I think it
will be kind of fun. It’s for a different flavor for the
next album. Who knows? I mean, you run out of
ideas after fifteen or sixteen of these things.”
(www.jbonamassa.com)
photo by Christie Goodwin
another hundred years and the only way to do that is
to encourage young people to play it. There really is
room for everybody. The more active the scene is, the
better it is for everybody, because it really is a scene.
You can’t just have the lone wolf out there or this one
woman carrying the torch. You gotta have the whole
scene.”
25
Photo Session:
Sidney Smith & The Allman Brothers Band
Sidney Smith first picked up a camera at the age of fifteen, and he has never put it down. The New Orleans
native quickly gravitated towards shooting pictures of rock stars, and by 1970 he had become the “unofficial
official” photographer at the Warehouse, the famed Big Easy venue that was often referred to as the “Fillmore
East of the South.” Among the acts Sid photographed were Led Zeppelin, the Dead, Bruce Springsteen, George
Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and countless others, but Sid formed a close personal relationship with the Allman Brothers Band. He shot them whenever they played New Orleans, and the
group was so impressed by his work that in 1973, Sid was asked by the ABB to move to Macon, GA and become
the official photographer for the band and their label, Capricorn Records.
Here is a very special Photo Session, as we look at the best of Sidney Smith’s lens work with the Allman
Brothers Band. To see more of Sid’s outstanding catalogue, please visit (www.rockstarphotos.net)
26
27
28
29
www.omnivorerecordings.com
www.facebook.com/omnivorerecordings
•The Certified GoldR classic from 1971
expanded to 4 CDs!
• All 4 shows as they happened!
• Mixed under the supervision of
Peter Frampton & Jerry Shirley!
• 15 unissued performances, including
an entire never-before-released set!
photo courtesy of John Lynskey
Hittin’ the Note: The seeds of July 28, 1973, were
planted in the spring of 1972. Take us back to that
time period and explain how conversations got
started between the ABB and the Dead about doing
some shows together.
by John Lynskey
This July marked the 40th anniversary of the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, NY, where a
Guinness Book of World Records crowd of 600,000 gathered to hear the music of the Allman
Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead and the Band. This festival truly was one for the ages, and
defined the “friends and family” vibe of the early ’70s. Bunky Odom, Vice-President of Walden
Artists and Promotions, handled the arrangements and logistics for the Allman Brothers Band
at Watkins Glen, and he met this enormous challenge head-on. Bunky was used to dealing
with complex issues. He had been hired in 1969 by Phil Walden, founder of Capricorn Records
and manager of the ABB, because Bunky’s reputation as a problem solver was well-known in
music industry circles. Working behind the scenes, Bunky helped the Allman Brothers Band
on its road to success, but he was front and center at Watkins Glen. For the first time, Bunky
reveals how the Summer Jam came about, which is just one of the many stories he will share
in his forthcoming book.
32
HittinTheNote.com
and that helped to move things forward as well.
So word got out that the Allman Brothers Band
and the Grateful Dead were going to work some
dates together, but where had not yet been determined. Now one thing that people need to remember
is just how huge the Dead were in the Northeast in
Bunky Odom: I must say that back then, the Dead
the early ’70s – say, from D.C. on up. They were as
didn’t trust anybody outside of their camp − they
big as the Beatles up there, and I’m not exaggeratjust didn’t. The only exception to that was Bill Graing. The Allman Brothers Band were just beginning
ham, and the reason that they liked him was because to get that big up there – they were huge in New
Bill Graham made things happen. The Dead knew
York City, and it was starting to spread, but the Dead
that the stage was going to be right, the sound was
was already huge in the entire region. What Sam and
going to be right − everything was going to be right. I decided to do was to play two dates at RFK StaThe connection between the Dead and the Allman
dium in D.C., and then play the racetrack at Watkins
Brothers was Bill Graham – he had them share the
Glen, NY. My job was to concentrate on Watkins
bill at the Fillmore East in 1970, and that went well, Glen, which would be handled by Shelly Finkel and
so the two camps did have some communication and Jimmy Koplik, two promoters who had worked with
a relationship.
the Dead before in Hartford.
In the spring of 1972, Sam Cutler and I started
We got all the details together, and I was all set
talking about the Dead and the Brothers doing
to make my last trip to San Francisco and finalize
something together. Sam represented the Dead and I things for Watkins Glen when Phil Walden told me
served as the representative for the Allmans; no one
that he would not accept the date unless the Allman
else − not Phil Walden, not [Dead manager] Rock
Brothers Band closed. I told Phil that insisting on the
Scully − was involved in our conversations. They
closing slot could be a deal breaker, and that closing
wanted to know more about how we operated and to isn’t necessarily the best slot to play any way. I told
get to know us better, so I made three or four trips
Phil that you want to play from 5:30 to sundown; afto San Francisco, and then Sam came to Macon one
ter sundown, people are just too fucked up. Phil blew
time, and we started putting some tentative dates
up and just wouldn’t listen to me, so I had to go out
together.
there and tell them we insisted on closing. I sit down
Eventually we decided to do two shows. As Sam
at this table with Sam, Shelly, Jimmy, Rock Scully,
said, these would be a trial basis, to see how it
Bill Graham, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh − they’re all
worked. We booked a date in Houston and a date in
there. We start talking about Watkins Glen, and
Athens, GA, for the third week of November, 1972.
Shelly and Jimmy suggested adding Leon Russell to
Then on November 11, [ABB bassist] Berry Oakley the date, but Sam and I insisted that the Band should
died in the motorcycle crash. I called Sam and told
be added to the bill – that is who we wanted. We all
him what had happened, and so the Dead went on
agreed that Bob Dylan should be asked and he could
and did the Houston gig alone, and the Athens date
come if he wanted to, which he didn’t.
was cancelled.
So when it came to promo posters and the like, the
Time passed, the Allmans replaced Berry with
Allman Brothers Band had the alphabetical advanLamar Williams and went back on the road, and
tage, so we were listed first, and that was fine. Then
then in early 1973 Sam and I started talking again.
they started talking about putting up relay towers
I went back out to San Fran a few times, Sam came
so the sound could reach the entire crowd, and that
and spent time in Macon, and things started to take
shit was over my head any way, so I just deferred to
shape. It was not an easy process, because the Dead
them on that. Then playing time came up, and I was
really were paranoid about everything. I don’t know like, “Fuck this; what am I going to do now?” Then
if it was because of the drugs they were doing or
fucking Garcia says, “We’ll take the first six hours
what, but it was like pulling teeth. I must tell you, on to test the P.A. out!” So problem solved! The Dead
my first trip to San Francisco, I was afraid to drink
would open, the Band would play second and the
the water, I was afraid to eat the food − we had heard Allman Brothers would close, just like Phil wanted,
so much about them dosing everything that I was
but I was really nervous for a moment there!
paranoid! But you know what? Never, never ever
have I enjoyed such a great bunch of people − once
Who had the idea to make the soundcheck on
they got to know you, the Dead were just super peo- July 27 open to the public?
ple. I also got to know Bill Graham a little bit better,
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
33
$117, 500, which was an amazing amount for 1973.
So then Phil Walden gets up there and I tell him
about the free concert. I told Phil that I didn’t know
exactly how many tickets they had sold, and that is
when Phil exploded and said, “Goddamn it, we ain’t
fucking playing − we’re going home.” I told Phil,
“Hold on now – we can get this thing worked out.”
I went and told [ABB roadie] Red Dog and [road
manager] Twiggs Lyndon, “Listen − we’ve got a
fucking problem here, just a huge problem. Don’t
ask me what it is, but be ready to take everything
fucking thing off the stage and put it in the truck,
because we could be going home.” About that time
Jimmy and Shelly come out to the stage, so we get
in the back of a limousine to talk. Things went OK,
although there were a few problems on financial details and ticket sales that I can’t go into here, but it’s
the music business, you know?
I was able to assure Phil that we were going to get
paid, so he agreed to let the band play. Now at that
time we had no idea that that Watkins Glen was going to be the largest concert that had ever happened.
I didn’t realize it until I got back to New York after
the show and I saw the newspaper headlines talking
about the size of the crowd. Only then did I realize
how monumental that weekend had been in music
history.
photo courtesy of John Lynskey
Let’s talk about the logistics of having 600,000
people at a show in 1973, which meant no cell
phones, no bottled water, no ATM machines. How
did you guys deal with that situation?
For starters, each band had a helicopter. I was in
charge of our helicopter, and the backstage area was
big enough that a helicopter could easily land there.
The band was staying in Horseshoe, and helicopter was the only way you could get around – you
couldn’t drive anywhere. I mean, traffic was backed
up for at least ten miles – people would just pull off
on the side of the road and walk. You couldn’t move,
you couldn’t go anywhere without a helicopter.
The situation was actually pretty good backstage.
The food was good, communication was good, and
we had the helicopter. All of us were impressed by
how well 600,000 people behaved. Somehow, Shelly
and Jimmy did a great job providing all those people
with water, and they made food available. Keep in
mind that this wasn’t a three or four day concert – it
was one day, and then everyone was gone.
What was it like to look out from the stage and
see that many people?
34
HittinTheNote.com
It was incredible, just unbelievable, to see 600,000
people. It reminded me of a wave of human beings – just wave after wave, like you were looking
at the ocean. You saw nothing but waves of people,
stretching out everywhere, for as far as the eye could
see. It was a sight I will never, ever forget.
When you get right down to it, the real story of
Watkins Glen was the 600,000 people out there. One
out of every 350 Americans was at Watkins Glen,
and 30% of the kids between the ages of 17 and 24
living from Boston to New York were there. That is
just mindblowing, absolutely mindblowing.
photo courtesy of John Lynskey
We had no choice. I mean, it wasn’t like you were at
a stadium and you could control things. There were
so many people there already – there was absolutely
no other choice, and it was the right call. It was basically a free concert, because each band did at least
an hour-long soundcheck. The whole thing was just
so huge that if Shelly and Jimmy hadn’t announced
that it was a free concert there could have been a
serious riot. They had already sold 150,000 tickets,
which was a tremendous amount − I don’t know if
anybody sells 150,000 tickets to a single event any
more.
So I got up there three days early just to see what
was going on, and it was a beautiful drive over to
the Finger Lakes region. We stayed in Horseshoe,
NY, which was about ten miles from Watkins Glen.
Things were going OK, running smooth, and that is
when Shelly Finkel said that it was going to have to
be a free concert. I looked at Shelly and asked, “A
free concert? How are you going to do that?” He
said, “We’ve got enough tickets sold to make it a
free concert and still pay you,” but they didn’t really
have solid numbers on ticket sales. Now, the Grateful Dead’s contract and our contract were favored
nation contracts, which meant we could look at what
they made and vice versa. We were both guaranteed
How did the band handle playing in front of such
an enormous crowd?
I think they handled it very well – they were excited
more than nervous about the size of the crowd. Of
course, I don’t think anybody in any of the bands
understood what kind of history was taking place
that day. Who could comprehend that? We didn’t
think about Woodstock, we didn’t think about setting
any attendance records − nothing like that. We just
wanted to get the date done − that’s all.
All the bands got along really well that day, which
really helped. I remember hearing a conversation
backstage between Dickey Betts and Jerry Garcia
where Garcia said the Allmans were the better band
and Dickey told him no, that the Dead was the better
band, which was nice to hear.
What did you think of the Grateful Dead?
The Dead helped the Allman Brothers develop in a
very hip section of the country that we didn’t completely understand in the South. What the Dead was
doing musically was original and very creative; if
you compare the Dead and the Allman Brothers,
the difference is that the Allmans added blues to the
mix. That is why the Dead’s music meanders more
than the Allman’s − the blues serve as an anchor for
the Allman Brothers.
Talk about getting out of there after it was all
over.
I didn’t leave for two days, because we couldn’t
leave. There’s no airport up there, so we just had
to wait until we could get back to New York and
catch a plane. Watkins Glen really is in the middle
of nowhere. There is nothing around there. What I
remember about getting back to New York is that I
slept for 24 straight hours!
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
What did you learn from Watkins Glen?
I learned that you could do business with the Dead,
but they couldn’t be pushed. Money wouldn’t move
them; more than anything, they wanted to know who
you were and what you were all about. Once they
knew you, things were great, but until then, they
were tough to do business with.
Would you consider organizing Watkins Glen to
be your greatest accomplishment with the Allman
Brothers Band?
I think my greatest accomplishment was just getting
them to the gig!! Seriously though, I think the Love
Valley Festival was a major accomplishment, but
that is another story for another time.
Bunky does indeed have plenty of stories yet to be
told, all of which will be included in his book, which
should be released sometime in 2014.
35
photo by John Zomat
Hittin’ the Note: Talk about your musical influences
when you were growing up in Worcester.
That was when I decided to head over to America and
see what I could do on my own.
Dave Mason: I listened to any instrumental group that
I could find. The Ventures and Hank Marvin and the
Shadows – Hank was their lead guitar player. That was
the music I loved when I was 15 or 16, and that really
influenced me. I truly enjoyed listening to lead guitar
playing, and I knew what I wanted to do.
Let’s talk about some of the famous people you
have played with over your career. How did your
friendship with Jimi Hendrix develop?
Traffic was where you had your first big success,
but you also had a pretty tumultuous tenure in that
group. Now, all these years later, you are putting
together the “Traffic Jam” tour. Tell us about that
decision.
by Paul Antonello
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason has been playing music for almost fifty years
now and is still going strong. Dave spent some time with HTN, reflecting on his storied
career, which has included stints with Traffic, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Jimi
Hendrix and Eric Clapton and solid solo projects. Dave has ambitious plans for his next
tour, which will revisit songs from his time with Traffic. Please enjoy this conversation
with Dave Mason, as he looks back while moving ahead.
36
36
HittinTheNote.com
Well, I think Traffic is a band with a legacy that is
worth perpetuating, and I thought that at this point it
would be nice to revisit the period of time that I was
with them. That was the first two studio albums, and
the Welcome to the Canteen live album, and I might
throw in a few things that were done after I left. It’s
going to be fun, but it’s not going to be a note-for-note
reproduction. I don’t want to do that, and I don’t think
the essence of Traffic was about playing like that.
Even in some of our more structured songs, there was
always room to improvise on the solos.
This is Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam, so I am going to
do the songs that people will recognize from my time
in the band. I’ll improvise, of course, but I think I will
stick pretty much to the original arrangements. Now,
I’ve been doing some of these songs already, including “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” “You Can All Join In,” “Forty
Thousand Headmen” and I’ve got a more up-tempo
version of “Pearly Queen” as well. I’m going to add
some tunes that I hadn’t done in years, so the Dave
Mason Traffic Jam should be a lot of fun. The guys
in the band are very excited about it, and I’m looking
forward to what we can do with these songs. There is
not going to be a Traffic reunion, but this tour is going
to be very enjoyable for the fans − and for me.
Looking back, why did you think things didn’t
work out with Traffic?
I think a great deal of it had to do with the fact that I
was so young and I didn’t know how to deal with the
success after the first album came out. Then I contributed five songs to the second album, including “Feelin’
Alright,” but things just were not good in the band;
Steve [Winwood] wanted to go in a different direction.
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
I met Jimi Hendrix when I was in Traffic; we were all
in an after-hours club in London, and Jimi and I just sat
down and started talking. This was about the time that
“Hey Joe” had come out, so it was probably late 1966
or so. We hit it off pretty well, because he was familiar
with Traffic and what we were doing, and I loved his
playing, of course. After that, Jimi and I would hang
out as often as we could. It helped that we were recording in Olympic Studios in London and using the same
engineers, so that allowed our paths to cross.
It was a very small scene in London back then –
everyone knew each other. It wasn’t like America,
where there was there was a Nashville scene, a New
York scene, L.A., Chicago, Philly, Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit − in England, there was one scene, and
that was London. It was very cool, because you were
bound to run into somebody every night you could jam
with or hang out with.
What was it like recording with Jimi on the Electric
Ladyland album?
I wasn’t there for the entire sessions; I sang on “Crosstown Traffic” and played 12-string acoustic on “All
Along the Watchtower.” For “Watchtower,” it was me,
Jimi and Mitch Mitchell on drums; that is how the
track was laid down. I don’t remember exactly how
many takes it took − maybe something like 25 − but it
was just me and Jimi sitting across from one another,
me with the 12-string and him with a six-string acoustic, and Mitch Mitchell. It took me a while to get the
timing down on the intro to “Watchtower,” and then
Jimi put the bass part on and then he added all the lead
stuff.
You know, Jimi played most of the bass on Electric
Ladyland. He wanted to get the album done, so it was
just quicker and easier for him to play the bass parts
himself.
How did your relationship with Delaney and Bonnie
get started?
I first met Delaney and Bonnie when I came to America in 1968. Gram Parsons took me to the Palomino
37
photo by Dino Perrucci
Speaking of Eric Clapton, tell us about your time
with Derek and the Dominos.
I had played with all the “Dominos” in Delaney and
Bonnie − Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon
− before Eric had even met them. One of the reasons
that I moved back to England was to work with Derek
and the Dominos and cut some songs with them. I
actually did play one show with the band, but due to
circumstances, I eventually headed back to America.
Eric went on to take a new direction with the Dominos
and ended up making a classic album with them.
Reviewing your career, is there anyone you wanted
to play with that you never had the chance to?
38
Off the top of my head, I would have liked to have
done something with Bonnie Raitt; she is someone I’ve
always admired, and it would be cool to work together
someday.
How about any of the old blues guys?
No, not really. I’m not a blues player. I use blues licks
in what I do, but there are guys who are much better
blues players than I am.
You wrote “Feelin’ Alright” when you were nineteen years old. Tell us the history of the song and
how it has evolved over the years?
I wrote that song when I was in the Greek Isles, and
it attests to my desire to write songs that are timeless!
(laughs) It just keeps going, but it would have never
been the hit it became if Joe Cocker had not recorded
it, of course, so thank you, Joe! I would have liked to
have heard Ray Charles do it – that would have been
cool. “Feelin’ Alright” has been very, very good to me.
(www.davemasonmusic.com)
HittinTheNote.com
photo by Ian Rawn
Club in North Hollywood, and that is where I first
saw them. They were just a great band, man. When
I moved to America in 1969, I started getting more
involved with them. I played lead guitar for them on
the tour they did with Blind Faith, and that is how Eric
Clapton came to play with them. They had a big hit
with my song “Only You Know and I Know,” and we
had a great time together.
The Grateful Dead FAQ
By Tony Sclafani
using
the power
of music
to heal
Creating music therapy programs for teens and young adults with serious illnesses.
Music Never Stops: The Tyler Seaman Foundation
supports music therapy programs. Our first project
is “Tyler's Room,” a space for teens and young adults
at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.
www.tylersmusicroom.org
Backbeat Books
Reviewed by Adam Scholer
The rock ’n’ roll literature world did not need another
book about the iconic Grateful Dead. What it did need was
a biography about the group’s lesser-heralded members
and their roles and influence on the band – its dedicated
archivists and fans who have their own place in the Dead’s
storied history, personal narratives from some notable
Deadheads and timely information on all the musicians
and jam bands that exist today because of the Grateful
Dead. Add to that some surprises and you have what Tony
Sclafani delivers in his insightful, unique and revealing
biography, The Grateful Dead FAQ.
Sclafani offers plenty for well-read Deadheads and still
more for normal folks who want to know more without
having to take A Long, Strange Trip with Dennis McNally
or draw their own conclusions from looking at the photos
in the Dead Family Album. In FAQ, the images, information and texture of the times in which the band thrived are
woven together neatly and backed with extensive research
and personal accounts that add up to an imperative read
for anyone interested in so significant a cultural history.
Sclafani, a respectable Deadhead himself (if there is such a
thing), is not shy about offering his opinion on everything
from favorite shows and albums to the not-so-favorite. He
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
is straightforward in his assessment of what role certain
members played and in what ways they may not have been
a positive piece of the puzzle. He sets the record straight
on certain albums and recordings and offers an honest account of the Dead’s history and its impact on the rock ’n’
roll universe.
Perhaps best of all the book reminds us in some ways
the Grateful Dead and its music are as alive and well
today as ever. Sclafani delves into splinter groups that
have either remaining members in them or fronting them,
such as Ratdog, Further, Donna Jean Godchaux Band, the
Seven Walkers and Mystery Box as well as bands that pay
tribute to the Dead, including Dark Star Orchestra, Crazy
Fingers and New Riders of the Purple Sage. A whole new
generation of Grateful Dead-influenced music and bands
has been born over the past twenty years and the message
is that the music will never stop and the Golden Road is
wide open.
What makes this book different and better than most
of its kind? The foreword is by Mark Karan, lead guitarist for Bob Weir’s Ratdog and a former member of the
Other Ones. It is told from many different perspectives
and it has many voices aside from Sclafani’s, but it was
penned and guided by a true Deadhead who happens to be
a talented writer. It gives Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay
and husband Keith Godchaux some well-deserved credit
for their role in the band (by the way, the Donna Jean
Godchaux Band is phenomenal – a must hear). It turns
on old Deadheads and young aspiring ones to some great
bands and music that are out there now. As a biography it
isn’t overdone, but it is complete in its scope and volume.
It has some really cool photographs and album art mixed
in nicely that make it a fun book to pull off the shelf. It
tells of a Grateful Dead history that seems to have run
parallel to the one most of us are familiar with. FAQ is
jamband-packed with little-known facts and trivia that will
enlighten even the greyest of Deadheads. It includes a list
of must-have bootlegs that will likely inspire a Deadhead
scavenger hunts that will last decades more.
Aside from its variety, what makes The Grateful Dead
FAQ so valuable is that it is laid-out extremely well and
flows easily from chapter to chapter. And let’s face it, it is
a biography about the greatest jam band there ever was or
will be, a story told by those who were there and heard the
songs that filled the air and watched the moon go down
in honey. Having read and seen just about everything out
there on the Grateful Dead, I can assure you this book is
one of the best accounts of the group and its music and
members. It is also one the most entertaining. Sclafani
achieved what he set out to do, which was to reveal the
band’s past, present and future − all three clearly on solid
footing. Four skulls out of four for Sclafani’s work!
(www.backbeatbooks.com)
41
Noam Pikelny
Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe
belongs in any serious bluegrass fan’s
collection. The pivotal 1976 album
found fiddler Baker paying spirited
tribute to the father of bluegrass, with
whom he spent 25 years. Now, Grammy-nominated banjoist Noam Pikelny
loses himself in the album on Noam
Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill
Monroe. Pikelny, a founding member
of mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile’s
madly inventive Punch Brothers,
plays note-for-note renditions of the
twelve Monroe instrumental standards
with all-star accompanists Mike Bub,
Stuart Duncan, Ronnie McCoury and
Bryan Sutton. Their performances
flicker with assurance, reverence and
style. Moving between jaunts, breakdowns, ballads and waltzes, the moods
created flow like honey and an exceedingly blissful musical experience
in any setting.
(CompassRecords.com)
The Greencards
wood and strings and the enchanting
voice of Carol Young make instrumental excursions like “Ride & Sway” and
story songs such as “Forever Mine”
uncommonly incredible experiences.
Richly produced and widely varied in
texture, this album from the Greencards delivers another resounding case
for permanent residency. Welcome!
(TheGreencards.com)
Vinnie Leddick
Tim & Myles Thompson
Bold sophistication and outdoorsy
naturalness conspire to polish a deep
luster into the music of The Greencards. Settled in Nashville by way of
Austin (and with seeds in England
and Australia), the aptly-named band
appears to have evolved in a backward
fashion. Although still considered
progressive bluegrass, their affinity it
seems for early Fairport Convention
and other European folk music makes
a huge impression on Sweetheart of
the Sun. The amazing prowess of
founders Kym Warner on a variety of
42
sensibilities drive headlong through
newgrass imagination and gypsy jazz
nirvana. They’re progressive in the
same acoustic field as Chris Thile. “In
Another Life” will no doubt prick up
the ears of Nickel Creek fans. Harmonies soar and voices blend in such
unison on “Time For Me To Go” that
you’d think they were one. They’re
masters of their axes, yet excel in
the power of restraint. There’s not
much more to ask for from this type
of across-the-board charming music.
Fantastic.
(TimThompsonGuitar.com)
The title TIME4ME2GO barely fits
on the Tennessee plate bolted to the
ass end of the ancient pickup loaded
with their instruments on the cover
of Tim & Myles Thompson’s fourth
album. Likewise, the breadth of the
music contained therein seems to surpass the capabilities of two men. But
this father and son guitar, violin and
vocal duo play every intricate composition without overdub, just as they do
when they dazzle audiences live. Pop
Like crisp air through the pines, all
the incredible and welcoming aspects
of the Adirondack Mountains intensify
the songs of Vinnie Leddick. Tracing
in the footsteps of the singer/songwriter pioneers, Leddick infuses into
his tales a gamut of emotion, turning everyday thoughts into inspiring
moments. Heaven Help Me pulses
with heart and conviction, and “On
the Road to Lake Placid” particularly
shines. Leddick brilliantly weaves his
inner views into sights of the charming places that dot the panorama from
Schroon Lake to the home of the
1980 Winter Olympics. He fingerpicks exquisitely on “Empty Space,”
which ensures tears for any parent. At
a dime a dozen for this kind of thing,
Mr. Leddick is worth at least a small
fortune.
(VinnieLeddick.com)
Greg Trooper
Greg Trooper stays true to himself
and his listeners by playing to his
considerable strengths on Incident on
Willow Street. A magnetic, folk-imbued rock sound with the occasional
Gaelic lilt completely distinguishes
him, as does his point of view from
his home in Brooklyn, NY. Relationships long ago became Trooper’s
forte. His warm, snappy turns of
phrase are all so very relatable. Who
at one time or another hasn’t longed
for a “Mary of the Scots in Queens,”
or knew the lunkhead Irish Brian who
ended up with her? Could anyone not
be taken by the circumstances of the
union in “Everything’s a Miracle,” or
feel for them as they light out for hope
in “Steel Deck Bridge?” As always,
a bevy of skilled musical vets fleshes
out these songs to perfection, particularly Larry Campbell, who makes a
considerable impression on a variety
of stringed instruments. Concise little
Polaroids of life don’t come much
more charming than these.
(GregTrooper.com)
Rick Shea
HittinTheNote.com
The Blasters’ Dave Alvin and others
regularly tap Rick Shea for his string
work. Less known is the fact that he’s
a gifted tunesmith. Sweet Bernadine
moves along like desert dust pierced
by sunbeams, each of its songs casting
unique shadows and light. Acoustic
guitar and accordion drive the upfront “Mexicali Train,” Shea singing
in a voice that soothes as much as it
catches on a barbed wire. “Mariachi
Hotel” opens battered, swinging doors
to mysterious spaces, Shea all-enveloping on guitar and mandolin over
spare drums and bass. “Gregory Ray
DeFord” tells of a desolate existence
with melancholy, intensified by the
voice of Nicole Gordon. Then the
atmosphere becomes charged with
Tulsa-style rockabilly for the shaken
“Shake it Little Sugaree,” solidifying
this Southwestern feast − reminding
of the old Tom Russell − as flawless.
(TresPescadores.com)
and then a herky-jerky beat, greasy
organ and juiced chicken pickin’ classify the distinguished “Fix It Man.”
But the best may be Bekka Bramlett’s
interpretation of the rockin’ “Rock in
My Shoe,” although Anderson does
sing in an appealing tenor, besides
showcasing his astonishing guitar
chops, nonstop. Highly recommended
as one of the year’s best, by far.
(PeteAnderson.com)
Lucerno
Pete Anderson
Pete Anderson’s been known for
his Telecaster twang and tons of tone
ever since he began with Dwight
Yoakam, at his day one. Birds Above
Guitarland flies consistently high,
and always lives up to the ingenuity
of its title. Blues, jazz, country, funk,
cabaret and barroom melt together
naturally − and sometimes dramatically − within the same song. Loose
as a goose is the order of the day, but
“Big Money” − about the ultimate
takedown − shakes an extra fine,
salsa-dyed tail feather. Subtle hints of
Texas and Louisiana spice the openair, real blues of “Empty Everything,”
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
Fifteen minutes and forty six seconds. That’s all it takes to become
devout about Memphis’ supreme
Lucero. Cody Dickinson produced the
four songs on Texas & Tennessee, an
EP that beams out beautiful and rare
combinations of rock ’n’ roll, deep
soul, country strains and elusive stabs
of punk brashness. “Breathless Love”
captivates through a sweltering melody and guitarist Ben Nichols’ raspy,
anguished voice, the sweet toots of
horns and tiny killer strikes of piano
keys sealing the deal. Nichols wrote
the song, but it sits squarely in the
Dan Penn and Eddie Hinton realms.
The title song says “Texas & Tennessee,” but there’s enough Springsteen
in its roots and juice to make it Jersey.
Squeeze box, shakers, and that broken
voice drive “The Other Side of Lonesome” like a wagon train with a herd.
Then it’s over, way too soon. A huge
find.
(LuceroMusic.com)
43
Bryan Lee
What is it about blind men and the
blues? Enhanced feeling, naturally.
That so few people know about Bryan
Lee is a crazy mystery. Eccentric
in ways befitting his New Orleans
home and blind since childhood,
Lee convinces through astonishing
performance and easy acquaintance.
Crescent City swamp makes a funky
home in the soul of Lee’s blues, yet
he trips fantastically outside that territory on Play One for Me. His gorgeous rendition of the George Jackson
weeping beauty “Aretha (Sing One for
Me)” opens the album and signals the
special qualities within. Lee’s a guitar
disciple of the three Kings, obviously, and he learned his lessons well.
Bobby Womack’s “When Love Begins
(Friendship Ends)” screams the Stax
years of Albert King via its arrangement and Lee’s biting guitar. The tight
Severn all-stars, including Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Johnny
Moeller, set the pace perfectly. The TBirds’ Kim Wilson even tears it up on
harp for the excellent take on Howlin’
Wolf’s cover of Willie Dixon’s “Evil.”
Engulfed in fire all the way.
(SevernRecords.com)
Florida’s Sean Chambers and his
crew of superb players called up the
spirits and blew the roof off The Rock
House Sessions in the countryside of
Music City. Long years of slugging it
out and a magnificent set of songs did
the trick for him this time. Chambers
rips savagely at his guitar, but does
so with discerning intonation. As a
44
Sean Chambers
Roomful of Blues
singer he’s as forceful as he is musical. The songs? Well, the amazingly
adaptable Gary Nicholson and Tom
Hambridge (who also smacks the shit
out of the drums) lit their Southern
roadhouse torches to get the “Healing
Ground” broiling and the evil “Just
for the Thrill” stomping. But “Since
I’ve Been Down,” by Nashville’s the
Paramours, offers up the most explosive thrill in that realm. The song’s
paint peeling intensity rivals classic Pat Travers or Blackfoot, which
Chambers recently took part in the
revival of with founder Rickey Medlocke. Chambers’ customary Chicago/
Texas/Delta specialty proves ideal
for the original blues “It Hurts to See
You Go” as well as Ten Years After’s
steaming and charging “Choo Choo
Mama.” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s keyboard man Reese Wynans produced
and gave the whole thing a crystal
clear, front and center wall of sound.
The Rock House, indeed!
(SeanChambers.com)
across their timeline. Magic Sam’s
“Easy Baby” electrifies as much by
singer Phil Pemberton’s huge tenor as
it does from the rising and falling of
the world famous Roomful horns and
Chris Vachon’s tearing guitar solo.
That glorious tune sets up the relentless big beat of “That’s Right!” and
then the old time rockin’ and rollin’
of “Crawdad Hole,” which Roomful
originally cut with Big Joe Turner in
1983. Perhaps the finest of the set is
Count Basie’s “I Left My Baby,” a
cabaret blues with the horns shooting
streams into the heavens as the band
walks the walk and talks the talk. Destined to forever stand the test of time.
(Alligator.com)
Point me to a smokin’ blues party
that tops a Roomful of Blues show
and I’m there, as soon as I rock, bop,
grind, sashay and swing through 45
Live a good forty-five more times.
Only the duly esteemed get to celebrate forty-five years in such grand
style. For three nights in a small
club in the tiny state of Rhode Island
where they make big blues, Roomful knocked it out of their hometown
park with hot little numbers from
been more active than ever before,
slipping his unique style that blends
Texas twang and Chicago sear into a
variety of projects. 4 Jacks features
Funderburgh with singer Big Joe
Maher, steady bassist Steve Mackey,
and the ever-present and amazing
Kevin McKendree finessing the piano
and B-3. Their real-deal Deal with
It rocks, rolls, swings, and oozes
the blues. Every song − especially
the funky cover of Percy Mayfield’s
shrewd and funny as hell “I Don’t
Want To Be President” − is a keeper.
With Funderburgh piercing the
podium all around him, Maher shines
in one of his finest moments, even getting in some sly stumping for “Mayor
Maher.” And just wait until yer ass
gets a load of “Ansonmypants.” It’ll
be shakin’ ’til the cows come home.
4 stars!
(EllerSoulRecords.com)
his age. His acidic, squawking guitar
(early Mark Knopfler, anyone?), the
drummer known as Cadillac, and the
bassist who goes by The Troll stir up
one thick, heady brew after another,
belying the simplicity of the setup.
Unambiguous allegory reigns. A spectral graveyard encounter and a freight
train beat make up “The Gift.” The
strangely shuffling “Holed Up” paints
the picture of a broken, isolated soul
in an Airstream strewn with junk, and
“9 Foot Sack” depicts the arduous existence of White’s youth in a tight-knit
family of nine, working a cotton farm
as one, absorbing love and the blues.
Everyone is highly advised to absorb
White’s special blues.
(YerpRoc.com)
Roosevelt Sykes
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Tony Joe White
4 Jacks
Lone Star guitar star Anson Funderburgh kept a low profile following
the passing of his Rockets partner,
the eminent singer and harp player
Sam Myers. But lately Funderburgh’s
HittinTheNote.com
songs − each a real, infectious, compact song − are dynamite. The organic
nature, crying horns, ringing piano,
emotional voices, toe-tapping beats
and wonderful culture will inspire
something positive in everyone. That’s
undeniably guaranteed to be it!
(LegacyRecordings.com)
Heavy humidity seems to press
down like a soaked woolen blanket
when Tony Joe White sings. His voice
simultaneously soothes and stirs up
an ominous air. Now 70, White’s
long been considered the designer of
swamp-rock, and his authorship of
the classics “Rainy Night in Georgia”
and “Polk Salad Annie” even predate
that distinction. In a word, Hoodoo
explains his music. The blues are at
its root, and the mystic backwaters
of Louisiana permeate its soul. Cut
live to tape, White’s latest album
presents nine under-the-skin-exciting
new songs, a feat even for a man half
A visit to New Orleans without taking in a Preservation Hall show merits
a voodoo spell − return trip encrypted.
Likely unpainted since its 1961 inception as the place to sustain the NOLA
jazz tradition, the mysterious façade
of the Hall opens a portal to the past,
where funky, tremendously joyous
music takes over for a time. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays sitting
on chairs, the patrons in rapt attentiveness and jubilance on cushions at their
feet and wood risers in the rear. The
place is tiny. And dark. But the music
takes you away to the brilliant heavens. That’s It! is the first all-original
PHJB album, culled from a series of
November 2012 performances at the
Hall and produced wonderfully by
My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. The
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
In case you missed it…the legendary blues composer, singer and pianist
Roosevelt Sykes recorded The Original Honeydripper − and that he was!
− at Ann Arbor, MI’s, Blind Pig Café
in 1977 at the age of 71. Arkansasborn, Sykes took to the road at 15,
playing raunchy barrelhouse for the
men at levee, turpentine and sawmill
camps. Here he proves himself acutely
effervescent at all manner of ragtime
and country blues, six years prior
to his passing. Performer and audience alike hoot and holler constantly.
Sykes’ fingers brought rolling waves
of thunder and lightning, his voice a
series of raspy, snap-to-attention commands. But there were also as many
playful winks. Joy envelops “Honeysuckle Rose,” but risqué humor makes
no apologies during “I Like What You
Did.” Sykes − like so many − deserves
vast appreciation.
(BlindPigRecords.com)
45
In Tune:
Up and Coming Musicians and the Sounds They Make
by Jamie Lee
Fuller Condon is an unassuming man
upon introduction. He is tall, thin and
understated in both his appearance and
his presence. Hunched over a double
bass, though, his musical personality
emerges, and his talents become obvious. As one half of the Two Man Gentlemen Band, he and partner Andy Bean
have received critical acclaim for their
jazz, swing and old timey music, but
when I met him recently, it was in a different context. The bassist was sitting in
with Charleston, SC’s Cane Creek String
Band on a deck stage. And this wasn’t
just a one-off – Condon is making it a
habit in his adopted home, taking the
stage with other local upstarts like Big
John Belly. His love of music is clearly
apparent, and he is spilling this love into
the local scene selflessly.
and performance prowess. He enlivens
straight-ahead rock songs with Cajun
seasoning that is tasty, but with plenty
of characteristic burn. “Good One”
breathes bayou heat steeped by a touch
of zydeco fiddle, and “Dontcha Come
Running” is a love song with plenty
of soul. But the brightest star in this
collection is the album-closing “Baby
Be Cool,” a polished, hook-heavy gem
that encompasses all of the things that
make Jordan’s music so damn good.
It is mellow and heartfelt, road-worn
and earnest, and it is one of the many
reasons that Bring Back Red Raspberry
lingers heavy like summer humidity on
the Mississippi River.
(www.davejordanmusic.com)
you will have a good idea of the sound.
Keep an ear out for traces of the Zombies’ “Time of the Season” on “Perfume,” and other not so obvious nods to
bygone eras. It is familiar, yet utterly enticing. Hidden Masters are unapologetic
in their embrace of early influences,
and songs like “Nobody Knows We Are
Here” and “Grey Walls Grey” can stand
strong amid those classics. Of This and
Other Worlds is a headphone trip back
in time, but it’s one worth taking, given
who’s in the driver’s seat.
(www.facebook.com/hiddenmastersmusic)
brisk, imbuing their stringed frolics with
a catchy spirit that plays out in the outstanding “I Fall Back.” “Beautiful’s Her
Body” and “It’ll End Too Soon” boast
an inspiring optimism in composition
that is impossible to shake. When the
group, in harmony, sings “Years from
now, when I’m so very gone, know that
I did my best, so carry on” on the latter,
it resonates in earnest. These guys embody an uplifting spirit that is infectious.
(www.deadlygentlemen.com)
Cale Tyson
Ghosts Along the Brazos
The Deadly Gentlemen
Hidden Masters
Dave Jordan
I met Dave Jordan in the early part of
this century when he was playing bass
and fronting his funk outfit Juice. In fact,
my first published piece of music writing
was a review of a performance by the
New Orleans-based band. While Juice
disbanded years ago, Jordan continues
to refine his songwriting as a solo artist;
he is certainly coming into his own and
is deserving of broader recognition as an
emerging, must-hear artist. If your curiosity is piqued, you have to look only as
far as his recent release, Bring Back Red
Raspberry, to understand the depth and
breadth of Dave Jordan.
The follow-up to 2010’s These Old
Boots, Bring Back Red Raspberry
clearly illustrates Jordan’s songwriting
46
Listening to Hidden Masters is akin
to boarding a souped-up DeLorean
and blasting back to the mid-60s. The
tightly wound psychedelia begs the term
“throw-back,” except that the trio sounds
so natural weaving the Technicolor rock
songs that inspire thoughts of buxom
go-go dancers amid lava-lamp light
shows. Hailing from Glasgow, this trio
of Scots − David Addison, Alasdair C.
Mitchell and John Nicol − came together
at the start of this decade, and they have
wasted little time making their mark
with a sound that is clearly versed in the
United States’ ’60s scene.
Of This and Other Worlds, Hidden
Masters’ debut, documents their heady,
concise compositions and expansive,
LSD delivery. If you can imagine a
shape-shifting mix of the Byrds and an
early incarnation of the Grateful Dead,
The Deadly Gentlemen are gentler
than they are deadly, and in fact, they
bound up their warmth and agreeability
in a mellow stringed party that straddles
bluegrass and newgrass with youthful
charm. Although you may just be hearing about this band of pickers, there is
more to their story than meets the eye.
Greg Liszt, who attended college at Yale
and earned a Ph.D. from MIT in molecular biology, has toured with Bruce
Springsteen and plays in the chamber
bluegrass unit Crooked Still. Dominick
Leslie was deemed a mandolin prodigy
before age 16, and Mike Barnett took his
fiddle on the road with Jesse McReynolds when he was just 15. Bassist Sam
Grisman is the son of the legendary
David Grisman, and learned the ways of
bluegrass from his father. Rounded out
by the heavy metal–inspired guitarist
Stash Wyslouch, this is one tight collective that hits the sweet spot again and
again.
Roll Me, Tumble Me, the band’s third
album, is proof-positive of the scope of
the group’s abilities. They are crisp and
HittinTheNote.com
And this is what makes Ghosts Along
the Brazos so damn enjoyable.
(www.ghostsalongthebrazos.com)
Ghosts Along the Brazos have been
making a name for themselves around
their hometown of Austin, TX, racking
up four Austin Chronicle Top Ten music
awards, including Best New Band. It’s
not surprising, given the threads of
Americana that bind their expansive
sound. The quintet shifts effortlessly
from rock to country to folk and bluegrass without a hint of hesitation; it is
a natural flow from the quintet of Greg
Harkins (vocals/guitar), Katie Holmes
(vocals/fiddle), Kristopher Wade (bass/
vocals), Connor Forsyth (keys/banjo/
vocals), and James Gwyn (drums/vocals). They ply a sound that is certainly
emotive and full of harmonious twists
and turns.
From old timey to folk to honkytonk, the group delivers a wholesome
amalgam on When It Rains It Pours.
And its laid back nature emanates from
its garage recording vibe. The album
opens with a simple question – “Are
we rolling?” – from there, it is easy to
confuse this studio recording with one
culled from the live setting. The energy
is vibrant, the performances intriguing, and the compositions solid. From
the Beatle-esque “I’ll Get Home” to
the rousing “Beaver Stew,” this quintet
plays with unbridled joy. But this is no
hobby – they are brimming with talent
and clearly take their passion to heart.
If there is any benefit to the shiny plastic mainstream country that plagues the
radio waves today, it is its ability to illuminate those songwriters who practice
true country music. Take Cale Tyson,
for example. Born and raised in Texas
and now living in Nashville, Tyson’s
style is brimming with heartbreak that
he exorcises with six strings and twanga-plenty. There’s plenty of Hank Williams Sr., Townes Van Zandt and Justin
Townes Earle in his guitar case, and
despite the desperate themes that crowd
each composition, he plays his way to
salvation.
For his High and Lonesome EP, he
took to a studio in Nashville with a
handful of first-rate players, including
Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart), keys
player Tyson Rogers (Don Williams),
John McTigue (Brazilbilly) on drums
and Mike Rinne (Caitlin Rose and
Andrew Combs) on bass. What he has
delivered is a seven-song set of potential
standards. He croons amid reverberating
pedal steel on the fittingly antiquated
“Honky Tonk Moan,” waltzes with elegance on “Lonesome in Tennessee,” and
crafts airy isolation with the strippeddown “Long Gone Girl.” Through it all,
Cale Tyson proves that he is the real
deal, a country player who embraces the
genre’s rich tradition and shies from the
over-processed and eternally dramatized
mainstream.
(www.caletyson.net)
Quincy Mumford may be only 21
years old, but don’t let his age fool you.
He has performed over 400 shows, and
these days, he is making a name for
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
Quincy Mumford
himself and his band, the Reason Why,
riding the groundswell created by his
fifth album, It’s Only Change. Sincere
and soulful best describe this songwriter’s approach, and he does it with a
remarkable polish and a sunny disposition that recalls contemporaries like Jack
Johnson and G. Love and Special Sauce.
Jazz, R&B and ska? You will find these
undercurrents pulsing throughout, and
Mumford has surrounded himself with
a talented collective made up of Karlee
Bloomfield (keys), Brian Gearty (bass),
Mike Zdeb (guitar) and David Vossel
(drums).
It’s Only Change is a rich showcase
of the strengths of Quincy Mumford
& the Reason Why. “Change” is aged,
mature, and deliberate in both the
well-honed instrumentation and the
tone in Mumford’s voice. “When You
Get Back” is gorgeous and heartfelt,
“A Hard Place” boasts an empowering bounce, and “Time Won’t Wait”
keeps pace with a guitar bristle that is
intensified by its contrast to Mumford’s
silk-smooth delivery. It is impossible to
ignore the well-formed compositional
arrangements on It’s Only Change, not
to mention the outstanding production
quality. These ten tracks have been spitshined and are beaming, to say the least.
It wouldn’t be surprising if this album
came with sunglasses.
(www.quincymumford.com)
There is something pleasing about
seeing young players joined onstage
by someone like Fuller Condon. More
importantly, it is wonderful that he is
stepping out onto the small stage with
developing players and, judging by
sights and sounds, having a grand old
time. Music is a universal language, and
for some, it’s tough not to talk. Sure, The
Two Man Gentlemen Band is taking a
bit of a break, but the Charleston music
scene is lucky that Condon is eager to
grab his bass and join the party.
47
photo by Leslie Michele Derrough
Hittin’ the Note: You just turned 65; what still excites
you about making music?
Cyril Neville: To me, music is a human force, and that’s
what I was hoping for in the music that was on this record.
It’s not just rock and roll or rhythm and blues − it’s joy
and soul as well. It was a spiritual experience for me doing it so I hope that’s the same thing that happens for the
people listening, that they have the same type of hearing
experience from it. I guess that’s one of the reasons why
I’m still here, because of this gift. And that’s the way I
treat it.
How did you decide what songs you wanted on this
album?
by Leslie Michele Derrough
When your surname is Neville, you thrive on funky soul-based harmonies. But to the youngest of
New Orleans’ own Neville Brothers, the name symbolizes family. “I am very tribal, very family oriented,” Cyril Neville explained. “That is what life is about for me.” And his musical family was just
as important when he went into the studio to record his recent solo album, Magic Honey. “That
group of people that was in the studio with me, we may not have the same blood running through
our veins but that is very much so my family.” Although Neville’s current gig is in Royal Southern
Brotherhood and he still plays with the Voice of the Wetlands alongside Dr. John and Tab Benoit,
he found time to stir up a gumbo of songs with some of his oldest friends: “Nothing happens before it’s time.”
48
HittinTheNote.com
Well, the list started off much longer than just twelve
songs. The blues stuff basically was first on the record
because that’s the basis for everything, for all the stuff I
do − blues and gospel. And then I got to explore the rock
edge a little bit, too. It’s something that I used to get a
chance to do every now and then with the Neville Brothers, and, recently I got a chance to do it again with my son
Omari’s band, Rejected Youth Nation. Matter of fact, he
is the one that turned me on to Rush. He was rehearsing
“Working Man” with his band and he told me, “Man, this
is you. Why don’t you try adapting this to your style?”
And when I first heard it, the first thing that came to my
mind was that I could never sing that high. But it turns out
that’s one of the finest songs on the record, and I got a real
charge out of doing it. I thought I may as well explore this
rock edge a little bit more, so I did that Warren Haynes
song, “Invisible.”
I had a chance to dip in every little musical element in
my musical gumbo that I wanted and we ended the whole
thing with a reggae song. I have to say it came out like it
did because of the musicians that was on it and the producer, David Z. I had waited a long time to get to work
with him and he brought in “Something’s Got a Hold On
Me.” The minute that I heard it, I was like, “Yeah, I got
to do this.” I was blessed to have Mean Willie Green on
drums, Carl Dufrene on bass, my nephew Norman Caesar
on keyboards, and I had Cranston Clements on guitar, who
is all over this record in so many different ways. We came
up with a lot of the arrangements together and that was the
kind of experience it was. Everybody was eager to do it,
everybody had fun and every track on that record is a first
take. That record was done in three days. The second day
that we were in the studio we had Allen Toussaint come in
and do his parts, and there was no overdubbing or nothing. Allen was sitting down at the piano, just playing along
with everybody else. That’s how much fun everybody was
having.
The other part of this was getting a chance to stand in
the studio and watch these cats doing what they were
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
doing and watching how much fun they were having. We
were intending on a few of those songs fading out but
about a week into the mixes, David called me and said,
“Man, there is no way taking any of this stuff off.” So all
of those endings and all of those stretches on the ends of
the songs, that’s some stuff that originally wasn’t supposed
to be there. But it was such great musicianship that we just
left it like it was.
I’ve been knowing Cranston just about as long as I been
knowing Willie Green but this is the first time we really
got a chance to write songs together. He and I wrote “The
Blues Is the Truth,” and you can hear from his guitar work
on this record that Cranston definitely is one of the finest
guitar players that New Orleans has ever produced, in any
style, in any form. That’s him soloing on “Another Man,”
and just about everything on there is him, except the Walter Trout song, which is “Running Water” − that’s actually
Walter playing guitar on it.
Why did you call your album Magic Honey?
I am so glad you asked. That song is written about the best
friend I ever had in my life, my queen, my wife, Gaynielle. I know I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now if
it wasn’t for her being in my life. Having said that, it was
one of those situations where we needed one more song.
I’d went through everything in the book that I knew would
fit on this particular menu that I was preparing. So I had
to go walk out in the woods over there by the studio and
come up with something. I had already kind of toyed with
this idea about this magic honey thing. That term came
from Jimi Hendrix in “Who Knows,” where he’s talking
about this lady and that’s been rolling around in my head
ever since I heard that song.
To make a long story short, I grew up listening to the
radio with my aunts and my mom and it was all blues and
rhythm and blues and I always said that I wanted to one
day write and sing and perform the music that would make
people feel the same way I saw them feel, react the same
way I saw them react, and make them feel the same way
that music made me feel. So this song is a throwback to
me seeing my aunts and my mom react to Wynonie Harris and how I realized that he wasn’t really talking about
churning no butter! (laughs). When they realized that I
really dug it and I was listening and that I figured it out,
it was this big burst of laughter and these hugs and everything that came from that. So that song basically is the
way I feel about my woman’s love. It’s magic honey.
The Royal Southern Brotherhood is a big part of your
life now. How did you get involved with these particular musicians?
Rueben Williams from Thunderbird Management manages
all of us individually. Somebody was having a conversa-
49
photo by Leslie Michele Derrough
what I hear, the blues. And I hear it being played correct
and it’s hitting me like it’s supposed to hit.
Then we turn the corner and walk into the park and
there’s this rainbow audience; different shades of people.
And then I look up on stage and the first thing I see is
this cat behind a B-3 organ, blonde hair flying all over
the place (laughs) and the next thing I see is they got
two drummers. And I see Jaimoe and he got an earring
in his ear. Trust me, the next day I had an earring in my
ear (laughs). And seeing the look on Phil Walden’s face,
it was a look of satisfaction, like, didn’t I tell you? This
must have been like 1969 or 1970, and that was one of the
hippest experiences of my life and that’s how long this
connection between the two families has been going on.
What has been your greatest inspiration to make music?
50
individuality or personality is lost. It’s a beautiful, beautiful trip that we’ve been on because we haven’t stopped
since this thing started. We did this Blues Festival in
Norway and really got to see the seeds that we planted the
year before when we were over there when the band had
just started. The first time we went over there, the record
wasn’t even out yet. But to go back and then see that the
audience has grown really recharged our batteries. And
while we were in Norway, we got in the studio and wrote
six new songs for the next record.
(www.cyrilneville.net)
Do you remember the first time you saw the Allman
Brothers Band play?
Yeah, I was in Macon, GA, doing the first recording I ever
did, with the Meters, and it was produced by Allen Toussaint. We were doing it in this studio in Macon that Phil
Walden and Otis Redding had done a lot of their stuff in.
On this particular day we had wound up the project early
so we had some time to burn. So Phil Walden said that
there was this function going on in the park not far from
the studio and there was a band playing that he thought we
probably would dig. I was like, maybe twenty or twentyone years old at the time. So when I’m on my way to the
park, the picture I had in my mind was that I’m about to
see a band full of these older black cats that were laying
it down like it was supposed to be laid down. When I get
closer to the park and I’m hearing the music, that’s exactly
HittinTheNote.com
photo by Leslie Michele Derrough
tion with him and saw that myself and Devon Allman was
part of his roster and the cat said, “You never wondered
why didn’t the Neville Brothers and the Allman Brothers ever do anything together?” Rueben said that set the
wheels to turning in his head. He got on the phone and
asked us to think about putting a group together. And it
was me, Devon Allman and Mike Zito. At that point, I
had never met Devon, and Mike Zito had done some stuff
with the Voice of the Wetlands and he and I wrote a song
together called “Pearl River,” which won the Blues Music
Awards Song of the Year in 2010.
So we got together and started trying to see if we could
write songs together because that’s what any career is
going to be based on. We started doing it by email and
thankfully with technology today you don’t have to be in
the same place at the same time to create stuff together.
We put a couple song ideas together and then I think it was
around Jazz Fest time and we were all in New Orleans so
we rented a studio and we banged out a couple of things
with just the three of us, did that for a couple of days and
we came up with some pretty good ideas. Then it was
time to get a rhythm section and make this a real band and
see if we could actually turn these songs into a CD and
a show. We were lucky enough to wind up with Yonrico
Scott on drums and Charlie Wooton on bass. And the good
thing is our voices just automatically blended.
The other good part about this group is that nobody’s
Well, I feel like I was really blessed to grow up where I
grew up at. Not just in the city of New Orleans, which
is very special in itself, but the home that I came up in
where I was blessed to have the opportunity to interact
with some of the greatest musicians that New Orleans
ever produced right in our living room because that’s
where my brother Art’s band rehearsed. And these great
cats were in his band; I’m talking about on any given
day there was like John Boudreaux on drums and other
times it was Leo Morris, or it was Smokey Johnson. All
of these cats were at some time or another in my living
room. So at an early age there was no doubt in my mind
what I would be doing the rest of my life.
So I would say that my first and biggest inspiration was
my brother Art. I had other inspirations growing up at
that time in the ’50s in New Orleans but Art was the first
person in my family whose voice I heard coming out of
that magic box called radio. Art’s stuff was being played
right along with Fats Domino and Little Richard and
Larry Williams, all of them big cats that were basically
on Specialty Records and kind of set the tone for what
New Orleans music was going to be for a long time. He
was right in the middle of all that.
The first gigs that I went on, the first band I played in,
was Art Neville & the Neville Sounds. They had some
other young cats from the neighborhood that wound up
playing in that band like Zigaboo and George Porter Jr.,
and Leo Nocentelli, and that band later on changed into
the Meters. The thing that really inspired me more than
anything else − other than getting the chance to interact with all those other musicians − was to actually go
on those gigs and to actually be in places that I knew I
wouldn’t be able to go in if it wasn’t for Art. And then
going to places where he wasn’t playing with the band,
where it was just him and the piano. That was powerful
to me; that just Art and a piano could do that to an audience. So I would say Papa Funk Art Neville is still my
biggest inspiration.
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
51
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS:
WORLD BOOGIE IS COMING
“ROOTS MUSIC”
HUMBLE PIE:
PERFORMANCE: ROCKIN’ THE FILLMORE
“HOTTER AND NASTIER”
Songs of the South Re c or ds – Allison He r sh
For their seventh studio album, World
Boogie Is Coming, the North Mississippi
Allstars made a conscious decision to go
back where it all began, digging deep into
the gritty roots music of the Mississippi hill
country.
Brothers Luther and Cody Dickson joined
forces with guest artists like Lightnin’
Malcolm, Duwayne and Garry Burnside,
Kenny Brown, Alvin Youngblood Hart,
Sharde Thomas and Chris Chew to create
seventeen sassy, funky, playful tunes brimming with creative energy.
The newly-invigorated band tackles
blues standards like Willie Dixon’s
“My Babe” and the traditional “Rollin
’n’ Tumblin” and performs a bevy of
new tunes. Electric guitars blend
with two-string coffee can diddley bows, fuzz tones and fife
and drum accompaniment. It’s a
heady mix, but it really works.
“We’re after a kind of primitive modernism, hill country
blues for a new generation,”
Luther explains.
The Dickinson brothers
recorded most of the CD at
their own Zebra Ranch Studios
in Coldwater, MS. As a result,
World Boogie Is Coming has a
decidedly down-home feel, as if
it were created on a front porch
at twilight as fireflies twinkled
in the distance.
World Boogie Is Coming
is the rare album that’s truly
larger than the sum of its parts.
The tracks on this CD combine to
create a richly textured sonic landscape
infused with a powerful sense of place.
Inspired by their Southern heritage and
the memory of their late father, Memphis
music icon Jim Dickinson, Luther and
Cody create a dense sonic tapestry that’s
steeped in the blues and infused with contemporary musical influences reminiscent
of Beck or Moby at their best. The album,
whose title is borrowed from one of Jim
Dickinson’s signature phrases, has plenty
of commanding guitar riffs and outstanding
guest performances.
The brothers re-united with former touring partner Robert Plant for “JR” and “Goat
52
Meat,” two high-energy songs that kickstart this party. The former Led Zeppelin
frontman lent his hammer-of-the-gods-style
harmonica to World Boogie, meeting up
with Luther and Cody to record at the legendary Royal Studios in Memphis.
Plant’s only request? He wanted to play
his harmonica in the key of A. With a
familiar wail that recalls the iconic intro to
“When the Levee Breaks,” Plant fires up
the harpoon on “JR,” a propulsive instrumental. The opening tune blends effortlessly into
“Goat
Meat,” with its
side-splitting refrain,
“Ain’t fit to eat,” repeated
until unbridled hilarity
ensues.
Raw creative energy, a
juke joint spirit and a genuine love
of music set World Boogie Is Coming apart.
The goal here is connection, not perfection.
It’s about reaching back to the past and
looking ahead to the future while remaining
centered in the present. Luther and Cody
share their passion for swampy Mississippi
blues with a new generation of listeners,
showing why this music means more now
O mn iv o r e Re c o r d in g s – To n y Sc la f a n i
than ever, as practiced by the children and
grandchildren of some of the genre’s most
legendary artists.
One of the highlights of this landmark
album is “Snake Drive,” with its hypnotic
call-and-response vocals and scratchy, timewarp ’70s-style funk. This musical mash-up
is less than three minutes, but it brims with
spunky, sing-along fun. “Turn Up Satan,” a
rhythmic lament about a wayward woman,
and “Meet Me in the City,” a romantic plea
to a lover, showcase the band’s remarkable
versatility and uncanny ability to blend
disparate musical styles.
“Granny, Does Your Dog Bite” and “My
Babe” feature powerful vocals by Shardé
Thomas, Otha Turner’s granddaughter.
Shardé’s plaintive, sassy voice contrasts
nicely with Cody’s sharp, rhythmic percussive accompaniment.
“Jumper on the Line,” a ten-minute
whiskey-infused romp, offers an intoxicating journey through Mississippi
country-funk, with vocals, guitar and
drums twining together like wild wisteria
vines growing alongside a rural Southern highway. This is boogie at its best,
fusing old and new sounds with a driving
backbeat.
An explosion of dirty, gritty blues, World
Boogie Is Coming has more heart and
soul than any previous North Mississippi
Allstars recording. Luther’s limber slide
guitar, meaty riffs and muddy vocals
drive the album’s earthy sound as Cody
holds down the beat expertly.
National Public Radio has called the
North Mississippi Allstars “Americana
music luminaries.” This CD supports this
assessment, juxtaposing boogie, funk and
blues brilliantly in one masterful collection.
Luther and Cody Dickinson truly bring it
all back home on this album. Like a swig
of high-octane moonshine, World Boogie is
at once bracing, soul-stirring and heartwarming.
By any measure, the North Mississippi
Allstars have created a musical celebration.
Luckily, we’re all invited to join in on the
fun.
(www.northmississippiallstars.com)
HittinTheNote.com
British supergroup Humble Pie wasn’t
the darlings of rock critics and never
had a big hit single in the United States.
Instead, the band achieved popularity by
relentlessly touring and dazzling fans at
live shows with its four-cornered magic.
Up front were the larynx-shredding
vocals of Steve Marriott (ex-Small Faces)
and the magic-fingers guitar of Peter
Frampton (ex-Herd). Bringing up the
rear were tough-guy bassist Greg Ridley
(ex-Spooky Tooth) and boy-wonder
drummer Jerry Shirley (ex-Apostolic
Intervention).
After two albums that were more
unplugged than electric, they
found their voice creating a
soulful, blues-driven hard rock
sound that hit an apotheosis
of sorts on the 1971 double
live set Performance: Rockin’
the Fillmore, which cemented
their reputation as hard rock
heavy hitters. But after that, the
Pie (as fans called ’em) largely
faded from consciousness.
Part of the reason for that was
the negative press. As late as
1992, the Rolling Stone Album
Guide called the group “unlistenable,” and claimed that
Marriott “brandished one of the
most annoying voices in rock:
a hectoring, sandpaper parody
of black authenticity.”
Happily, opinions changed as time
passed and the Pie became seen as influential. The group’s sound was echoed
by bands like the Black Crowes and
about a decade after Steve Marriott’s
death at age 44 in 1991, a cult started to
build. Musicians ranging from Paul Stanley to Steve Perry began to sing Marriott’s
praises, critics in magazines like Classic
Rock got on board, and Humble Pie’s
work was reassessed in a more positive
light.
This expanded release is a product of
that reassessment. Where the original
vinyl release offered seven songs spread
across four sides, this set delivers a
whopping twenty-two tunes on four CDs.
Included are all four shows from Humble
Pie’s two-night run at the Fillmore East
on May 28 and 29, 1971. The sets are presented exactly as they were played, with
no editing or re-sequencing. Surviving
members Frampton and Shirley produced
the set themselves (Ridley died in 2003)
and the sound is powerful and rich, hotter
and nastier, steering clear of the harsh
over-compression that has marred so
many
CD
reissues.
Fillmore was a live
album in the tradition
of the Grateful Dead’s
Live/Dead and the AllAllman Brothers’ At Fillmore
East in that it was filled with long
jams of songs that mostly hadn’t been
featured on studio albums. It also presents
Marriott in his prime, just as those aforementioned albums presented Jerry Garcia
and Duane Allman at their pinnacles.
Critical barbs about Marriott’s singing being a “sandpaper parody of black
authenticity” miss the point. Like Garcia
and Allman, Marriott was taking African-
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
American musical ideas and pushing them
into unexplored territory. Had he studiously recreated these songs like museum
pieces (as some lesser musicians did), that
would have been parody − of the unintentional kind.
To put it bluntly, the revamped Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore kicks ass,
which is clearly what the band wanted to
do at its live shows. The group might not
have boasted a musician as visionary as
Garcia or Duane Allman, but what they did
have was a “collective mind” that made
their music come off as far more than the
sum of its parts. And when they locked
into a groove, the result was a monstrous
intensity few groups achieved. A perfect
example is their cover of Muddy Waters’
“I’m Ready,” included here in four
versions, each one more explosive than
the next. Other bands might have had
more finesse, but few rocked harder than
Humble Pie.
What the expanded Fillmore delivers
in power, it lacks in variety. There are no
new songs here, only multiple versions
of songs from the original release. Most
of the original numbers appear four
times, like the classic opener, “Four Day
Creep” and the band’s long-form cover
of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Gilded Splinters.” This puts the focus on the group’s
performance (pun intended). Listeners
can hear the different ways, for example,
Frampton approaches his leads in “I Don’t
Need No Doctor,” or Marriott puts across
his “naughty schoolboy” ad-libbing in
“Hallelujah (I Love Her So).” Anyone
looking for more variety can always seek
out other live CDs, like King Biscuit
Flower Hour Presents: In Concert Humble
Pie Live or Live at the Whiskey A-Go-Go
’69.
The detailed liner notes by Tim Cohan
include interviews with Frampton and
Shirley which touch on everything from
how the band approached the songs to how
they mixed the original album. If you’re
looking for good old no-frills classic rock,
well, you can’t do much better than this set.
(www.humble-pie.net)
53
BLACK SABBATH:
13
Drive-By Truckers:
Alabama Ass Whuppin’
Vertigo/Republic − Michael Lohr
ATO Records − Brian Robbins
“GRATIFYINGLY GLOOMY”
Sound the trumpets of desolation and
inform Homeland Security that Hell has
indeed frozen over. The original Black
Sabbath has reformed and released a
new studio album full of doomy delights…oh, wait, seems Bill Ward is
missing from the line-up. Well then, how
about snow flurries in Purgatory instead?
The many issues that have been aired
between drummer Bill Ward and his
Sabbath mates have been well documented elsewhere, so I will not go into
the specifics. The drums on 13 studio
sessions were handled by the highly
competent Brad Wilk of Rage Against
the Machine and Audioslave fame.
The touring drumming has
been handled by Tommy
Clufetos. So that’s that, as
they say.
Unlike the 1998 reunion,
this one accompanies a new
studio album. Titled 13, this is
actually the Black Sabbath’s
nineteenth studio album overall, counting all line-ups, etc,
and their first studio offering
since 1995’s Forbidden. The
Rick Rubin-produced disc is a
bluesy, gloomy throwback to
Sabbath’s early days and fits
comfortably like a favorite old
leather jacket.
The seeds of 13 were sown
in 2001, when the original
lineup got together with Rick Rubin
to begin work on a new studio album.
Those recording sessions were put
on hold so Ozzy could finish a solo
record. It was not until late 2011 that
they reconvened in earnest to pursue a
recording that would provide Black Sabbath with a chance to contribute a proper
coda to their legacy instead of the tepid
Never Say Die.
The songs on 13 are truly epic. Tony
Iommi’s signature tritone guitar riffs and
Geezer Butler’s hammering bass are top
notch. The pounding eight-minute opening track, “End of the Beginning,” is a
calamitous, thunder-filled tune that con-
54
tains enough time changes to please any
Rush or Prog rock fan. But the ending is
a surprise as the song morphs enigmatically into something more reminiscent
of psychedelic Cream or “Strawberry
Fields”-era Beatles. The powerful guitar
riff from the song “Loner” recalls the
classic “N.I.B.,” and possesses just as
powerful an ambiance. The bluesy, harmonica saturated “Damaged Soul” is a
brilliantly broken tune. One can feel the
soul
aching
history emanating from the music. With
“Damaged Soul,” you
can sense the band’s
struggle over the years,
from their beginning days
on the streets of Birmingham, England,
through the past four decades of drugfueled highs and lows. Their resilient
determination to endure has never been
more evident.
On the “Planet Caravan”-esque “Zeitgest” − complete with bongos, distorted
vocals and Spanish guitar accents −
Sabbath evokes the essence of a differ-
“Country Roots With Punkish Recklessness”
ent era. One can almost see the dying
embers of the Summer of Love rising in
the murky smoke of Woodstock’s seared
afterglow.
Perhaps the most commanding track
on 13 is “God Is Dead?” On this one, a
heavy, monolithic riff leads the listener
along a precarious path, well-traveled,
but fraught with peril. The song asks a
question that theologians, philosophers
and all manner of “wise” men have been
asking since the dawn of time. Are we
alone in this conscious experience here
on Earth or is there an unseen hand
guiding our movements? A thousand
different answers can be derived from a
thousand different sources, but in reality
we are the sources of our own fates, and
this is the message that main lyricist
Geezer Butler sends.
In a touching splotch of continuity, 13
ends with the same rumbling thunder
and haunting church bells that that
signaled the impending storm on the
first track of Sabbath’s 1970 self-titled
debut.
For the album cover art, British sculp
sculptor Spencer Jenkins was commissioned
to create an eight-foot tall wicker 13,
which in very “Wicker Man”-meetsGuy Fawkes-fashion, was set on fire at
night in the Buckinghamshire coun
countryside. The fiery glow could be seen
for miles and the locals understandably
were freaking out.
With Doom Metal existing now as
its own genre, with such Sabbathinfluenced successful bands such as
Mastodon, Graveyard and Baroness
taking up the torch, Sabbath’s legacy as
not only the progenitors of heavy metal,
but the greatest band ever to play heavy
metal, is most assured. 13 is an excellent
crescendo for Black Sabbath’s Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame career.
What a gratifyingly gloomy, doomladen ride it’s been. Thank you and
cheers!
(www.blacksabbath.com)
HittinTheNote.com
This is the sound of four men jumping
off a cliff.
By 1999, the Drive-By Truckers – Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley on guitars
and vocals, Rob Malone on bass and
vocals and Brad Morgan on drums – had
reached the crossroads known as “Shit
Or Get Off The Pot.” The band members
were in their 30s, they’d just released their
second album (Pizza Deliverance), so if
something was ever going to happen, it had
to happen now… and nothing was going to
happen unless the band themselves made it
happen.
That was the point where the members of the Drive-By Truckers quit
their day jobs, loaded their gear into
their 1988 Ford Econoline van,
and hit the road.
“We didn’t have the luxury of
being in our early 20s and just
dropping out of college or not
really having anything to quit,”
Patterson Hood recalled. “We
already had lives going but
they weren’t going anywhere.
If we couldn’t make it, we
didn’t have a backup plan …
we just went out and played.”
Over the next two years the
quartet played something like
500 shows on the road, returning home to Athens periodically
to sleep for a few days. They
would usually book a local
show, according to Hood, “Basically so we could afford to eat
at home … and probably a little bit to
show off how tight we were getting.”
Earl Hicks – who later played bass
with the Truckers during the Southern
Rock Opera and Decoration Day period
– captured those Athens shows on tape,
and the band handpicked some of the best
moments for a live album. Originally
released in limited numbers in 2000, Alabama Ass Whuppin’ captured the moment
that the Truckers figured out how to morph
their country roots with punkish recklessness.
The original AAW masters were consid-
ered long lost – until Rob Malone (who left
the band in 2001) came across a cardboard
box in his attic. “You might want this,”
read his text to Patterson Hood. Inside
were the half-inch tapes that producer
David Barbe (as much of a mentor to the
Truckers as Tom Dowd was to so many
artists) had mixed back in 2000. The
newly-unearthed reels were given to Greg
Calbi to re-master – and the result is a
no-holds-barred, CBGB-meets-VFW-hall
Trucker time capsule.
From
Hood’s opening,
“Hey, y’all – we’re the
Drive-By Truckers!” over
the roar of snarling guitar
chords that usher in “Why
Henry Drinks” to emcee Tim
Facok’s outro of “Please go home! Good
night!” As the crowd bellows for more
in the wake of Cooley’s broken-heartedand-drunk thrash waltz “Love Like This,”
you are right there. The sound is great; the
performances are rough-and-tumble and
real and right.
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
There’s bellow and churn with the
feedback just barely held at bay (“Lookout Mountain,” “Buttholeville” “Steve
McQueen” – with a sideways lurch into
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps”);
there’s flannel-shirted punk fury (“Too
Much Sex [Too Little Jesus],” “Don’t Be
In Love Around Me,” and a cover of Jim
Carroll’s “People Who Died”); and there’s
classic early Hood storytelling (“The Avon
Lady” and “18 Wheels of Love”).
The centerpiece of the album may very
well be “The Living Bubba” – which Hood
himself refers to as ““the song… out of all
the ones I’ve written, that one’s special.”
“The Living Bubba” is a tribute to the late
Gregory Dean Smalley, a fiery guitarpicking pioneer of Georgia’s “Redneck
Underground” movement in the ’90s.
Smalley was one of those who lived to
play, for whom a gig was a gig, whether
it was for a fully-packed house or a
dozen drunks. Smalley passed away due
to complications from AIDS in 1996, but
he truly lives on in “The Living Bubba.”
During the final year before his death,
Smalley pounded out over 100 gigs;
Hood’s lyrics capture his homestretch attitude poignantly: “I can’t die now ’cause
I got another show to do.”
Over the years, the various Trucker
lineups have offered up Gregory Dean
Smalley’s story with triple-guitar
onslaughts; with a layer of keys and
break-your-heart pedal steel accents. But
the ragged and raw and sweat-soaked and
stripped-to-the-bones version on Alabama
Ass Whuppin’ might just be the version that
comes the closest to capturing the fire that
kept Smalley going… until he couldn’t go
any longer.
Alabama
There’s nothing pretty about A
Ass Whuppin’ – but if you want a recording
that captures the heart and soul driving a
band’s leap of faith, then this is a thing of
beauty.
The sound of four men jumping off a
cliff.
(www.drivebytruckers.com)
55
BUDDY GUY:
RHYTHM & BLUES
“AS DYNAMIC AS EVER”
MICHAEL LEE FIRKINS:
YEP
RCA Records − Jim Kanavy
Buddy Guy is 77 years young and it
shows. Many musicians only hope to be
half as good when they reach Buddy’s
age but Buddy keeps getting better. His
singing has more passion, his songs have
more depth, and his guitar playing is as
dynamic as ever –occasionally unhinged
but often concise and focused. Maybe
working on his autobiography has given
him more perspective. Maybe the secret
weapon is Tom Hambridge. Hambridge
plays drums and produces, but his
true skill lies in writing songs for
and with Buddy that ring true to
Buddy’s history and character. They
bring these talents to bear on
their third outing together,
Rhythm & Blues.
At around 82 minutes, the
album is divided into two
discs. Disc One is Rhythm
and the other is Blues. Both
discs serve up a smoldering mix of signature Buddy
Guy sounds and a host of
guest appearances that have
become as expected and
eclectic as sit-ins during the
Allman Brothers Band’s
annual Beacon Theatre run.
Buddy starts the album on his
own, however, with “Best In
Town.” It borrows from his
autobiography, highlighting
lessons he learned about humility
and keeping your ears and eyes open.
You can excel and be popular or considered the best, but don’t let it go to
your head. Someone else was in your
shoes before you and will be after you.
It’s an important message for people,
musicians or otherwise.
On “Justifyin’” you have to wonder
how he plays that fast. He’s 77 and
his solos still explode from the speakers − the kinetic energy will startle you.
Sometimes Guy doesn’t care so much
about hitting the notes – it’s more about
conveying the feeling. Other times, his
accuracy is spot on – and then he’ll
56
bend a note so far it will dip out of sight,
spring back, and slap you in the face.
These guitar pyrotechnics inspired Jimi
Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie
Ray Vaughan and a host of others. No
one can capture Buddy’s feel because it
oozes from his core. Buddy expresses
a similar sentiment in “I Go By Feel”
which attempts to convey the intangible.
Buddy’s music is visceral, emotional,
raw
and
exposed. Sometimes he’s just showing
off, and that’s OK, too!
Disc One features
three of the five tracks
with guest sit-ins. The first
is a fairly pointless cover of “Messin’
With the Kid” featuring Kid Rock. Kid
Rock really doesn’t add anything to the
song other than profanity that usually
flies from Buddy’s mouth at his live
shows, but it’s not a disaster. If it introduces Kid Rock fans to Junior Wells
then I guess it accomplishes something.
Keith Urban’s country twang graces
Magnatude Records − John Lynskey
“ROCK ’N’ ROLL IS ALIVE AND WELL”
“One Day Away.” It’s a pretty ballad
akin to “Skin Deep,” but if you don’t
like the twang this won’t be your thang.
Beth Hart’s duet with Buddy on “What
You Gonna Do About Me” is a scorcher
− it is easily the best vocal guest spot
on the album. Hart has the power and
conviction to match Buddy – her raspy
voice was born for the blues.
On Disc Two, three-fifths of Aerosmith sit in with Buddy for “Evil Twin.”
Unlike Buddy, Steven Tyler’s voice isn’t
what it used to be, but he gets the job
done. Buddy, Joe Perry and Brad Whit
Whitford trade licks seamlessly like they’ve
been playing together for years. It’s too
bad Aerosmith doesn’t put songs like
this on their own records.
Gary Clark, Jr. joins Buddy on
“Blues Don’t Care.” Clark is a versatile musician but his voice is thin
and easily overwhelmed by Buddy’s
powerful delivery. Buddy did not take
it easy on Gary and it drove their guitar
sparring to exhilarating heights. I wish
they put more of it on the record.
The rest of the album is vintage
Buddy Guy. There’s high energy
guitar playing, vocals that make you
picture his grin and songs about his
Mama. Buddy’s recent releases have
been laced with nostalgia and Rhythm
& Blues continues the trend. Buddy
reminisces about Chicago in “Take Me
to Chicago,” looks back on his life in
“I Came Up Hard” and reaffirms his
individuality on the scorching “Too
Damn Bad,” in which Buddy states, “I
can be stubborn but I like doing things
my way.” The evidence suggests his way
is a potent mix of vim, vigor and lowdown blues. He’s earned the right to do
it his way and if you don’t like it, that’s
too damn bad.
(www.buddyguy.net)
HittinTheNote.com
Guitarist Michael Lee Firkins is old
school: a genuine, real-deal player who is
all about depth, substance and delivery,
not flash and glitter. Michael made his
mark in 1990, when his self-titled first release – showcasing his tremendous licks
– sold more than 100,000 copies and
garnered him Guitar Player magazine’s
“Best New Talent” Award. The ’90s saw
Michael put out five more albums, all
of them loaded with his incendiary
straight lead and slide work. Now,
six years after his last release, Firkins
returns with a new attitude,
fresh perspective and a killer
album, a roots-fusion effort
entitled Yep. The break was
worth it, because as Michael
put it, “In that time I found
out what I was capable of as
a musician” – and what he is
capable of is quite simply sixstring genius.
Backed by the considerable
talents of Gov’t Mule drummer Matt Abts, former Mule
and Black Crowes bassist
Andy Hess and Rolling Stones
keyboardist Chuck Leavell,
Yep is chock full of Firkins’
stirring blues, hard-edged rock
and country drawl, with nary
a wasted note. Michael plays as
if his life depends on it, and his visceral passion is matched throughout by
the master trio behind him. Abts and
Hess lay down a rhythm pattern a mile
wide, and Leavell delivers some of the
best Hammond B-3 of his legendary
career. “Chuck was very instrumental in
directing everything to make sure it went
down the right way, and, of course, he is
an incredible musician,” Firkins stated.
Yep kicks off with “Golden Oldie Jam,”
and what a golden jam it is. Swinging
and swaying, it has an infectious beat that
grabs you right away. Michael’s guitar
runs are blistering, while Matt’s drumming hits with the force of a freight train.
Chuck’s swirling B-3 work and Andy’s
throbbing bass line help make this cut set
the tone for what follows on Yep.
“Cajun Boogie” is just that: the New
Orleans flavor on this one shows the
diversity of Michael’s music. His muscular vocals compare favorably to Darius
Rucker’s delivery, serving as a fitting
companion to Ferkins’ strong playing.
The blues emerge on “No More Angry
Man,” and Michael serves up a full dose
of
stinging
slide work. ZZ
Top would be envious of
the way the group lays it
down on this number, as
Chuck’s B-3 soars along
Michael’s high-flying runs.
Matt crashes, Andy booms and “No More
Angry Man” ends with a pleasing slide
crescendo.
The hard-charging “Standing Ovation”
has an element of country to it, with Michael’s vocals setting the tone for this tale
of lost love and glory. Michael shows off
some Mark Knopfler-style riffs, and the
band is locked in throughout. “There is a
country twang on this one, and I wanted
people to know it,” Firkins stated.
The mournful “Long Day” is a lament-
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
ing tune, with Michael’s long, drawn-out
slide licks reinforcing the somber feeling.
There is an emotional beauty to this one,
and it oozes sincerity from start to finish.
Like many of the tracks on Yep, “Long
Day” was recorded live, displaying the
marvelous interplay of Firkins, Leavell,
Abts and Hess. “What you hear is exactly
how we played it,” Firkins stated. “They
didn’t punch it in and do weird overdubs.
It’s just those guys playing live together
from beginning to end.”
“Wearin’ Black” is a blues-soaked
number that puts Michael’s slide work
front and center, and he plays with an
attitude that matches the weary and
worn-out from love theme found in
the lyrics. At one point, he takes a run
down the fretboard that will turn your
head for sure.
Chuck’s gentle organ intro sets the
stage for the easy-flowing and drifting “Out of Season,” where Michael
channels David Gilmour with stinging,
lingering notes delivered with maximum impact. “Out of Season” certainly
is a real highlight of Yep.
“Take Me Back” is a delightful,
jaunty number that brings to mind the
Delaney and Bonnie classic “Poor
Elijah” − Michael taps into the spirit of
Duane Allman and plays with unrelenting
zeal. “Take Me Back” is another keeper
for sure.
Nasty, surly blues return in spades on
“Last Call,” with Abts and Hess pushing
hard and steady underneath Michael’s
earthy vocals. Michael slides right
through the energized “No More Angry
Man (Part 2)” and “The Cane” − com
complete with distorted vocals and cutting
slide − wraps up Yep with a wallop.
Yep provides solid evidence that Michael Lee Firkins is back with a vengeance, and that in his talented hands,
rock ’n’ roll is alive and well.
(www.michaelleefirkins.com)
57
CD Reviews:
Original Album Series, Vol. 2
Emmylou Harris
Warner Bros. Records U.K.
by Gerry York
Another Life
James Maddock
InKind Records
by Paul Kumer
Ohio Grass
Buffalo Killers
Alive Naturalsound Records
by Brian Robbins
Old Glory & The Wild Revival
Jared James Nichols
Swing House Quality Recordings
by Leslie Michele Derrough
Kettle of Fish
Kettle of Fish
Independent Records
by John Lynskey
Disconnected In New York City
Los Lobos
429 Records
by Tom Clarke
Emmylou Harris’ Original Album Series,
Vol. 2 offers two titles unreleased on CD in
the United States, 1981’s Evangeline and
1986’s Thirteen, along with Roses In the
Snow (1980), Cimarron (1981) and White
Shoes (1983) in one economical package.
Roses brought a bluegrass flavor to her
sound as future bluegrass superstar Ricky
Scaggs joined Harris’ Hot Band. Scaggs’
duet with ELH on “Darkest Hour is Just
Before Dawn” is one of the high points of
the album and, perhaps, ELH’s recording
career. The traditional spiritual “Green Pastures,” another duet with Scaggs, remains
on Harris’ setlist to this day.
The next three titles show Harris turning to a more mainstream pop sound. Two
of the best songs on Evangeline (“I Don’t
Have To Crawl” and the weary, haunting
“Ashes By Now”) were coincidentally
written by Harris’ current touring partner,
Rodney Crowell. Waylon Jennings sings
an intense duet with Harris on “Spanish
Johnny,” but versions of Little Feat’s “Oh,
Atlanta” and CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising”
seem a bit flat. The standout tracks on
Cimarron include the romantic “If I Needed
You” and “The Last Cheaters Waltz,” a
moving tale of barroom regret.
White Shoes includes a surprising cover of
disco queen Donna Summers’ hit “On the
Radio” and a Celtic-sounding “Like an Old
Fashioned Waltz” by Sandy Denny. 1986’s
Thirteen returns Harris to what she called
“basic country tunes,” like Merle Haggard’s
“Today I Started Loving You Again,” but
one tender surprise is Harris’ cover of Bruce
Springsteen‘s “My Father’s House.” This
package is a must-have!
James Maddock’s Another Life restates
a universal truth introduced in Sunrise on
Avenue C and Wake Up and Dream: honest
stories make good music.
Another Life contributes to the contemporary catalogue of Americana – Maddock’s
British upbringing notwithstanding − reminding how much can be said with a few
chords and a collection of memories.
The album grabs our attention with the
title track, as Maddock points to some troubling truths of not only his life, but also our
own. We are all “one part prisoner, one part
free” from the decisions we’ve made. He
subtly emphasizes recurring themes of loss
and regret… redemption is not a guarantee.
With “Arizona Girl,” any of us who have
spent some time out west can empathize
with Maddock as any of those highways
help “relive it all” with our own Arizona
Girl “hoping tomorrow our promises would
be kept.” From that rain-soaked desert,
“Timing’s Everything” provides us with
the gentle reminder of clichés friends have
shared as we overcome heartbreak. But not
all is lost, as “I’ve Been There Too” picks
us up along with the album’s tempo leading into “That’s Heavy,” where Maddock
evokes his best Bob Dylan.
One of the more powerful ballads is
“Leicestershire Mist,” where loss of place,
along with loss of love, runs strongly.
Maddock then abruptly stops his nostalgic
yearnings with the blunt “Easy to Give” and
“Don’t Go Lonely.”
Another Life demonstrates Maddock’s
storytelling prowess as he works through
his past and jogs our memories of our own
highs and lows.
Ohio Grass is Cincinnati power trio
Buffalo Killers’ version of Eat It –
Humble Pie’s 1973’s classic album that
captured that multi-faceted band in all
its glory. Just as Eat It proved that the
late Steve Marriott and his gang could
rock hard, roll it easy, butter the soul
and roar the blues (both in the studio
and live), Ohio Grass documents a
number of settings that Buffalo Killers
are perfectly at home in. Brothers Andy
and Zachary Gabbard (bass/vocals and
guitar/vocals respectively) and drummer Joey Sebaali show they can pull
off Crazy Horse-style lumber (“Hey
Girl”) just as easily as their rendition
of Gov’t Mulish swagger (“Baptized”).
There’s growl (“Grow Your Own”);
there’s wail (“Hold You Me”); there’s
some stoner Fab Four (“Some Other
Kind”); there’s a bit of Muscle Shoalsflavored redneck country soul (“Move
On”).
Want some real-as-roti reggae? The
band nails the vibe of reggae legend
Scratch Perry’s long-gone Black Ark
studio in “Golden Eagle.” Want to
work on a nice left-arm while banging
through the gears with the top down?
“Good Feeling” would be perfectly at
home roaring out of the dash of a ’69
GTO. Want to feed your head? “Jon
Jacob” could be the work of acid-dropping Buddhist monks who have formed
a garage band. Buffalo Killers sound
real and true on every second of Ohio
Grass – and the best part of all? Every
one of those real and true seconds is
great.
He is twenty-two years old, grew up in
Wisconsin and knows about Son House.
That last fact is almost unheard of in
today’s young gun guitarists. But Jared
James Nichols is not just dropping a
name he read off a list of blues artists.
Having been pulled onstage in his early
teens by old-timer bluesmen, his soul was
sucked in by the music almost immediately.
Doing things a bit backwards by releasing a live EP in 2012, he has whipped
up a small collection of his new songs
for Old Glory & The Wild Revival and
it’s just enough to whet your appetite for
more. Nichols jitterbugs through a frisky
“Can You Feel It?” before getting slithery
on “Sometimes,” featuring an electric
guitar solo that shows just how much
his forefathers have influenced him;
especially Stevie Ray Vaughan and Billy
Gibbons, with a little bit of Derek Trucks
mixed in if Trucks went hellbound.
Opening with the rocking “Blackfoot,”
Nichols hits you right between the eyes.
With mentorship from Aerosmith engineer Warren Huart, he is spreading his
wings with confidence − as if winning
the 2011 Les Paul Tribute Contest wasn’t
boost enough.
Saving his best for last, “Take My
Hand” takes a walk through the delta
dust of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf
before building up to a smoking revival
of foot-stomping blues. The boy becomes
a man, and the man knows just what to do
to give those roots a breath of fresh air.
Kettle of Fish music is rootsy and honest,
working to cross-pollinate soulful blues
with the power of rock and roll. Featuring
roaring vocals by Dana Lawrence, fiery
guitar synergy between Thorson Moore and
Berry Oakley, the playful keyboard work of
Matthew Frost and the driving rhythm section of drummer Garrett Dawson and bassist
Todd Cook, Kettle of Fish expands the
parameters of blues/rock to create a vibrant,
new sound.
The long-awaited debut album of Kettle of
Fish is finally here, featuring four original
songs by Dana Lawrence and one smoking
Leon Russell cover tune. “Crooked Halo”
kicks things off with some searing slide
guitar backing up Dana’s earthy vocals, ably
supported by timely organ swells from Matthew and Garrett and Todd driving things
home to a shattering climax. The funky “I’d
Rather Be Blind” jumps with energy from
start to finish, and showcases the dual guitar
brilliance of Berry and Thorson, as well
as Matthew’s jaunty piano. The ominoussounding “Damage” is a special track, as
it spotlights the soaring guitar sounds of
the late, great Dan Toler, formerly of the
Allman Brothers Band. Danny’s playing is
spot-on, and fits the Kettle of Fish groove
perfectly. “Words You Long to Hear” is a
vintage blues performance, and Dana really
busts it out, with visceral passion filling his
voice.
If you enjoy wicked blues with a strong
dose of Southern rock, then Kettle of Fish is
your kind of band, and this CD belongs in
your collection. Keep an eye on these guys
− they are the real deal.
Igniting their 40th anniversary with two
shows at the intimate City Winery in New
York’s South Village on New Year’s Eve
is one thing. Amassing an hour-long CD
from the night that projects every aspect of
the band is quite another. As 2012 became
history, Los Lobos reflected on their past,
but were anchored in the moment, kicking fans’ asses several blocks up Varrick
Street. Playing amplified acoustic with
drums and percussion as opposed to full-on
blazing electric, which they’re more apt to
do, was a genius decision, and the many
nuances are felt deeply.
Crossing thirty years of recordings, the
set deftly balances the compositions and
singing of David Hidalgo and Louie Perez
with that of Cesar Rosas. As always, these
extraordinary multi-instrumentalists blend
rock, soul and traditional Mexican sounds
seamlessly, and with a singular élan.
The only things missing are more of the
all-embracing covers they’re known for,
although they do close with a rousing take
on “La Bamba” that morphs into “Good
Lovin’.” But the album is really all about
Los Lobos. “La Venganza De Los Pelados,” Spanish-sung and quietly storming,
excels on the heels of the delicately drifting and profound “Tears of God.”
Following those, “Tin Can Trust” speaks
of a hard reality with soulfulness that
builds in stride with its sense of pride.
“Gotta Let You Know” rocks like a 1960s
East L.A. sock hop, and “The Neighborhood” takes a hard look at that same place
years later with a knowing eye, and hope.
That these men aren’t icons is a musical
travesty.
(www.facebook.com/jaredjamesnichols)
(www.kettleoffish.net)
(www.jamesmaddock.net)
(www.buffalokillers.com)
(www.emmylouharris.com)
58
HittinTheNote.com
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
(www.loslobos.org)
59
CD Reviews:
From Here to Now to You
Jack Johnson
Universal Republic
by Chris Doell
Hard Working Americans
Hard Working Americans
Melvin Records/Thirty Tigers
by Frank Etheridge
Live (Featuring James Montgomery)
Jim Weider’s Project Percolator
Moon Haw Records
by Brian Robbins
Payin’ The Price
Joe Pitts Band
Kijam Records
by Terry Bradley
Miles to Go
The Todd Wolfe Band
American Showplace Music
by Marianne Longchamp
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2011
Dr. Jack Johnson has been making
house calls since 2001, calming nerves
and soothing souls worldwide. A balmy
blend of social commentary, philosophical insights and tenderly personal love
odes, his albums are the fix: you always
know what you’re going to get, and it’s
always just what you need.
His latest, From Here to Now To You,
is a potpourri of poignancy, propping up
his perspective via gems like “Ones and
Zeros,” and allowing us a daydream of a
simpler life in a simpler world by way of
tunes like “Home” and the dusty sunsetter “Change,” featuring Ben Harper.
Energy is sprinkled about, including
on the “We Didn’t Start the Fire”-esque
“Shot Reverse Shot,” the jammy “Radiate,” and the nostalgic “Tape Deck,” on
which Jack grooves through his pondering of carpe diem’s premise: “You may
find in the palm of your hand there’s
a flame; as it burns, as it climbs, as it
turns to a blaze; well this flame it won’t
last, here it comes, hold it close; well
this blaze can be fast, set it free now
there it goes.”
The charming “Never Fade” and “You
Remind Me of You” are both lovely
lullabies – the former to his wife (and
muse) and the latter to his daughter.
Johnson takes lumps for failing to
branch out, but in fact he deserves credit
for doing what he likes to do, and doing
it well. And his formula works – each
of Jack’s records are like a potion that
quells an ill, and From Here… is a welcome refill.
News that bass titan Dave Schools (Widespread Panic, Stockholm Syndrome) teamed
up at Bob Weir’s Tri Studios with guitarist
Neal Casal (Chris Robinson’s Brotherhood,
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals) merits elevated
expectations. Collaborating to complete singer-songwriter Todd Snider’s artistic vision,
Schools and Casal − along with keyboardist
Chad Staehly (Great American Taxi) and
drummer Duane Trucks − helped spawn Hard
Working American.
This supergroup exceeds expectations in
its expert execution of Snider’s inspiration to
weave seemingly disparate songs together to
forge a collective identity with a cohesive story to share. As displayed in the eleven covers
(from the likes of Randy Newman, Lucinda
Williams and Drivin’ ‘N Cryin’) contained
here, Snider dug deep into Americana mines
to unearth this roots-rock gem.
The quintet unleashes its unique sound
and style right off the bat, when stirringly
sinister vocals, primal drumming and silkyyet-spooky keys highlight the opening track,
“Blackland Farmer.” Casal wails with abandon on “Another Train” and hits a delicious
Dead groove on “The Mountain Song” while
Schools applies his rhythmic prowess to “Run
a Mile,” pounding it into a punk crescendo.
John Popper (Blues Traveler) shines on harmonica in “Stomp and Holler,” an up-tempo
foot-stomper equally at home here with
“Wrecking Ball’s” tender reflections. “We
were really striving to go somewhere else
with these songs,” Casal explains in an online
video. “Expand them, ya know? To do that,
you have to be willing to take an adventure.”
Considering a month-long national tour following the Jan. 21 release of Hard Working
Americans, thankfully this musical adventure
has only just begun.
When he’s not busy doing his part to carry
on the legacy of Levon Helm and the Band
with various Midnight Ramble-related
ensembles, guitarist Jim Weider makes the
sparks fly these days with his band, Project
Percolator. While Weider’s mainstream reputation may be as a roots twangmaster whose
prowess on the Telecaster puts him up there
with the likes of Danny Gatton and Roy
Buchanan, Project Percolator is a showcase
for Weider’s jam/fusion side. Comparing
Percolator to some of Steve Kimock’s classic
Friends lineups is one way of describing the
band’s sound; the best thing to do, however,
is lay hands to their new Live album and hear
for yourself.
Drummer Rodney Holmes and bassist
Steve Lucas have been Weider’s longtime
co-conspirators in Percolator; the lineup for
Live also features Avi Bortnick on guitar and
Jason Crosby on violin and keyboards. And
if that wasn’t enough, legendary bluesman
James Montgomery adds his distinctive vocals and harp to three tunes. The result is an
eclectic mix that ranges from Booker T.-style
cool (“Help Me”) to butt-shaking raunch (a
wild-ass cover of Bo Diddley’s “Mona”).
Weider’s self-penned instrumentals (“Squirrels In Paris,” “The Maze,” “Troll” and
“Percolator”) all feature catch-your-ear-thefirst-time-around melodic hooks and grooves
that lead into wavy fields of jam. And a
set-closing cover of the Band’s “The Weight”
might pull into Nazareth, PA, at the start, but
it takes detours through Trenchtown and the
valleys of Neptune before it’s over.
Oh, what fun.
Joe Pitts has been playing his brand
of blues for 30 years now, through the
good times and the hard times, so he’s
not about to let an industrial accident
slow him down. This year Joe suffered
a near-debilitating injury to his left
hand that almost ended his career, but
thankfully did not. With lots of love
and even more determination, Joe’s new
release Payin’ the Price is a testament
to the long musical journey he’s taken.
Recorded live at Postmasters Grill
in Camden, AR, Joe and the band hit
the ground running with the opening
track, covering the Kinsey Report’s
“Time Is Running Out.” Joe’s playing
is smoking, and the band lays down a
solid foundation for his burning solos.
“High Price” a Pitts original, takes on a
deeper personal urgency with the recent
events in mind, showing Joe’s voice in
great form and the band locked in tight.
Keeping the energy high, they launch
into powerful covers of Albert Collins’
“Black Cat Bone” and the Walter Trout/
Joe Bonamassa tour de force “Clouds
On the Horizon.”
An unexpected plus from the accident
is that Pitts is again playing slide guitar
in open tuning which brought him full
circle to his early days; Payin’ the Price
features a scorching version of Robert
Johnson’s “If I had Possession Over
Judgement Day,” one of the first songs
Pitts learned on slide.
With ten tracks of covers and originals, Payin’ the Price shows that Joe
Pitts pays his dues by playin’ the blues.
The accolades are pouring in, and deservedly so, for The Todd Wolfe Band’s
latest release, Miles to Go. Named
“Artist of the Month” on Rock Wired
and debuting at Number 15 on the Jam
Band Charts, Miles to Go exhibits a
maturity of style for Wolfe; his previous
CDs have been leading up to this point,
where his varied musical influences
reach a crossroads and explode into a
unique and definable sound that belongs
solely to Wolfe.
Cultivated from a variety of genres,
Miles to Go encompasses blues, jazz,
rock, reggae and psychedelia. Wolfe
creates a fusion of these elements and
places them within a power trio format,
solidly backed by bandmates Roger Voss
on drums and percussion and Justine
Gardner on bass. With B-3 organ and
piano master John Ginty sitting in, Miles
to Go is a blistering testament to Wolfe’s
creativity and virtuosity on both guitar
and vocals.
A mix of originals and covers, tracks
such as “Come What May” and “Locket
Full of Dreams” are classic Wolfe
psychedelic blues – raw, tight and hardhitting. “I Stand Alone,” an acoustic
beauty, showcases a softer side of Wolfe,
with graceful finger-picking and melodic
vocals. “The Inner Light,” written by
George Harrison, is covered in signature
trippy Wolfe style and closes the CD on
a hypnotic note.
Wolfe says of Miles to Go: “I think it’s
my best thus far, but it’s also the most
varied of all my albums.” Listeners will
no doubt agree that with Miles to Go,
Todd Wolfe has arrived.
Gregg Allman and his stellar band were
captured in peak form and fidelity at the
2011 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Allman’s funky B-3 and a flurry of
notes by pianist Bruce Katz boosts “Don’t
Keep Me Wonderin’” out of the gate,
setting the pace for a show that features a
superb set list, unique arrangements and
the distinctive flavor of the Crescent City.
Scott Sharrard exhibits the surefire muscle
and amazing flair that places him rightly
in the king’s court of Allman-associated
guitarists. Groove masters Jerry Jemmott
on bass and drummer Steve Potts hold the
rhythms at a steady swing, while locals
Derek Huston on sax, and Ian Smith on
trumpet augment regular Allman sax man
Jay Collins to form a brass section that
raises the soul temperature to a constant
steamy.
Amos Milburn’s “Tears, Tears, Tears”
from Allman’s acclaimed Low Country
Blues highlights the set; it’s the type of
exquisite, burning blues only the great ones
lay into. Collins’ flute takes “Melissa” on
one of the best dates of her life, and “Midnight Rider” travels on the same spectral
air as the version on Allman’s Laid Back
forty years ago.
Allman’s aged soul chapel growl reigns
supreme throughout, but his lifelong friend
Floyd Miles does give him a run on “Going Back to Daytona,” a rollicking blast
that peels away the years. Even “Dreams,”
Allman’s signature, jazzy ABB composition, goes to another place on a wellspring
of guitar, piano and horns, as does “Statesboro Blues,” ending the set squarely on
Bourbon Street.
(www.jackjohnsonmusic.com)
60
(www.jimweider.com)
(www.thehardworkingamericans.com)
(www.joepitts.com)
(www.toddwolfe.com)
HittinTheNote.com
Facebook.com/Hittin The Note Magazine
Gregg Allman
MunckMusic.com
by Tom Clarke
(www.greggallman.com)
61
®
Subscribe And Get It Delivered To Your Home Or Office!
International
Order A Gift Subsrption For A Friend And Receive 2 Free Issues*
International orders please call 770-640-1124.