THE QUIET CORNER, by Robert Barry Francos
One
of the things I like about the German blues
label SPV (www.spv.de) is that they don’t
discriminate between the color line, but is
strictly based on talent. Case in point is “Snakes
& Ladders” is the first live album
by PAUL LAMB AND THE KING SNAKES in nearly half
a decade, bringing back vocalist Chad Strentz
to front the fold. And in only the way a British
white conglom can seem to master, they find
the groove early on and go beyond the fandom
and go into the meat of the matter, making it
their own. They change rhythms and patter, taking
the wail and will, and just, well, WAIL. Sometimes
the harmonica gets a short shrift, but Lamb
takes it to a HNL: A Hole ‘Nother Level.
Without compromise, they seize the traditional,
such as on covers of Ma Rainy/Leadbelly’s
“Easy Rider”, Preston Foster’s
“I Got My Mojo Workin’”, and
Ray Charles’s rave-up “I Got a Woman”,
and bring a large number of Lamb originals,
including a ditty about ex-UK PM Tony Blair
in “Money World”. The sound is crisp
and clear for a live recording, but never compromises
the banter and the intra-band whoops. Right
from its extremely sharp start with the original
“Crazy for Me” the CD stays the
blues cruise right to the end of its 55 minute
length.
“Lightening”
(spv.de) is by BLEU JACKSON, who has been playing
electric blues since the ‘60s, and has
participated in many bands though the south,
such as the Starfires, the Mojo Men, the Night
Sweats, and has worked in the studio with some
of the best. His style is somewhere along the
lines of Johnny Winters, George Thorogood, and
the Georgia Satellites. While his guitar work
and songwriting (he wrote or co-wrote most of
the songs here) are strong (“I Don’t
Know” seems to be based on the opening
riff of “Smoke On The Water”, which
was most likely based on an earlier blues progression),
I think this may actually be one of the blander
vocals of the SPV group I received; most likely
it’s more present live, but he certainly
is solid in the guitar. Most of this was recorded,
I believe, in the late ‘80s, and shopped
it around unsuccessfully (says the booklet),
which leads me to believe that perhaps these
were demos.
Drummer
Sam Lay is the real deal, having played with
the likes of Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf,
Commander Cody, and even backed Dylan during
the infamous ’65 Newport Folk Festival.
THE SAM LAY BLUES BAND has Sam drumming and
vocalizing on “Feelin’ Good”
(spv.de). His version is Chicago style, with
some strong Memphis I-IV-V progressions as the
driver. This live CD was recorded shortly before
his untimely death somewhat over a year ago.
While plumbing a King Bee’s worth of material,
he nicely slides through a medley or early rockers
in with “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Hound
Dog” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’”.
With a well-played band, Sam takes the listener
though his aches about love and loss, mojos,
and a “Short Haired Woman”. A fun
hour-long listen.
White
Britain has a long history of a devotion to
the Blues, be it Eric Clapton, Eric Burdon,
or just about anyone who’s been in the
Yardbirds. PAUL JONES & DAVE KELLY keep
the pace going with their release, “Live
at the Ram Jam Club” (spv.de), recorded
in Surry. With Delta-style guitar and harp,
they play their way through tunes by the likes
of Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Blind
Lemon Jefferson, and Memphis Minnie. There are
also a few by Jones himself, including a touching
tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson. Speaking of
which, Jones plays a mean guitar and has a good
blues vox (and handles most of the task). Kelly
has more of a less “traditional”
vocal sound (read Caucasian), but he does make
up for it with his blasting harmonica. But as
Kelly rightfully posits in the lush booklet,
“It’s not about playing it exactly
the same way as Robert Johnson did.”
HOMESICK
JAMES presents an interesting mix of styles
on “Shake Your Money Maker” (spv.de).
James is obviously a follower of Sonny Boy Williams
(he covers a number of his songs here), whose
style is delved deeply in the twangy Delta-style,
often associated to Sun House. However, James,
unlike Williamson, used a more Chicago-style
electric guitar (think B.B. King or Bo Diddley).
Now, the rivalry may not be as bloody as the
East/West rap wars, but it’s rare to see
the overlap, much as Dylan going electric in
Newport. Recorded live, James has a slurry speaking
style of the south that makes it hard to make
out what he’s saying at times, but the
songs hold up. There’s a strong cover
of “That’s Alright Mama”,
which is much more loyal to the original Crudup
version than to Presley’s adapted rave-up.
He also does fine with said Williamson covers
like “Gotta Move”, the dark humor
of “Set a Date”, and “Homesick
Boogie.” James also showcases some of
his own material, like “The Sky is Crying”
and the strong title cut.
The
title of the COMMANDER CODY AND HIS LOST PLANET
AIRMEN double-CD release is self-explanatory:
“Live From Armadillo World Headquarters
973 and The Capitol Theatre 975” (spv.de).
I’ve always appreciated CC&HLPA, for
playing the line between country, country rock,
rock, and rockabilly. On the other hand, I had
found them kind of whitebread to be playing
stuff like “Milk Cow Blues”, “Lawdy
Miss Clawdy”, “Good Rockin’
Tonight”, and even “Blue Swede Shoes”.
Their competency is high, and the quality of
the sound from these two tapes (the second,
at the Capitol, is from Port Chester, NY). Their
first disk is more covers, and the more countrified
and generally better second laden in a stranger
mix of originals and covers. If you like CC
etc., there’s two hours to revel in. Me,
I found them kind of bland back then, and also
now, listening to them in retrospect. They’re
just one of those groups (too many members to
be a band) whose appeal escapes me.
I
found this compilation from The CHAMPION RECORDS
STORY VOLUME 2: ROCKIN’ R&B (spv.de)
often amusing. Twelve artists over 2 cuts, cover
this early R&B label from the ‘50s.
Lots of horns and jangly piano permeate as a
steady feature. The first instrumental cuts
on it, by Jimmy Beck and His Orchestra, sounds
like the background music in early Russ Meyer
films while strippers gyrate. The tone strongly
picks up with Little Ike’s “She
Can Rock”, which could have been a Little
Richard cut. From this point, the style dips
into late ‘50s cheese, with some bizarre
notes, like Cliff Butler’s “Rent’s
Too High” ($3/wk, BTW), Joyce Paul’s
“Goofin’ Off” (her other recording
here, “Tell Me the Truth,” is much
better), and Chuck Harrod & The Anteaters’
“They Wanna Fight” and their Teen
Idols style “Sandy”. There are some
really good early examples of R&B as well,
such as the doo-woppy “Oh My Love”
by Al “Murfreesboro” Garner, and
the boogie “Hallelujah” and “Jump
Jump Hi Ho” by Don Q’s Band with
Clemest Gant. Sandra Meade does an interesting
cover of the classic “Fever”. Last
cut is the silly Baker Knight raver “Bring
My Cadillac Back”. This collection represents
an important aspect of R&B on the brink
of R’n’R. Most collections seem
to emphasize white artists of the period (think
Sun), but this documents the lesser known music
of the roadhouses that dotted the working class
and rural areas of our musical hotbed country,
and was the actual foundation.
With
the release “Die Happy” (jpblues.com),
vocalist and guitarist John Pagano leads the
trio, JP BLUES BAND On the CD cover, he looks
like he stepped out of a Gotti’s Kids
after-school special, but truth of the matter
is he leads one of Long Island’s top blues
groups. Not the old Blind Lemon Jello deep southern
fried type, but the big sounding northern electric
blues, like Clapton or Stevie Ray. To show the
balls these guys have, the first cut of this
very worthwhile release is a cover of Jethro
Tull’s “Long Day Yesterday”.
Through a series of mostly covers, JP slings
the blues guitar like a seasoned pro, ably backed
by John Young on bass and Pat Adkins on drums.
If they keep going like this, it’s odds
on favorites they’ll end up at the Long
Island Music Hall of Fame.
Photo by RBF
ALL SO is French singer Sophie Villamayor’
jazz combo (www.allso.info). Her self-titled
CD release is full of standard jazz choices
(such as “Mack the Knife” and
“Sophisticated Lady”), and some
interesting choices (“Sunny”,
“Can’t Buy Me Love” and
Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish”).
Sophie’s voice is smooth and fits in
with the combo quite smoothly. I would have
liked to have heard her a bit higher in the
mix, as she can get lost, but even when that
happens, she more becomes and equal part of
the mix of the whole than just a front-person.
Perhaps that is what they were going for,
and if so, it works. Sophie’s voice
is sort of like raindrops that bounce on the
leaves of the notes, cascading down the side
of the song, playful and meandering. It’s
sweet, and the combo keeps up the mood.
Wow,
looks can be deceiving. When you meet PHIL MINISSALE,
he is a nice, sweet lookin’ kid, but don’t
be fooled because he is also a very talented
folk blues guitarist and vocalist. It’s
a well-known local secret that Huntington, Long
Island is a hotbed for this sound (including
the likes of Michael Soloway). On his self titled
EP , Phil does four tunes, which shows not only
an incredibly strong flash guitarwork, but he
has a gravel voice that is mature beyond his
years. His songs range from a dark humorous
look at his life and how he imagines it is going
(“Blues Boy”) to an appropriately
named instrumental “Marsh Creek Tickle”.
Though only 4 minutes, this is worth seeking
out if you’re looking for someone of this
style. This guy has mucho potential. (myspace.com/philminisallemusic)
Photo by RBF
J-WALKERS
is a side-group project led by the New Mastersounds’
Joe Tatton and the Capri’s Benson Walker,
and they have released another CD, “All
We Can Do” (glp.caprimusic.co.uk). Their
style, as is typical of this Leeds-based label,
is a hot R&B funky sound with a bit of rock
thrown into the mix. While this is a fun release,
that I highly recommend, I must admit I like
the material led by Walker a tad more. It definitely
has an earthy sound, and Walker’s growl
is just what this style needed to feed it. They
start of very strong with “When I Got
You In My Life”, a tune that could have
easily come out of the Stax catalog (oh, wait;
they’re British, so “catalogue”).
Also strong is “You Don’t Know Me.”
More of the songs are by Tatton, who has a very
sweet voice that is more Motown, and he brings
a softer side to the music. I’m in more
of a gritty mood these days, I think. That being
said, one of the strongest songs here is the
finale, “There’s a Place,”
which is, of course, one of Tatton’s.
Go figure.
THE
JOLLY ROGUES of Boston return with a new collection
of olde ditties, “ 4 Miles to Boston”
(www.jollyrogues.com). As with their last release,
this is a mixture of British and New England
music from the Revolutionary War period, and
before. Again, this quintet is more a bunch
of friends sitting around the living room singing
the kind of music they enjoy, more than a slick,
packaged group (e.g., Renaissance), which gives
it a more personable feel, and in the long run
is more accurate than filtered through a multi-million
dollar studio. There is a lot of interesting
music sounds, like “Revolutionary Tea”,
“The Road to Boston”, “Martin
Said to His Man”, and “Rakes of
Mallow”. There are some classics here,
too, like “Bonnie Charlie” and “The
Fox”. An interesting listen and a bit
of a music history lesson mixed in.
I know THE CLASSIC CRIME “Acoustic EP:
Seattle Sessions” (Tooth & Nail, 3522
W Government Way, Seattle, WA 98 99) was produced
in their home town of Seattle by Matt Bayles
(Peal Jam, etc.), but I have to say…man,
I did not like this. Comes across to me as a
bunch of pretension and posturing: belief that
acoustic = raw emotion, check; screaming the
choruses to prove said emotion, check; cracking
of voice to show how deep the emotion is meant
to be, check. This is 30 minutes that comes
across as whining with singer-songwriting pretensions
that tries to slam the listener over the head
with preciousness, but it doesn’t, it
just feels, well, icky. And the worst part is
that this sounds like 50 billion other bands.
Could be Matt MacDonald leading the Classic
Crime, or it could be singer from Column A with
band from Column B. As for the who-cares lyrics,
well, the CD starts off with “My life
is dull / And dried up like the sound a voice
makes when the heart grows cold” (from
“Seattle”). It ends 7 cuts later
with “These pages will burn and I’ll
pass away / Yesterday’s gone and I just
can’t shake / The fact that I’m
lost / I’m so lost” (from “Far
From Home”). Who are you trying to impress,
high school girls who dress in black, read sad
poetry and wallow in thoughts of suicide to
prove how “different” they are,
like everyone else who feels the same identical
way? Puh-leeze, Kevin Devine could run rings
around anything here while in a coma.
MIRAH
AND SPECTRATONE INTERNATIONAL has done something
I have never heard before, which is cool. On
“Share This Place: Stories & Observations”
(krecs.com) they take a musical look at the
lives of insects. But I get ahead of myself.
Sweet-sounding vocalist Mirah is joined by Linda
Goldstein (cello), Jane Hall (percussion), Kyle
Hanson (accordion), and Kane Mathis (oud, which
is a predecessor of the lute). Each cut takes
a look at life from the perspective of a minute
creature, including “Love Song of the
Fly”, “Gestation of the Sacred Beetle”,
“Emergence of the Primary Larva,”
“Luminescence” (fireflies), and
“Community” (ants). Stylistically,
this alt pop flitters around genres like a bee,
if you’ll pardon the allusion. This collection
is very sweet, with Mirah’s sweet voice
over the off-beat use of classical instruments.
This can be a nice listen for a sunny afternoon.
After
listening to “My Piano” (darrellelondon.com),
I want to offer Toronto-based DARRELLE LONDON
a big hug. This is such a personal document
that is so basic, so simple, that it just fills
the room. Darrelle and, well, her piano, sings
about seeking companionship in her instrument
(sort of an “At Seventeen” vibe
that is more touching than depressing), post-relationship
personal growth, and of a plaintive love. Darrelle’s
voice is so comfortable, so waif-like (without
sounding weak), and so personable, that she
comes across as accessible and touching. All
six cuts are recommended.
Yo,
youse ever hear-a HER & KINGS COUNTY? Yeah,
these guys are from New York, a center of alt
country (especially Hank’s Saloon, in
Brooklyn), though trying to pin down a descriptive
phrase is unlikely. “City Country”
(herandkingscounty.com) definitely has some
country, but it’s not country. These songs
have some strong rock phrasing, but they aren’t
rock. They have a lot of fuck you punk attitude,
but they are not punk. There is an element of
pop (in a good way), but they can hardly be
called pop. But somewhere between all of that
is where they sleep, “ 5 feet from the
highway / a million miles from Nashville”,
as they state on their opening cut, “My
Backyard”. And that distance from Tennessee
is just as esthetic as in driving time. A perfect
example of this mix is the title cut. Vocalist
Monique Staffile looks like she stepped out
of a “Catholic High School Girls in Trouble”
video with her high hair and leather jacket,
and a powerful voice that could be at home in
just about any music style. Lyrically, they
slide around styles as much as the music. One
minute you’d expect a dog-truck-hoedown,
and the next Monique screams out in a finger-poking
way, “I ain’t your fuckin’
daughter!” As the front person Monique
is going to gain the most attention, but please
note that this is one talented band from end
to end. There is some extremely cool stuff,
with lots of fave cuts here, like the aforementioned
“My Backyard,“ “Troubles”,
“You Will Lay”, and just continue
on through the last cut, “Roll Back Down.”
I’m looking forward to hearing their next
release, “ 609”.
REW*
was one of the core founders of the Girls Rock
Girls Rule tour, and I had the opportunity to
meet her at a College Radio conference in her
home burg of New York. That led to this opportunity
to review her solo project (she’s also
in the group RewBee), “that*S*rite”
(luvrew.com). Backed by musicians like Television’s
Billy Ficca, Rew* has a sound that’s slightly
off-kilter in an endearing way. This would have
fit in the pre-Brit punk heady days of CBGB’s,
before much of the scene became more stratified.
The songs here are pop rock with punk attitude,
and are extremely earnest in a mostly stripped
down sound. There’s nothing really complex,
cryptic or opaque, and all is laid bare: it’s
usually either “Something Rite”
or simply “U Annoy Me”. Yet it does
get mixed up sometimes, like on “U Suck”,
the centerpiece of this release, in which Rew*
states, “U suck / When can we fuck / again?”
Rew*’s vocals are “unconventional”
which brings what’s she’s saying
right to your psyche because it makes it all
that more accessible.
Photo by RBF
It’s
not often you get to see an African-American
woman front a full-on metal band, but not only
does MilitiA do that, she rocks the joint. SWEAR
ON YOUR LIFE has released a 5-song EP, “Burn
My Crosses” (swearonyourlife.com), which
keeps the heavy in the metal. Crushing guitar
(Marc Reischer), a bass (Ed Strohsahl) that
rocks steady, a pounding drum (Chip Thomas),
and MilitiA on a loud, yet somehow unconventional
sounding vox, which enhances the experience.
Her voice is clear throated rather than growling,
which is a nice touch. And having met her, she
definitely adds a lot in personality as the
front of this band. From what I was told, they
have since added an additional guitar, so look
forward to that much more of a full sound. From
the title cut through “Vengeance is Mine”
and “Hate Out Loud”, this is –
if you’ll pardon the cliché –
a full-throttle engine revving on high octane,
going 100 down a narrow road.
Photo
by RBF
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