Swampland.com

Some of Eric Clapton's biggest hits ("After Midnight" and "Cocaine") were J.J. Cale songs, so it's only fitting the two guitar slingers finally recorded an album together. The Road To Escondido marks a fine collection of songs based on Clapton and Cale's undeniable strengths. Musical guests on this CD include: Steve Jordan, Derek Trucks, John Mayer, Taj Mahal, Willie Weeks, Albert Lee, the late Billy Preston, and Doyle Bramhall II.

Co-produced by Cale and Clapton, eleven of the fourteen songs were written by Cale. Recorded in August of 2005, the low-key, underplayed sound on this CD exceeds expectation in this age of over-hyped superstar collaborations. Throughout his career Clapton often cited his admiration and respect for Cale's songwriting and guitar skills.

The opening track, "Danger", calls to mind Cale's early work with touches of gospel organ. The subdued "Heads In Georgia" finds Clapton's singing on lead vocals for the first time on the CD. The Road To Escondido forces the listener to pay attention to who's playing the stellar guitar licks. "Missing Person" contains a barroom piano that shuffles along with a lazy Cale guitar riff highlighted by Derek Trucks' inimitable solo.

Clapton sings "When This War Is Over", an up-tempo tune--along the lines of "Call Me The Breeze"--directed at the country's political atmosphere in these modern times. By this time, listening to the CD it's clear The Road To Escondido is a strong collection, and sonically quite pleasing to hear. Each song is peppered with great, mercurial licks performed with flawless precision by seasoned professionals.

The old blues cover "Sporting Life Blues" is rendered with a quiet jazzy backdrop with Clapton singing and Cale's subtle Les Paul influenced licks. "It's Easy" sounds like it was recorded on a rural back porch somewhere in the swamp, but would certainly cause a stir in front of an audience from a Friday night fairground stage.

John Mayer's "Hard To Thrill", a slow R & B composition, makes room for each player to inject various shots of soul. If one were forced to choose a weak link on The Road To Escondido this might be the one song. "Anyway The Wind Blows" conjures up J.J. Cale's laid back mojo that made him famous. Clapton's tune, "Three Little Girls", harkens a short, sweet-tempered Mississippi John Hurt influenced acoustic lullaby dedicated to loved ones, accompanied by Taj Mahal's tasteful harmonica. "Cry Sister Cry" sounds like an outtake from Cale's Troubadour album with a slicker, more polished, aesthetic.

"Last Will And Testament" straddles various music styles of jazz, blues, and country, yet carries a real strength in Cale's ability to make everything sound so simple. Clapton's vocal take on "Who Am I Telling You", perhaps this CD's centerpiece song, calls to mind "slowhand" at his most convincing as Derek Trucks' crying slide floats throughout the song like some old familiar ghost.

The final track, "Ride The River", sounds different than any Clapton or Cale song, and their vocal harmonizing calls to mind a warm down-home feel, with a pastoral depiction of an old riverboat; a tune that might have found a home on one of The Band's first two records, complete with the fading guitar solo deferred to Cale.

The Road To Escondido proves a solid piece of work and worthy of purchase for any serious music aficionado. - James Calemine

"When they thaw out Uncle Disney, gonna be some changes made/Pointing fingers, asking questions/forty years of decisions made" appear as the opening lines of Patterson Hood's debut solo album.

Best known for his leading role in the hard-driving Drive-By Truckers, Hood's killers and Stars contain no loud electric guitars. In fact, Hood plays only his acoustic on all twelve tunes. Like the title, these compositions represent some wicked humor bordering on musical Flannery O'Connor territory.

Killers and Stars was never intended for release. A few homemade copies were burned and circulated as an underground item so Hood decided to make the recording available for purchase.

In the CD liner notes Hood explains the provenance of this collection. "I recorded killers and stars, by myself in the dining room (with the creaking chair, and snoring dog, Loretta) of the house where I was living, in early March 2001. I had just gotten divorced, was fighting with the band (Drive-By Truckers) and a good number of my friends. I recorded the album in two consecutive nights, then ran down some rough mixes (with no outboard sweetening at all) about a week later. The band (DBT) was taking some time off the road to finish mixing our new album (Southern Rock Opera) and just generally cool off from a really intense time of touring and recording. It was also a time to deal with some personal demons that were ravaging our personal lives and were beginning to spill over into our relationships with one another."

These stark songs highlight Hood's songwriting talent. "Rising Son" portrays a reckless son scorned by his father with Hood playing a mean acoustic rhythm. "The Assassin" sounds like a soundtrack for a mass murderer, telling the vivid tale of a killer who "lost my taste for killing anymore."

Hood possesses a great voice. He sounds like a soulful country boy on an old swamper recording. The songwriter remains clear of any musical embellishments other than his guitar (with sparse mandolin) in the true spirit of a troubadour. He demonstrates a proclivity for seeking out fantastic obscure songs to cover such as Tom T. Hall's "Pay No Attention To Alice."

One wonders if the famous Go-Gos lead singer heard this satire written in her name titled "Belinda Carlisle Diet" which begins "Cocaine and milkshakes, milkshakes, cocaine/I can't stand to feel the pain"
These songs cover different eras of Hood's songwriting. For example, "Hobo" was written in 1988, "Miss Me Gone" in 1992, and others recorded in 2000-2001, conjuring a gritty, earthy acoustic coherence.

Hood portrays dark messages, stories, and songs like "Phil's Transplant", a haunting blues number. A psycho overtone threads a song called "Frances Farmer": "I never knew Frances Farmer/I just knew she was an actress that didn't quite fit in/but I feel her lying next to me/breathing in my arms/with translucent skin."

Hood's personal storytelling emerges in "Old Timer's Disease" where he tells the story of his grandfather. In 42, my Granddad was drafted by the army/They sent him off to fight over in Germany/Left my Grandma at home with a brand new baby boy/And my Mom was born the day they bombed Hiroshima/And not long after that my Granddad got to meet her."

The last number on the CD, "Cat Power", delivers more dark truth, a running Hood motif: "Everything is overrated/when you're trapped by what you've created/the drone goes on and on and on"

Hood recently told this writer before a solo show in Atlanta, Georgia, "It's almost cliché to say how the record was therapy, but that's what it was. While I made it, I wasn't making a record, I just had to do something, and that was the best way I could think of was to lock myself in a room for two days and do that. The last thing I wanted to do was put those songs out, release it, and have to deal with it. It was just too creepy for me. I just put it away in a box, but I did go out on a three-week tour on the East Coast to get out of town for a little bit. I needed something to sell. So, I had a guy burn me up one hundred of them so I sold those and did the same thing in Texas later and then I just put it away. I thought maybe someday I'll put these songs out and either recut the songs of finish it or do something because I really didn't think of it as finished. Three years passed, cause we were busy——we put out Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day, and toured and toured, but people kept asking about it had been bootlegged, with a few hundred copies floating around, so I said 'fuck it', I'll put it out. When I first got approached about it I wondered if it was gonna make me cringe if I listen to it because I hadn't heard it in a couple of years. It was okay it was totally different than I remember it. Things that originally bothered me about it at the time now just gave it character. There are still a few things I would've fixed, but then if you fix one thing, next thing you know, you've redone the album. I decided to leave it the fuck alone. I got it mastered, but I kept the old mixes and just left it alone."

Patterson Hood contends as one of the strongest songwriters in his generation of rock and rollers. Hell, any drugstore truck driving man will appreciate killers and stars - James Calemine

The Hard Way represents Tinsley Ellis' ninth solo album where for the first time he serves as the producer on his own record. These 12 songs offer an essential chapter in Ellis' road-tested, two-decade career.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1957, Ellis began playing guitar at age seven. In his formative years, he grew up influenced by the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, Freddy King, Otis Rush, and B.B. King. The Georgia guitarist started out with the Atlanta band, the Alley Cats, and in 1981 he formed the Heartfixers, a formidable blues group. Ellis cut two albums with the Heartfixers before recording his solo debut in 1988.

Ellis has played in all 50 states as well as 18 foreign countries. He often shares the stage and recording sessions with artists like Chuck Leavell, Robert Cray, Derek Trucks, Koko Taylor, The Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, and Col. Bruce Hampton.

The Hard Way is Ellis' second release on the Telarc Label. Recorded in Atlanta during October-December of 2003, Ellis wrote or co-wrote each of these compositions. Liner notes reveal this album remains dedicated to the memory of Tom Dowd and Ricky Keller.

The band includes: Little Feat's original drummer Ritchie Hayward, Oliver Wood (King Johnson)/guitar, "The Evil One"/bass, Marcus James (King Johnson)/saxaphone-tamborine, Count M'butu/percussion, Sean Costello/harmonica, Kevin McKendree/keyboards, and Donna Hopkins, Lola Gulley, and Vicki Salz all maintain back up vocal duties.

This 53-minute collection sounds a bit more laid back than previous Ellis releases. The first couple of songs on this album creep up on you like the potent pill you're waiting to kick in and when it finally does, you're knocked out loaded. With this release, it doesn't take long for the music to take effect. The Hard Way displays a variety of styles that maintains an overall coherent sound.

"I've been on the road so long, I'm gone", sings Ellis on the opening track "Still In the Game", a tale of survival, where the songwriter learned his craft from the school of the road. "Let Him Down Easy" stands as a mellow tune with a distant jazzy Jeff Beck influence. "Me Without You" resonates as a horn-laced R & B shuffle displaying mighty fine guitar licks from Oliver Wood and Ellis.

"I'll Get Over You" contains a funky organ with more R & B Motown sensibilities. "And It Hurts", a fantastic acoustic song with a Ray Charles vocal feel, alone pays for the price of the CD——with the lyric: "If you want to lose everything you have, just hit the highway in a rock and roll band…"

"La La Land" emits a 70s wah-wah effect with a slow underwater vibe that keeps the listener leaning towards the speakers. "My Love's the Medicine" contends as a great song verifying Ellis' keen songwriting ability. "Medicine" seems like some lost track from an old Stax compilation, or some obscure Muscle Shoals recording.

"Fountain of Youth" resembles a classic Jimmy Reed rhythm with nice harmonica playing by Sean Costello. A frenetic instrumental titled "Love Bomb" sounds reminiscent of James Brown in his glory days with the JBs. A tip of the hat goes out to "The Evil One" who plays mean bass licks on this tune.

Another infectious acoustic number, "Her Other Man", transcends any musical boundaries. The desperate lyrics, "Gonna buy me a pistol/or an engagement ring", accompany a gritty acoustic riff constructing a great country blues song that would've made Eddie Hinton proud. A very strong tune.

"12 Pack Poet" creates a heavy rock and roll sound with loud electric guitars emitting hazy chords through a thick musical tapestry. A slow burning rocker, "The Last Song", fades into silence with a nice two-minute Ellis guitar outro completing this diverse collection of songs.

Each year, Ellis plays over 200 shows. This collection reflects the work of a seasoned professional who has managed to create another batch of songs bound to transfer well during live performances. Recently Ellis said, "I've never stopped learning new things about playing the blues. The music is deceptively simple, but just when I think I've heard it all, yet another style comes to my attention, and I am challenged all over again."

On this collection Ellis rises beyond the call of any challenge which ranks as some of his most burnishing work. The Hard Way comes highly recommended as bona-fide soulful blues - James Calemine

Tony Joe White's work inspired many great musicians like Ray Charles, Brook Benton, Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, Joe Cocker, John Mayall, Waylon Jennings, and many others to cover his songs.

Just tunes like "Polk Salad Annie", "Rainy Night in Georgia", "The Change", and "Willie Mae and Laura Jones" rank White as a prolific songwriter. In recent years, he's even written jingles for McDonalds, Levi's, and various movie soundtracks.

The Heroines emerges as White's first record in six years, and his initial on Sanctuary Records. This ten song CD stands as White's best in years. Recorded in Franklin, Tennessee, at Church Street Studio, The Heroines showcases White's inimitable baritone voice and swampy guitar work.

The musical guests on this album include White's favorite female singers——Shelby Lynne, Lucinda Williams, Michelle White, Emmylou Harris, and Jessi Colter. Three compositions White wrote with his wife Leann. In a recent interview White revealed, "Every instrumental track is a first take. Most of my vocals were first takes. And the first take from every girl was the one we used on the album."

The opening track, an instrumental, titled "Gabriella" sounds like a virtuoso guitarist playing from some unknown open window while you walk down a dusty Mexican street. He exercises his "ladies first" gentility by allowing each female's voice to appear first on every song. Shelby Lynne's sultry voice seduces the listener from the start on "Can't Go Back Home". This midnight hour song contends as one of the album's strongest tunes.

After all these years, White's deep voice resembles that of Townes Van Zandt's. Along with a Mark Knopler-sounding riff, White's signature seductive lyrical flair appears in "Ice Cream Man":

"Sometimes she's a little girl
Licking on an ice cream cone
But she can be a man handler
You know the woman is strong
She can play all day
And ride the gator all night long."

White's laid back sonic textures produce a musical magic. Lucinda Williams injects her own mojo with White on "Closing In On The Fire", consummating their Louisiana heritage on this lowdown backwater song.

White employs various musical styles of blues, jazz, and country, augmented by his own low country sound to define the album's heavy-lidded mood. On a Jimmy Reed-ish "Back Porch Therapy" White's bourbon soaked voice prohibits one's pulse from rising over 72. A poetic, Flamenco flavored "Playa Del Carmen Lights" features White's talented daughter Michelle in her own vocal spotlight.

Recently, White explained his vision for The Heroines: "I know these particular women not only through their music. I know em' from hanging out with them, doing shows with them, writing songs. Jessi, we've known each other since 75——her and Waylon and my wife. Michelle, my daughter, is a heroine to me, with her writing and her work. And Lucinda and Emmylou? God."

Emmylou Harris sings on "Wild Wolf Calling Me". With her sweet voice, the song resembles a traditional country recording. By this point, the listener realizes they're hearing a classic album. What other songwriter features five amazing female superstars in one cohesive 49-minute recording?

The horn-laced "Rich Woman Blues" reverts back to White's early 70s recordings complete with Lightning Hopkins guitar licks, low-bottom bass, and a front porch harmonica. In "Robbing My Honeycomb" he conjures a mean rhythm and blues feel, reiterating White's juke joint power, and subtle guitar mastery.

The late Waylon Jennings' wife, Jessi Colter, sings with White on "Fireflies In the Storm" which completes all guest female appearances. "Chaos Boogie" reflects on the modern day world seen through the eyes of an old country boy from the bayou. The Heroines avoids any apolitical blues. Yet, White reflects on a modern dilemma when he sings,

"Ain't no highway that ain't getting worked on
Automobiles ain't got no room
Ain't no building that ain't getting worked on
Build them so high, they cover up the moon.

Ain't no handgun that you can't get a hold of
So many weapons, any kind you need
People walking around like the old west days
Get a cap busted in you for just being on the wrong side of the street."

The final song, another acoustic instrumental that bookends the CD, "Gabriella's Affair" completes the album's spontaneous spirit.

For a shot of authentic swamp music, go out and add The Heroines to your collection. - James Calemine

I’ll Be Young Once Too serves as a mighty fine musical lubricant…

Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck recorded and mixed this new release, his fifth, in three days during August 2004 at Cabbagetown Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. An inveterate road hog, these songs will transfer well in Mudcat’s live repertoire.

Mudcat serves on the board of directors for Music Maker Relief Foundation. Music Maker is a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting poor southern musicians with food, shelter, medical assistance, instrument acquisition, and tour support. This release represents another classic volume in the indelible Music Maker catalogue.

Band members on this CD include: Lil’ Joe Burton (trombone), Eskil Wetterqvist (drums, vocals), Snave Bass (flute/vocals), and former lead singer Lori Beth Edgeman provides vocals on one song. This CD ranks as Mudcat’s finest work. Seven of these fourteen songs are original compositions; the other half include cover songs of Blind Willie McTell, Son House, Neal Pattman, Brownie McGee, John Brim, and Joe Calicutt.

The title track reveals evidence of Mudcat’s ability to employ various jazz, country, and blues styles into one sonic gumbo. “Liquor and Sin” sounds like a timeless road song blaring out of some dive near Bourbon Street. Mudcat sings, “Liquor and sin/I don’t ever want to be sober again.”

“The Wind” sways between jazz and blues, featuring Mudcat’s lazy Hawaiian six-string twang. An original instrumental, “Furry”, pays tribute to Memphis blues great Furry Lewis with a mercurial riff that fuses into Lewis’ classic tune, “Goin’ to Brownsville”.

On “Whiskey” Mudcat howls: “Whiskey set me free/my wife’s crying/my friends run from me”. A glorious version of Blind Willie McTell’s “Georgia Rag” conjures images of barbecue ribs, sun-dressed women, oysters, shot glasses, beer suds, and mysterious blue smoke at some soul soaked Friday night fish fry.

This CD contains 47 minutes of bottled lightning…

-James Calemine

This definitive collection features Johnny Cash's recordings for the Sun Records label from 1955-1958. These stark classics serve as a strong foundation to Cash's undeniable legacy.

Born in Kingsland, Arkansas, John R. Cash joined the air force and spent his early years working odd jobs and honing his musical craft. On the wave of Elvis Presley's popularity, the 23-year old Cash walked into Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, and recorded the first batch of these indelible 40 compositions.

Cash rotated many of these songs in his live repertory throughout his prodigious career. Disc one contains "Cry Cry Cry", "Hey! Porter", "Get Rhythm", "I Walk the Line", "Give Me A Rose" (re-recorded for his last album, The Man Comes Around), "Big River", "Luther Played the Boogie", "Mean Eyed Cat", and "Folsom Prison Blues".

Neither time nor space allots for the long list of talented musicians that covered some of these songs. Bob Dylan speaks well of Cash's days at Sun Records in his new book Chronicles, "I always thought Sam Phillips created the most crucial, uplifting, and powerful records ever made. 'I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.' Indeed. I most have recited those lines to myself a million times."

Timeless classics on disc two includes "Always Alone", "Blue Train", "Fool's Hall of Fame", "Leave That Junk Alone", and "New Mexico". Sam Phillips refused to pay Cash more royalties or allow him to record gospel songs, consequently behooving Cash to depart Sun for Columbia Records.

Lonesome In Black - The Legendary Sun Recordings provides a clear view of Johnny Cash's musical vision. - James Calemine

Born August 18, 1915 in Abbeville, Georgia, Reverend Pearly Brown lived his life preaching and singing about the word of God to common folk in the streets. Rev. Brown spoke of his childhood: “I was born blind so I have never seen the world. My mother died when I was quite small and my father had left her. White people raised me, sent me to a school for the blind in Macon. My grandmother taught me slavery songs and spirituals. When I was small I always said when I got to be a big boy, I was gonna get off my people and work for myself. So I learnt how to pick a guitar listening to the radio and records. I been preachin’ ever since I was fifteen years old. I play mostly in Georgia, Macon, Waycross, Albany, Americus. Two or three times in Florida and Alabama...”

Rev. Brown stands as the first black musician to perform on the Grand Old Opry. The Reverend often played folk and blues shows, like the Monterrey Jazz, Southern Folk, and the Newport Folk Festivals. His career gathered attention in the sixties during the civil rights movement. He hosted radio programs in Macon on WIBB for fifteen minutes every Thursday and in Americus on WDEC for a Sunday morning show.

It was on the streets of Macon, Georgia, where two young guitar players named Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, from a local band called the Allman Brothers, according to Betts would: “get a sackful of quarters and follow him all over just to hear that bottleneck style.”

The Macon band, Wet Willie used a photograph of Rev. Brown for the cover of their Keep On Smilin’ album in the seventies. Brown always maintained performances in his home state. He often played in Atlanta and Athens where the University of Georgia students became so fond of the Reverend that they once generated enough money to purchase him some new teeth.

In 1975, Dr. John English of the University of Georgia recorded a 30 minute documentary on Rev. Brown titled “Mean Old World.” In 1981, the Reverend entered a nursing home in Plains, Georgia, where he died in 1986.

This year, Arhoolie Records released a twenty song Rev. Pearly Brown collection titled, You’re Gonna Need That Pure Religion. The first fifteen songs were recorded by Harry Oster in 1961 at the WIBB Macon studios for an album originally titled Georgia Street Singer.

The last five previously unissued songs originated from a radio broadcast hosted by Chris Strachwitz on KPFA in Berkeley, California, on September 24, 1974. At one point Rev. Brown informs radio listeners: “...my grandparents called the guitar, the ‘Devil’s Box’, see and I’m sure the Devil was in the box alright, because I loved myself some music.” This new package contains Oster’s original 1961 liner notes along with new notes provided by Strachwitz.

These songs serve as testimony to Rev. Brown’s gospel message. The opening song, “God Don’t Never Change” reminds people no one escapes death, and everyone must reckon with the Creator, sooner or later. Rev. Brown sings “Oh What A Morning”, an old African spiritual he learned from his grandmother, a Virginia slave. Rev. Brown remarks on the album: “We need more old time songs. They make us live better to have these old songs come back to our memory.”

The title track on this CD forces any humble soul to examine depths and zeniths of their own faith. Rev. Brown covers “Motherless Children” a song Blind Willie McTell (who attended the Georgia Academy for the Blind with Rev. Brown) often played and recorded. Rev. Brown’s guitar sound resembles a style between Blind Willie Johnson and the bottleneck tone of Fred McDowell. Brown covers a rendition of McDowell’s “You Got To Move” and the traditional, “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning.”

“If I Never See You Anymore”, a redemptive song evoking a sad mantra, serves as the most sorrowful tune on the album. Brown’s signature song, “It’s A Mean Old World To Try and Live In”, contains an unshakable wisdom and remains his best known composition. A few desolate lyrics from the song include:

You moan night and day Your friends will drive you away Don’t take everybody to be your friend They’ll learn your secrets and turn their back on you It’s a mean old world to try and live in Old death ain’t no friend to you He’s calling everybody everyday won’t let nobody stay It’s a mean old world to try and live in

Another classic, “The Great Speckled Bird”, a beautiful, timeless song with biblical references breathes a spirit of hope.

This spiritual collection of songs transcends time by revealing age-old realities of spirit and flesh with unwavering faith. Hearing Rev. Pearly Brown’s You’re Gonna Need That Pure Religion inspires one to remain a little more vigilant in this mean old world...James Calemine

Molly Hatchet
(Epic) 1978

Hatchet’s first album remains their finest to this day, kicking off in fifth gear with “Bounty Hunter” and never missing a beat as they lunge into “Gator Country,” a song that basically puts all other Southern Rock bands into a box and crowns Hatchet king of the genre. At least according to them.

“The Creeper” is pure Hatchet magic, with Danny Joe Brown singing his whiskey soaked ass off, and what can you say about “Dreams I’ll Never See.” The guys took Gregg Allman’s slow blues and turned it into a balls to the wall Southern Rock classic. Dave Hlubek, Duane Roland and Steve Holland whip off the three-guitar attack with unabashed redneck passion.

There’s a reason Molly Hatchet’s music is so often described as “ass kickin.” It’s this album.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Flirtin with Disaster
Molly Hatchet
(Epic) 1979

There’s no arguing the fact that Flirtin’ with Disaster is one of Southern Rock’s most classic Lps.  It’s Southern Rock the way it was meant to be heard and played. The band's music here does sound quite similar to that of fellow Florida road dogs Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band that contained the man who was originally supposed to produce Hatchet, Ronnie Van Zant.

Still, Molly Hatchet's music has its own unique style. There's more diversity on here than there is on the first album. The title track is Hatchet’s biggest hit ever, and a perinial favorite of bikers and good ol’ boys alike. “Whiskey Man” remains a staple of the Hatchet live show to this day as well, a true classic. Their rendition of The Rolling Stone's 60's hit "It's All Over Now" is Florida Southern boogie at it’s finest.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Solomon Burke
Nashville
(Shout!Factory)

Rhythm and blues legend Solomon Burke turns in a simply wonderful country - slash- Americana album backed by the cream of Nashville’s musical elite. Folks like Buddy Miller, Byron House, Kenny Vaughan, Sam Bush, Kevin Welch, Shawn Amos, Patty Loveless and E-Street Band member Garry Tallent all add flavor and color to the proceedings.

Songs include Burke’s cover of Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got To Memphis,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Ain’t Got You” and a duet with Dolly Parton on her “Tomorrow Is Forever.”

There are songs penned by Jim Lauderdale, Gillian Welch, Don Williams, and a simply irresistible take on The George Jones/Peanut Montgomery hit “We’re Gonna Hold On,” featuring Emmylou Harris in duet with King Solomon.

Guest vocalists abound. Besides Dolly and Emmy, Burke sings with Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and Patty Loveless, and Burke’s tender vocal on the Henley/Lane classic “Till I Get It Right” is the perfect pedal steel and strings enhanced set closer, topping off one of the year’s finest releases.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Jerry Lee Lewis
Last Man Standing
(Artist First)

The Killer outlasted them all, ladies and gentlemen. Sun Records alumni Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins have all taken that final Cadillac ride to rockabilly heaven, making Jerry Lee, truly, the Last Man Standing. To celebrate 50-plus years of rocking, Lewis has turned out the ultimate rock duets album, and the results are absolutely great.

From The Killer’s take on Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” with Jimmy Page on guitar, to the rave up “I Saw Her Standing There” with fellow icon Little Richard, this one smokes. Sure, there are a couple of hiccups here, most notably Rod Stewart’s butchering of “What Made Milwaukee Famous” and “Honky Tonk Women” with Kid Rock, but those can almost be overlooked in the wake of duets like “Lost Highway” with Delaney Bramlett, “Pink Cadillac” with Bruce Springsteen, and “Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age” with ol’ Possum, George Jones.

Lewis gets down and tears the piano up with other guests that include Mick Jagger, Ron Woods, Keith Richards, Ringo Starr. B.B. King, Neil Young, Merle Haggard, John Fogerty, Robbie Robertson, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Toby Keith, Don Henley, Kris Kristofferson, and Buddy Guy. Wow. Come on over baby, there’s still a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on. Goodness,gracious great balls of fire!

-Michael Buffalo Smith

John Lee Hooker
Hooker (Boxed Set)
(Shout! Factory)

In a beautiful 4-CD set that both begins and ends with his most well known hit “Boogie Chillin,” blues legend John Lee Hooker is given all due respect with a 85-track package that serves as a true tribute to this great player, who at one time was ready to forsake his music for a career in baseball.

An included 60-page book tells Hooker’s life story, along with some pretty cool photographs and of course, all the skinny on the multitude of tracks that represent Hooker’s body of work between 1948 and 1999. When John Lee died of natural causes on June 21, 2001 at the age of 83, he left behind a catalog of music that will bring joy to blues lovers for decades to come. The very best of that work is collected here, in this boxed set.

From his acoustic solo work like “Sally Mae,” “Hobo Blues” and “Catfish Blues,” to his work with folks like Eddie Kirkland, Louisiana Red, Vernon “Bogie Woogie Red” Harrison, Otis Finch and Bob Thurman during the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, the music takes hold of your spirit, your heart, and your dancing shoes. And what a prolific songwriter, the build of these songs were penned by Hooker himself. Songs like “Dimples,” “Tupelo Blues,” “Boom Boom,” “Big Legs Tight Skirt,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and “I Got My Eyes On You,” all classics, are all John Lee Hooker compositions.

Disc four features some of the amazing collaborations Hooker recorded during the 80’s and 90’s, with folks like Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, Carlos Santana, Ry Cooder, John Hammond, Van Morrison, Jimmie Vaughan and Eric Clapton. “Kiddio,” featuring Hooker with Charles Brown, is classic, and his duet with Los Lobos on “Dimples’ is great fun.

There are a lot of choices out there as far as boxed sets, but none better than this one. The very best of a true American original, a blues giant, a man with an infectious smile and a totally original style, the one and only John Lee Hooker.

- Michael Buffalo Smith

Johnny Cash
American V: A Hundred Highways
(American/Lost Highway)

Let me just start by saying that this is a beautiful album. I just can’t stop listening to it. I am, like many others, a huge Johnny Cash fan. Have been my whole life. So this CD, recorded just weeks before Cash’s death, is a perfect bookend to a life well lived - a life of love and music - the life of a country music legend.

Rick Rubin once again brought out the best in the icon- a frail, sick Cash, who even in declining health, delivered these songs with a passion and heart that the rest of us can only dream of.

Beginning with a beautiful take on Larry Gatlin’s “Help Me,” Johnny delivers gospel and country with equal grace. The traditional gospel of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” stands well alongside Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind,” and a simply outstanding take on Neil Young’s hit “Four Strong Winds.” Johnny’s own “Like the 309” and “ I Came To Believe” are both excellent and his covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “Further On Up The Road” and Don Gibson’s “A Legend In My Time” are stellar.

There’s a certain magic around all of Cash’s “American” recordings, and American V stands as a fitting finale, perhaps one of Johnny’s very best records ever.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Friends Of Old Time Music
The Folk Arrival 1961-1965
(Smithsonian Folkways)

Between 1961 and 1965, New York’s Friends of Old Time Music presented 14 concerts that introduced dozens of traditional musicians to city folk for the very first time.

Hailed as the “Folk Arrival,” these concerts forever changed the musical landscape of the 1960’s.

This boxed set features three CD’s filled with music hand picked by Peter K. Siegel, the man who recorded most of the concerts to begin with. He put together 55 tracks from the master tapes, 53 of which have never before been released, and a 60-page illustrated book, which he himself annotated.

Many of the artists included were performing live here for the first time. Doc and Arnold Watson perform “I’m troubled,” and there are excellent and historic live performances from Mississippi Fred McDowell, Roscoe Holcomb, Mother Maybelle Carter, and The Stanley Brothers. The father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys turn it up on “Live and Let Live,” and John Davis and The Georgia Sea Island Singers are brilliant on “Riley.” And those are just a few of the performances on disc one. Amazing.

Arthur Smith, the New Lost City Ramblers, Jesse Fuller, Mississippi John Hurt and Annie Bird are all of the bill, and Gaither Carlton joins Doc Watson for “Double File” and “Brown’s Dream.”

These legendary artists joined together for the first time and changed music history. Now you can hear it all, just as it was laid down. What a treat.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Gov’t Mule
High and Mighty
(ATO)

What can be written about Asheville, NC native Warren Haynes that hasn’t been written before? Not much. Besides being the new “hardest working man in show business,” Haynes has managed to breathe new life into The Allman Brothers Band, building on their classic original sound with new Southern soul. He stepped into both Phil and Friends and The Grateful Dead to help recall the glory days of Jerry Garcia. It seems everything Warren touches turns to gold, and that includes his own personal band, Gov’t Mule.

After a few rough years that followed the death of bassist and friend Allen Woody, Warren is fully back on track with a tight, powerhouse band, and one of the best Gov’t Mule albums ever.

High and Mighty rocks like a throwback to Humble Pie Live at The Fillmore, or Mountain’s Nantucket Sleighride. Haynes’ soul drenched and raspy vocals partner with his obvious lead guitar prowess to lead the four-piece Mule to all new pastures, never before grazed.

From the opening track, “Mr. High and Mighty,” The Mule kick through 72 minutes of high octane, no holds barred rock and roll, which journeys into even more testosterone driven mayhem like “Streamline Woman” and “Like Flies,” and then settles into the heavenly beauty of the ballad “Child of The Earth.” “Brighter Days” may remind you of the best of Jeff Beck, but don’t be too surprised to hear the Mule go reggae with “Unring the Bell,” and put on their best Booker T. and The MG’s vibe for the instrumental, “3-String George.”

High and Mighty may not be the Mule’s best album yet, but if it isn’t, it’s pretty darn close. Strong hooks, flowing melody lines, hard hitting classic rock style guitar, and Warren’s trademark cerebral lyrics all help to push this one to the surface and beyond, somewhere into the land of dreams and vision quests.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Chris Berardo & The Desberardos
Ignoring All The Warning Signs
(Lamon Records)

Chris Berardo embodies everything I love about poplar music - a pleasing voice, beautiful melodies and hooks, well crafted lyrics. Shades of The Eagles and Poco combine with a Southern rock sensibility, creating a fresh sound unlike the usual cookie cutter country-rock of today.

The rocking “Everybody Swings Around Here” is an immediate pick for my favorite track, but truth be told, I love the whole album, from the melodic “The One," to the top 40 country “hit waiting to happen,” “So Good So Far,” it’s all good.

Chris Berardo is a very good songwriter with an obvious gift for crafting melody lines and home-spun lyrics and his vocal reminds me of times of a more controlled Drive By Truckers sound - familiar, but less garage band/Stones thrash.

“Never The Same” is another memorable track, as is the infectious ”I Will Love Again,” and the bluesy “BarStool, “ complete with a very cool acapella opening verse from Berardo.

Pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and harp co-exist with acoustic and electric guitar ina beautiful tapestry of sound. Nowhere is it more evident than in the album’s final track, “September Prayer,” a beautiful new point of view on the 9/11 tragedy.

Berardo and his band have crafted a fine album that should garner lots of attention. We can only hope. It’s better than 90 percent of the music on today’s country radio.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Kingdom of  XII
Molly Hatchet
(Sanctuary) 2000

Kingdom of  XII is a true Molly Hatchet classic, beginning with the Vietnam veteran tribute "Heart Of The USA", and including the outlaw anthem "One Last Ride," the Harley-Davidson driving "Kickstart To Freedom," and many more. Personally, I found the whole record to be a winner, with Phil McCormack’s vocals sounding just enough like Danny Joe Brown to keep that Hatchet sound, but just enough like Phil to separate the two singers.

“Cornbread Mafia” is an awesome Hatchet tune, and the Volunteer Jam song “Gypsy Trail” rocks well with guest Charlie Daniels on fiddle.

“Angel in Dixie” is a great acoustic-based tune, and the Hatchet boys open up a can of you know what on their version of The Stones’ “Tumbling Dice.”

There is also a retelling of “Edge of Sundown,” a song band leader Bobby Ingram first played on the Danny Joe Brown solo album. The so called "new" Molly Hatchet continues to prove themselves worthy to carry on the name. More than worthy, actually.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Bobby Bare Jr
Longest Meow
(Bloodshot)

Bare, Jr. is back with an awesome record that vacilates between a seventies glam rock vibe, psychedelic Pink Floyd flavor and down and dirty 4-wheelin’ Southern Rock. Co-written with members of My Morning Jacket, and featuring members of ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead, Clem Snide and Lambchop, The Longest Meow finds Bare writing about affairs of the heart and other mind games. Good stuff.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Sugar Hill Records
A Retrospective
(Sugar Hill)

Sugar Hill has assembled a 25 -year retrospective boxed set that is absolutely amazing. Four discs, 81 tracks and a DVD featuring artist interviews, videos and more. Not a back track, from New Grass Revival to Doc Watson, Dolly Parton, Marty Stuart, Jerry Douglas, Nickel Creek, Tony Rice, Guy Clark and many, many more. A massive, definitive bluegrass and picking compilation.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Tom Petty
Highway Companion
(American)

Tom Petty is back kids. One of the most enduring, talented artists to ever mine the field called classic rock, Petty never seems to fail. Highway Companion is loaded with excellent melodies and even better lyrics, including “Saving Grace” and a personal favorite, “Turn This Car Around.” Sure to be a hit with the papers and bongs crowd.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Love Tractor
Green Winter
(Fundamental)

I have always liked Love Tractor, and with Green Winter, the band once again turns in an excellent album. The set opener, “Saturn Rings” is my favorite, with it’s Talking Heads meets Rick James rhythm and infectious groove. But the whole record is good, especially the R.E.M. flavored “Three and Nine” and the bouncy “Pain and Suffering.”  A timeless rock and roll band.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Edwin McCain
Lost In America
(Vanguard)

Here in Greenville, SC everyone seems to know Edwin McCain. It reminds me of growing up in Spartanburg (just 30 miles away) during the 1970’s when everyone “knew” The Marshall Tucker Band guys. Not unlike the Tucker Boys, Edwin has, in fact become a local hero. Recently he performed a set at Horizon Records just a mile or two down the road, and stayed after the show until every last grip and grin photo was snapped and every autograph scribbled. All of that would be nothing if the music wasn’t there, and it always has been there with Edwin. Lost in America, is his best ever. From lyrical intelligence like “Gramercy Park Hotel,” to “Bitter and Twisted.” But the real surprise is the hard-rocking closer, “Babylon,” a killer rock song. Been hanging out with Warren and Gov’t Mule again Edwin? A great closer on an awesome ten-track opus.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Kentucky Headhunters
Flying Under The Radar
(CBuJ Entertainment)

I don’t care what you say, The Kentucky Headhunters are a Southern Rock band.

You can feel it in the music. Not only that, but having interviewed both Richard Young and Greg Martin, I know they came from the same scene that spawned groups like the Marshall Tucker Band and Lynryd Skynyrd. Flying Under the Radar collects tracks from the band’s last three albums, spiced up with a few new songs to keep it interesting. Great covers of “Big Boss Man” and “The Midnight Special” stand well alongside the old Dickey Lee hit “Ashes of Love” and Roger Miller’s whacky “Chug A Lug.”

To sum it up, fifteen tracks, some reissues, all good - make that all “great.” Great Southern rock soul rhythm and blues country blues rock. Yeah, That’s the ticket.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Rebel Pride
It Is What It Is
(RP 032005)

Every once in awhile, a band comes along that puts the “rock” back in Southern rock. Florida’s Rebel Pride is one of those. From the very opening riffs of “Stomp Your Foots” to the closing refrain of “Survive,” Rebel Pride kicks ass and burns their image into your brain forever. Sounding a lot like the original Molly Hatchet, with a singer that is part Danny Joe Brown and part Phil McCormack, these guys are the real deal. “Stomp Your Foots” is so good, it was chosen as the lead off track on the Gritz compilation Home Grown and Hand-picked. Red hot, rocking, sonic bombast.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

 

Liquid Groove Mojo
Cradle To The Grave
(Miracle Records)

Man, oh man, these guys are good. Say you long for the tasty slide of Duane Allman? Well don’t we all? Joe Pitts seems to really channel Skydog at times on slide, lead and resonophonic guitar, and his vocals are very easy on the ear as well. Darrell Davis on guitar, Al Hagood on bass and Bryan Blankenship on percussion round out Liquid Groove Mojo. The music here is all good. Not a slacker o the disc, with outstanding cuts including the title track, as well as “Aces High/ Deuces Low” and a great Warren Haynes penned t rack, “If Heartaches Were Nickels.” If you love the Allmans/Haynes/ Mule vibe, as I do, Liquid Groove Mojo is for you.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Amy Levere
This World Is Not My Home
(Archer)

My first spin of Amy LaVere’s new CD evoked memories of my first exposure to Norah Jones or Jewel. They all have one thing in common, real star quality. Amy is assisted by some real heavy hitters, including the great Jim Dickinson and guitar great Jimbo Mathus. Amy’s truly sweet voice works the room on everything from jazzy pop (“Day Like Any”) to country straight up country “Leaving.” She’s a little bit Maria McKee, a little bit Jewel, yet absolutely original. Sweet.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Heaven Davis
Steamy
(Wildchild Davis Records)

I have to thank Tommy Crain for turning me onto the sweet soulful blues diva Heaven Davis. Man oh man, can this lady sing. This CD features outstanding songs, played with absolute skills. Heaven pulls out some very interesting song choices, including a couple of tunes written by Donnie McCormick (Eric Quincy Tate) and one smoker called “Steamy” written by Georgia’s E.G. Kight and Sunny Stevens that has some awesome resonator slide. Another standout track is the super soulful tune “Regrets.”

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Hayseed Dixie
A Hot Piece of Grass
(CKV)

I have been a fan of Hayseed Dixie for years now. Their tongue in cheek approach to rock-n-roll played bluegrass style has provided at least two great records, one a tribute to AC/DC and one a tribute to KISS. On their latest, Hayseed rocks Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” with banjos and fiddle, as well as Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie,” and Van Halen’s “Runnin' With The Devil,” alongside cookin’ originals like “Kirby Hill,” “Marijuana,” and there’s a great cover of “Dueling Banjos,” written by Arthur Smith, an old friend of Don Reno, the banjo great whose two sons are one half of the band Hayseed Dixie.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Fiddleworms
Year Of The Cock
(Heart of Gold)

Alabama’s own Fiddleworms are the next big name in jam bands. Yep, you read it here first, well, I assume you read it here first, anyway. The guys have a unique sound with catchy hooks and excellent melodies and a tongue in cheek sense of humor. From the opener “Backseat” to the fun “Pullin’ Teeth,” “Parasite,” “Bug Jazz” and “Piss On The Working Class,” Fiddleworms keep it real. Just for the record, these boys are not an overnight sensation.

Back in 1996 they were well on their way to the top when bandleader Chris Quillen died in a tragic auto accident. After a much necessary time of healing, the band is back, fresh and fit as a fiddle...er... Fiddleworm. Atlantic Records icon Jerry Wexler saw something special in Fiddleworms back in 1996, and they still have it, combined with an obvious love for fallen brother Chris. As Peter Gabriel would say, this is the good stuff.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Mile Markers
(Texas Cali Records)

To answer the obvious first question,yes, prior to his passing, the man in black himself gave these guys permission to use his name within their own. How cool is that?

I’m sure it had something to do with the fact that these Bastards play honest to the deity, real country music that reminds the listener of the glory days of Haggard, Waylon and their namesake himself. Mile Markers is a spiritual journey: A western journey, set in contemporary times. A road trip down the two-lane blacktop. Pulling over at the truckstop or another roadside attraction. Songs like “The Road to Bakersfield,” “ California Sky,” and “Radio Girl” highlight an awesome album, full of country-rock (or alt-country, or whatever the hell label you want to plaster across it) goodness.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Various Artists
Classic Southern Gospel
(Smithsonian Folkways)

Sixty minutes of gospel hymns delivered by classic bluegrass artists like Bill Monroe, Red Allen, The Watson Family, The Country Gentlemen, and The Indian Bottom Association of Old Regular Baptists, along with a 28- page extensive liner note booklet, make this a “must own” for any fan of bluegrass, gospel and American roots music. Great songs include “Working on a Building,” “What Are They Doing in Heaven Today,” “Amazing Grace” and ”Gabriel’s Call.” A great 22-song set.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Jerry Douglas
The Best Kept Secret
(Koch)

Hands down, Jerry Douglas is the best Dobro picker ever, but besides that, he is a major innovator. The Bluegrass icon has turned out another of his “virtually bluegrass - free” CD’s, and it is great. He kicks it up on “Who’s Your Uncle,” joined by pals - Bela Fleck and Sam Bush, and guest vocalist John Fogerty does an admirable job on Bob Wills’ “Swing Blues No.1.” All of this and Derek Trucks too! Awesome.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Marty Robbins
The Essential
(Columbia/Legacy)

During his 30 year recording career, Marty Robbins was not only considered one of country music’s finest singers, but also one of Columbia’s best selling pop artists. “ A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)” was one of the defining pop hits of the 1950’s. The Essential Marty Robbins collects 40 of Robbins’ biggest hits, from his famous Western songs like “El Paso City” to “ Faleena” and “Ballad of The Alamo,” to pop chart toppers like “May Woman, My Woman, My Wife,” “Devil Woman,” and “You Gave Me A Mountain.” Essential is the perfect description for this 2-CD set. The absolute best tracks from a truly legendary artist.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Jamie Oldaker’s
Mad Dogs & Okies
(Concord)

Rock n’ roll drummer Jamie Oldaker, best known for his work with Eric Clapton, has assembled a magnificent all-star cast for “Mad Dogs & Okies,” with Clapton himself turning in “Positively," and joining Vince Gill on guitar on “Wait Til Your Daddy Gets Home.”

Excellent performances from Bonnie Bramlett, Tony Joe White, Taj Mahal, Peter Frampton, Ray Benson, Willie Nelson, JJ Cale and a host of others make Mad Dogs a true treasure.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Lady's Choice
Bonnie Bramlett

(Capricorn Records CP-0169) 1976
Produced by Johnny Sandlin
Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
Engineered by Sam Whiteside and Carolyn Harris

Talk about a lost classic. When I ran across this LP on eBay, I jumped on it with both feet. I remember having this great old Capricorn LP the year after I got out of high school. I think I bought it at the time because there was a duet between Bonnie and Gregg Allman, and Dickey Betts played guitar on it, which are two mighty fine reasons for my procurement of the vinyl. But now, 24 years later, and with quite a bit of musical maturity under my belt and having gained a vast appreciation for studio musicians and that whole "Muscle Shoals Thang," as John Wyker would say, I am just ecstatic over having been reunited with this great piece of vinyl history.

I think what really excited me about Capricorn back in the seventies was the comradory. Everybody playing on each others albums. Well, there is certainly enough of that "thang" goin' on here. From the many duets between Ms. Bonnie and Mickey Thomas on the r&b chestnut, "Hold On, I'm Coming;" to her duet with Dobie Gray on the Gamble & Huff classic "Never Gonna Give You Up;" and with Gregg Allman on James Brown's "Two Steps from the Blues;" with Jimmy Hall on Jimmy Reed's "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," which features Allman hero Dickey Betts on guitar and Chuck Leavell on piano; to teaming with both Jimmy Hall and Mickey Thomas on "You Really Got a Hold On Me;" and her romp with Bobby Whitlock through Hank Ballard's "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go."

Of course, the solos are just as amazing, with an awesome cover of J.B.'s "Think About It" and a smooth rendition of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," featuring Randall Bramlett on sax. Paul Hornsby adds his unmistakable Hammond organ to a beautiful, soul drenched cover of Dylan's "Forever Young," and Ricky Hirsch puts his guitar artistry to work on "Let's Go Get Stoned." And then there is the main "band," Berry Becket, David Hood, Johnny Sandlin, Rodger Hawkins, Tommy Talton and The Muscle Shoals Horns. Impressed? I sure was.

With Bonnie getting ready to do some more recording with our friends at Blue Hat, there is no better time to go back and remember the excellent body of work she gave us as a member of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, and as a superstar of a solo artist. Oh Bonnie, you send me. Honest you do.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Where We All Belong
The Marshall Tucker Band
(CD Shout! Factory)

(Review of Vinyl)

MTB singer Doug Gray says that this is his favorite MTB album, and I can see why. Released in 1974 on Capricorn Records as a two LP set, one studio album, one live, this is the perfect Marshall Tucker Band record.

Side one kicks off with what would go on to become one of Toy Caldwell's most recognizable guitar licks, the intro riff to "This Ol' Cowboy." Written and sung on record by Toy, the song would later be performed in concert by Gray. A Top 40 hit for the band, the song remains a Tuckerhead favorite. Next comes "Low Down Ways," another great Toy composition that leads into "In My Own Way," a classic country song featuring some of Toy's excellent pedal steel guitar. Paul Hornsby contributes some fine keyboard work on this track and several others, adding to his already impressive job as producer.

Side two begins with "How Can I Slow Down," and moves on into one of their 1970's concert staples, "Where a Country Boy Belongs." The studio version is enhanced by a guest appearance by Elvin Bishop, burning up some slide guitar. And speaking of guests, brother Charlie Daniels is all over this record, both in the studio and on the live sides, "sawing that fiddle and makin' it hot."

"Now She's Gone" is the only track on the studio record not written by Toy. Well, not entirely by Toy anyway. It was co-written by brother Tommy Caldwell. Singer Doug Gray outdoes himself on the closing track, "Try One More Time," a bluesy country tune that drips with soul.

Side three is the first of the live sides, recorded at The Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, Wisc. The set begins with the intense "Rambin,'" which rocks with the intensity of a California earthquake, and moves straight on into the thirteen-minute-plus live rendition of "24 Hours at a Time," featuring solos from everyone in the band, including Charlie Daniels. Tommy's bass solo will live forever, and most Tucker fans as well as most fans of good southern music can hum the notes of that solo is you asked them to.

"Everyday I Have the Blues," the classic B.B. King tune written by Peter Chapman, burns through the start of side four, with Toy displaying some of the hottest blues guitar licks ever etched into vinyl. The side concludes with a rocking version of "Take the Highway," the long time concert opener, and a perineal favorite.

With cover art by Jim Campbell, drawn from photos by George's brother Chuck McCorkle, Where We All Belong is nothing short of a classic rock and roll album. Excellent production and superior playing make this the definitive MTB album.
 

-Michael Buffalo Smith

The Marshall Tucker Band
Where A Country Boy Belongs
(Shout!Factory)

This compilation collects the cream of the crop of country flavored tracks from The Marshall Tucker Band, from the beginning in 1972 all the way up to 2006 including two brand new tracks.

Of course, “Heard It In A Love Song,” is included, the band’s biggest hit and a country-rock crossover. There are 32 tracks in all, including Toy Caldwell’s “Too Stubborn,” a country ditty once covered by Kitty Wells. There’s “When Love Begins To Fade,” “Blue Ridge Mountain Sky,” and Ronnie Godfrey’s excellent “Time Don’t Pass By Here.” Then there’s the “Stay In The Country,” a song that brought the band back into the spotlight in 1990.

Two very nice new tracks are also included, “Cold Day In July” and the Chris Hicks penned “Never Again,” a song being played currently on country radio.

It’s an excellent collection, and the producers obviously took great care in arranging the songs. They flow very nicely.
The Tucker boys have always played rock-n-roll, blues, gospel, and Southern rock - but underneath it all, there’s always been a firm foundation in country music.

.-Michael Buffalo Smith

Dickey Betts
Bougainvillea’s Call
The Very Best of 1973-1988
(Raven)

This excellent compilation includes all the best of Dickey Betts’ best work between the mid-seventy and late 1980’s. The lone Allman Brothers Band track, “Ramblin’ Man,” was the Lord’s biggest radio hit ever, from 1973, penned and sung by Betts.

There are four tracks from his debut solo album, “Highway Call”, and a great live track with Betts joined by the Charlie Daniels Band and friends during a Volunteer Jam. “Sweet Mama,” written by Billy Joe Shaver rocks. There is also and live Betts track, “No Hard Times” that originally appeared on the Capricorn Records release “Hotel, Motels and Road Shows.”

Four tracks each from each of his Dickey Betts and Great Southern releases join two tracks from The Dickey Betts Band (featuring Warren Haynes and Matt Abts, later of Gov’t Mule, and keyboard wiz Johnny Neel.

It’s a great collection that flows along with ease, showcasing the various sides of Betts, from country to blues, jazz and even gospel. A fine tribute to “The Ramblin’ Man.”

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Mark Chesnutt
Heard It in A Love Song
(CBUJ Ent)

It wasn’t just the title of this album that caught my eye, although anyone who reads my writings on a regular basis knows just how big a fan I am of The Marshall Tucker Band, so that title of one of their biggest hits ever did indeed lure me in. I was, however, also drawn in by the artist himself. Mark Chesnutt has always been one of the best of the contemporary country vocalists. I have had the pleasure of seeing him live on several occasions, a few times sharing the stage with our old friends Alabama, and he was always as good live as he is on record.

Heard it in a Love Song contains about half new tracks and half reissues, but the way in which the package is put together makes for a great collection that flows well and includes some really special moments, including his versions of Waylon Jennings’ “Dreamin’ My Dreams With You,” George Jones’ “A Day In the Life of A Fool” and the Toy Caldwell penned title track, country fried and fresh from the oven. And it’s note everyone who can tackle the music of the legend himself, Hank Williams, yet Chesnutt does a masterful job on William’s “Lost Highway.”

We need to embrace Mark Chesnutt in a big way as one of the keepers of the flame for real honest to God country music. During a time of cookie cutter country, tight jeans and cowboy hats, it’s more than heartwarming to know we still have a few true country singers out there.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Robert Cray Band
Live From Across The Pond
(Nozzle/Vanguard)

I remember the exact moment in time when I first heard Robert Cray. I was sharing a place in Union, SC with my buddy Gregg, who played guitar in a band with me. The radio was on one evening, and we were listening for new songs to cover in our bar gigs. We had just heard “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” by the Georgia Satellites for the first time, and on came this infectious blues tune called “Smokin’ Gun” by Robert Cray. Wow. I was hooked in immediately.

In the years to come, I would follow Cray’s career, his work with Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton, his excellent albums with songs like “Phone Booth,” an Albert King classic, which kicks off this new live set - all good, all the time. A subtle guitarist, sometimes reminiscent of Buddy Guy, Cray plays from the heart. No shredding or fretboard pyrotechnics. Even when he is truly working the Strat, as on “The Things You Do to Me,” it’s more about making the notes count, much like the man does that he was opening shows for during this recording, Mr. Slowhand, Eric Clapton. The songs were recorded during a week of shows at Royal Albert Hall, with standout jamming on “Our Last Time” and “I Guess I Showed Her.”

His Memphis-Stax-soulful voice wraps around these songs and makes them each as snug as a bug in a rug. “Back Door Slam, “ an obvious tip of the hat to sex drenched r&b vocalists like Johnnie Taylor, proves once again that Robert Cray possesses one of the most aesthetically pleasing voices in modern blues. At the risk of sounding like an old cigarette commercial, Live from Across the Pond is “Two full CD’s packed with pure listening pleasure.”

-Michael Buffalo Smith

The Dixie Chicks
Taking The Long Way
(Columbia)

Since the release of their last album, 2002's Home, the Dixie Chicks have been ridiculed, scorned, banned from country radio and called out onto the carpet a gazillion times because singer Natalie Maines had the audacity to speak her opinion about our President in public. Well, get ready for a new, grown up Dixie Chicks. The precocious young darlings who could do no wrong scattered back to their nest after all the insanity, and now emerge with a totally classy, outspoken record that may be their best yet.

Produced by Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers), who says that he saw the Chicks as "a great rock act making a country album, not a country act making a rock album," their new project is quite impressive, and while it is layered with sonic beauty, it also paints a clear picture of three young women shaken up by the personal and political events of the recent past.

The single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," proves they are still upset over the backlash from their 2003 Bushwhacking, but on "The Long Way Around," they assert that they could never "kiss all the asses that they told me to" and just blindly follow the leader in dead silence. The album features beautiful songs about motherhood and family, like "Easy Silence," "Lullaby," and "Baby Hold On." The subject matter on Taking The Long Way is quite obviously more mature, with songs that touch on the personal issues of infertility and Alzheimer's which are both issues relevant to the Chicksand their families.

The 14 tracks include writing help from folks like writers Sheryl Crow, Gary Louris, Mike Campbell, and Keb' Mo', and the R&B/gospel offering "I Hope" proves the Chicks still hold on tight to their spirituality, the same way they hold onto and refuse to deny their political beliefs.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Cool John Ferguson’s Guitar Heaven stands as his second Music Maker album.

Born on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, in 1953, the son of Gullah people, Ferguson began playing guitar at the age of three. He played church music professionally by the age of five. Taj Mahal once said of Ferguson, “he’s one of the five best guitar players I’ve ever seen.” In 1998, Ferguson began assisting Music Maker by appearing on many of the recipient's albums.

Guitar Heaven contains 8 songs. Cool John leads a trio (Bill Rich: bass, Kester Smith: drums) on this CD. Like all great
musicians, Cool John blends country, jazz, blues, and rock and roll into one blend of music. The first track, “16 Years” possesses rustic country western inflections, but a jazz overtone navigates the song.

“Low Country Blues” and “Song For Brenda”, two instrumentals, emit a warm, soothing bluesy vibe. “Straight Church” remains a quicksilver rock and roll song while “It’s True” contains some of the most laid back music you’ll ever hear. “Having Fun” or “Keep It Confidential” evoke a jazz vibe (the latter serving as one of the two songs containing lyrics) on the album.

Guitar Heaven proves Ferguson’s vast talent…

-James Calemine

Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi in 1937, Lee Gates moved to Milwaukee as a teenager where he’s been playing juke joints for over fifty years. Blues legend Albert Collins is his first cousin. After several rotations of this CD, its evident Gates’ playing evokes a genetic sound resembling his legendary cousin’s style.

Gates said of Collins, whom he met for the first time in 1974, “My daddy’s brother had a lot of kids out in there in Texas. I never met them as a child, but we all knew of each other. When Albert came to Milwaukee I showed him around and we did some gigs together. Every time he came to town we would go out and eat supper together. He was a good friend to me.” 

This nine-song Music Maker recording stands as testimony to Gates’ fluid playing. One can only wonder why he’s remained undiscovered all these years. Last year, Tim Duffy, president of Music Maker Relief Foundation, became involved in helping Gates. Duffy’s organization assists over 70 musicians with instrument acquisition, tour support, life maintenance, medical, and emergency relief for poor southern artists.

Duffy explained in the liner notes the provenance of this Gates recording: “In October of 2003 Lee called me up and announced that he was coming to Hillsborough. I asked him what for and Lee replied, ‘to make a CD.’ I asked Lee if he didn’t mind going down to Alabama to record. Two days later Lee caught a greyhound to Huntsville, he missed a layover in Nashville and got in early the next morning and went straight to the studio with Ardie Dean (producer). Lee proclaimed the record done in three hours and was soon on the bus heading back home.”

The opening track, an instrumental, “Sweet Lucy’s Groove” sets the festive Friday-night tone for this forty-minute recording. Gates’ playing resembles his cousin in the high, wailing licks, heavy bottom beats, lyric-less jams like “You Gotta Love Me Baby”, “Lucy’s Voodoo”, “Lee’s Boogie”, “Lucy’s Crying”, and “When Baby Got the Blues”.

Lee Gates & the Alabama Cotton Kings serve as another reason to seek out the indelible Music Maker Relief Foundation.

-James Calemine

The Mess Is On counts as Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck’s fifth CD. Dudeck, a great slide guitarist serves on the Board of Directors as a vital musical contributor to the nonprofit organization Music Maker, an establishment dedicated to assisting poor southern blues musicians. This new collection ranks as Dudeck’s best.

His solo ability remains a forte, but Dudeck’s songs sound fleshed out with a band on this release. These tunes were recorded in Atlanta with a wide assembly of talented musicians including Eddie Tigner, who played with Elmore James in the 50’s, and performed with the re-formed legendary group the Ink Spots.

These songs, like most of Dudeck’s music, shine a positive light. Over the years, Dudeck’s morphed into a seasoned veteran. Usually, he never strays far from barrelhouse blues but The Mess Is On contains an astral brass section that provides another sonic dimension to Dudeck’s blues framework. The colorful instrumentations call to mind an amalgamation of 30’s jazz, barrelhouse blues, and ‘brassafied’ country.

Dudeck wrote 14 tracks on the CD. “Garden Mouse”, a reggae ditty, stands as a strong number he penned with Music Maker legend Cora Mae Bryant. Dudeck also covers Atlanta bluesman Frank Edwards’ “Got To Get Together”.

The CD is separated into Part 1 and Part 2. The title track might possibly one of his finest tunes. Dudeck does not show off his slide guitar prowess as much on this release, but relies on each instrument to serve the music. Other highlights on this essential Mudcat disc include Caribbean flavored “Te Amo Loco”, a soul-tinged “My Feet Hurt”, and the Crescent City hymn “When the Veil is Lifted”.

If nothing else, The Mess Is On represents a great Friday night soundtrack…there’s something about this music that makes you want to move your feet…

-James Calemine

Originally released on Columbia Records in April 1974, Ragged Old Flag consists of twelve original Johnny Cash compositions.

In the liner notes, Cash revealed, “I got so excited writing the songs in this album that you’d think I just started in the music business. It’s something I always wanted to do, write an album of all my own songs and for some reason, I just never got around to it.” Later Cash explained, “There was one of them, “Ragged Old Flag”, that I didn’t even have any control over. It came out faster than I could write it down. On the other eleven songs, we went into the studio with the Tennessee Three, Carl Perkins, Larry McCoy, Ray Edenton, and I talked The Oak Ridge Boys into coming and singing on a couple of them. No wild, weird sounds, no extra icing, I recorded them the way I felt about them.”

Even though spiritual tunes “Pie In The Sky”, “Good Morning Friend”, and “What On Earth (Will You Do For Heaven’s Sake)” contribute a gospel flavor to the album, Cash never strays from his sharp-edged style including an ornery “While I Got It On My Mind”.

These earthy compositions portray every day American struggles such as pollution in “Don’t Go Near the Water”, unemployment in “I’m A Worried Man”, a truck-driving anthem “All I Do Is Drive”, and factory working songs “Southern Comfort” and “King Of The Hill”.

On Ragged Old Flag, Johnny Cash sings for every hardworking American——he sings for you and me...

-James Calemine

Ten undiscovered Townes Van Zandt songs demoed for an early Nashville publishing contract in 1966 remained unheard for thirty-seven years until now. A new CD titled In The Beginning emerges as a revealing prelude to his future work.

For those unfamiliar with Van Zandt, his songwriting style veers between Hank Williams and Bob Dylan. Many musicians such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Doc Watson have recorded this legendary troubadour’s songs. Van Zandt died on New Years Day (same day as Hank Williams) in 1997.

Each composition on In The Beginning remains vital to his catalogue as his last recordings. Nine of the ten compositions on this 33-minute album were never recorded again and soon disappeared into Jack Clement’s vault. Two years after recording these initial demos Van Zandt’s first album, For The Sake of The Song, appeared.

Two songs include a band on this collection, but the rest consist of Van Zandt flatpicking guitar and singing his poetry. “Big Country Blues”, “Colorado Bound”, and “Black Jack Mama” epitomize Van Zandt’s stark tales of rambling, gambling, and women. The final track on this essential Van Zandt album, “Black Crow Blues” foretells his final farewell three decades later: “It’s a life worth living but we all gotta die/All your crying can’t do me no good/Just lower me down and say goodbye/Pour in the black Texas mud/Pour in the black Texas mud…”

- James Calemine

New Earth Mud sounds like a man surviving his worst professional fear…in this case Chris Robinson facing the breakup of his band, the Black Crowes. These twelve songs evoke a quiet, laid back mood as if subdued sounds reconcile a faded past with an unknown future. Robinson wrote these songs in Malibu, California, and recorded the album in France during the spring of 2002.

The earthy collection begins with the most upbeat song on the album, “Safe In The Arms of Love.” “Silver Car” and “The Kids That Ain’t Got None”, songs co-written with Black Crowes keyboardist Eddie Harsch, emerge as two of the albums more complex tracks. Robinson plays acoustic guitar and multi-talented cohort Paul Stacey flanked by Stacey’s brother Jeremy on drums, with Matt Jones on keyboards, command various musical styles on the CD. Paul Stacey’s underplayed guitar expertise threads each song. If forced to categorize what the music sounds like, one could say Robinson navigated for the musical territory of the Band, Neil Young, Al Green, and Gram Parsons.

Every composition emits a subtle hook of influence. “Could You Really Love Me” visits R & B dimensions, “Untangle My Mind” resembles astral weeks jazz, “Fables” remains tinctured folk, and “Sunday Sound” written with ex-Crowes guitarist, Marc Ford, resonates a country flavor.

The final turn of the album steers towards quiet, acoustic love songs such as “Barefoot By the Cherry Tree” and “Katie Dear”——then progressing onto psychedelic road trips like “Better Than The Sun” and “She’s On Her Way.”
Listeners searching for a gritty Black Crowes sound may face an early morning wake up call, but those curious to hear a musician face change, move onward, and continue writing songs——then New Earth Mud may just propel you into the wild blue yonder.

- James Calemine

Journal On A Shelf, Bill Sheffield’s eighth CD, evokes a fluid musical tapestry that creates a laid back mood. The songs sound as if he were playing his old Martin guitar over a whiskey jar on the rotted steps of some front porch. 

Recorded in his Woodstock, Georgia, home studio, 11 of the 14 tracks were penned by Sheffield, who also included a guitar rendition of the Tom Wait’s song, “An Invitation To the Blues”. Many of these tunes defy categorization, but his music never strays too far from country blues.

Sheffield’s deft finger picking style resembles Mississippi John Hurt on the opening track, “Cherry Blossom Time”. Sheffield explains the album’s origins, “The first song I wrote was “Journal On A Shelf” and that was six or seven months ago. This is very new stuff except “Holy Mother” and “You’re Still On My Mind”. It’s hot off the press. I find it better that way as opposed to belaboring over it too long.”

“Trouble (When It Starts)” sounds like a Sunday morning dirge and Sheffield’s God-fearing reverence emerges in “Black Bottom”, when he sings: “I went down to the water/I got the spirit in the usual way/The preacher he did happen along/Said the boy just don’t know right from wrong/Said I need to confess all my sins/I said I wouldn’t know where to begin”.
Journal On A Shelf marks a fine starting point to discover the works of Bill Sheffield.

- James Calemine

The name Merle Haggard carries a heavy weight in country music. Haggard remains a maverick who stared into the face of decadence during peaks and valleys of his legendary music career—thirty-nine number #1 country hits, IRS troubles, addictions, prestigious accolades, extreme wealth, bankruptcy, prison, women, and lawsuits—to emerge as one of America’s most respected songwriters.

Haggard’s If I Could Only Fly, achieves a rustic musical atmosphere. The album was recorded and mixed at Merle’s Tally Studio by Lou Bradley. There’s a laid back simplicity to the songs recorded with Haggard’s long time band, The Strangers. Listening to this record you realize the music is just as much jazz as it is country.
If I Could Only Fly opens with a revealing song called “Wishing All These Old things Were New”: “Watching while some old friends do a line/Holding back the want to end my own addicted mind/Wishin’ it was still the thing even I could do/Wishin’ all these old things were new.”

Red Volkaert’s underplayed guitar licks accent a low-key tone of the album from the onset, while “Honky Tonk Mama” pools various styles, with Don Markham’s upbeat saxophone that crosses barroom jazz with a western swing.

“Turn To Me” is a classic Haggard tune; his voice sounds strong as ever, with Norm Hamlet’s pedal steel weeping in the background. This song could serve as a single, among others, but there are no throwaway cuts on this CD. In fact, on most contemporary country albums several of these songs would be a hit.

The title track is a stark composition portraying a faded glory and cross to bear, while Abe Manuel’s harmonica whines like some lonesome train passing in the night. Due to its rhythmic nature, “Crazy Moon” emits a tropical feeling of sitting under a palm tree near a blue water bay with a Caribbean wind blowing. “Bareback”--an up-tempo, driving song--eludes any genre by fusing a combination of fiddle, mandolin, pedal steel, saxophone, bass, drums, guitar, and Haggard’s lyrical phrasing.

Haggard co-wrote “Lullaby” with his wife Theresa. At this point, If I Could Only Fly takes a reflective turn, steering towards Haggard’s childhood memories and family tributes on such tunes as “I’m Still Your Daddy”, “Proud To Be Your Old Man”, “Leavin’s Getting Harder”, and “Thanks to Uncle John”.

Each song possesses trademark tones of the old Haggard sound within this refreshing new material. The final cut on the album, “Listening”, fades with an optimistic feeling, as if Merle is happy just to be watching the sun set…

If I Could Only Fly reiterates the depth of Haggard’s songs and sound. Even as far back as his troubled youth and stint in prison, Haggard forged a heartfelt vision of the downtrodden and common man that defines his music. His influences spilled over into the rock & roll scene when the Grateful Dead began covering his songs. In 1973, Gram Parsons died in Joshua Tree, California, waiting on Haggard to produce his next album. Parsons exposed the longhairs in Los Angeles to musicians like Haggard, Buck Owens, and George Jones.

If I Could Only Fly contains none of the sentimental, syrupy moaning of a sixty-three year old man, but truthful and timeless compositions from a great songwriter who transcended the conventional industry snares of country music. Merle Haggard remains ever the outlaw…

- James Calemine

Colonel Bruce Hampton’s album Arkansas, like his 1978 One Ruined Life of A Bronze Tourist, has been recently re-released on Atlanta’s Terminus Records. Arkansas was originally recorded in 1987 and released on Landslide Records. Arkansas certainly features a complex mix of styles.

Known for his ability to blend the best attributes of musicians into one “egoless” sound, Colonel Bruce collected a formidable array of guests for Arkansas, including Paul Barrere, Tinsley Ellis, Jimmy Herring, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Jeff Sipe, Sonny Emory, Walter Brewer, Yonrico Scott, and Oteil Burbridge.

Widespread Panic’s John Bell, band member Lincoln Metcalf (aka Ricky Keller), and Stanley Booth composed liner notes for the re-issue, while the CD’s artwork was designed by Flournoy Holmes. The album was dedicated to the late Robert Palmer, who in 1969 took the Colonel to Memphis, where he witnessed blues great Bukka White performing his legendary song, “Fixin’ To Die”. “It is,” the Colonel said, “the one song I never don’t do on live gigs.”

“Elevator to the Moon” is a Caribbean-flavored funk number, and the Colonel’s inimitable humor flows through songs like “Trondossull” and the hilarious “Brato Ganibe”. “Strange Voices” travels into an 80’s dance floor realm—equipped with screeching cats and Mariachi horns!

“Basically Frightened”, another blues ditty, is one of the best tracks on the album, while the reckless abandon on “Mr. Kane” is pure jazz. Hampton’s old proverb “maintaining the threat of collapse” is evident throughout the unorthodox Arkansas. One would expect to hear “Zumpano’s Retreat” while floating in a wooden canoe up the Amazon River, and “Baseball Tickets” is a vaudeville spoken word piece by the Colonel, who is backed by a saloon piano.

The re-released Arkansas contains two bonus tracks—the banjo instrumental “Morgan” and the rock fusion piece “Cold Mountain”—both of which are testimony to how “seriously” the Colonel can make musicians around him play.

Colonel Bruce’s relentless humor and protean variety place him in the pantheon of American oddball geniuses like Frank Zappa and John Cage. Arkansas—like a horrific picture or a beautiful face—lingers in the mind and haunts the memory long after it is heard…

- James Calemine

Eddie Hinton, the Muscle Shoals singer/songwriter, did not live to complete the 1999 Capricorn release Hard Luck Guy. In July 1995, Hinton died of a heart attack during the sessions. Hard Luck Guy should be a contender for soul album of the year.

Hinton’s songs have been recorded by Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Womack, and Gregg Allman to name a few. Hinton operated as the guitarist for the Muscle Shoals rhythm section and recorded with Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge, The Staple Singers, Elvis Presley, and Otis Redding, but songwriting was his grace. His vocals are often compared to Otis Redding, whose wife Zelma asked Hinton to teach Redding’s children to play guitar years after their father died in a tragic plane crash.

Hard Luck Guy may be the best Eddie Hinton record, ever. Hinton’s previous albums such as Cry & Moan, Very Blue Highway, Letters From Mississippi, and Very Extremely Dangerous remain proof of Hinton’s soulful songs for the underdog.

Jerry Wexler once said of Hinton: “Eddie wasn’t a master technician, but God, that boy could play some funk.”
Johnny Sandlin co-produced Hard Luck Guy. Several of the songs were recorded in 1978 at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia. Sandlin, who plays guitar, bass, and drums on the album, serves as glue holding the album and its circumstances together.

Legendary Muscle Shoals musicians such as Spooner Oldham, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, and saxophonist Harvey Thompson provide the deep fried musical landscape throughout the album. There are fewer songs sad as the title track, “Hard Luck Guy”. Hinton’s songs are laced with a weary sorrow, and yet, he covers Otis Redding’s “Sad Song” in a rendition ending in triumphant glory.

A soul soaked sound washes over the CD. A sinister backwater tone drives a swampy song called “Watch Dog”. Three of the songs (“I Got My Thang Together”, “Three Hundred Pounds of Hongry”, and “What Would I Do Without You”) were recorded with Hinton’s longtime songwriting partner Donnie Fritts. Fritts and Hinton composed “Breakfast in Bed”, a tune covered by Dusty Springfield and Carmen McRae (among others), who both recorded unforgettable versions of the song. 

By the time Dan Penn adds his sad hearted vocal to the last track on the album, “What Would I Do Without You”, the listener can never doubt Eddie Hinton once lived in the streets of Decatur, Alabama.

Eddie Hinton’s music existed on a mysterious veil of obscurity to the general masses, but the real songwriters recognized his talent. Within the liner notes, Jerry Wexler, recalls fond memories of seeing Bob Dylan and Hinton playing acoustic guitars on the Muscle Shoals back porch, even Dylan taken by this southern songwriter’s down-home charm. 

Hinton’s songwriting is a celebration for the common man. His songs stand as testimony that time appreciates the artists work, not his so-called sad life. For the price of Hard Luck Guy, you can embrace the soul of a great American songwriter amid troubles that may never go away.

- James Calemine

Chuck Leavell commands respect in the music world. He’s played piano with the Rolling Stones (for half the band’s history), Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Dr. John, The Allman Brothers, Sea Level, The Black Crowes and many others. 

Leavell’s third solo release, Southscape, recorded in Nashville, sounds like a quiet southern jazz jubilee. Eight songs on this 45-minute CD are original compositions written by mostly Leavell, and longtime collaborator Randall Bramlett. Leavell covers Dickey Betts’ “Jessica”, an Allman Brothers classic that Betts once mentioned, “…is as much Chuck’s song as mine…”

“Tomato Jam” opens the CD with Bramlett’s resonating saxophone guiding the song. Next, Leavell’s keyboard cascades on “Savannah” reiterate his talents as a composer and musician. An ode to the great Georgia River, “Altamaha”, showcases the seasoned chemistry between Leavell, Bramlett, and Tim Reis, while the title track serves as a soulful centerpiece to this elegant collection.

On “Ashley”, a tribute to his daughter, Leavell follows advice from the Rolling Stones original pianist, Ian Stewart, by intending all notes to sound like “diamond tiaras”. The final song, “Cherokee Wind”, concludes a serene mood on Southscape that captures an undeniable southern grace.

- James Calemine

One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist was originally recorded in 1978 for Atlanta’s Pine Tree Records. Terminus Records has now re-released the album, complete with three bonus tracks.

Colonel Bruce is a rare breed—he abides by no conventions or constraints. He is a cosmic time traveler…a liberator in the face of plastic, safe, easily packaged, pretend musicians.

Neither Bruce nor his eclectic music encourage those who have no sense of humor—do not misunderstand the gravity of the Colonel’s influence. In new notes for the CD release, Stanley Booth writes, “He persisted in following the beat of a drummer heard by few others. Whatever it looked like then, and I’d imagine it looked like sheer perversity, it turns out to have been a smart career move. But like all true artists, he had no choice; cursed with authenticity, he couldn’t sell out if he tried.” Later Booth writes, “Combined with his hypersensitivity to the sound of words is a vocal quality like that of a great black country preacher.”

One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist could be heard as a soundtrack to a psilocybin-soaked storyline from a lost science fiction film. Though complex and visually hallucinatory, and the colonel sound remains steeped in deep jazz, country, and blues origins. “Charles Patrick’s Millionaires Learn to Swing” is a one minute jazzy opening track that sets the tone of the upbeat hilarity. “Sunshine Makes Eye Contact” is pure Southern-fried blues, but there is nothing weirder or funnier on the album than “The Imposition According to Vasco Da Gamma.” “The Essentials of Tragic waste” begins with the Colonel doing a “stand-up” routine in 1976 at the Midtown Jazz Club in Atlanta, and then shifts into a tribal chant around some mystical campfire where the Colonel, a high priest of the unearthly, works his mojo.

Two gritty rhythm and blues bonus tracks, “Working On a Building” and “Ghost Alcohol Sandwich”, feature veteran Hampton troops Jerry Fields, Ricky Keller, Bill Hatcher, Jeff Sipe, Jeff Mosier, and Oteil Burbridge.

The Colonel remains in a class by himself, and One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist is a classic—a bizarre musical journey into outer space and partway back.

-James Calemine

The Marshall Tucker Band
Stompin’ Room Only
(Shout! Factory)

Who says you can’t go back? With Stompin’ Room Only, we get a chance to return to the glory days of The Marshall Tucker Band’s original lineup- Doug Gray, Toy Caldwell, Tommy Caldwell, Jerry Eubanks, Paul Riddle, and George McCorkle - for a never before released live recording from the seventies. It’s a project that was supposed to come out on Capricorn Records back in 1977, but never did. Then the master tapes were lost, only to resurface in the 21st century, just in time for the 30th anniversary of South Carolinas favorite Sons of the South.

The bulk of Stompin Room Only was recorded during the Tuckers 1976 tour of Europe, with a pair of tracks recorded in the Milwaukee in 1974, and a smoking version of B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone,” recorded during Charlie Daniels’ Volunteer Jam, and featuring appearances by Charlie and Dickey Betts. Doug Gray gives his vocal cords a true workout, and exposes his blues-gospel roots with true Southern passion.

The set kicks off at The Hammersmith Odeon in London, with the band’s Grammy nominated instrumental, “Long Hard Ride,” before launching into one of Toy Caldwell’s finest, “This ol’ Cowboy. “ It does the heart good to hear that Toy Caldwell guitar once again, highlighted by brother Tommy’s driving bass.

Also featured is George McCorkle’s “Fire On The Mountain,” another Top 40 hit, with Toy on pedal steel. The hits just keep coming, like ghosts of old friends - “Searchin’ For A Rainbow,” “Take The Highway,” “Can’t You See,” “Blue Ridge Mountain Skies,” “Hillbilly Band,” and a passionate “Ramblin’,” “24 Hours At A Time” spotlights everyone, from Doug’s vocals to Toy and George’s guitars, to Tommy’s bass (solo!), to Paul T’s drums, Jerry’s sax and special guest - and a lifetime friend of the MTB - Charlie Daniels on fiddle.

A wise man once told me, “it’s all about timing.” Well, he was right. I can think of no better time for “Stompin’ Room Only” to come out than right now. It’s a spiritual thing. A reminder of all these beer and smoke filled nights of our high school days, standing right at the front of the stage with a perpetual grin, watching Toy Caldwell smoke the strings of his Les Paul - watching Tommy Caldwell drive the band to jams that would make any of today’s so-called jam-bands envious. The Marshall Tucker Band live. Often imitated. Never duplicated.


- Mi