Warren Storm Taking The World By Storm APO
Thanks to Karen Leipziger at KL Productions, Nashville for sending this album my way. As the year winds down, the opportunity to properly listen to music with a late release date gets quite constrained and the instinct is to review all that has gone before in 2019 as the ‘Best Of’ lists begin to take shape… That said, the search for real quality never ceases for a music reviewer and this project is a case to prove the point.
Swamp Pop grew out of the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and parts of Texas. One of the founding fathers was Warren Storm, a drummer and singer, who influenced the genre in the 1950’s. It is a combination of Cajun, Rhythm and Blues, Country, Zydeco and Creole music, which was the foundation for what became Swamp Rock during the 1960’s with artists such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ronnie Hawkins, Little Feat, The Band, Leon Russell, Delaney & Bonnie and Tony Joe White taking up the baton and running with a modern sound.
Warren Storm has always kept a very strong work ethic and with a career that has spanned over seventy years, now, at the age of eighty-two, he has recorded a career defining work that includes many of the legendary musicians that populated the Louisiana dance hall music scene. There are a number of famous guests that appear across the eleven tracks selected here and among them, Sonny Landreth, Marc Broussard, John Fogerty and producer Yvette Landry take vocal parts and a place at the table to celebrate this amazing artist and his career.
Indeed, this is a real labour of love for Landry, who not only produces the album and sings, but also wrote a biography of this musical icon who still sounds very able and strong when it comes to delivering his rich vocals. All tracks are well known and given quite a compelling airing by the musicians who brought their vast experience and talent to the studio. Joining Warren Storm for this live studio recording, which was done straight to two-track tape, are Eric Adcock (piano), Roddie Romero (guitar), Chris French (bass), Gary Usie (drums) and Derek Hudson (sax). This core band are joined on various tracks by Richard Comeaux (pedal steel), Beau Thomas (fiddle), Willie “Tee” Trahan (tenor sax) and Sonny Landreth (slide guitar).
Long As I Can See The Light (John Fogerty) sets the perfect pace for the rest of the album and the band excel with plenty of superb playing, including the pedal steel and piano on Tennessee Blues (Bobby Charles) and the drum shuffle and horns on Troubles, Troubles (JD Miller). Lonely Nights (Earl King/Melvin Howard Steals) has a refined Blues sound and some fine piano and guitar parts while My House Of Memories (Merle Haggard) has a slow groove with some superb sax playing. In My Moments Of Sorrow (Jerry West) has piano and horns to the fore and a great guest vocal from Landry and the closer, Raining In My Heart (James Moore/Jerry West) is a standard Blues delivery with guitar, piano and sax riffs that bring everything home in some style. A terrific companion to the biography TAKING THE WORLDS BY STORM that contains many anecdotes and stories together with memorabilia and photographs.
Hannah Rose Platt Letters Under Floorboards Continental Song City
This talented singer songwriter originally learned her craft in Liverpool and over time, established herself on the London circuit. Her debut album, Portraits, appeared in 2015 and was recorded at Tree Top Studios, Nashville. It received quite a lot of positive media reaction and now we are given a second release, recorded in East Sussex. Production is shared by Platt and Thomas Collison and the eleven tracks here are all superbly played, produced and written.
Josephine is an impressive song that celebrates the life of Josephine Baker, an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist. Her career was primarily in Europe and she was the first African-American to star in a major motion picture. She was also a famous dancer at the Folies Bergère in Paris during the Jazz Age and the 1920’s.
When Audrey Came To Call is a song about one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the USA and in 1957 it killed approx. 500 people, the majority of whom were in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Platt’s ability to place herself into the lives of different characters is highlighted in the superbly crafted Brooklyn, New York which tells of an Irish emigrant who looks for a new beginning in America and the opportunity to bring his sweetheart out to join him, once he has established himself. It is a winsome look at failed dreams and the playing by Platt on acoustic, electric guitar, pennywhistle and fiddle conjures up the imagery of an Irish traditional tune in the arrangement, played in memory of many thousands of other emigrants who suffered similar fates in forlorn attempts to chase a dream.
I Will Tell You When is a co-vocal with Sid Griffin that tells of rural farming and crops completely destroyed by a plague of swarming Locusts. It examines the reasons why a man would want to try and endure in the face of such a catastrophe and has a father sheltering his daughter from the darkening skies and trying to protect her against her suffocating fears; “My Daddy changer forever, The day the Locusts came.”
Chanel and Cigarettes is a sinister tale of a Ghost temptress seeking revenge on any who would try and cheat on their marriage vows. Again, the arrangement is very engaging and a fine example of Platt’s ability to spin a tale within a short song structure. However, it is the more personal songs that give a clue as to where this talented artist is currently laying her aim and her focus; songs like To Love You and Sculptor look at doomed relationships from different angles – the former an unequal balance of strength and weakness where the lines “Here’s to the warning signs, And all that we’re leaving behind.” The latter, an abusive controlling partner who tries to manipulate another into what he desires, ignoring the real person involved.
Illuminate speaks of self-awareness and growing from experience to never lose track of who you are. Your Way includes the lines that form the album title and the song appears to be a power struggle between friends for some common ground in their friendship. It could also be looked at from the viewpoint of someone who has passed on yet still retains an unhealthy control over another. “I’ll take your regrets, And flush them all away.” Equally, Checkmate and Black Smoke centre around relationships and the need for one to see through another and let go of an unhealthy situation. Thomas Collison contributes on bass, lap steel, acoustic and electric guitars, keys, drums, percussion, wurlitzer and sound effects – not a bad wing-man to have in the studio and as co-producer! Platt herself is an accomplished musician, also contributing on double bass, sound effects, percussion in addition to the instruments already mentioned above. Danny George Wilson appears on vocal duties together with a number of other studio musicians who all add to the confident sound and delivery of this engaging release. A confident and comprehensive move forward.
Cave Flowers Self-Titled Self Release
This is a debut release from Los Angeles band, Cave Flowers, the new project of Andy McAllister who previously fronted a group called Vanish Valley. His song-writing on the eleven tracks included here is very much in the Alt Country/ Americana space and the guitar driven songs sound big and bright with a live kick that indicates a band having a real go and just having fun.
McAllister is the creative centre of the band, also taking lead vocal duties and playing acoustic guitar. The band also includes Henry Derek Elis on electric guitar, Ben Coil on bass and Ryan Wykert on drums and backing vocals. They were joined in the studio for this project by Jon Niemann on piano and Wurlitzer, together with Frankie Palmer on pedal steel.
There is a loose feel to the opening numbers with Best Lonesome Friend channelling a sound that reminds me of the Silos, that excellent late 90’s ensemble, and Renter’s Life including some righteous guitar playing from Elis. Country Fan follows and echoes the Band with a compelling groove and great interplay between the musicians. The country vibe of Midnight Movie, with fine pedal steel playing has an easy tempo with another excellent guitar break from Elis.
McAllister’s voice has a hoarse quality and a hint of gravel in the delivery which suits these road-tested songs. The superb Upper Hand is the longest track here and the slow groove masks a message of confused frustration at the socially skewed communications and bigotry displayed by Political leaders, all mirrored again in the dynamic guitar solos of Elis.
Trick Tears and The Stranger are further examples of Country flavoured tunes with Frankie Palmer again to the fore, while Friendly Reminders has an easy melody line with Jon Niemann providing a warm keyboard sound. The roots rock ofGreat Hits is again proof of this band’s superb interplay and the closing Little Worries really sees the players hit another home run with a message of living for today and stripping it all back.
Recorded at Heritage Recording Company in Downtown Burbank, the engineering by Chris Rondinella (Levon Helm, Shelby Lynne) is very clean and polished with great separation on all the instruments, all adding to the listening pleasure. The eleven tracks were recorded live over two days and the immediacy of the arrangements and the sweetly tight playing by the ensemble makes for an excellent debut release.
The Lost Brothers After The Fire After the Rain Bird Dog
It has been quite a journey since Oisin Leech and Mark McCausland first released their fledgling music to the market back in 2008. The brothers have been anything but lost along the way, delivering real quality on a regular basis across a number of previous albums, collaborative projects, EP’s and singles included in an impressive back catalogue. This sixth album was produced by Tony Garnier (Bob Dylan’s long-time bassist) and Daniel Schlett in New York.
The sound is delicately paced and relaxed, as strummed guitars merge with pedal steel and harmonica to deliver a stripped-down, chilled listen. Their voices harmonise beautifully and give the feeling of late-night parlour sessions by an open fire. Equally the timeless quality of the gentle arrangements leaves a lingering sense of reflection, which is never far away in songs like Eight Hundred Miles, Medicine Wine and Fugitive Moon.
The musicians play with an understated grace that compliments these tender songs so well and with a line-up that includes such talented players as M Ward, Howe Gelb, Jolie Holland, Dave Murphy, Steve Wickham, together with co-producers Garnier and Schlett, then this band of Brothers just can’t go wrong. Snugly reflective and nostalgic yearning are conjured up by the sweet arrangements and the playing that has all the time in the world to set the right tone.
French horn, trombone, trumpet and whistle all add to the ambience of the songs that take us on a trip that resonates with the senses. Ash Wednesday is an instrumental that has images of the desert on a hot night with a lonesome whistler sitting around a camp fire playing an acoustic guitar. Glens Of Gortin closes the album and is another instrumental with lovely haunting vocals and pedal steel echoing into the distance. A superbly crafted release and perhaps their most cohesive work yet.
Oh Susanna Johnstown (20th Anniversary) Stella
Susie Ungerleider first appeared back in 1997 with an EP under her performance name of Oh Susanna. This Toronto-based singer-songwriter soon developed a reputation for her live shows and her passionate, vocal delivery. Her first full-length album, JOHNSTOWN, appeared in 1999 and she went on to release a further six albums in a career that has seen her continue to achieve widespread recognition and admiration for her songcraft and performance skills.
This remastered and extended look-back at that debut album comes at a very timely interval as Oh Susanna takes a well-earned look back to where it all started. Always looking to inhabit the worlds of characters she either learned about through conversations or imagination, Oh Susanna has an easy sense of observation when it comes to the human condition and this transfers into her tales of quiet suffering and enduring nobility in overcoming adversity. Her sound has been described as folk-noir and her resonant vocal across the twelve original tracks really does point to how overlooked the debut release was, when such fully formed songs should have received much greater plaudits.
These are tales of dark deeds, hard roads and the need to keep a fighting spirit alive to overcome troubled times. All songs were written by Susie Ungerleider, with the exception of one co-write, the closing track, Tangled And Wild, which was written with Basil Donovan of Blue Rodeo fame. It’s a song about running away to begin a new life with a true love and closes out the album on a note of optimism, something that is in short supply across the previous 48 minutes of the album. Back Dirt Road looks back at younger days of innocence and feeling free while Home Soon (The Cherry Song) deals with seasonal fruit pickers and the need to leave in order to earn enough to pay for a wedding.
The title track is a murder song where the killer escapes into the night and awaits his fate further down the line. Similarly, You’ll Always Be, is a tale of revenge where the woman holds the power to decide the fate of her returning lover who has committed a crime and seeks her safe harbour. The loneliness of lost love on Old Kate is very real with the lines “Well, I’ll make your picture last ‘cause I could not make you stay.”
The Bridgeis about a woman who wants to get free of an abusive relationship and contemplates suicide as the only way out of her dilemma. Oh My Good Ol’ Gal is a song about a woman who turns down a marriage proposal in order to remain independent while Parallel Rail looks at land grab and the power of the railroads to overrun the lives of rural farmers.
There are five bonus tracks included which are taken from an acoustic session in 1998 and all songs are included on the JOHNSTOWN track listing also. This is an essential purchase for anyone who never picked up on the original and who wants to discover this terrific artist for the first time. For the rest of the converted it’s just proof of what we knew all along; true talent will always surface and find a way into the light.
Ralph Molina Love And Inspiration Vapor
Best known as the drummer in Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina releases his first solo album in a career that started in the 1960’s and has seen him play on all their albums as an original member. The eleven songs included here are all written by Molina and he has surrounded himself with many seasoned musicians to bring colour and life to the sweet melodies.
He has a soft vocal delivery that suits the arrangements and his use of gentle tempos add to the overall sense of being back in earlier times when harmonies and smooth sounds were hugely popular. It is certainly a sound that is very much away from the Crazy Horse signature and perhaps this is where the true heart of Molina lies.
Molina has invited a host of musicians from a range of genres, including Steve Crimmel, Kelly Clarkson, Barry Goldberg, Dave West, Tom Lackner, Phil Lee, Ian McNabb, Kent Agee, Josh Sklar, Mark Pont, Anthony Crawford, Victor Goodman, George Friedenthal, Greg Morrow, Bob Thiele, and John Philip Shenale.
Titles such as Your Life Is My Life Too, You Wear Angels Wings, I Don’t Care and Hopelessly In Love With You are steeped in sentimental messages to a significant other and in celebration of the power of love. There is a touch of the Beach Boys in the smooth strings and choruses and the unpretentious emotion displayed is certainly from the heart. Wonderlandhas a more up-tempo beat to it and is a nostalgic look back at days gone by, as is the innocence of Too Young To Know, a love song that recognises the passage of time. Last track It’s Gonna Be Alright speaks of having faith and trusting that things work out in the end. The title of the project says it all really – a sense of surrounding yourself with what is important and enduring in life.
Adam Hill Water In The Draw Self Release
What a refreshing release from an artist that comes with plenty to recommend his singular vision. This is an eight-track project that is both organic and fluid, spontaneous and soulful, in both feel and spirit. Coming in at just over 30-minutes, the songs were created in a one roomed cabin in Wyoming, on a 10,000-acre cattle ranch. It was a solitary existence as the winter snows melted and the mountain winds whistled through the cabin door.
The instruments used by Hill are double bass, guitar and piano, all of which were his constant companions over a month spent practicing and writing. There are atmospheric ‘found sounds’ also, like the coyote wail and the sound of a boulder falling into a creek as percussion on Magnetic North. Or the recorded snippets of conversation and laughter that appear on both Dance All Nightand Sally Ann Johnson.
The three largely-instrumental pieces included, Dance All Night, Libertyand Sally Ann Johnson; all are old time tunes and Hill’s arrangements are very reminiscent of their roots in traditional fiddle music, with echoes of Irish influences in the arrangements. All this music came from the same rural sources originally, before emigration blended the indigenous sounds, so the inevitable recognition and crossover comparisons are always going to appear.
Ghost is a look at happy isolation and not needing to be in the company of others for the sake of idle conversation. There is the sound of wind and water at the track end that adds an eerie quality. The ramshackle, loose rhythm of Oh Me Oh My is an off-beat Tom Waits-like dyin’ song that sounds both clunky and inspired. Libertyalso includes a spoken dissertation on human nature, freedom and the need to break the chains of suffering. Airplane Man speaks of giving up and going home when big city alienation looms large.
As the website hints, “this is a musician who dislikes boundaries, qualifiers, limitations, or absolutes.” The entire project is just filled with great fun and surprise. This is the fifth release from Adam Hill and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I See Hawks In L.A. and The Good Intentions Hawks With Good Intentions Western Seeds
This is a collaboration between California band, I See Hawks In L.A. and The Good Intentions, who are a husband and wife duo from Liverpool. The musicians originally met at a house concert in 2012 and, over time, they began to collaborate on writing songs.
The current members of I See Hawks In L.A. are Rob Waller (vocals, guitar), Paul Lacques (guitars, vocals, dobro), Paul Marshall (bass, vocals) and Victoria Jacobs (drums, vocals). They originally formed back in 1999 and have eight prior releases. Their Alt Country sound has earned them a large fan base over the years and on this album their talents have been merged with the more Folk leanings of Peter Davies, who along with Gabrielle Monk, makes up The Good Intentions. They have four releases to their name and are well respected on the UK Country scene.
There are ten songs on this release and eight are co-writes between the two bands. On the last album, LIVE AND NEVER LEARN, the Hawks had two co-writes with The Good Intentions, so it would appear that the musical relationship is going to continue to grow into the future. They certainly compliment each other on these acoustic based tunes with close harmonies and lots of sweet melodies. There are drums on only one track, which tells its own story, with Davies taking lead vocal on five songs, while Waller takes up the challenge on another four tracks – all very equitable. The exception is the sweetly soulful Hills On Fire which is sung by Victoria Jacobs.
The playing of Paul Lacques is a delight throughout with his skills on guitar, lap steel, dobro and slide guitars very evident on all the songs. Paul Marshall provides sensitive bass lines to augment the gentle arrangements and there are guest slots from Richie Lawrence (accordion) and Gabe Witcher (fiddle). The songs are all very pleasant on repeated listening and standout tracks are Things Like This, Rolling The Boxcars, Flying Now andWill You Watch Over Me From Above. Very engaging and worthy of further investigation.
Buford Pope The Waiting Game Unchained
Buford Pope, (a.k.a. Mikael Liljeborg) was born in 1971 on Gotland, a Swedish limestone island in the Baltic Sea. This is his eight release and it is co-produced by Pope and Alexander Härnlöv at Vall recording studio in Sweden. Härnlöv contributes bass, keyboards, organ, electric guitar and vocal harmonies; essential contributions across the twelve tracks included here. There are many more studio musicians who contribute on these songs and the array of instruments range from Mandolin, Piano, Violin, Viola, Pedal Steel and Dobro.
Pope contributes on lead vocal, acoustic guitar, piano and banjo with all songs written from his creative muse. The lyrics revolve around themes of feeling lost in the World (Tell Me What I Am / Five Minutes To Midnight/ Stoned) to feeling misunderstood (Hard Life/ First Blood). Repenting for past mistakes (Wanna Say I’m Sorry Before I Die/ Can I Be There For You) to a hedonistic lifestyle (A Hundred), there is always a price to be paid.
The opening song, America, is one that takes a bit of digestion as Pope seems to be penning a love letter to the great Gods of fortune and fame – surely not? Better by far is the stripped back In My Hometown and a memory of reckless youth in a small town with sweet harmony vocals from Anna Liljeborg and the final song, Ninety-Nine, channels a blues version of a previous song, A Hundred, where the need to move on and leave the past behind is the ultimate goal to learning life lessons and growing up. The song arrangements are very expansive and the ensemble playing has plenty to offer. If you have purchased this artist’s music previously, then you will not be disappointed.
ALL REVIEWS BY PAUL MCGEE