Lucinda Williams Bob’s Back Pages Highway 20
This is one of the series of albums that Williams released over the last year under the heading of Lu’s Jukebox. Each volume is a tribute to an artist or genre that she considers an influence in her life and work. So previous editions have featured Southern Soul, Classic Country as well as those devoted to Tom Petty and The Rolling Stones. However, this volume, an homage to Bob Dylan, is the one we received for review. As with the other albums, the band is superb including Stuart Mathis (guitars), Joshua Grange (guitar, steel, keyboards), Tim Lauer (keyboards) and a solid and defining rhythm section in Fred Eltringham and Steve Mackey on drums and bass respectively. The production is shared between Tom Overby and Ray Kennedy.
This leaves Williams and her vocal and that in itself is a key instrument, being utterly distinctive and instinctive. The fact that these are largely cover songs means she has concentrated on delivering a nuanced and erudite performance. It is central to the sound and yet at the same time allows the band to shine in its own right.
These songs have a toughness or tenderness entirely suited to the themes and the choices are maybe not the obvious or usual. This includes It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A train To Cry, Everything Is Broken, Not Dark Yet, Queen Jane Approximately and Idiot Wind (are among the 11 featured songs). All for the most part, bar one, topping out over four minutes. As an example of her contrasting approach, try Not Dark Yet and Political World as examples. In both cases she is in contact and empathy with Dylan’s sometimes opaque but always enjoyable lyrics. You may know the songs, but here the arrangements are convincingly Lucinda Williams.
There is no doubt that the six albums in the series are a real bonus for William fans who are more used to long waits between albums. Other less committed listeners may think that this is too many albums in a shortish time frame, but who wouldn’t want to listen to a favourite artist no matter the quantity if the quality is as good as it is here? The album itself runs to over an hour in playing time. Her website opens by stating that GOOD SOULS BETTER ANGELS is the “new” album and that implies that these releases in the Lu’s Jukebox series are a sidestep and a diversion. If so, they are welcome, as will be the next release of original material when that arrives.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Sturgill Simpson The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita High Top
The album opens with the sound of a marching band with a vocal chorus before we get into the songs proper with Ol’ Dood. It continues with the sound that Simpson used for the two previous releases, CUTTING GRASS volumes 1 and 2. These albums were recorded with such sterling acoustic and bluegrass players including Sierra Hull, Mike Bub, Mark Howard, Miles Miller, Stuart Duncan, Scott Vestal and Tim O’Brien. This same team is present here, with the addition of players such as Russ Pahl and the sound of Willie Nelson’s guitar on Juanita. It was recorded in the famous Cowboy Arms Hotel studio in Nashville.
Ostensibly this is a song cycle similar to Nelson’s RED HEADED STRANGER, which features the title characters in a consecutive set of songs that relate to their lives. Set in the past, it is a tale of tribulation and revenge. The characters (named for Simpson’s grandparents but not about them) are a couple, with Juanita courted by half breed Dood, who is accompanied on his adventures by his horse Shamrock and his dog Sam. He places these people in a time of historical conflict but does so with a sense of reality that helps bring the people and place into focus.
Co-produced by David Ferguson and Simpson, the music is acoustic, old-time Appalachian folk and early country in overall tone. The idea of such a concept album has been done previously and in some ways in more depth by other artists, which may make this seem a somewhat lighter approach, as its ten tracks run to under 28 minutes total. It seems like an idea that came to life after the pleasure Simpson had in recording the previous two albums. It was an idea he had had for a while and then actually wrote the songs and recorded them quite quickly afterwards.
For all that, I enjoyed the listen and perhaps the conciseness of the time spent with the album helped that. The stand out track is Juanita and not just for the Nelson guitar contribution, but for its tone and warmth and Simpson’s expressive and emotive vocal. He is indeed a fine and easily recognisable singer and all credit to him for that. So it comes down to the music, to its ability to please and this it does in a way that may not be his finest work but is one that may help convince others that here is an artist deserving of his breakthrough status and continued attention.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Wild Earp & The Free For Alls A Cynical Christmas Western Myth
Christmas albums often tend to leave me cold but a lot of people out there love them and they are perhaps more prevailing in the country genre than nearly any other. There are a few exceptions, both in albums and in specific songs. That usually relates to your particular liking for the artist involved. So that means releases by Dwight Yoakam and Chris Isaak usually make it to my player fairly regularly around the Christmas weekend. Nor do we tend to cover them that often in reviews. But having enjoyed DYIN’ FOR EASY LIVIN’, the album by Wild Earp and the Free For Alls released earlier this year, I was keen to give this a listen. It was indeed worth it as this album is every bit as well played and produced as the previous one, and the same players and singers are involved in both.
This is one of those album that mixes the well know tunes Pretty Paper, Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen with a bunch of original songs such as the title track and I Saw A Ghost On Christmas. The arrangements are largely country, with pedal steel and fiddle to the fore. There are also well suited covers such as John Prine’s Christmas In Prison and Loretta Lynn’s To Heck With Ole Santa Claus. This shows that there is a love for Christmas here, as well as an understanding that it is not the same for everyone.
As well as Earp’s vocals, we have tracks featuring Sweet Sassy Molasses and Gorgeous George Hurden on lead vocals, which adds to the overall band feeling. This comes across as a band seeming to be having some fun with these songs recorded, as they usually are, well before the spirit of the season is apparent. The album finishes in that light on a cautiously optimistic note with NewYear, New One. It may be a cynical Christmas, and an album recorded during lockdown but Wild Earp and The Free For Alls have done their best to make it fit with the different moods that many will be feeling right now, and even with the pessimism there is no small amount of positivity in these Christmas blues.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Malcolm MacWatt Settler Need To Know
This singer is based in Scotland and has released an album that fits easily under the folk/americana umbrella. The instrumentation is largely acoustic with banjo very prominent in the mix on these songs, which tell tales of lost community, lost souls and new found homes. The opening song, Avalanche And Landslide, makes the point that the individual is essentially a small stone but that small stones together, when they move, can create a landslide. He is joined on these tracks by Jaimee Harris (there are a number of other guests through the album). Letter From San Francisco is a man away from home to seek his fortune but only finding the lack of it, detailing the crumbling of his gold-rush dreams in a letter to be sent home when he is in his grave. It is a compelling tale in the folk tradition, as is the next song, Ghosts Of Caledonia. It speaks of those who left their homeland to see adventure and notes that the “deeds you did for good or ill echo down the ages still” - a reminder of how legacy is important in many ways.
Laura Cantrell adds her vocal to the very Celtic story of love, lust and longing that is The Curse Of Molly McPhee, which is one of those songs that sounds like it could become a classic much covered song on that circuit. The next song laments emigration and the loss of family to far shores, My Bonny Boys Have Gone shows MacWatt’s ability to write a new song that seems like it could have been around for generations and it likely will be. The vocalist who adds her harmony to his here is Gretchen Peters. A third song in that vein of reflection of different ways and different times is The Miller’s Daughter, about a man’s wish to marry the miller’s daughter against her fathers wishes, as he wants her to marry a rich old man for money. The protagonist waits out his time so that he can return and be again with his true love.
Kris Drever adds vocals to John Rae’s Welcome Home, another tale of travel, this time about a true life man who travels to Canada to seek a better life, while Scotland still calls him home and where he has not been recognised for his achievements. Other songs here are equally effective in their intent, with MacWatt having a vocal that is central to the tale telling, which it does it with commensurate conviction. Banjo Lullaby tells of an abusive father and the instrument he plays. The final song, North Atlantic Summer, is a reflection on the power of nature in wind and sea and it ends an album that has its heart rooted in the homeland of MacWatt, as well as those places that he and many before him have had to experience by want and need.
The closing track on the album is An Oral Explanation in which MacWatt goes through each song to give you its setting and background and does it much better that I can. MacWatt will doubtless be considered among the best of the new breed of folksingers and songwriters, who speak of the past as a way to perhaps understand it and move forward to settle oneself in the best place one can hopefully find.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Houndmouth Good For You Dualtone
The fourth album from New Albany, Indiana band Houndmouth was recorded in a 19th century shotgun-style residence named The Green House, previously the residence of the grandparents of the band’s drummer and vocalist Shane Cody. It’s a fitting recording venue for a band whose sound is a prime mix of vintage and contemporary roots. The other members of the band are vocalist and guitarist Matthew Myers, and Zak Appleby who plays bass and also adds vocals.
The band’s strength is in their ability to both create provocative and thought-provoking scenes and dress them up with grungy guitar breaks alongside rugged vocals. Characters that occupy the ten tracks on GOOD FOR YOU range from beauty queens to vampires, across tales that visit youthful love on the Dylanesque Make It To Midnight and fading love on Cool Jam. The inevitable passage of time and fond memories of times passed are recalled on Ohio and the playfull and robust Los Vegas. With track titles that reference probable locations (Ohio, Los Vegas, Jackson) that Houndmouth toured since their conception in 2011, it’s not difficult to form the opinion that the album represents a retrospective look over the shoulder by maturing songwriter Myers.
Houndmouth’s sweet spot lands somewhere between The Felice Brothers and Hiss Golden Messenger, and punters drawn to the musical landscapes of both these acts will be well impressed with this album which captivates without ever overwhelming the listener.
Review by Declan Culliton
Willie Nelson The Willie Nelson Family Legacy
Continuing his prolific recording output - this is his third release in eighteen months - Willie Nelson’s latest album is a country gospel collection featuring his immediate family members and longtime band members. The family that contributed are his sister Bobbi Nelson, sons Lucas and Micha, and daughters Paula and Amy. His adopted family members include Mickey Raphael, Billy English, Kevin Smith, and the late Paul English, Nelson’s regular drummer since the mid -‘60s, who passed away in February 2020 at the age of eighty-seven. Co-produced by Nelson and his ‘go -to’ man Steve Chadie, it was recorded at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas.
The twelve songs on offer are divided equally between new self-written material and cover versions of songs composed by George Harrison (All Things Must Pass), A.P. Carter (Keep It On The Sunnyside), Kris Kristofferson (Why Me), Hank Williams (I Saw The Light), Claude Gray, Paul Buskirk and Walt Breeland (Family Bible), and the traditional ballad In The Garden.
Playing out like eavesdropping on a Nelson family gathering and singsong, included is one of Nelson’s earliest recordings, Family Bible. Written from memories of his grandmother’s bible readings following her singing of traditional gospel songs, the song was adopted by Claude Gray whose version reached No.7 on The Billboard Hot Country Singles in 1960. Its success was the motivation for Nelson to relocate to Nashville from Texas, to establish himself as a songwriter in Music Row.
Nelson’s son Lucas (of Lucas Nelson and The Promise of the Real) takes the lead vocal on Keep It On The Sunnyside and All Things Must Pass. Four of the inclusions, Heaven And Hell, Kneel At The Feet Of Jesus, Family Bible, and Laying My Burden Down were among the last recordings with Paul English prior to his passing. On an album with the emphasis very much on thanksgiving and prayer, Nelson closes with his own Too Sick To Pray, which first appeared on his 1996 album SPIRIT, before signing off with Kris Kristofferson’s Why Me.
At the fine age of eighty-eight - his sister Bobbi is three years older - Willie Nelson’s recent releases have been albums primarily recorded for his own personal fulfilment, generally looking over his shoulder and revisiting songs close to his heart from bygone times. That is certainly the case with this delightfully tender project from a legend that continues to shine brightly.
Review by Declan Culliton
David Climaco Garcia Between The Devil and Me Self-Release
“Much of my life has been a Kerouacian fever-dream, that I’m lucky to be alive to tell about”, confesses David Climaco Garcia, describing his nomadic and often chaotic history. Spending many years hitchhiking around Western America presented Garcia with the memories, misfortunes, and events to more than fill this debut solo album. Shaping these reflections and recollections into song came about during the enforced lockdown during 2020.
A benchmark for the background to the album could be the atmosphere and glorious disorder so vividly found on Howe Gelb’s Giant Sand albums. Fans of Gelb will no doubt recognise a similar pattern on the tracks Everybody Gets To Be Wrong, Rolling On, and If Lonely Were Money. Somewhat more conventional are the heartfelt ballad Half Of The Time and the jaunty confessional country opener The Devil In Me. The bones of the album were recorded at Howlin’ Dog Studios in Alamosa, Colorado, with the final tracking of vocals and guitar completed at Garcia’s home studio in Albuquerque.
An album driven by chaos, loss, and death, and fuelled by fervid personal searching could be a difficult listen. On the contrary, BETWEEN DEVIL AND ME is an unguarded and impressive batch of songs well deserving of your attention.
The Albuquerque-based singer songwriter also co-fronts the band Beloved with his wife and co-writer Nikelle Garcia.
Review by Declan Culliton
Kristian Montgomery Prince Of Poverty Self Release
When you reach the crossroads where Country music meets with Rock in an unholy alliance; there you will find the smoke of Kristian Montgomery as he speeds off into the distance, in search of the next show. This is the second album from a Florida-born musician who has a vocal that seems forged in the fires of middle-earth. Coming out of the traps swinging, he tears into a heavy rock performance on They’ll Remember My Name, a statement of intent if ever there was one!
He sounds like 16-Horsepower hooked up to the amps of Govt. Mule. Following on with the Americana Roots sound of Tired Of Being Tired is quite a leap, but only goes to show the range of this artist when it comes to wearing his influences on his sleeve. Attitude is in the air and he continues this on the whip-smart bluegrass sonic attack of banjo-wielding, Working Hands, all shimmy and shine, with a degree of danger in the mood.
Things get dialled-down a few notches for the acoustic-led, A Warm Grave, sounding like Greg Allman, Kristian weaves his way through a slow burn track about rural life, fishing on a lazy afternoon and living a simple life. Don’t Call Me Baby is a rockabilly influenced work-out and a tale of a fighting woman who ‘found Jesus in a paper cup.’ Keep away boys!
Soul For a Soul is another acoustic-based song with a bluesy leaning that takes off with some fine electric guitar parts as the track builds. The track, That Kind Of Love, is a straight rocker that calls upon all the band members to stretch out and show their power. With Joe Clapp on co-production and guitar, Charlie Hill (guitars), Dave Leitch (bass), Jeff Armstrong (drums); the overall impression that Kristian Montgomery is a voice to be reckoned with, is not open to question.
Final track, Just Driving Around is a Country-tinged, easy mid-tempo song about local romance and quite a distance from the anger of American Fire, his attack on the political corruption that deceives the ordinary, hard-working people of America. It’s a great listen from start to finish, full of exciting tunes and laying down a strong marker for the future. Watch this space.
Review by Paul McGee
Grace Morrison Daughter Self Release
This is the third album that Cape Cod singer songwriter Grace Morrison has released in the last six years. I’m the Apple appeared in 2017 and was followed by Reasons in 2019. She also released a live album, recorded back in 2015 at New Bedford's Zeiterion Theatre, a historic building that dates back to the 1920s. Her bright personality and winning smile are perfectly suited to the persona that she displays across these twelve songs. Whether writing from personal experience or inhabiting the character in one of her tales, Grace exudes exactly that - plenty of grace and a hopeful attitude.
Being joined by the legendary Lloyd Maines (pedal steel, papoose guitar, dobro) and Jon Evans (Bass, acoustic guitar, background vocals, electric guitar, B3) is a real statement of the gifts that Grace possesses. Such experienced players don’t sign up for just any old project and you need to show some serious chops in order to attract such talent and interest. Jon Evans also produces the album and his lengthy list of credits include top artists such as Tori Amos and Sarah MacLachlan. Joining the collective is Mathias Bossi (St Vincent) on drums and Teddy Mathews on backing vocals.
Grace is a real star turn throughout, whether showcasing her engaging lead vocals, harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar or - handclaps! The production is crisp and clear in the speakers and the songs are given plenty of space to breathe. There are some that border on crossover and definitely will appeal to commercial radio. However, there is a lot more to this Country artist than just a desire to climb on the bandwagon that rolls towards the preening Nashville music machine. She will find her own way and her writing prowess is very evident on these tunes.
Stories of addiction are covered in tracks like Sloppy and Put the Bottle Down. ‘Sometimes I get sloppy, When no one’s there to stop me, I take the bottle off the shelf, What am I doing to myself.’ Compulsion to keep hold of old habits, even in the face of cold realisation. ‘I tuck you in like a baby, Take your shoes off, Let you say “this is the last time,” - and additional lines, ‘Who put the storm in your head and who put the bottle down.’ Both songs cutting to the core of addictive behaviour.
Just Loving You is a song written for a new life coming into the world and there is some superb interplay between guitar and pedal steel on the arrangement. ‘He doesn’t know why you cry or you hurt, Or why anyone would want solitude, He’s coming into this world, Just loving you.’
Woman Like That takes a look at mistakes made in holding out for the perfect life as imagined through the fairy tale of happy ever after. The disillusion of seeing relationships not live up to expectations can leave everything broken; ‘You only ever hear how beautiful it is, Starting your life and raising your kids, Nothing ever said about how broken you feel, When you learn it’s not real.’
The Edge Of I Am sees a girl on the frontier of breaking free from her youth and turning into a grown woman. The sentiment is one of holding on to childhood doubts but hoping in the journey that stretches out ahead, ‘I’m on the edge of “I am” - I’m on the edge of “I can” - I’m at the end of my rope; God, I pray She’ll float.’
The song, Mother, is a look at the different shades of caring for someone and yet making them aware of the dangers that life can throw at you, ‘There is rain and tired feet, Babies crying in the desert heat, And mama sings while mama cries, The last of her sweet lullabies.’
The more commercial sound of Small Town Lament hides the claustrophobic observation of everyone knowing your business, ‘I do one tiny little thing, And word gets around.’ Equally, the message about growing up in the song, Daughter, councils ‘Oh, dream long and slow, But it don’t mean nothing ‘bout the way things go.’ Another song, Free, is in similar territory, a radio-friendly romp that highlights the superb Lloyd Maines on pedal steel, great drumming from Mathias Bossi and a feel-good bass line, courtesy of Jon Evans.
There are two songs that linger most in the memory - Lone Star, with some sublime pedal steel from Lloyd Maines and the lines, ‘It’s a real sure thing, We’re all gonna fall, I’d rather spill the cup, Than feel nothing at all, This lone star…’ With the last line elongated on the vocal as pedal steel wraps around the melody – just superb! The other song is Alice, somewhat autobiographic, I would hazard a guess, ‘Back when we could be anything, If we could see us now, would we be laughing?’ The pain of love and illusions shattered.
This is a really enjoyable album showcasing a prolific singer-songwriter who is really gathering momentum in her career. The superb interplay of the musicians is also another reason to snap this up. A real keeper.
Review by Paul McGee