Month: November 2010

After hearing a couple of minutes of Gossip, Inspiration & Slander, one’s first reaction might be, “Who is this guy?”

Bryan Clark was nine when he was given a guitar, and by high school, he was playing in rock bands. The summer before his senior year, he attended a Berklee College of Music guitar camp and realized, “if I was going to do this (guitar) as a career, it was going to require some serious effort.”

He proceeded to earn an undergraduate degree in music, as well as a masters and doctorate at the University of Southern California. At U.S.C., he discovered bluegrass while listening to the Ricky Skaggs’ albums Ancient Tones and Bluegrass Rules, saying he was, “blown away by the level of musicianship. There was so much akin to jazz with all the improvisation going on.”

Gossip, Inspiration & Slander is a self-produced double CD with one disc dedicated to acoustic music while the other is all electric. The acoustic disc features a veritable pantheon of Nashville’s best, including Casey Dreissen on fiddle, Chris Pandolfi on banjo, Matt Flinner on mandolin, Bryn Bright on stand-up bass, and Clark on all the guitar parts. It combines eight Clark originals with two well-worn instrumental standards, “Blackberry Blossom,” and “Bill Cheatum.” On these two war horses, Clark demonstrates he has something new to say. His acoustic guitar playing is awesome – clean, precise, and musically inventive. To say he can keep up with the likes of Dreissen and Pandolfi is an understatement. The eight Clark originals display a facility with both lyrics and melodies that rivals any songwriter currently working in bluegrass. His song “Midnight Kisses” combines especially clever visual imagery with a chorus that is more addictive than a box of chocolates.

On the electric CD, Clark plays every instrument except rhythm guitar and bass on one cut. All the songs are also Clark originals, with two versions of his song “Angelyne.” The acoustic CD frames it in a swing/hot-picking arrangement while the electric rendition shows how far he can push the song into R&B inflected country, complete with background singers and syncopated handclaps. Clark’s singing and guitar playing easily rank with the top big-name country stars like Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. He’s simply a monster player, songwriter, singer, and a musical force of prodigious talent who deserves attention.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Jun. ’09 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Jack Bruce may be best known as one third of Cream. A brilliant and prolific composer who dabbled in jazz, rock, folk, and world music, Bruce was more known for his busy approach to bass playing. Equally at home on piano, where he composed much of his recorded output over the years, and adept at bowed instruments, he’s also a passable guitar player.

This new six-CD box collects the best from 30 years of Bruce’s career – the early jazz, rock with Cream, his early solo work, and his prolific (though lower-profile) output that followed. Along the way, he has worked with many of the greatest names in rock and jazz. His compositions may not be the most accessible, but they’re never boring, with twists and turns, unexpected tempo changes, and his sense of melody is enhanced by fine vocal ability.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Mar. ’09 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Brothers Jason and Paul Ivey propel this band using their guitars and voices to purvey well-written rock songs with thoughtful lyrics and fine playing.

The Iveys’ guitars soar like they were brought up on a diet of the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Keyboardist Eric Brigman supplies a bridge that allows them to play great solos, many dominated by harmonies that become integral to their tunes. “For the Moment” is a good example. It starts with one guitar playing a crisp one-note line, while the other throws melodic leads between vocal lines. Its solo starts with a nod to Dickey Betts’ best playing, then dips into a solo with heavy wah before the second guitar joins in. It all meshes beautifully.

All the solos here share a big Les Paul sound – big, punchy, driving, and right up-front in the mix.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Apr. ’09 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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For Hank Williams Sr. collectors who have all his studio material, the Holy Grail has been recordings of his live early morning radio shows, 15 minutes long, broadcast daily over Nashville’s WSM in 1951 and sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour. The station recorded some of these shows to run if Hank and his band, the Drifting Cowboys, were on tour. After years of legal wrangling over ownership of these transcribed disc recordings, the courts awarded rights to his two children, Hank Williams Jr. and his half-sister, Jett Williams.

This meticulously produced 54 song, three-CD collection features intense renditions of Hank’s classics like “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love With You” (not yet released by his label), “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “California Zephyr” (a tune he never commercially recorded) and “Mind Your Own Business.” He also sang others’ hits, among them a dignified rendition of the Sons of the Pioneers’ “Cool Water” and edgy interpretations of Moon Mullican’s 1950 hit “Cherokee Boogie” and Ernest Tubb’s “Seamen’s Blues.” Anyone recalling “On Top of Old Smoky” as a sweet folk tune sung mainly by kids will be amazed to hear Hank’s eerie old-school rendition, sung as he learned it in Alabama. That said, nearly half the songs here are raw country gospel, traditional hymns, sacred songs associated with other country acts like the Bailes Brothers as well as a few Hank religious originals, which means aside from more upbeat country and religious tunes, there’s a fair amount of slow, somber material.

The Cowboys’ bare-bones presence frames Hank’s vocals and simple but effective rhythm guitar. Along with Jerry Rivers’ fiddle, Don Helms’ Gibson Console Grande steel and electric guitarist Sammy Pruett, who favored Gibson’s or Epiphone, dominate the background. The high-pitched chords Helms played remain the instrumental trademark of Hank’s music. As for Pruett, a gifted guitarist, deferring to Hank’s insistence that Cowboys play simply behind his vocals, the guitarist stuck to dead-string rhythm and brief solos. His true skills emerged on the Cowboys’ instrumental showcases.

Judging from the animated patter between songs between Hank, the band and WSM announcer Louie Buck, it’s obvious Hank Williams the man – not the legend – was far more amiable than believed by those who view him through the pretentious stereotype of the “tragic troubadour heading down the Lost Highway.” The music here is timeless, yet these live performances reflect Hank’s spirit and passion, not to mention the elemental excellence of the Drifting Cowboys.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Mar. ’09 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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The ’60s produced some mighty weird bands, perhaps none odder than the Electric Prunes. The group is primarily known for its 1967 hit “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” and the album Mass in F Minor, a Catholic mass sung entirely in Latin. 1968’s Release of an Oath was the band’s forth release, though you couldn’t really call them a “band” by this time, since the original members were gone and the venture was being run by manager Larry Poncher, producer David Hassinger, and songwriter David Axelrod. For this album and its followup, new musicians were drafted from L.A. and Colorado (among those floating through the band at the time were future notables like Kenny Loggins and bassist Randy Meisner of Poco and Eagles fame).

Like Mass in F Minor, Axelrod composed all music for Oath, again using a religious theme. The “gimmick” this time was to record a concept album based on a sacred Jewish prayer. The music itself is essentially period ’60s rock with lots of strings and vocals. The most interesting bit for musicians, however, is that top L.A. session musicians appeared on the album, such as bassist Carol Kaye, keyboardist Don Randi and jazz-guitarist Howard Roberts. The latter delivers a wild, fuzzed-out lead on “Holy Are You” – all the more intriguing since it’s a purely rock lead, bearing none of the jazz stylings Roberts is famous for.

Ultimately, Release of an Oath is for the true connoisseur of psychedelia – all the more so since the entire CD runs a paltry 25 minutes (clearly, it could have been combined on a single disc with another fresh Prunes reissue, 1969’s Just Good Old Rock and Roll). Still, one can’t help but wonder what influence both Mass in F Minor and Oath may have had on the oncoming waves of Woodstock-era Christian rock, such as “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Godspell,” or even Norman Greenbaum’s 1969 hit “Spirit in the Sky.” Perhaps this early attempt to fuse rock and religion – as weird as they were – is the true legacy of the Electric Prunes.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Aug ’07 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Walter Becker is the stringed part of the Steely Dan equation, and like partner Donald Fagen has taken his time coming up with a solo record to follow his 11 Tracks of Whack from 1994.

This album is dominated by sinewy, jazz-based songs with slinky guitars, funky bass, and lots of odd keyboard and horn charts. Becker mostly plays bass, like in the early days of Dan. But he also plays several guitar solos. Other guitars are from familiar (to Dan fans, at least) names like Jon Herington, Dean Parks, and Larry Klein, a bassist who has played for and produced numerous artists.

Becker’s voice is an acquired taste, containing little of the soul, wit, or sarcasm Fagen adds to the songs the two wrote as a team. It’s monotone, but has improved greatly since the last record. His writing is just what you’d expect – lyrics tell of situations you want to see only from the outside, not be part of. “Somebody’s Saturday Night” is full of the expected humor, while “Bob is Not Your Uncle Anymore” has a great lyric. Musically, the songs lean in a couple directions. The funk of cuts like “Somebody’s Saturday Night” is lean and tight, and “Three-Picture Deal” even brings a bit of stylish disco in its chorus. But the island apparently has been calling Becker lately, as there are strong elements of island styles on many of these songs. It works well, especially given the oddness of some of the lyrics. While far too much time passes between doses of Becker/Fagan music, it’s always worth the wait.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Sept. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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Mike Zito’s debut disc is brimming with Texas-style fire and soul, even though he’s from St. Louis!

Zito uses a variety of Strat tones and employs chops chock full of soul. His vocals have a throaty, pinched delivery, and his songs here are well-written, with nods to funk, blues, and modern rock. “Universe” is a mix of all three, with crunchy chords, a strong, bluesy vocal, great lyrics, a nasty solo with heavy wah in the middle, and a heavy rock solo out. “No Big City” is a funky rocker with great changes and a good show of his guitar-soloing skills. On cuts like “Hollywood” he proves he can write songs that have musical hooks that stick in your head. The repeated figure is impossible to forget. “Holding Out For Love” lets Zito stretch a bit, opening with a nice octave figure that reappears, with fine soul-music changes in between.

There are also great acoustic moments. “Time to Go Home” and “Today” are strong songs with great lyrics and a fine feel. Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” is done up quietly and (against all odds) works perfectly. Given the makeup of this record, it’s amazing how well the song fits with Zito’s stylistic mix. Former Prince buddy David Z produced the record with Tony Braunagel, and Zito is joined by a fine cast of musicians, including Hutch Hutchinson (bass), and longtime Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench. They, along with Zito’s fine writing and to-the-point playing, help make this a stirring debut from a promising artist.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Sept. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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When Alex Woodard was a kid, his sister spoonfed him the music of her favorite rocker, Tom Petty. Five albums later, the effect still holds. Woodard’s arrangements, phrasing, and even the timbre of his voice combine to make much of this album sound like a songwriter’s demo for Petty.

But a whole lot of Woodard shows through, too. He has a way of sketching a story, as on “Reno,” a duet with violinist Sara Watkins that tells of two souls finding their intendeds at a desert truck stop. The unblushing romanticism of “Older” and “Beautiful Now” and Woodard’s self-deprecating sense of humor and handy way of turning a phrase in “Hoops” make the cuts some of the album’s best. Like John Mellencamp and Bob Seger, much of Woodard’s country-tinged (with mandolin, banjo, lap and pedal steel) power-pop has the feel of working-class hope… of leaving the played-out old for the unexplored new.

Woodard mostly passes up “guitar stud” solos for big-chorded washes, highlighting the similarities with Seger and Mellencamp.

Five albums is a lot for any songwriter – most are down to dog ends by then. But Woodard’s background as an ex-surfer, ex-child actor, ex-economics student, ex-investment company/internet-business worker helped him come up with a solid fifth album, with songs full of blood and humor and life. You can’t always judge a man by his resumé.

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This article originally appeared in VG’s Dec. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

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