Month: October 2012

Greg Trooper’s music displays a variety of influences – bluesy inflections from R&B coupled with rootsy country melodies and arrangements. On his latest release, he handles most of the acoustic guitar, with veteran guitar-slinger Michael McAdam adding slide and electric guitar.

Co-produced by Trooper, keyboardist Kevin McKendree, and bassist Stewart Lerman, the album’s arrangements are designed to let the songs breathe. “First True Love” features Trooper’s fingerpicked guitar augmented by a spare bass line and minimalist piano and electric guitar.

Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Maura O’Connell, Vince Gill, Robert Earl Keen, and Lucy Kaplansky have recorded songs written by Trooper. One listen to Upside-Down Town and you’ll know why.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s May ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Todd Snider’s new two-disc set is as much about his stage presence as it is about his songs and stories.

Snider can be funny, poignant, and sad all in the same song, as he proves on “Greencastle Blues.” He also shines on “The Ballad of the Kingsmen,” where he defends rock and roll, and “America’s Favorite Pastime,” which talks about former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Doc Ellis throwing a no-hitter while tripping on acid.

The real fun, though, happens on cuts like a remake of the Rusty Wier song “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance,” where Snider spins a yarn about how he came to be a singer.

A cautionary note; Snider makes ample use of salty language. He also references drugs many times, which doesn’t always translate well to record. But that’s Snider – the guy with the hippy attitude traveling in a van, singing folks songs.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s May ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Magic Sam’s debut album had an immediate impact when it was released in late ’67 and has stood the test of time – cited as a seminal influence by such formidable guitarists as Ronnie Earl, David Grissom, Bobby Radcliff, and Jimmie Vaughan.

Sam Maghett was 30 when he recorded the classic, having previously cut less than a dozen singles on small Chicago labels. Influences like Otis Rush and Freddie King are evident, but Sam was definitely his own man. He was a true blues stylist – to the extent that when players later dipped into his licks or repertoire they were “doing Magic Sam.” He possessed a high, soaring voice, and his ultra-fast finger vibrato was a natural extension of his singing style.

The original “That’s All I Need” shows that Sam was adept at then-current soul sounds without resorting to James Brown impersonations a la Junior Wells. But “Feelin’ Good” reaches back to Junior Parker’s Sun recording, and “Sweet Home Chicago” is perhaps the definitive electric version of the Robert Johnson song.

“All Your Love” features the chord-vamping, tremolo, and single-note staccato bursts that were Magic Sam trademarks. The instrumental tour de force “Lookin’ Good” adds complexity to a basic Hooker boogie without sacrificing groove, and his version of Willie Dixon’s “My Love Will Never Die” (previously recorded by Otis Rush) is at once beautiful, sad, and almost scary.

Black Magic (Delmark, 1969) was the only other album Sam released in his lifetime. A strong follow-up, it was not as transcendent as its classic predecessor.

When Maghett died of a heart attack at 32 in December of ’69, he had two Fillmore gigs under his belt and interest from Atlantic’s Jerry Wexler. After he passed, Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Albert Collins, Jerry Hahn, and others played a benefit at Fillmore West, to raise money for his family.

The new Digipak edition of the album was remastered from engineer Stu Blank’s original analog mix. Additional photographs are included, along with original liner notes by label head Bob Koester and Bill Lindemann (the former academic, the latter pedestrian) and new commentary by Don Wilcock that’s as confusing as it is uninformed. “It was incidental that there was a growing audience of young, white people beginning to realize that Sam’s sound was the root of rock and roll,” he concludes. “Or that we would lose him before Jimi Hendrix, Jackie Wilson, and Otis Redding.” Never mind that Redding died two years before Sam; what point is Wilcock trying to make?

Aside from such unfortunate sloppiness, it’s too bad more “deluxe” features aren’t included – namely more tracks. The alternate take of “Don’t Want No Woman” is nice, but, considering Delmark posthumously issued an LP of outtakes (The Magic Sam Legacy), another of solo home demos (Give Me Time), and the live Rockin’ Wild In Chicago, even adding a sampling of those cuts onto this 45-minute disc would have been welcome.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s May ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Minneapolis’ Jayhawks always had more in common with their compatriots the Replacements and Prince than may have been apparent at first blush. The ’Hawks too had a magical way with a melody, crafting glorious hooks that made them stand out as forerunners, bringing a pop sensibility to their music – in the Jayhawks’ case, alt-country and alt-rock.

With the release of Hollywood Town Hall in 1992, the band hit all the right chords. Two years later, Tomorrow the Green Grass was their masterpiece, if not their expected commercial breakthrough.

Then, the beautiful harmonies sung by bandleaders Mark Olson and Gary Louris were silenced when Olson grew tired of the grind. The band, sans Olson, released a string of strong albums and in recent years, reunited. Now, there are promises of a new album.

In anticipation, Sony Legacy has bestowed classic status on the Jayhawks’ two most famed albums by releasing expanded editions. The Expanded Edition of Hollywood Town Hall includes five bonus tracks; two previously unreleased, two B-sides from a foreign single, and one track previously commercially unavailable.

The Legacy Edition of Tomorrow the Green Grass features the original recording remastered, as overseen by Louris and Olson. The two-CD set also includes five bonus tracks (non-album B-sides and previously unreleased tracks) as well as the first official release of the band ’s Mystery Demos – 18 tracks cut by Olson and Louris in ’92 that served as the workbook for these two albums.

Listening to these again refreshes the memory of how good the band was in the first place. The addition of pianist Karen Grotberg on the second album cemented the band, and brought a sense of sonic lightness. The Jayhawks’ songcraft was simple, yet stylish – much like the Replacements. And the melodic hooks were sharp and sometimes even barbed – akin to Prince.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s May ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

On the cover of My Kind of Country, Nathan Stanley looks a bit like Elvis, with big sideburns, slicked-back hair, and shades. But unlike some Las Vegas clone, Stanley was born into bluegrass/ country royalty – he’s the grandson of Dr. Ralph Stanley – and served time with his grandfather’s band, The Clinch Mountain Boys. His latest album salutes traditional country music and features a plethora of Opry superstars.

Accompanied by the likes of Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, Little Jimmy Dickens, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Larry Sparks, Stella Parton, Patty Loveless, John Anderson, Vince Gill, and of course Dr. Ralph Stanley, Nathan Stanley soldiers his way through 22 country classics. From “Love’s Gonna Live Here” to “A Satisfied Mind,” he enshrines all the songs in arrangements that are half Chet Atkins’ Nashville sound and half Buck Owens’ Bakersfield twang. Most of the songs begin with Stanley singing lead, his voice smooth as a baby’s cheeks, his delivery reminiscent of Willie Nelson.

Stanley isn’t afraid to mess with classics. He does a good job bringing “Act Naturally” back to its roots, while his version of “Long Black Veil” is very unlike Lefty Frizell’s original – he even changes the chord progression. “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry” gets s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d like homemade saltwater taffy, while “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” gets a hot-country treatment that works nicely. Maybe there’s something to that genetics thing…

This article originally appeared in VG‘s May ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.