The Derek Trucks Band

Songlines

Columbia

These are heady days for slide guitar fans.

The old guard (Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Sonny Landreth) continues to crank out albums, although with age the output seems to have slowed to about one every five years - collectively.

Meanwhile, the next generation (Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars; sacred-steeler-gone-wild Robert Randolph; and Trucks, who also is in the Allman Brothers and will be joining Doyle Bramhall II to back Eric Clapton on a European tour from May through July) has emerged.

Like Cooder, Trucks has taken a shine to world music, at least of the Indian variety. He’s also displayed an affinity for jazz, blues, country, soul, gospel and Latin.

What makes “Songlines” different from other Derek Trucks Band albums is the incorporation of a full-time singer into what has been a predominantly instrumental lineup. Mike Mattison of the Minneapolis/St. Paul duo Scrapomatic was a good choice, as his soulful vocals fit the group’s eclecticism like a glove.

This time the musical grab bag includes songs by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Taj Mahal, Toots Hibbert, O.V. Wright and Nina Simone, as well as five original compositions and a traditional number.

The term songlines, incidentally, is derived from the Aborigines’ belief that their elders traveled the continent literally singing their world into existence. The “songlines” they created became a map for finding one’s way through life.

Tracks

1. Volunteered Slavery
2. I’ll Find My Way
3. Crow Jane
4. Sahib Teri Bandi / Maki Madni
5. Chevrolet
6. Sailing On
7. Revolution
8. I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled And Crazy
9. All I Do
10. Mahjoun
11. I Wish I Knew
12. This Sky

Total time: 53:46

External Links

artist’s link
amazon.com
iTunes Store

Tags: indian, rock, world

El Capitan

What Ails You

Self-released

Poco meets Pink Floyd?

El Capitan, a San Francisco-based group of modern-day space cowboys, are on to something. After all, David Gilmour used a pedal steel on “Dark Side of the Moon’s” opener, “Breathe.”

Or is it Grateful Dead meets Yes? “What Ails You,” El Capitan’s first full-length, features a generous dose of fuzzed-out lap steel, sounding somewhat like Jerry Garcia’s “American Beauty”-era pedal steel; and its lyrics are esoteric enough to earn the Jon Anderson Seal of Approval. Get a load of this slice from “Silo Song”:

Salt wind dash along a pastel plain
On the feathers of an immigrant constellation 
Over the siren flyways of the mariposa lane 
Above an outta-place silo for the alpine grain

Rounding out the group’s well-thought-out, much-practiced sound are electric, resonator and acoustic guitars; banjo; harmonica; keyboards; accordion; violin; bass; and drums. But don’t let the rustic lineup fool you: This is about as far from bluegrass as possible.

Whatever planet El Capitan is from, rest assured they come in peace - to grab listeners with a tractor beam of solid musicianship, rural themes and laid-back melodies, and transport them to the far corners of the cosmos. At least until the CD ends.

Tracks

1. Manzanita I
2. Osage Orange
3. Bonny Doon
4. May
5. Metronome
6. Cat’s Cradle
7. Silo Song
8. Key Of K
9. Manzanita II
10. Fare Alone Sound
11. Clementine Bells

Total time: 35:47

External Tracks

artist’s link
Miles of Music

Tags: americana, psychedelic, rock

Various Artists

A Case for Case:
A Tribute to the Songs of Peter Case

Hungry for Music 

The sheer size of this tribute speaks volumes (three, to be exact) about the peer recognition troubadour Case has.

And yet, more people know who the Plimsouls were than know who Case is. But that doesn’t bother “The Man With the Blue Postmodern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar,” as he named his 1989 album. He just keeps at it, obviously for love of art and not of money.

Which brings up the point of this CD: a benefit for Hungry for Music, a nonprofit whose mission is “to inspire underprivileged children (and others) by bringing positive musical and creative experiences into their lives … through its musical instrument donations, concerts and workshops.”

The fact is, no “regular” record label could have come up with a various artists collection of modern folk-rock if they’d tried. Just look at the participants.

Especially good are the contributions from Hayes Carll, Susan Cowsill, Victoria Williams, Dave Alvin, Joe Ely, Last Train Home, Will Kimbrough, Gurf Morlix, Chris Gaffney and Western Electric.

Tracks

Disc One
1. Hayes Carll - Beyond the Blues
2. Maura O’Connell - Blue Distance
3. Lester Chambers - Walking Home Late
4. Tom Russell - A Little Wind (Could Blow Me Away)
5. Sam Baker - Still Playin’
6. Chuck Prophet - Three Days Straight
7. Jackie Greene - Ice Water
8. Susan Cowsill - Honeychild
9. Mark Winsick Band - Rise And Shine
10. Chris Smither - Cold Trail Blues
11. Jodie Manross & Laith Keilany -Green Blanket
12. Bob Neuwirth - Power, Lust And Money
13. Richard Buckner - Poor Old Tom
14. Kim Richey - First Light
15. Timothy Bracken - Turnin’ Blue
16. Victoria Williams - Drunkard’s Harmony 

Disc Two
1. Dave Alvin - On My Way Downtown
2. Joe Ely - Put Down The Gun
3. Todd Snider - Travelin’ Light
4. James McMurtry - Old Part Of Town
5. Ronny Elliott - Horse And Crow
6. Mary Battiata - Paradise, Etc.
7. Last Train Home - Baltimore
8. Amy Rigby - Beautiful Grind
9. Will Kimbrough - Moves Me Deeply
10. Pieta Brown - Spell Of Wheels
11. Gurf Morlix - Evening Raga
12. Amilia K Spicer - Never Coming Home
13. Jesse DeNatale - I Hear Your Voice
14. Claire Holley - Two Angels
15. Peter Mulvey - Hidden Love
16. Gary Heffern - I Shook His Hand 

Disc Three
1.Timothy Bracken Three-Way -Everyday Things
2. The Kennedys - Great Big World
3. Chris Gaffney - Zero Hour
4. Western Electric - When You Find Out
5. Brindley Brothers - Oldest Story In The World
6. Steve Wynn - Million Miles Away
7. Brad Rice - Something’s Coming
8. Mark Mulcahy - Small Town Spree
9. John Prine - Space Monkey
10. Steven Jackson - Crooked Mile
11. Bill Kirchen - This Town’s A Riot
12. Mike Martt - Wake-Up Call
13. Kevin Kinney - Walk In The Woods
14. Marvin Etzioni - Old Blue Car
15. Jeffrey Foucault - Entella Hotel

BONUS
16. Peter Case - Beyond The Blues (live) 

Total time: 3:27:06

External Links

artist’s link
Hungry for Music
amazon.com

Tags: blues, country, folk, rock

BR549

Dog Days

Dualtone

After deconstructing and reconstructing itself not once but twice, BR549 is back as a leaner unit, with an album recorded differently than the others and a fresh outlook.

Opting to reunite as a quartet rather than a quintet, the remaining three original members (including the prodigal multi-instrumentalist who left to be Bob Dylan’s pedal steel player) recruited a new bassist and started from scratch in the studio, without the usual new songs already broken in on tour.

All the personnel changes and time off seem to have been beneficial, as “Dog Days” is an invigorating batch of songs. The retro shtick has been toned way down, and there’s some genuine experimentation in the arrangements.

“Poison” sounds like it could be a damn good “O Brother, Where Art Thou” outtake. “Lower Broad St. Blues” is a perfect song for Dan Hicks to cover on his next album. The piss-and-vinegar “Leave It Alone” has some of the tastiest twang this side of Duane Eddy - but with all the verve of a classic Webb Wilder tune. Special guests the Jordanaires lend a gospel flavor to “The Devil and Me.” And any album that covers a Dave Edmunds song, in this case “A-1 on the Jukebox,” has got to be hip.

Tracks

1. Poison
2. After The Hurricane
3. Lower Broad St. Blues
4. Leave It Alone
5. Bottom Of Priority
6. The Devil And Me
7. I’m Goin’ Down
8. You Are The Queen
9. Cajun Persuasion
10. A-1 On The Jukebox
11. Let Jesus Make You Breakfast

Total time: 37:04

External Links

artist’s link
amazon.com
iTunes Store

Tags: americana, country, rock

Lee Rocker

Racin’ the Devil

Alligator

Rocker has been putting out solo albums since 1994. For his fifth studio release, the former Stray Cat has gathered nine originals (including a bluesy remake of his post-Stray Cats band Phantom, Rocker and Slick’s “Runnin’ From the Hounds”) and three covers (Quentin Jones‘ “The Girl From Hell,” Carl Perkins’ “Say When” and the Stray Cats’ biggest hit, Brian Setzer’s “Rock This Town”).

Supplementing Rocker on King doublebass is his best backup band yet: Buzz Campbell and Brophy Dale on guitars and Jimmy Sage on drums. Standout tracks include “The River Runs,” “Ramblin’ ” and “Lost on the Highway,” all decidedly nonrockabilly tunes, and the instrumental “Swing This,” which jumps so high it might never come down.

The rest are more or less rockabilly numbers, so it makes for a diverse mix. It’s good to see Rocker starting to branch out a little. Based on the compositions here, it looks like he’s going for less “rock” and more “billy,” and that’s a good thing.

Tracks

1. The Girl From Hell
2. Rock This Town
3. The River Runs
4. Say When
5. Race Track Blues
6. Ramblin’
7. Runnin’ From The Hounds
8. Rockin’ Harder
9. Texarkana To Panama City
10. Lost On The Highway
11. Funny Car Graveyard
12. Swing This

Total time: 39:57

External Links

artist’s link
amazon.com
iTunes Store

Tags: rock, rockabilly