Marcia Ball: So Many Rivers - Alligator

If you caught any of her last Alligator release you’re in for more of the same fine music. She dedicated this disc to songwriters and it’s true, the songs she chooses are more than a good hook, whether she writes them or not. Lots of challenges for a band that’s more than up for it swing, up beat boogie, a nice New Orleans mix, 3 or 4 strong ballads where her voice can call upon the ghosts. Guitarist Pat Boyack shines on 300 Pounds Of Hongry. She does some strong storytellin’ about a Hurricane On China Lake. It all sounds good but her boogie woogie rounds out the same good feeling she accomplished on Presumed Innocent. Very satisfying again, and Foreclose On The House Of Love stuck right in my head for easy heavy rotation. - Marlee Walker

The Black Keys: Thickfreakness - Fat Possum

While using as much reverb as Hendrix ever did and a jam band ease of Faces, The Black Keys play a minimalist style of bluesy-rock. The duo—Dan Auerbach on vocals and guitar, and Patrick Carney on drums (and production)—are another band rewriting the rules of blues for the 21st century. Like the North Mississippi All-Stars, 20 Miles, or the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Black Keys draw from the influences of Junior Kimbrough, Fred McDowell, and R.L. Burnside to create a gritty and unapologetically abrasive sound. Thick Freakness, the band’s debut for Fat Possum, sounds like a live recording minus the audience. With no bass player, the duo relies on volume, heavy drum beats, and high energy. Dan is an accomplished guitarist whose style ranges from Eric Clapton to Steve Jones. He successfully borrows licks from Cream on the title track and uses George Harrison’s “Taxman” distortion on “Hard Row.” Covers of Junior Kimbrough’s “Everywhere I Go” and Richard Berry’s “Have Love Will Travel” are included on the 38 minutes of hard drivin’ material.

With the White Stripes and The Hives phenomena taking a hold of the music world as Grunge did in the early ’90s, The Black Keys are without question another band to keep an eye on. - Tony Engelhart

John Hiatt & The Goners: Beneath This Gruff Exterior - New West

John Hiatt was better known for his songwriting ability than his performing until just recently. In fact, it took him 13 years to find a widespread audience and chart success. Perhaps John’s extended search for a sound that best fit him was to blame. Nevertheless, in the process everyone from Bonnie Raitt, Ronnie Milsap, and Dr. Feelgood to Iggy Pop, Three Dog Night, and the Neville Brothers have recorded Hiatt’s tunes. Hiatt finally settled on a rootsy fusion of rock & roll, country, blues, and folk with his 1987 album Bring the Family. While the record did little for John Hiatt’s solo career, it did establish him as a premier songwriter as “Have A Little Faith In Me” was covered by Joe Cocker and Delbert McClinton and “Thing Called Love” catapulted Bonnie Raitt into superstardom. Hiatt’s next two discs – Slow Burn and Stolen Moments – would find the singer/songwriter more chart success than ever before. However, it was his 1993 release, Perfectly Good Guitar that would finally capture the attention of radio stations and record buyers.

Beneath This Gruff Exterior doesn’t deviate much from his past eight records as Hiatt’s grooves are still a combination of blues, rock and roll, and country. His gravelly voice, jam-band style, and slide guitar work give this recording the eclectic John Hiatt trademark sound that his fans have come to embrace. The first single, “My Baby Blue”, has already found heavy rotation on both blues and adult alternative radio. Sonny Landreth reunites with the Goners and lays down some tasty electric slide on cuts “The Last Time“ and funky dobro licks on such tracks as the blues-country “Fly Back Home” and “Missing Pieces”.

While Beneath This Gruff Exterior isn’t as experimental as 2001’s The Tiki Bar Is Open on which Hiatt used drum loops and the occasional overdub to enhance his rootsy sound, it is vintage John Hiatt. Chock-full of well written songs, superb musicianship, and a nice balance of different styles, this disc will please Hiatt fans without question.
- Tony Engelhart

The Yardbirds: Birdland - Favored Nations

The Yardbirds are probably best remembered for launching three of Britain’s most influential guitarists: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. While the band’s revolving door would prove to be beneficial for the three guitar players, it would limit US success and eventually cause the group to formally disband in 1968. While they were together, they created some of the most influential music of the time. Like the Rolling Stones, their music resonated with influence from artists such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Sonny Boy Williams.

Now 35 years after Jimmy Page left the group to form Led Zeppelin, founding members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty have reformed the band. Now the Yardbirds consist of Gypie Mayo (formally of Dr. Feelgood) on lead guitar, John Idan on bass and vocals, and Alan Glen (who has worked with Little Axe and is a former member of the band Nine Below Zero) on harmonica. On the newly formed band’s first release, Birdland, they enlist help from some of the artists that their music affected, artists such as Brian May (formerly of Queen), Slash (formerly of Guns & Roses), Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.

As expected, this new incarnation of the legendary Yardbirds dusts off a few of their best known songs: “Train Kept A Rollin” (with Santriani), “Shapes of Things To Come” (with Vai), “Mr. You’re a Better Man Than I” (with May), and “For Your Love” with the Goo Goo Dolls’ Johnny Rzeznik on lead vocals. Not content with being labeled an oldies act, the group laid down 7 new tracks, most notably “My Blind Life” on which former member Jeff Beck lends his signature guitar pillaging. Even though there are only two original members (the original lead singer, Keith Relf was tragically killed 1976), the Yardbirds sound as fresh as they did during the British invasion of the 1960s. - Tony Engelhart

© 2003