Last year Milwaukee’s own Steve Miller released Bingo!, a fine collection of blues and r&b covers. Back in 2008, Miller got together with his road band and recorded a bunch of songs that they cut there teeth playing in clubs and bars but couldn’t fit in Millers live shows.
This year finds the second half of those sessions on Let Your Hair Down (Road Runner).
These are not throwaway tracks deemed unworthy to be included on Bingo! Miller simply recorded enough stuff to warrant two full releases. His approach to music has been simple straightforward guitar rock with a dash of blues influence.
Sometimes that influence was blatantly obvious and other times it was sorta hidden in the pop. Remember as a boy here in Milwaukee, Miller’s Dad, who was a musician would have guys like Les Paul and T-Bone Walker come over and jam which obviously influenced Miller.
Miller and his band righteously pay tribute to the likes of Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters and Elmore James. If there’s a knock here it’s Miller’s use of Sonny Charles as a vocalist on six tracks.
Part of Miller’s charm is his character and a large part of that character is his unique vocals. Not a great singer and his vocals don’t have a lot of range but they are heartfelt and honest. They are missed.
Standouts include “Got Love If You Want It,” “Can’t Be Satisfied,” “Love The Life I Live” and “No More Doggin.'” Let Your Hair Down is not a game changing album but these two Steve Miller Band albums (his first since 1993) are a great intro to an anticipated summer.
Steve Earle has been through the wringer. Here’s a guy that’s been married seven times (!), defeated a wicked heroin addiction and thrown in jail on firearm charges. I’m not exploiting his life, it’s more to get a feeling on where this guy is coming from on his latest effort I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (New West).
When he released his debut Guitar Town he was hailed as a combination of rocker Bruce Springsteen and retro country star Dwight Yoakum and throughout his career he hasn’t done anything to change that perception.
T-Bone Burnett though produces this one and he’s again using many of the same musician’s as he has on both the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration and on Gregg Allman’s latest release Low Country Blues. They’re great players but it’s getting a bit old. It’s kinda like when Phil Collins played in the band Genesis, his own solo records as well as on Eric Clapton and Phillip Bailey material.
Uncle!
To Earle’s credit, it’s his natural musical demeanor, which makes his latest effort tolerable… barely. There’s no question that Earle is a treasure and a bit of an outlaw. A great writer who can write a sensitive love ballad on one hand and on the next, write a scathing political rocker.
On the few times this albums good it’s because of Earle’s grittiness, in his guitar playing and his dirty-snarkey vocals, which has the power to overcome Burnett’s stereotyped production. Standouts include “Heaven Or Hell,” “God Is God,” “This City” and my favorite “Little Emperor” otherwise that’s pretty much it.
I always keep an eye open towards the current trend of guys that keep the r&b tradition alive. Guys like D’Angelo, Maxwell and Kem are ok in my book. An artist though that has been a bit of a disappointment on his last few cd’s is Musiq Soulchild.
His latest Musiq InTheMagiq (Atlantic) is pretty much a cliché as is his stupid way of spelling. Gee, I mean is he even trying? His writing, his production, his attitude and his desire seem to be waning. What was once the brightest star in an energetic group of Neo Soul Singers has become just another guy with another cd.
After first singles “Anything” and “SilverAndGold” there really isn’t much substance here.
Here’s a cool little cd that snuck out a couple weeks back. In January 1965 ABC/Paramount released Ray Charles Live In Concert, a recording of a Sept. 1964 show in Los Angeles. It was a big deal because it was recorded at a time when Charles started dabbling in Country music.
Flash-forward to April of this year and Concord Records has released a spruced up version expanding the albums original 11 tracks to a whopping 19.
Winning!
Very cool expanded notes as well explaining that ABC’s president didn’t tell Charles that the show was being recorded because he didn’t want Ray to be nervous during the show. Smart move, the show is very spontaneous.
Standouts include “I Got A Woman,” “Georgia On My Mind,” “You Don’t Know Me” and well… I guess everything.
