Hot Club of Cowtown - Rendezvous in Rhythm

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Good, not great

I like this disc - it's an enjoyable reworking of jazz standards in the style of Reinhardt and Grapelli with a slight country tang. It is good but I can't quite share the unbridled enthusiasm of some other reviewers.

The three musicians play very well and almost capture that wonderful Quintette du Hot Club de France sound and flavour - almost but not quite. Somehow the real soul and magnificent, can't-sit-still swing isn't quite there, and although there's plenty to like in the playing I couldn't quite love it. I also found the vocals rather flat (emotionally, not musically) throughout which didn't help.

It is harsh to compare anyone to Reinhardt and Grapelli who were both genuine geniuses and I don't mean to be too critical, but if you're playing in this style the comparison is inevitable. It's a likeable CD, but to be honest its main effect for me was to make me go and get my Reinhardt and Grapelli recordings out and listen to them again. Plainly others have loved this and I wouldn't want to put anyone off. This is a good disc by three fine musicians - it just didn't quite do it for me.

Jack Day - The First Ten

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good debut

I like this album, although for me this is an album which shows great promise rather than a great album in itself.

Jack Day is a good performer. There is some very nice guitar work here and his voice has an alluring roughness and world-weariness which he uses well. I am less keen on the piano playing which is pretty ordinary and which to my ears doesn't work so well with this material, but it does provide some welcome variety of tone.

It is the slight sameness of tone in the sound and the material which gives me my reservations about this album. I like the feel of it - it reminds me in places of early Michael Chapman (which is high praise) and of Donovan in others - and there are some enjoyable and rather haunting songs here, but this feels to me very much like a debut album and I think Jack Day needs to bring a little more variety and depth to his songwriting if he is to develop into more than a good folk-circuit performer. I suspect he may well do this, and he's one to watch, I think.

This isn't a great album but it's well worth checking out if you like guitarist-singer-songwriters with a sort of late-60s feel and but some slightly more modern sounding production. I'm glad I have heard this album and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for Jack Day's work in future.

Tony Joe White - Rain Crow

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A terrific album

This is another terrific album from Tony Joe White.  I loved Hoodoo, and this carries on in exactly the same vein – indeed the opener, Hoochie Woman, bears more than a passing musical resemblance to The Gift – which is absolutely fine by me.  It's what Tony Joe does, and no-one does it like him.

It's probably not worth going on at length because if you know TJW, you'll know what you're getting here.  Swamp blues at its best, with a slightly laid-back sound but a rock-solid beat, insistent bass, mixed-back guitar on lower stings and great vocals which sound as if Tony Joe has just got out of bed the day after a long, long evening of moonshine and music.  I find it irresistible, particularly because his lyrics remain excellent.  He tells a fine story and can create a vivid, almost mystical atmosphere in a few words – like in the opening lines of the title track:

"Was wondrin' 'bout the shadow that keeps crossin' your path;

Don't look nothin' like you, but I'm afraid to ask…"

Brilliant.

Fine music, great performances and excellent production – what more could you want?  If you like this genre, don't hesitate.  This is a bit of class.

John Fullbright - Songs

Rating: 3/5

Review: 
OK but nothing special

I tried this album because I like Amy Speace's work very much and she and John Fullbright have collaborated quite a lot.  Sadly, though, I'm not very impressed with this solo album from Fullbright.

John Fullbright has a nice, slightly mournful voice and he can sing well.  He plays a decent guitar and piano, and the overall sound is quite pleasing.  However, I find his material pretty ordinary, to say the least.  The songs are perfectly OK...but nothing more.  It all sounds pretty generic to me, with nothing that really stands out either musically or lyrically, and I'm afraid I got rather bored after half a dozen songs when I first listened to the album.  Repeated listenings haven't really improved matters, I'm afraid, and I don't think I'll be going back to this much.

I'm sorry to be critical, but there is an awful lot of alt country/Americana around at the moment and for me this just fades into the background.  Recent albums from Eliza Gylkison , Kris Delmhorst and Mary Gauthier for example, show what really good songwriting in this genre is all about, and this album, although perfectly pleasant and acceptable, really isn't in anything like their league.

(I would also highly recommend Amy Speace's album How To Sleep In A Stormy Boat, which features John Fullbright on one track. )

Jake Bugg - Shangri La

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very good follow-up

There was some criticism of this album as unoriginal and not as good as Jake Bugg's debut album. I have to say that I don't agree.  After listening to it a lot I think it is that rare thing: a follow-up album which is as good (or at least nearly as good) as its deservedly phenomenally successful predecessor. It doesn't have that devil-may-care freshness of the first album - but then it wouldn't because that only happens once. The production is a bit fuller and more sophisticated now, and he's widening his style a little but it's still music of real quality.

Jake Bugg's great strength is in singable songs with worthwhile lyrics, which he performs with skill and real feeling, and he does just that on this album. His fine, distinctive voice is still on great form and driving beats are still often in evidence, although there's a good variety here. There's also a variety of production styles which make the opening track, There's A Beast And We All Feed It sound like early Bob Dylan, Me And You could be from a Donovan Album from about 1968, the guitar in Messed Up Kids has strong echoes of Big Country, the instrumental work on Kitchen Table could be from John Martyn or Pentangle (and the vocal reminds me a little of Jason Isbell in places)... and so on. Personally I love all this. It's very well done and nothing sounds like a poor imitation of an original.

I genuinely think this is a very good album which shows that Jake Bugg isn't just a flash in the pan, and will cement his place in the top rank of young British musicians. Warmly recommended.

Ultimate Rock'n'Roll Love Songs

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A brilliant compilation

It's hardly worth me writing a review of this brilliant compilation.  Just take a look at the track list below – it speaks for itself.  From incredibly famous classics by people like The Everlys, Elvis, Connie Francis, Paul Anka and so on to less well-known but still brilliant gems, it's a joy from start to finish. 

The transfers have been well done and the sound is faithful to the originals.  It's a treasure trove of wonderful stuff at a ridiculously low price.  Very warmly recommended.

Disc: 1

  1. Teenager In Love - Dion & The Belmonts - Dion and The Belmonts

  2. Wake Up Little Susie - The Everly Brothers - The Everly Brothers

  3. (Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

  4. Ginny Come Lately - Brian Hyland - Brian Hyland

  5. Sheila - Tommy Roe - Tommy Roe

  6. Dream Lover - Bobby Darin - Bobby Darin

  7. Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly

  8. Pretty Little Angel Eyes - Curtis Lee - Curtis Lee

  9. Since I Don't Have You - The Skyliners - The Skyliners

  10. Three Steps To Heaven - Eddie Cochran - Eddie Cochran

  11. Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson - Ricky Nelson

  12. It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty - Conway Twitty

  13. Stay - Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs - Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs

  14. Poetry In Motion - Johnny Tillotson - Johnny Tillotson

  15. Little Town Flirt - Del Shannon - Del Shannon

  16. My Girl Josephine - Fats Domino - Fats Domino

  17. Need Your Love So Bad - Little Willie John - Little Willie John

  18. Livin' Lovin' Doll - Cliff Richard - Cliff Richard

  19. Diana - Paul Anka - Paul Anka

  20. Dreamin' - Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'N' Roll Trio - Johnny Burnette and The Rock 'n' Roll Trio

  21. Colette - Billy Fury - Billy Fury

  22. Gonna Git That Man - Connie Francis - Connie Francis

  23. What Do You Want? - Adam Faith - Adam Faith

  24. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - Neil Sedaka - Neil Sedaka

  25. Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison - Roy Orbison

Disc: 2

  1. My Special Angel - Bobby Helms - Bobby Helms

  2. Donna - Ritchie Valens - Ritchie Valens

  3. The Girl Of My Best Friend - Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

  4. Lana - Roy Orbison - Roy Orbison

  5. The Wonder Of You - Ray Peterson - Ray Peterson

  6. Little Darlin' - The Diamonds - The Diamonds

  7. ('Til) I Kissed You - The Everly Brothers - The Everly Brothers

  8. Stupid Cupid - Connie Francis - Connie Francis

  9. Lonely Teenager - Dion - Dion

  10. Sweetie Pie - Eddie Cochran - Eddie Cochran

  11. (Girls Girls Girls) Made To Love - Eddie Hodges - Eddie Hodges

  12. Why Do Fools Fall In Love? - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers

  13. Love Potion No. 9 - The Clovers - The Clovers

  14. I'm In Love Again - Fats Domino - Fats Domino

  15. Poor Little Fool - Ricky Nelson - Ricky Nelson

  16. Stairway To Heaven - Neil Sedaka - Neil Sedaka

  17. Princess Princess - Johnny Tillotson - Johnny Tillotson

  18. Fever - Little Willie John - Little Willie John

  19. Goin' Steady - Tommy Sands - Tommy Sands

  20. Little Bitty Pretty One - Thurston Harris & The Sharps - Thurston Harris and The Sharps

  21. Along Came Linda - Tommy Boyce - Tommy Boyce

  22. (Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I - Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

  23. It's All In The Game - Tommy Edwards - Tommy Edwards

  24. Wondrous Place - Billy Fury - Billy Fury

  25. Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance - Ricky Valance

Disc: 3

  1. Oh Carol - Neil Sedaka - Neil Sedaka

  2. Lipstick On Your Collar - Connie Francis - Connie Francis

  3. Everyday - Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly

  4. Runaround Sue - Dion - Dion

  5. It Keeps Rainin' - Fats Domino - Fats Domino

  6. Sealed With A Kiss - Brian Hyland - Brian Hyland

  7. Corinna, Corinna - Ray Peterson - Ray Peterson

  8. Suspicion - Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

  9. Dreamin' About You - Annette Funicello - Annette Funicello

  10. Cradle Of Love - Johnny Preston - Johnny Preston

  11. Just A Little Bit Sweeter - Jerry Meaders - Jerry Meaders

  12. My True Love - Jack Scott - Jack Scott

  13. C'mon Baby - Buddy Knox - Buddy Knox

  14. Well I'm Your Man - Johnny Tillotson - Johnny Tillotson

  15. Blue Angel - Roy Orbison - Roy Orbison

  16. Mister Lonely - The Videls - The Videls

  17. Susie Darlin' - Tommy Roe - Tommy Roe

  18. Please Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes - The Marvelettes

  19. Love Is Strange - Mickey & Sylvia - Mickey and Sylvia

  20. Maybe Tomorrow - Billy Fury - Billy Fury

  21. Sea Of Love - Phil Phillips & The Twilights - Phil Phillips and the Twilights

  22. Under The Moon Of Love - Curtis Lee - Curtis Lee

  23. More Than I Can Say - Bobby Vee - Bobby Vee

  24. It's Late - Ricky Nelson - Ricky Nelson

  25. Bye Bye Love - The Everly Brothers - The Everly Brothers

Eric Clapton - I Still Do

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good album from Eric

My first response to this album was relief.  After the frankly dismal Old Sock, this is Eric back to somewhere near his best in places and although I don't think it's a classic, it's a very decent album.

The material here is a mixture of blues, JJ Cale covers, one or two other standards and a couple of pretty good new songs from Eric.  It all (well, almost all) has a directness and solid musical honesty which is very welcome after Old Sock's slick indulgence and insincere gloss, and Eric seems to me to be back in his natural territory with tracks like the opener Alabama Woman Blues and JJ Cale's Can't Let You Do It, with a sort of semi-acoustic, slightly laid back but robust feel pretty well throughout.  Frankly, I could have done without Little Man, You've Had A Busy Day, but the odd track I don't like on an album is forgivable and most of it is fine, tight and well performed stuff with enough variety to make it a good listen.

OK, this isn't ground-breaking.  There isn't a wealth of new material from Eric and it's largely the man and his (excellent) band doing what he does well in a fairly familiar way with restrained, classy production from the legendary Glyn Johns.  For me, there's nothing wrong with that.  Nothing at all.  And as a Clapton devotee of almost half a century's standing I'm pleased to find he can still make a worthwhile album.  This is more than worthwhile, I think; I like it a lot and I can recommend it.

Kara Grainger - Shiver & Sigh

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A cracking blues album

I stumbled across this album by accident almost and I'm very glad I did - it's an absolutely cracking blues album.

Kara Grainger is a new artist to me, and I'm really impressed. She is a fine guitarist and singer and can really put a song across. There's a variety of styles here but it's all basically blues with a solid, slightly laid-back beat. The band are great - tight and right on the money in every song. She has her own style but you can hear influences from all over the blues canon ( Tony Joe White in Little Pack Of Lies and the spirit of JJ Cale in I'm Not Ready, for example) and there are even hints of funk in places.

My advice is to listen to a few samples. Personally, I was hooked a few bars into the first track and I suspect that a lot of others will be, too. This has been a really good discovery for me, and I'll be looking out for Kara Grainger's work in the future. Warmly recommended

Kim Richey - Thorn In My Heart

Rating: 4/5

Review: 
Good, but not great

This is a good Country album by a fine singer and a good band. For me, though, it lacks anything really special to mark it out from the crowd of good Country/Americana stuff around at the moment.

Kim Richey has a lovely voice and puts a song over very well. Her band gives her more than solid support and the effect is very pleasing. However, none of these twelve songs really grabs me as something to keep and play for years to come. The title track is enjoyable enough, both Break Away Speed and Angel's Share have a singable, haunting quality to them and No Means Yes is a good Country waltz tune (although I'm not at all sure that that "no means yes" is a good thing for a woman to be singing), but none of it really stands out. I think that other albums from the same time, like Kacey Musgraves's Same Trailer Different Park and Amy Speace's How To Sleep In Stormy Boat for example, show in their different ways what really excellent songwriting is, and this Kim Richey album isn't in the same class for me.

I don't want to be too critical; this is a perfectly decent album of nice songs, well played and very well sung. You may like it much better than I did, of course, and I'd suggest listening to some samples to see whether it is more to your taste than mine, but I can only give this album a qualified recommendation.

Tom Petty and the Heartbeakers - Anthology:

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent  compilation

This is an excellent compilation album of many of the best tracks recorded by one of the finest rockers of the last 30-odd years. Tom Petty was (and is) always around and enjoyed by a lot of people in the know but he never became a real first-rank star, and I think that's a shame because he's a true Great, in my view. It's not just me, either: Petty formed the Travelling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. The respect of musicians of that stature really means something.

The songs here show that he can rock with the best of them and play the blues with authority, but his real quality shows in the songs which no-one else in the world could have made: it's a long list, but Refugee, Don't Come Around Here No More and Free Fallin' are obvious examples with their imaginative lyrics, really singable tunes, great chord sequences and a personal, quirky take on various aspects of life. If you ask me (which you didn't, I know) his true greatness shows in Learning To Fly, with the same four simple chords over and over again, questionable lyrics, little melody to speak of and deceptively simple production (partly due to Jeff Lynne). In other hands it could be banal, forgettable trash but it's brilliant - one of my favourite tracks ever. It takes a really fine musician to do that.

Anyway, enough. If you already know and like Tom Petty you won't need me to tell you all this. If you don't know him well this is a great album to start with. Don't hesitate - you can't go wrong here. It's a brilliant album.

Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fine live album

There has already been masses written and said about this album, and if you're looking at it you're almost certainly a Led Zeppelin fan of some sort and you'd want this album even if it wasn't all that good. Thankfully, it is good. Very good, in fact. The three surviving members plus John Bonham's son Jason still had the old magic even in 2007 when this concert took place, and this is a fine record of it.

I saw Led Zeppelin play live just once, at Earl's Court in the mid-70s. It was a great concert which I still remember with huge pleasure. Unsurprisingly, they have matured since then, but still generate a terrific atmosphere and perform a great set. Jimmy Page plays superbly and with a little more brevity and concision in his solos than of old, which to me is no bad thing. John Paul Jones reminds us what a very fine musician he is and Robert Plant still has a fantastic voice which he uses with real maturity. The power is still there when he needs it but there is a sensitivity and delicacy in places which, while there in Zeppelin's heyday, has matured into something very special.

The recorded sound is great, and it's a cracking live album which manages to capture the atmosphere as well as the band's performance, and a fine addition to Led Zeppelin's discography. Warmly recommended - but then, I bet you already knew you were going to buy it.

Lady Maisery - Mayday

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Fantastic

Gosh, this is good!  I missed Lady Maisery's first album but I'm very glad I've caught up with them now.  This is a remarkable album of really enjoyable music which is also full of passion, originality and political commitment.

The material is a mixture of traditional and new songs, all of which are excellent and beautifully performed.  Instrumentation is restrained, well played and varied but the real point of Lady Maisery's music is their vocal performance.  They sing wonderfully together in three part harmony producing a fabulous sound with some original harmonies.  There's nothing clashingly harsh, but there is some innovative stuff here and the effect is terrific, really giving the songs depth and meaning.  It's extremely impressive stuff.

All the songs have a traditional feel and style, even new and radical ones like the brilliant Palaces Of Gold, an a capella denunciation of social inequality.  The whole album is a quality performance with real substance and genuine musical merit, as well as being a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

It is over 40 years since I began going to smoky folk clubs, dancing the Morris and so on.  I drifted away from English folk music for a long time but have begun to return and am delighted to find it in the hands of so many excellent women.  Maddy Prior, for example, is still making great albums, people like the Unthanks are doing wonders to keep the traditions alive and a fabulous crop of women are producing things like Laylam and this album.  It does a grumpy old git's heart good to see such quality and this album is among the best of it.  Very warmly recommended.

Linda Thompson - Won't Be Long Now

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent album

This is a terrific album from a great survivor and performer. It is full of melodic songs which are beautifully arranged and performed. They are a mixture of the new and the re-worked old, every one of which is a real pleasure to listen to.

Linda Thompson really puts her heart into her singing, and the effect here is of real sincerity and beauty. She collaborates with a lot of her family, including, I am delighted to say, Richard Thompson who plays beautifully on the opening track which reminded me in places of the wonderful Dimming Of The Day.

This genuinely is a bit of real class from a very, very fine singer in collaboration with some excellent musicians. Very warmly recommended.

Lloyd Cole - Standards

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A gem

This is a really good album from Lloyd Cole. I'm delighted that he's decided to go back to recording with a band and writing songs in his old style, because this album is genuinely reminiscent of Rattlesnakes and Easy Pieces and of a similar quality to those two near-masterpieces.

The album opens with California Earthquake - a surprising choice (to me anyway) because it's the only non-original song here and which I knew in a 1968 version by Mama Cass Eliot. It's given the Cole treatment, though, and sounds fresh and very like one of his own songs. From there on in it's vintage Lloyd Cole - guitar-driven songs with a beat, singable tunes and very intelligent and quirky lyrics. He's still got that great sideways take on things and in Women's Studies even has slightly different but still excellent swipe at the people with their Government grants and his IQ whom he immortalised in Perfect Skin (one of the very greatest songs of the 80s, in my view.)

The voice is still distinctively Lloyd Cole, although it has developed a slightly mellower tone these days. That is reflected in the tone of the songs, too, which are a little less spiky and more reflective on time past, but they still have plenty of substance and lots of insightful little gems like this in Myrtle and Rose.
"I became the one that sits and watches from afar
You became the woman in the German car..."

The band is great - tight, responsive to the songs and not over-produced. It's a fairly brief album with eleven songs running to a total of about 40 minutes with no padding and not a weak track anywhere. Perfect. It's a huge pleasure to get this album from a man whose work I have loved for 30 years but who hasn't really been on my radar for a long time. This is genuinely excellent, and if you like vintage Lloyd Cole you'll love this. A gem.

American Classics (Rhino, 2016)

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A wonderfully haphazard collection

Frankly, you can't go wrong with this compilation.  I mean – just look at the track list (below).  Perhaps not everything here deserves the epithet "classic" but it's an astonishingly eclectic selection of great songs, many of which are true classics by anyone's definition. 

In a way this is an outrageously random selection – the sort of mish-mash I might get if I put my mp3 player on "shuffle" – but I love the idea of a sequence like Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good, followed by the amazing Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon and then Wake Up Little Suzy (by the Everlys, which you already knew, of course, or you probably wouldn’t even be looking at this collection.)  There are plenty more strange but very pleasing juxtapositions; for example, the whole thing closes with Lobo's facile and disposable (but strangely lovable) Me And You And A Dog Named Boo followed by Ry Cooder's sublime version of Little Sister from the superb Bop Till You Drop album.  I love it's unjudgemental joy in the music.

The transfers by Rhino seem very good and the songs are the originals and not some slightly-less good re-recordings you get in some compilations.  I've already got a lot of what's on here but it's still worth it at this price for the things I didn't have (how good to hear Harry Chapin again, for example) and for the sheer pleasure of just playing an amazing sequence of great stuff.  Warmly recommended.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Things That We Are Made Of

Rating: 5/5

Review: 
A very fine album

Mary Chapin Carpenter is one of the greats and, on this evidence, she's still got it - this is a very fine album.

Mary's voice remains solid and true, with that slightly husky, weary tone fitting this material beautifully.  It's an album of contemplative, often slightly melancholy songs reflecting on aging and where life washes us up.  The Middle Ages, for example, is a fine portrait of an empty life filled by being "busy," and the incredibly poignant Note On A Windshield is a song about possibly recognising someone from long ago and what it stirs up – done with allusion and delicacy so that nothing is really explained but the emotion is brilliantly conveyed.  There are also songs of enduring love and contentment, and it's all done with intelligent, evocative lyrics and fine musical creation.

The style is sort of at the Country/Americana border, with good tunes and excellent arrangements.  The production is by the excellent Dave Cobb (who did such a fantastic job on Jason Isbell's masterpiece Southeastern, among other things) and it's perfect, I think, allowing the songs to glow without overlaying them with too much gloss.

I think this is a little bit of real class.  It's an album of fine songs from one of the finest singer-songwriters of the last few decades, exceptionally well performed and well produced.  What more could you want?  Very warmly recommended.

Nikki Talley - Out From The Harbor

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good album

I like this album.  I took a bit of a punt on it after hearing a snippet of Nikki Talley's music, and it turns out to be a good collection of well crafted and well performed songs.

The material is fairly varied from the country-tinged Americana sound of tracks like Mockingbird and the opener, Rainy Day to the much more traditional, rootsy ballad feel of Railroad Boy or Gracie Blue.  They aren't songs to set the world alight – there are very few of those – but these are very tuneful, listenable tracks.  Nikki Talley has a good voice and she and her small band play very well.  I like the generally restrained arrangements and production which allows the music to speak for itself without an overlay of corporate gloss.

If you like Americana and a well made album, I recommend that you give this a try.  Nikki Talley is well worth a listen, and I can recommend this album.

George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Very good indeed

For what it's worth, this old git thinks that George Ezra deserves the praise he's received from a lot of quarters. I've heard a lot of young singer-songwriters come and often go in my time but I think Ezra has the makings of something special. He's young and raw and, in my view, very exciting; he writes tuneful, passionate songs and has a wonderful, throaty voice which sounds as though it belongs to someone twice his age but has the thrilling energy of youth behind it.

There's probably not a lot of point in going on at length because people looking at this page will know about George Ezra already, but in my view this album is very good indeed. It has fine songs sung with genuineness and sincerity by a sensational voice, it is very well arranged and produced and still sounds great after repeated playing. What more could you want?

Elvis Sings Lieber & Stoller

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Magnificent stuff

An album by arguably the greatest pop singer ever, performing songs by two of the greatest songwriters in the history of pop – well, how many stars did you think I was going to give it?  :o)

Seriously, there's not much to be said about this album other than if you don't already have Elvis's recordings of these great songs, just get it and enjoy it.  Some of his very greatest work is here, like Jailhouse Rock, King Creole and others along with less well-known but very good songs.  They're all the proper, original recordings in very good digital transfers so there's nothing not to love about this.

This is three geniuses at work together.  'Nuff said.

Eric Bibb, North Country Far, Danny Thompson - The Happiest Man In The World

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Disappointing material

I was really looking forward to this album.  Eric Bibb is an excellent singer and musician, and the great Danny Thompson is one of my musical heroes so I was expecting the collaboration between them to be something really special.  Sadly, it isn't really.  The playing and singing is excellent, but I have to say that the material taken together isn't great.

The sound throughout this album is lovely.  Eric's singing is, as always, beautifully soulful and evocative and the backing musicians including Thompson are very fine, so there's an atmospheric, classy feel to the whole thing.  For the first track or two I thought this might be as good as I'd hoped, but it declined into a nice but undistinguished sameyness pretty quickly.  The songs are almost all about Good Lovin' Gone Good and My Baby Done Stayed With Me, which actually makes a pleasant change – for a while.  The trouble is, it becomes a bit saccharine in feel after a short while and really needs something with a bit more edge to give it some contrast and spice.  To be honest, I just keep getting a bit bored and drifting off when I listen to much of this at once.

I'm sorry to be critical of artists whom I like and respect greatly, but that's my honest view.  There's nothing wrong with the album as such and the musicianship is very good, but as a listenable programme it doesn't really work for me.