by S. Victor Aaron
It’s no throwaway phrase to say Shemekia Copeland was raised on the blues; her Dad Johnny Copeland established a proud tradition of quality blues as a singer, songwriter and guitarist and put out a slew of notable records in the 80’s and 90’s until his death in 1997. The following year at just nineteen years old, Shemekia kept the Copeland flame going with an impressive debut Turn The Heat Up. That record established her as a very mature, soulful vocalist whose music has the sass of Aretha Franklin soul and the punch of rock. In my mind, at least, she is the heir to Koko Taylor’s throne as Queen of the Blues.
Since then, Copeland has wracked up numerous blues awards and other accolades for her powerful brand of blues and consistently strong material. That all said, her later records hadn’t quite measured up to that strong debut or its follow-up Wicked; albums produced by such heavyweights as Dr. John and Steve Cropper are fine efforts but in the end, they seem to reflect more of their producer’s musical vision and not necessarily Shemekia’s.
With Tuesday’s release of Never Going Back, though, that all changes. For the third time in as many records, Copeland changes producers, and this time, she landed one that brought out the best in her. Not a huge name this time, but one we’ve talked about here before. His name is Oliver Wood.
The main measure that Wood takes for Copeland’s newest release is to open up the musical soundscape; there’s not the same old prescription of generic, electrified contemporary blues for every track. Each song borrows from different elements of roots or vintage R&B music that works the best for that tune. To use one of my favorite standard bearers for what is great about the blues today, Copeland’s new album is a lot like a Susan Tedeschi record, only with better lead vocals.
Another thing so appealing about the production on Never Going Back is how Copeland’s voice sounds so warm, up front and unaltered in the mix. There’s nothing getting in the way between her pristine pipes and your ears. The personal way these songs are arranged and mixed, there should be no problem to transfer the magic into club settings as listeners are put into a dark, smokey room already, in a manner of speaking.
“Sounds Like The Devil” is in that gritty soulful blues-rock territory that Bonnie Raitt has made a good living mining. Wood’s wonderful slide guitar provides much of that grit, as he does for much of the album. Copeland is convincingly brash and defiant on “Dirty Water” even before the full band crashes in on the second verse.
Some outstanding musicians are brought in to make a good record even better . The Derek Trucks Band’s Kofi Burbridge brings his electric piano and background vocals to the gospel inflected “Broken World,” while acid jazz keyboard maestro John Medeski adds a B3 to it. Another Derek Trucks band member Mike Mattison lends background vocals as well.
One three cuts, Oliver’s brother Chris Wood lends his acoustic bass and Marc Ribot contribute guitar. “Never Going Back To Memphis,” perhaps the best overall performance on the album, is a dark hoodoo blues keyed by Copeland’s nuanced delivery but dominated by Ribot’s blessedly nasty and swampy guitar.
And that nugget is followed by another one with “The Truth Is The Light,” a lazy funk number where Wood once again lays down some wicked slide all over the tune, and Joni Mitchell’s “Black Crow” gets a slowed tempo makeover stripped to the song’s shining core thanks to Copeland’s muted but finely phrased vocal and the note perfect backing of Medeski, Wood and Ribot on acoustic guitar.
The next two tracks delve in organic funk with using two entirely different approaches. “Born A Penny” is a Janis Joplin soul-rocker that Copeland seems to be able to do in her sleep, and “Limousine” rides on a Big Easy second-line rhythm.
Elsewhere, there’s a Stax shuffle applied to Curtis Mayfield’s “River’s Invitation”, the driving gospel-rock of “Rise Up,” the barbed rockabilly of “Big Brand New Religion,” and a back-to-the-basics blues reading of Shemekia’s father’s “Circumstances.”
With her powerful, controlled delivery, Shemekia Copeland has always been able to bring the wood to the blues. With Never Going Back she brought in a Wood (or two) and the result is the best album of her still-young career. A strong early candidate for best blues album of 2009.
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