An album that starts with this sparks-flying slide, on a song called “Death Rattle,” isn’t fooling around. This, friends, will never be confused with fern-bar blues. That’s obvious, even before Cook opens his mouth to sing — in a voice that’s one part gravel, one part Jack Black and one part shot-gun rows of deep-south dust. Particularly intriguing were a pair of covers of old Skip James tunes, beginning with “Catfish Blues,” a desperate escapist plea. Cook brilliantly downshifts, upping the ante on the original lyric’s slow-burning insistence. Later, he plugs back in for a reverb-soaked take on James’ murder ballad “Crow Jane,” but approaches it with the ominous stomping rhythm of a Zeppelin blues. It invites a similar, almost primitive dread, too.
‘Half Notes’ are quick-take thoughts on music from Something Else! Reviews, presented whenever the mood strikes us.
[amazon_enhanced asin=”B005BY9236″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]
- How Deep Cuts on ‘Music From Big Pink’ Underscore the Band’s Triumph - July 31, 2023
- How ‘Islands’ Signaled the Sad End of the Band’s Five-Man Edition - March 15, 2022
- The Band’s ‘Christmas Must Be Tonight’ Remains an Unjustly Overlooked Holiday Classic - December 25, 2016
