| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
Jo Jo Zepp and The Falcons, The Black Sorrows,
The Revelators: all bands which have become institutions in the
Australian music industry. The common denominator in each is singer,
multi-instrumentalist and songsmith Joe Camilleri.
Once again Joe has reinvented himself through a new musical entity,
without moving too far away from the sound which defines him as
part of the bedrock of popular music. Joining Joe on his latest
project is longtime bandmate Wayne Burt, double bassist Simon
Starr and guitarists Ed Bates and Claude Carranza. Special guests
include percussionist extraordinaire Nicky Bomba, keyboardist
James Black, drummer Tony Floyd and bassists Steve Hadley and
Joe Creighton.
Of the fifteen tracks, Joe and collaborator of the past twenty
years, Nick Smith, penned one third. ‘Little Murders’
sets the pace, with Claude, as he does on several songs, picking
sweet notes out of his dobro guitar. ‘Hell To Pay’
has a Hawaiian flavour, though like ‘Wednesday’s Child’
is glazed in country guitar tones. ‘When Love Calls’
and ‘Poor Boy Blues’ are Camilleri-Smith originals
in the traditional vein.
Rhythm ‘n’ Blues is the basic recipe of this album,
with classics by Isaac Hayes, Howlin’ Wolf, Hank Williams
and JJ Cale adding spice with pinches of soul, country and swamp-funk.
‘Do Your Thing’ is my favourite, with its funky rolling
beat. Joe covers the vocals along with vibes and great big crunchy
bites of Hammond chords. The cherry on the top of this tasty treat
is the flute outro from Robbie Burke. As Joe explains in his hand-written
liner notes, “Most of my direction was just to be sympathetic
to the double bass.” Simon Starr’s handling of the
basslines is masterly.
Each tune is carefully crafted and most are laid-back, with John
Mayall’s ‘Thoughts About Roxanne’ and ‘Losing
Hand’ bordering on a lounge jazz style. Joe handles the
vibraphone with panache on both of these tracks. ‘Blood
On The Highway’ is the only number featuring Wayne Burt,
but it is his own composition. Wayne takes the lead vocal and
plays electric and dobro guitars, while Joe pulls it all together
with Hammond organ. Nicky Bomba gives the drum kit a full workout
on this one.
The lap slide guitar of Ed Bates comes to the fore on Hank William’s
‘You Win Again’. You would think the band had been
playing country and nothing but country for decades. If the songs
on this CD were courses in a banquet then I’d be full to
bursting, as I’d be going back for more!
Peter Dawson
|
|
|
