Well I wasn't expecting a new Van Morrison record, were you? I read nothing about this. It just appeared, 20 blues covers on a record called "Someone Tried To Sell Me A Bridge." If I didn't love his last, "Remembering Now" as much as I did, I might have just laughed this one off. But I'm glad I didn't
It's not great, by any stretch of the imagination. The problem is, it feels like very little thought went into making it. It's mostly cookie-cutter arrangements with little variation from tempo and style. But, when it does change things up a bit, it's solid Van, like slowing down Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," for example. That's pretty damn good.
Elvin Bishop guests on a number of tracks, but really doesn't make any of them better, though I could listen to "(I'm Gonna) Play The Honky Tonks" by anybody, and this version is solid.
Taj Mahal is featured on a few tracks, as well as Buddy Guy, and most of those work, as well. I think the album would play much better if it was half the length, something I seem to be saying a lot these days.
"Someone Tried To Sell Me A Bridge" isn't essential. It's harmless and it has its moments. But it also swings and misses a bunch, and I blame that on the production. Ten less songs and some balls, and this album might have been a winner.
5 comments:
Van's albums have been too long for the past 15-20 years. There's almost always some stellar stuff included, but they're way too long (IMO) for a complete listening experience.
As for Van singing the blues, I loved 'Too Long in Exile' and liked 'Roll With the Punches', so I'll give it a go.
I've followed Van forever. His recent output has been more quantity than quality, with an exception for Remembering Now. He's always been more R&B than B. I'm looking forward to being underwhelmed by this one. Probably later today unless I have to listen to the new Lucinda twice.
Oh yea, and it's a stupid title.
Thanks for covering this. Either Van or Dylan is my favorite artist ever - despite how confounding Van can be musically in recent decades.
I just listened to "Remembering Now" (Van's album last year) twice yesterday and there's a lot to like there. I'm less interested in this, I think because somebody has to do something really different with the blues to get me interested - unless I'm hearing it live at JazzFest of course (I've seen both Buddy Guy and Taj Mahal there - and Van himself - and loved it).
But I do like that slow cover of Ain't That A Shame.
Haha
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