It's Time For "Time"

 

Taj Mahal has made a lot of music and worn many different hats in the last 60 years, and very little of that music is bad. From The Rising Sons with Ry Cooder through his classic Columbia releases, as well as his hula band and collaborations with renowned world artists, Taj has been pretty convincing through all of it. But for what may be obvious reasons, two of my favorite Taj records are the two he recorded with the Phantom Blues band in the late 90's. Both "Senor Blues" and "Phantom Blues" feature a New Orleans favorite of mine, Jon Cleary, as well as Johnny Lee Schell, Mick Weaver, Tony Braunagel, Darrell Leonard and Joe Sublett, and both albums have that good time New Orleans vibe.

Apparently, a third session took place in 2010 but was then shelved before completion. Since then, tapes have been sent around, and the Phantom Blues band, along with Jon Cleary put finishing touches on what has just been released as "Time." As much as I love the first two, it seems that third time's the charm. 

I'll let Jon Cleary take over for a minute. This was something Jon sent out to his Substack members.

 

 

 

The single. ‘Time’, is a tune that was mostly recorded by me here at my studio, Funk Headquarters, in New Orleans. I was sent a Bill Withers demo, something he’d written and made a rough recording of but that was unfinished. They asked if I could come up with a completed idea for Taj so I set about putting together an arrangement, playing and recording acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, drums, percussion, piano, keyboards and background vocals. I ran off a rough mix sent it back to my compadres in the Phantom Blues band in Los Angeles who then added some stuff, replaced some stuff and mixed it with Taj’s new vocal.

Also on the record, is a favourite of mine, a song written by a cat called Johnny ‘Snakehips’ Johnson who happens to be my Uncle. The song is called ‘Crazy about a Jukebox’ and is, in my opinion, a mini masterpiece. The lyric tells the story of an attempt to win a girl’s affection by getting her the one thing she craves, a Jukebox. Having got it, she just spends all her time listening to the records and completely ignores him! Cleverly, every line is a reference to an artist or song title of the era, and at the same time is a compendium of all of his favourite classic tunes from that time.

When I first played ‘Crazy about a Jukebox’ to Taj, he flipped. Every single reference meant something personally to him and he insisted that we record it.

 

 

 

 

Another song I'd like to point out is "You Put The Whammy On Me," which sounds a heck of a lot like Cleary's "Cheatin' On You," which was covered on "Phantom Blues." I wonder if the similarity is what kept "Whammy" on the shelf. In any event, it's here now, on "Time." 

Give this record a spin and if it moves you even a bit, check out both "Senor Blues" & "Phantom Blues."