the underlying funk groove that had me at “hello.” Love it. What a band! “Part of Me” was superbad. Yeah, it’s sev-
enties style soul with a Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions vibe. Nice. But I think my favorite cut was the one that rolls around next. “Whiskey Legs” is funkier than my old tube socks. Then it hit me. Rather than put their best material at the beginning of the record, maybe they started out “slow” and worked it all up to this fever pitch. Susan sounded like a million dollars on the
Tedeschi Trucks Band Made Up Mind (Sony)
I was blown away by Revelator, the first
album to combine husband and wife Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi together with their all-star band. Just blown away. I was also shaken and stirred by the subsequent live album. So when I got the new one in my hands, I could hardly wait to hear it. Only one problem. It didn’t measure up. Well, at first anyway. Bear with me here. On first listen the title track, “Made Up
Mind” didn’t do much for me. Sure, we all agree that Susan T is an amazing singer (and guitarist) and Derek is just - one of a kind. I thought, maybe it’s the sophomore jinx. (Counting only studio releases.) Then again, it usually takes multiple plays for me to get a real bead on how I feel about an album. It’s not that the opening track is bad. Most bands would give their grandma’s pace maker to sound this good, but Tedeschi Trucks has set their own bar mighty high, and the song was more generic than what I was used to from them. Then came the slow blues of “Do I Look Worried?” Again, a pretty good tune but not as TT as I am used to. (I look forward to your letters) Then, track four kicked in. “Misunder- stood.” Now that was the blue-eyed soul with
beautiful “It’s So Heavy,” and “The Storm” rages. Derek takes the lead guitar out into some other parallel universe. In fact, after playing the whole album another time or two, I began to disagree with my own review. Imagine that. I found myself dancing in my desk chair as the hubby and wife team and their superior combo took me to church, to the mountain top, into the land of Delaney & Bonnie and deep into the heart of love and all of it’s ramifications. I love the album cover, for obvious rea-
sons, and when all is said and done, the kids are alright. They have put out another blister- ing, funky, soulful record that begs to be played over and over again. Lesson learned, first impressions are not always right.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
The Folk Years (Time-Life)
WTF?! (What the folk?) Time-Life has
done it again with a fantastic boxed set called The Folk years, an 8-CD set divided into four double-disc packages. Now, the truth be known, I've never been much of a folk music fan. But the powers that be have assembled a set that chronicles the genre’s history in such a pleasing way, we are able to truly see the massive impact folk music had on all of pop music during the 1960’s.
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