CDs, Vinyl & Downloads
Blackberry Smoke Like an Arrow (3 Legged Records) Southern rock lives,
and let’s face it, Black- berry Smoke is one of the primary reasons the music of our youth is enjoying a resurgence
in popularity. There’s no doubting the fact that this Atlanta band is pure Southern Rock, although they are by no means a one trick pony. Smoke can move between a country music vibe and a hard rock vibe without miss- ing a note. Like Gov’t Mule before them, they know exactly what we want to hear, and they always deliver, from the seemingly endless supply of top shelf original songs to their choices of cover songs when playing live. I love a band that will cover Neil Young’s “I Al- most Cut My Hair,” The Band’s “The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down,” Black Sabbath’s “Fairies Wear Boots” and Little Feat’s “Span- ish Moon” with equal fervor. With the release of their highly anticipated
new album, Like an Arrow, Blackberry Smoke continues their trend of dishing out songs that the fans will be singing along with from the get go. Coming out of the chute snortin’ and kickin,’ Smoke rocks hard on “Waiting for the Thunder,” and keeps it rockin’ with “Let it Burn,” an equally red hot rocker, built around Brit and Richard Turner’s powerhouse rhythm section. I have always loved Blackberry Smoke’s
acoustic-based songs. Perhaps because the first time I ever saw them was on a local news show touting their appearance in town that evening, and they played acoustic in the stu- dio. That’s why I love “The Good Life,” so
much. It kind of reminds me of Skynyrd’s “Simple Man,” at least in the advice from our elders department. A lovely song for those of us blessed with children of our own. “Running Through Time” features more of
that acoustic guitar to start the song off, and “Ain’t Gonna Wait” is a beautiful, melodic acoustic song I truly identify with, as I am sure many of you do.”I gotta get a move on, ‘Cause time ain’t gonna wait for me.” Ex- actly. Great lyrics and equally great music. That’s Blackberry Smoke. I once had a conversation with my buddy
Paul T. Riddle, drummer for the original Mar- shall Tucker Band. He was talking drums, and how much he hates a “dead sounding” bass drum. It is supposed to ring out. Brit’s bass drum rings. No where is it more evident than on “What Comes Naturally,” a fun song that features some pretty nifty slide guitar and vo- cals from the incomparable Charlie Starr. Of course Brandon Still adds some very cool piano, and Paul Jackson is always great on guitar. It’s just a damned good band. The title track, “Like an Arrow” is one of
my favorite tracks here, a great song about life, with crunchy guitar riffs, and soaring harmonies. The rocking “Ought to Know,” the funky “Believe You Me,” and the Southern Rocking “Workin’ for a Workin’ Man” are all excellent, and “Sunrise in Texas,” one of the first songs I heard from the album during one of the live shows is another of my personal fa- vorites from the record. To sum up, I give Like an Arrow… wait,
what is the maximum amount of stars I can rate it? Five? Okay, I give it six stars. Six stars, one Starr, one great band.
-Michael Buffalo Smith 54
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