by James Cassara

It’s been a relatively slow month for new releases so let’s delve into a couple of welcome reissues, a long overdue boxed set, and a new album from an old friend. As always be sure to haunt your local music shop in search of these and other gems. They are the ones that help keep Asheville’s vibrant music scene going.

Otis Rush and Friends

Live at Montreux 1986
Montreux Sounds Records

These bargain priced vintage Live in Montreux issues are a gift to those who purchased the initial run of poorly mastered and packaged releases, and while it might be tempting to ask for a refund on those first go rounds the bonus material and deluxe liner notes make these well worth seeking out.

Otis Rush is a seminal figure in electric blues; his left handed style is unique unto itself, and while his fellow guitarists worship him he’s never quite received the wide spread attention of such contemporaries as Buddy Guy or even Junior Wells.

Part of that may be the intermittent nature of his recording career: Rush went nearly twelve years from his 1956 rhythm and blues smash “I Can’t Quit You Babe” to finally recording his first full album and then spent much of the 1980s out of the scene, having famously stormed out of a 1984 session only to be later shunned by nearly every label in town. But during that studio hiatus Rush continued to tour relentlessly and, as this show aptly demonstrates, never lost his magic touch.

From the torturously slow burn of “Mean Old World” to the pounding “Gambler’s Blues” this is prime stuff, as Rush extracts every bit of pain and passion from his six strings while the band hangs on for dear life. It’s easy to see why long time drummer Jessie Lewis Green has described being on stage with Rush as “sitting in the eye of a hurricane.” Speaking of the stage, the expanded Live at Montreux considerably ups the ante by tossing in a few tracks that in and of themselves are enough to justify this release.

The friends in question include both Eric Clapton (who has recorded Rush’s “Double Trouble” on more than one occasion) and Luther Allison. The resultant fireworks have to be heard to be believed, as the three rip through a quartet of numbers including “Cross Cut Saw” and “All Your Love”. Clapton first recorded an Otis Rush song during his tenure with John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and it’s evident that he relishes the opportunity to show his gratitude to a genuine master of the Chicago Blues.

It’s a wonderful thing when a label works hard to treat an artist with the respect they deserve. Kudos go out to Montreux Sounds for resurrecting this vintage performance and giving the material and Otis Rush the royal treatment they deserve. *****

Dion MiMucci

Tank Full of Blues
Blue Horizon Music

Having long since exorcised the demons of his past—whether musical or personal—Dion DiMucci has settled in to a stellar late career, the sort of growing older gracefully that few artists are able to fully master. For the past decade or so Dion has embraced the blues, not as a white artist attempting to impose his style on that grandest of genres, but rather as one who grew up listening to music that transcends geography and time.

2006’s Bronx in Blue was an excellent collection of blues standards, a sort of declaration that he was not only ‘back’ but had in truth never really left. 2007’s Son of Skip James was a collection of revelatory blues covers and fine new material that hinted at just how deep Dion’s replenished creative well was. Tank Full of Blues, the final release of what he’s calling his “Blues Trilogy” is the next logical step. Recorded with the brothers Guertin on bass and drums the sound is sparse and direct.

Dion produced the album, wrote all but two selections, and purposely asserted his own underrated guitar work front and center. The result is a serpentine, street wise collection of inspired blues and roots, gritty rock numbers that are completely absent of hollow feel good nostalgia while giving the listener a lesson in how it should be done.

It’s hard to imagine any contemporary Blues man writing lyrics as convincing as the intensely powerful “Ride’s Blues (For Robert Johnson)” in which Dion conjures a new tale about the great bluesman while digging deeply into his own spiritual angst. “Two Trains” is a near perfect sampling of Muddy Waters’ “Still a Fool” and Johnson’s “Ramblin’ on My Mind”, while “My Michelle” is a clear tribute to the great Jimmy Reed. But be clear that while Dion proudly displays his influences they’re recast in wildly imaginative ways that continually surprise.

For the majestic “Bronx Poem,” a spoken word finale, Dion bares his soul in ways that lesser talents wouldn’t even attempt. It’s the most beautiful of dirges, a contemplative moment wherein Dion embraces his own spiritual convictions while celebrating the humanity in us all.

Once declared the greatest street poet of his time Dion brings us back home again, revealing his own understanding and acceptance. Tank Full of Blues is heady stuff, and while Dion could easily take the easy way out that’s never been his style. As it is it ranks among his greatest achievements, an album that sounds like one for the ages. *****

The Smiths

Complete
Warner Brothers

It’s a testament to the Smiths ferocious nature that this long awaited boxed set doesn’t—despite its name—feature the totality of their impressive output. There’s a handful of wandering B-sides that managed to escape Johnny Marr’s attention (he allegedly supervised the collection) and neither are the unreleased but heavily bootlegged sessions from their first album included. Having said that, it’s hard to quibble with what is here.

Despite a remarkably short life span—the band’s active years barely stretched from early 1982 until later summer 1987—few groups of the era were more influential or beloved. So what makes Complete so essential, even to those of us who own all the source material? First and foremost the remastering is exceptional, setting a new standard to which other boxed sets may now aspire. Layers of sonic interference have been meticulously cleaned out; leaving a sound that is as vibrant and animated as to be almost startling.

While there are no surprises in terms of material the presentation is exquisite, with copious liner notes, rare photos, and commentary insights that cast an illuminating light onto the band’s working processes. As to the music itself, its best digested in album length doses. The mid-period stuff never sounded better and while Rank, the band’s 1988 swan song, was still light years better than most of the synthesizer laden dross emanating from the UK at that time, the handwriting was clearly on the wall.

The limitation of Marr’s melodies was beginning to show and it became quickly apparent that Morrissey was interested in singing about only one thing: himself. So unlike far too many bands The Smiths pulled the plug at just the right time and while some may pine for a reunion tour—and who knows what the cards might hold—I’ll settle for luxuriating in this most splendid trip down memory lane. The Queen may be dead, but God save the Smiths! ****

Dr. John

Live In Montreux 1995
Montreux Sounds Records

While there is no shortage of live recordings from the good Doctor, few find him fronting a band comprised of such New Orleans greats, including saxophonists Alvin “Red” Tyler and David “Fathead” Newman (cool nicknames are a prerequisite for playing in this band), and fewer still are as uproarious and engaging as this extended version of the 2005 release.

Digging into his vast catalog of New Orleans classics as well as his own swamp drenched material, Dr. John whoops and hollers through such funk laden treasures as “Right Place Wrong Time” and beautiful standards like “Blue Skies” and “Makin’ Whoopee.” He even cools down the sizzle long enough to enliven the pop era jewel “(C’mon Baby) Let the Good Times Roll” while giving a sophisticated rendering to the great Charles Brown’s “Tell Me You’ll Wait for Me.”

Live in Montreux demonstrates not only John’s phenomenal piano skills but the added tracks, particularly the extended workouts like “The Bass Drum (On a Mardi Gras Day)” (which medleys with “I Shall Not Be Moved”) and the burning interpretation of “Mess Around” shows what a fine bandleader he is, willing and eager to turn this over to the ace musicians around him.

The interplay between the rhythm section and John, heard best on the extended jamming of “Iko, Iko” is simply amazing. Unlike the original issue, the remastered sound is spotless, immediate and warm, documenting a momentous occasion by an inspired band and a performer whose boundless talent never fails to astound and entertain. ****