GET UP!
Some blues fans may worry that the merging of a younger star (Ben Harper) and an aging bluesman (Charlie Musselwhite) might result in just another novelty project, but an inherent nobility runs throughout this inspired work, a beguiling mix of acoustic and electric blues, with harmonica legend Musselwhite weaving in and out like a roadhouse virtuoso.
Hiding in plain sight for the better part of two decades, Ben Harper has delivered album after album of hybrid folk blues accented with slide guitar with a dash of Hendrix.
Get Up! is Harper’s first collarboration with Musselwhite, coming at a time when blues is drifting back into mainstream popularity thanks to the Black Keys and Gary Clark, Jr.
Harper rocks the blues in a refreshing change from his usual hushed affairs, creating a playground for Musselwhite’s harp to dance with Harper’s vocals.
Harper wrote or co-wrote all the songs, with lyrics that contrats delta-blues references with such modern elements as a narrative about the brother of a friend who was shot down in Afghanistan.
While he may not be the most distinctive songwriter, Harper’s true gifts shine in the details: the nuances of his guitar work, his vocal phrasing, and that intangible spirit or soul, that in my opinion, is often lacking on modern blues efforts. An awful lot of guitarists have the technique but cannot express the emotion that is blues.
Harper exhibits an original blues voice and flashes his overwhelming sense of emotion. Nearly every song touches the soul, from tracks that echo John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers to rockers that suggest a loose-jamming Cream.
While Harper has collarborated before (Blind Boys of Alabama, Fistful of Mercy), he seems to have found a kindred spirit in Musselwhite, creating an album that manages to feel timeless while being right on time.
Highly recommended.
GET UP
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I'm not an avid blues fan, but I usually enjoy the music when I hear it. Musselwhite has been around for ages--as long as I've been following music I've heard his name.
ReplyDeleteLee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Lee-
DeleteI think one is less a fan of the blues and more an appreciator of them (because he's GOT THEM!)
Larry
Eat yer heart out, DISCDUDE:
ReplyDeletehttp://yourdailydose-robin.blogspot.com/2013/01/heres-to-you-thursday_31.html
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I couldn't figure out what you meant (what did any of that have to do with me), then I went back and read for a comment when I remembered my use of Sheryl Crow in my Lance posts on the sport blog.
DeleteShe is a cutie....
I left a comment...
I just read (and enjoyed) your comment. I was afraid you'd be a sore loser, but you handled it pretty well.
DeleteDon't worry, Bro, when I'm finished with her, I'll pass her along to you next (that should make you her 71st stud, 'cause Lance was 69). Ha!
[Don't mind me... I've just cracked open my fourth (and last, for the night) can of HOP KNOT I.P.A. I'm trying to build up my beer tolerance in anticipation of Super Bowl Sunday. Hop Knot is made by the Four Peaks Brewing Co. in Tempe, Airheadzona. It's 6.7% alcohol by volume, and ranks amongst the best beers I've ever had. Look for it wherever superior suds are sold.]
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I had a couple of beers made by Four Peaks last night at Todd Snider.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good show, and at $30, a cheap ticket. He told the football story before the "Right Wing Conservative" song.
Funny, although he has certainly written more liberal songs, I don't think he takes himself very seriously. As he said at the start of the show-'I don't know that you should get worked up all that much over anything I have to say' or something like that.
Yesterday we knocked off work at noon and spent the afternoon at the bar, and my boss introduced me to a 9% alcohol beer...forget the name but it was odd. Not bad. But I can still drink a Bud Light, too.
My Super Bowl preference.....another Katrina. Don't like either team.
LC
LC ~
ReplyDeleteI dislike both teams also, but I LOVE any team playing against San FranCrisco, so I will be rooting pretty emphatically for the Ravens. (I'm just grateful that his match-up is NOT the 'Niners vs. Patriots, as I probably wouldn't have watched a minute of the Super Bowl, and that's just un-American.)
Four Peaks makes several different types of beers and they're all decent enough, but their HOP KNOT is, in my opinion, not only their best brew, but amongst the best brews produced by anyone.
I also had a 9% beer once, a long time ago. Can't remember the name of it, but it was likely the same one you had. Since I can't recall the name, it probably didn't appeal to me that much.
I can deal with a good bit of Snider's liberal lyrics - even those that poke fun at conservatives, because I label myself a "Constitutionalist", as the word "conservative" has lost all meaning thanks to the NeoCons like Bush, etc.
But where Snider totally LOST me as a fan is when he included a lyric that was pro-abortion (or "pro-choice", if one prefers to call it that). I can't remember which song it was in, or if it was in one of his monologues from a concert recording, but right at THAT point I thought: I'm done with Snider.
I still love some of his songs, and that first album is a genuine classic, but I can't give him any of my money. I'd still consider buying another Snider album, but it would have to be a used copy.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I think the lyric you mean was actually on the second album, the studio version of Tension.
ReplyDeleteAbortion-that's what scares people these days
Which has morphed in concert into:
Gay marriage-that's what scares people who ain't got shit to be scared about
I can see where you are coming from-although it I did not listen to CD's from liberal artists I'd have fifteen thousand skeet targets in my upstairs bedroom. I don't listen to that second album much, although I played it to and from the show and heard that lyric on the drive home, which is why it is fresh in my mind.
I wonder if he's changed the lyric on purpose because he's had an epiphany. While he is definitely liberal-leaning (as most artists are), there certainly is a spiritual and Christian undertone to a lot of his lyrics.
In any event, the "tree-hugging, pot-smoking hippie" was what was presented on stage Thursday night, and he was funny.
And those goal posts at his high school that shoot out sparks like roman candles sound pretty farging cool-even if it just was on account of the psychedelic mushrooms!
LC
DOCTOR DISC DUDE ~
DeleteYou may be right about that lyric you mentioned, but I seem to recall the reference I have in mind being less ambiguous than that one and occurring later than Snider's second album.
I'm thinking more like in the range of his 'Nashville Skyline Revisited' (or whatever the actual title of that album is) or maybe even in one of his monologues from the more recent live 'Storyteller' album.
At any rate, earlier today I put the live 'Storyteller' album into my truck's player and will listen to it for the next week or so to see if what I have in mind is on that particular release.
Dude, I had at least 3 or 4 heart attacks during that Super Bowl game tonight. I thank God that the Ravens somehow managed to find their manhood again at the very end of that game, because their defense was playing so girlie after that black-out. (What? Did someone steal their stones in the dark?!)
During the final 2 minutes of the game, I had a loaded .38 pressed against my right ear, and I was already beginning to apply some pressure to the trigger.
Damn, that was TOO CLOSE for comfort. (And now I have an earache.)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Stephen- I am sure he says the line on the second disc (surprised me, too, since on the third album he's got three overtly Christian tunes) but certainly cannot say it's not repeated later. I think "Tension" is on all of his live releases. And, of course, it can also be in another story for another song.
DeleteI am to blame for the black out.
All week I was saying I was rooting for the roof to cave in, but really was not rooting that hard, so I guess all I got was a power outage.
LC
Guess I'm un-American since I won't watch the Super Bowl and don't recall ever having watched one. I sometimes have them on so I can catch the commercials, but I usually forget that they're on and even miss the commercials.
ReplyDeleteSaw a funny people on the street interview by I think it was Jimmy Kimmel where they were being asked questions about the Super Bowl and they were answering them as though the event had already occurred.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Lee-
DeleteFrom what I have heard, the commercials have all already aired, so I don't think you're missing much.
I saw that Kimmel bit-it was pretty funny. Why the heck would someone be so afraid to just admit they have no interest in the game?
LC
Hi-ya, Larry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. Figured I'd return the favor.
Neat premise for your blog... I especially like that if you don't like a DVD or book, you keep quiet about it rather than trash it.
I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, so it's pretty likely that at some point, you'll be reviewing something that wags my tail. (Ever hear the London Symphony playing Rolling Stones music?)
Am watching the Super Bowl now. Since I'm originally from Baltimore, I should probably be pulling for the Ravens, but man-oh-man, if the Ravens beat the 49ers... who whupped my Falcons... I'm gonna have to put up with all kinds of trash talk from our niece who still lives in B'more.
Yipes! The 49ers are only down by five now. Talk about the comeback kids.
Anyhow, nice to meetcha. As Schwartzenegger said, "I'll be bock."
Thanks for dropping by, Susan-
DeleteThe only thing that could have made this Super Bowl less interesting for me was if the Patriots had beaten the Ravens. Then I truly would have had to root for some sort of natural disaster.
I would have liked to have seen the Falcons go...
I don't know if I can call my taste eclectic since most of what I have in my pretty ridiculous-sized collection is rock, but I certainly cover all of the bases of that genre.
I've not heard the LSO do the Stones, but have a disc of them doing Floyd. I have a couple of other discs with bands backed by a symphony.
Nice to meet you as well!
Ooooh, I'd love to hear them do Pink Floyd. I'll have to look for that one.
DeleteYou kinda got your natural disaster at the game... a 34-minute blackout.