| DEKE DICKERSON AND THE ECCO-PHONICS RHYTHM, RHYME AND TRUTH HIGHTONE RECORDS...*** This is the third effort from rockabilly revivalist Deke Dickerson And The Ecco-Phonics and it�s a bit more beclouded than Number One Hit Record and More Million Sellers. While those jaunty rockabilly wonders were more upbeat and fun, this album holds some deeper truths that Deke didn�t let out in the earlier releases. There�s a subtle sarcasm, and a slight smirk that bubbles beneath the sock-hop facade. Missouri bred Deke grew up on a farm began playing music at the age of 13 and working in bands at the age of 16. He was in the surf-garage band �Untamed Youth� which garnered good reviews and later played as half of Dave And Deke in the early 1990�s. Deke still wears his influences and favorite styles on his sleeve, including; country, rockabilly, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, Roy Orbison style ballads, surf, jump-blues and country-jazz. Hot rodders and fast women predominate. The new album is another real juke box jumper and was recorded in fake mono with plenty of echo and reverb that captures an authentic, vintage 1950�s sound. Deke is a fantastic picker and ranks up there with the best of the sparse double-neck guitar players. He rounds out his sound with upright bass, Danelectro �tic-tac� bass and Jerry Lee Lewis style piano chops by Carl Sonny Leyland. The Calvanes, a doo-wop group sing backup vocals on several cuts. Nine of the tunes were written by Deke and some of the covers include a Johnny Cash like �Have Blues Will Travel�, �I�m Lonesome�, and a bopping rendition of Granpa Jones� �Hello Blues�. The theme of women�s hair continues on this album with (If I Go To Heaven) Give Me A Brunette, the previous two being Peroxide Blonde from the first album and Red Headed Woman from the second. The new album is full of nostalgic themes on seeking, finding and losing love, and Deke injects his own personal style into each cut. I wondered about the name of Deke�s band while researching this review and wanted to know what the hell an �Ecco-Phonic� was. Well, I found out that it was an early, guitar tape echo unit that was made in Los Angeles in the 1950s. Now I get it. THE SPRAGUE BROTHERS FOREVER AND A DAY HIGHTONE RECORDS*** An early album by The Louvin Brothers called �Satan Is Real� featured the two Louvin brothers on the cover standing in white suits with their arms out in a welcoming gesture before a back-drop of fire and brimstone with a huge plywood cutout of satan standing amongst the flames. The Sprague Brothers first album �Let The Chicks Fall Where They May� had a cover adorned in a very similar manner, except the Sprague�s were standing in the same pose over two supine lovely ladies who were sprawled on the ground at their feet, adorned in bikinis. The Sprague�s sound still reflects this image on the new release Forever And A Day. The Louven Brothers, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly (a far removed cousin), British invasion pop-rock, and surf predominate their sonorousness. They possess the distinctive two-part harmonies that can only be communicated by two brothers that think with the same mind and sing with the same voice. Older brother Frank is a singer-songwriter and guitarist; and younger sibling Chris is a singer-songwriter and drummer. Frank grew up in Texas and Chris was raised in California, and these two locations flow in and out of their sound. Between the two of them, they have written more than 1000 compositions yet to be recorded, including over 300 �pirate songs�. The Sprague Brothers possess a tireless touring and work ethic. The CBS Saturday Early Show in New York City demanded and got a live appearance from them, and critics all over have praised their sound, including writers for Playboy Magazine and other top publications. The Sprague Brothers are the great, lost Texas rock and roll band, and even if their album covers are tongue in cheek, the music held within them is quite enjoyable indeed. THE LOWCOUNTRY BOIL BLUEGRASS BAND BREAK ME OFF SOME BLUEGRASS KNOTKNOWN RECORDS *** In January of 1998 Members of The Daly Planet rock band began opening their shows with some acoustic bluegrass to warm up their audiences and the crowd response was so huge that by summer, The Lowcountry Bluegrass Band was born. Since then, they�ve traveled up and down the East Coast and played over 275 shows in 1999. They�ve opened for such national acts as The Blueground Undergrass, Donna The Buffalo, The Marshall Tucker Band and Col.Bruce Hampton. They�ve also played on the cabin stage at the world renown daddy of all bluegrass festivals: Merlefest. In 1999, Arizona�s Knotknown Records released �Break Me Off Some Bluegrass� which features: Jevon Daly on mandolin, Benjamin Vaught (a 17 year old prodigy) on acoustic guitar, Mike Daly on banjo, and several noted special guests including: Fiddler extroadanaire Vasser Clements on six cuts, and nine year old Kieran Daly playing Mandolin on one cut. Since this album�s release two new members have been inducted into the band: Bill Cardeen on dobro/banjo and Joey Damiano on upright bass. Their sound was self-described at one time as �bluegrass on crack�. I find that the album incorporates basic elements of traditional bluegrass, 60�s dead-head folk- rock as well as innovative off-the-wall material and high enery musicianship. Vasser Clements gives a validity to the songs that he plays on and the band incorporates his efforts seamlessly to produce a sound that�s new, yet firmly rooted in Big Bill Monroe�s original vision. Clements had this to say about the band: �Their original material was fresh and something you don�t hear every day, and I like things like that. To me, it was great. When I play with a group, I try to fit in with their style. I like to complement them. Each group brings out something different in me. Whether it�s rock and roll or swing or whatever musical style. I think Bill Monroe would like Lowcountry Boil and feel good about the musical direction they�re heading in. I especially remember playing with 9 year old Kieran. I enjoyed it, He�s an up and coming musician. Although The Lowcountry Bluegrass Band is a departure both lyrically and musically from traditional bluegrass styles, it still stands on it�s own as a good listen. The song lyrics come from stories that the band has experienced in their own lives, not from something they heard or saw from the 1940�s. This outlook combined with the well crafted musicianship gives the listener a fresh take on the style known as bluegrass, and it�s refreshing to see this traditional form of music given a new breath in today�s modern world. MARK SMITH LAUNCHES SELF-RELEASED ** Mark sent me his self-recorded, self-released, self-everything album launches. At first listen, I thought that this was definitely a piece of crap. Who in the hell would want to pay for it? The whole album was recorded on a Roland DS-880 digital workstation and a late 80�s era Dr. Rhythm Drum machine that Mark had purchased at a pawn-shop for about $150. Well, I don�t know whether it was the amount of beer I was drinking that night or what, but I listened to the whole thing. I guess it was during the last song that a strange realization hit me square on the noggin. This guy had played all the instruments, written all of the songs, and self-marketed the album and...well, he did every friggin� thing! What an undertaking. He even had a web site to promote his artistic vision. Well, I�m not one to bemoan someone in search of their dreams, so, while under the influence of multiple beers, I listened to the damn thing again. On second listen, I realized that after putting up with the poor production, and peering through the haze of bad recording quality, that I could actually see some good song writing and melody going on here. I thought to myself, what if this same album had been recorded in a real recording studio instead of Mark�s basement with a real band, instead of Mark playing and singing every lick and note? So, I called ol� Mark up on the telephone and over the course of two somewhat lengthy conversations, came to understand his music even more so. Mark started out in a hair-band in his highschool days and after that got an industrial job in Alabama, where he still toils to this day. Never really getting a band together, he just recorded his songs all by himself with no help and little money. His first album was called Slim Daddy Doorite. He also sent me this effort and I found that the album ran the gumut of styles from blues to country to rock and roll. The lyrics were great and a lot of the melodies were also inventive. The only thing was the recording quality. This is what would throw most listener�s off real quick. Mark�s told me his influences included Prince, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and a lot of the new alternative country bands like Wilco, Whisky Town and Steve Earle. He was also a big Replacements fan. Mark was self taught on the guitar and called himself �the three chord wonder�. I asked Mark why he never tried to get his music into a real recording studio with a real band to back up his talent. He said that he was disenfranchised with the music business, which he called �cliquish�, and said that it was all about who you know. He said that you had to be wary of the record companies because they would take advantage of young cats like himself. I asked him if he didn�t think that he was being a little paranoid. �No, I�m struggling to make sense out of a world that�s phony, self-serving and pointless most of the time.� Mark told me that he sold a couple hundred copies of his new CD, and altogether he�d probably spent about 2 grand putting it together. Mmmm, not a good return. I was looking over Mark� CD cover and on the inside saw that the first letter of each word spelled out �Holden Caulfield�. When I queried him about this, he said that he was a big fan of J.D. Salinger�s The Catcher In The Rye. A book about a young man�s growing up in the often strange and upsetting world around him. Well, I have to say..more power to ya Mark. You�re a guy who went against all the odds and put out your music whether you made a dime or not. You did what you thought you had to and in the big world of big record companies and even bigger egos, you still put your album together and made it available to those who might want to give it a chance. Rock on Brother. When and if you record another, send it my way and after a 12 pack of Bud or so, I�ll give it my full attention. Hell, I might not even drink. If you want to give Mark�s music a listen, his album Lauches, and the earlier effort Slim Daddy Doorite can be ordered for $12. (includes shipping) from Mark Smith 803 South 14th Avenue Lanett, Al 36863 He also has a website at: www.smithboy.com |