When I was in Cincinnati, writing about music. I asked a patron at the bar what she thought of the blues band that was playing. Her answer floored me, “It doesn’t make me want to take my clothes off.” She was right! This was polite blues played well enough. And that isn’t what the blues does when Kellie Rucker sings! Now, I’m not saying anyone will streak the concert hall, but there is something elemental in her voice and harp that do what the blues does in the hands of a fire starter, or a fire brand, or a spitfire… I don’t know what, but there is fire in that voice!
I don't do comparisons because they can kill a band dead, but this album fits just fine in my imaginary record collection right in there with Sticky Fingers by the Stones, Bonnie Raitt's Give It Up, Alberta Hunter's Remember My Name, Son House's Father of the Delta Blues and Darin Bennett's 20 Scarlet Monkeys. It is a rare album that keeps anyone interested song after song, or a full album that makes me put it on repeat time after time. This one is that good. I am on listen number 10 right now, and I am not tired of it one bit. I bet you may prove it is possible to wear out the grooves on your Soul Return download. You might want to buy two, just in case.
I wrote about Kellie Rucker over a decade ago, but I have never met her or seen her sing live. I suppose, she could be my sister in a certain way, which is a bit of a problem with this album. I suggested writing about a different disc, but Kellie sent me to this one because it was more recent and band was great. Turns out though this is undoubtedly the sexiest album I have played out loud on the patio where I live ever!
Yes, I wrote the lyrics. All of the songs are original, written by me and JJ Holiday, and fleshed out by Michael and Keith. We are the principal writers, but decided to split everything 4 ways. Michael Barsimanto is a great drummer. Genius.
Keith Karman’s bass has made my subwoofer very happy! Keith and Michael Barsimanto on drums are joined at the hip musically, and that is the way it oughta be. JJ Holiday makes some amazing noise on the guitar so good it makes the band a lock in that groove like maybe The Imposters with or without Elvis Costello. I have never heard a misstep from either band, and every note or phrase seems to fit like no other sound would do. The Imposters have been described by another journalist as "too perfect" and I never understood what he was talking about. I'd say Soul Return is just exactly perfect enough and they do something different "just right" with every one of these songs.
We made the entire record, start-to-finish, in 10 days. I was back from Europe and had exactly 10 days to do it. It worked somehow. JJ and I sat in his studio and he played riffs. I said, "I like this one", that one, etc.
And I basically ran off and sat at Priscillas Coffee Shop in Burbank until I wrote 3 songs —Pretty much stared into space for a couple hours until it started to come to me. Then we rehearsed it for one day, everyone got the basic gist, and next day went into the studio.
I was still scribbling lyrics until literally the last second. They were cuing up the track for me to sing, and I was holding up my finger saying, "One sec. Just one second..."
It was pretty wild.
A later clarification:
So, the Priscilla's Coffee shop thing: I wrote 3 songs a day. Every morning, same thing. JJ and I brainstorming with guitar riffs, me running off to the coffee shop, staring into space....panicking a little, then writing....haha.
THE SONGS
All songs were written by Soul Return, except for Throwin' And Fumblin' which is a tribute to Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ & Tumblin’.
I am in trouble now! I was raised in the Pentecostal church, and when it comes to writing about sexy things, I can make holding hands sound creepy. What makes this even possible for me is the realization you will read about in THE INTERVIEW down further in this text. Kellie Rucker tells stories in her songs, and she brings the same searing hot energy to every story. I asked her about sex, and she said, "I don't think about it." I think I breathed a sigh of relief a couple of thousand miles away from her train in Italy right there. Like an actor, she takes on the role of each of these characters in the songs. I have been informed and believe, and, on the basis of that belief, I maintain that this album isn't one bit confessional. That is my story, and I am sticking to it. And so is Kellie. Characters. Like an actor. Nothing about that should make anyone blush, right?
1. You're Leavin Me 04:18
Off to a good start. "Two ships passing in the night. You on the left, and I'm on the right." Then things go South. "And you're leaving me." I think she's gonna be alright. Tough cookie this "character" Kellie is singing about. ”There’s plenty more fish in the sea, and you're leavin' me!" Seriously amazing harp playing and the band is dead bang full of fire, pith and vinegar.
2. In The Meantime 04:18
Uh oh! I think I just better print the lyrics on this one:
Bless my soul,It's a quarter to 4...(have a smoke!)Buck nekkid in the bed with my trenchcoat on,(Have a drink! Have a drink, yeah!)Gonna fly 'round here till the sun goes down...Sunglasses on the subway, grab me a bottle an' head downtown....mmmmm!)Donk-a-donk! Donk-a-donk, yeah! Raggle-daggle!Ohhhh, it's a greasy night,In King Solomon's mine!Close my eyes...Git mine in the meantime
3. Life Of Crime 04:24
A character story! Whew! As advertised! Kellie writes a story. Good story. About a bad guy. This has a lovely grinding groove on the rhythm section and that scene painter of a guitar. Some criminal apparently, but it is a first person story. "I should have stayed in school, but I figured what the hell, I would never stand a chance, I'm just another n'er do well. But I should be fine fitting into a life of crime”. Guitar here has a little alligator-grind, irresistible groove with a little more grit and flange I never heard from an alligator, but love it here. Now the drums just support every song like a Beautyrest Matters with the pillow top, but I did notice a "kick the band" thing going on this time. Love that guy!
4. FYI 02:41
"Sell my soul for a tank of gas! These are the bad ole times, just like its always been." Tight damn band! I feel like I have heard this song for years, and I fabricating memories of things I have done listening to this music. I am old. We do that sometimes. At my age, some of my best memories never really happened. Did I mention Kellie's harp! (harmonica) Damn! This is more than an oxymoron of a good song of bad times in good times, it is a song has me dancing in my chair.
5. Only Love Can Save Us Now 03:32
Here comes some heart in this central fireplace of the album. For starters, there is a JJ Cale style shuffle with that hook-drenched grind that gets everybody popping their head side to side, those who can do it, and those who can't but think they can. "I believe in love, take my hand. Just got to do the best we can. Devil's at the door, but he's never gonna take my soul. Only love can save us now." I can feel the hot breath of something bad near my ear just right there in my blind spot. This has the feeling of a spiritual made for the swamp church. But aren’t we all living in the swamp now anyway? We will be alright. "Feel it in my soul, shining from above. Only love can save us now." I sure hope so.
6. Va Va Voom 04:43
Trouble here. I can tell from the chicka chicka boom rhythm. "They got legs from here to China. Wrap 'em round you like a python do. Twist your mustache and dust your broom. Mess you up. I said, Va Va Voom. Chicka chicka hey hey, Va Va Voom." Now personally, I think I got the idea with the first "Va Va Voom," and the rest just seems a tiny bit gratuitous. Listen to that guitar growl! Oh boy. I am gonna need to confess this to somebody before the rapture comes, for sure. Oh great! A false ending, as though we needed more to make a point. There is a reference to a Gila Monster that isn't about a lizard. Naughty naughty Kellie! Naughty band! Oh boy. I am going to have do some serious research with this song.
7. In America 03:18
Oh please let this be a break from the goings on! Yes, it is! "In America, where the West is wild"... "Where the news is fake, and the lies are true (it's, "and the lies are too"), salvation lies in the hands of the blues." This just feels true. "Mmmmm. But it doesn't have to be that way!" "The streets of your youth, gonna ask yourself, 'What did we do?'" "And ya take up arms and you lay them down, ' as saner minds' 'Pride goes before a fall...." "What would our fathers say if they could see us now, where the right is wrong, and the left is too. Round and round and round going round and round." "Well you replace resistance and the hate with love, cause you know the answer ain't no more boots on the ground. And you wave your flag, and you point your gun. Shake your fist in the air. What have we won?" Add to these words that the song is a swamp draining satisfying shuffle stomp, and you got yourself a song of wisdom with some questions in it like our famous anthem. "Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light that so proudly we hailed..." You know the rest. The only National Anthem that begins with a question. And that question still doesn't have a definitive answer.
8. Kiss Me 04:07
I am not qualified to write about this song. We got into a little trouble up in the previous songs, but I ain't touching this one except in the privacy of a darkened room with somebody close to me who won't repeat a word of what goes on. Sorry, folks. This song is out for a physical reaction, and it gets there like something I don't feel comfortable talking about it. Oh boy! It goes there. "Rip my dress. Watch me fall. Kiss me." That's all I feel prepared to repeat. JJ Holiday has gone modal for this solo. I think that's so it will sound like some sort of foreign movie where they do these kind of things and don't feel uncomfortable about it.
9. Throwin' And Fumblin' 03:53
Feels like Dicky Betts or Duane Allman (rest his soul) have taken over the guitar duties this time. The groove isand that is just exactly right. Count Basie once said, "If you can't swing slow, you can't swing." This band can swing slow, sweet Harriet! Kellie listens to horns to learn what to play on the harp, and this time she is wailing as much with her voice as the harmonica. There is some vocalization here without actual words because with a slow groove this good you don't need no meaning that anyone can repeat as evidence against you later. Throwin' And Fumblin' is Soul Return’s homage to Muddy Waters’ classic Rollin' and Tumblin'. Thanks Muddy!
10. Had We Not 03:17
This one settles in slow and mournful. Kellie tells me “It’s a lament.” Lyric: "Shouldn't a gone down that road. Shouldn't a taken things so far. Can't undo what's already done. Things might be much different had we not." When this band plays it slow, there's a message in there somewhere. Wisdom maybe. Watch out! "Lovers lie. Lovers live in dreams. Lovers cry about all kinds of things. Dogs and men are killers after dark. Yes, things might be much different, had we not." The song advances the story, but I think you musta got plenty out of this so far to want to go hear the rest with your own store-bought copy of the download. I think that is the meaning of the phrase, “Keep it on the download.”
11. Talk To Me 02:59
This song is destined to be a favorite. It has a sassy upbeat rhythm, and Kellie is advancing some theories and facts about the Senators and the nonsense all coming from a physical place in her physical soul. Talk To Me lays out some ground rules for a little honest heart to heart about the way things are going. Mercifully her assessment is that we are doing fine. Doesn't feel that way, but that may be why we need to talk.
12. If These Walls Could Talk 04:38
That last song that leaves the crowd with a thought or two while they finish their drinks and head for the doors. "If these walls could talk, maybe then I would see how I went so wrong. What would they tell me? Feel the ground! Fall away from me. Falling down. Take two more and fall asleep. Yeah, but I can't stand it that you don't want me no more." A good heartbreak song can save a life or two, if is honest. Somebody somewhere may be singing along to this album, instead of something worse. This song takes the torch from Janis Joplin and lights a fire all of its own. JJ Holiday’s guitar lights itself on fire, and then miraculously cools into the coolest of cool and strums the tonic to cure the loss of love.
All songs recorded at Sullystone Music, North Hollywood, CA.
Photography by Caralyn Poskin.
Artwork by Ronan Legendre.
THE INTERVIEW
You said you like Alberta Hunter. Who are your favorite blues singers, and what makes them good? What do you look for in your performances and in other singers that you think means they are great at the blues?
Q1: I like Alberta Hunter because she uses her voice effectively and within her limitations. To me, this is one of the most important things a singer, musician or anyone can learn about themselves. If you were a belter at 25, and now you're 75....ain't gonna work for you the same as it did. But it's important to evolve as an artist, and try new ways of singing, anyway. It's good to be versatile with your singing, and use your voice in different ways.
Bonnie Raitt said after a duet with John Lee Hooker she was so moved that she almost “slid off the chair.” She was making a very graphic sexual statement, and it was a little bit shocking. How much of your approach to singing is sex? What reaction are you going for in an audience? Exactly how do you want to move the men and the women who see you sing live?
Q 2: sex: I don't really think about it consciously. It's not a motivating factor in my performances. A song like, "Kiss Me" is pretty sexy, but more, it the human experience of attraction. I don't do a lot of "sexy moves" onstage. I think it distracts from the music.
Your harp playing (harmonica, in case I am wrong about the word) is the same voice as your singing! I believe your singing and harp can be used to burn the paint off the walls. I don’t know anyone who sings like you, but Janis Joplin is a distant relative in sound. How did you develop your voice? Does that sound come from connecting to you body? Were you just born that way?
Q3: Voice - I learned how to really use my voice while making the 1st record, produced by BB Chung King (Alan Mirikitani). He taught me how to sound like myself. We all need instruction and mentoring from time to time. My harmonica playing comes from listening to horn players, guitar players, organ players. I like to say, "I'm pretty good at staying out of the way" haha...
What are you after when you write a song? I have written monologues for theater. I always imagine the rhythm of the words, and make the sound of the language fun to say. Are you building words that you can sing in a particularly theatrical way? Are your songs stories in you mind?
Q4; Songwriting - I'm looking for a story, really. I seldom write songs about "myself". Usually it's a character as the subject, even if it is derived from my own life. Yes, the words have to sing well. I try to get the listener to see the character and the setting, etc. A little mini film, in a way...
What do you love about your life as a blues singer? You finished a performance last night and you very very very generously wrote me a text or two. You said that you were tired after singing. Do you leave it all on the stage? When you do a great performance, have you used up all you got?
Q5: What I love about my life as a singer is that I am able to see the world. I would never have been able to travel throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Japan, Africa, etc. without music.
And yes, I pretty much use it all up onstage. I'm beat afterwards, and usually hungry. It's not that I'm jumping around so much, but more that I'm also cueing the band many times.
Email: billymwb@gmail.com
Submissions accepted. Send a link, not a CD. Lyrics and artwork plus any information is appreciated. Access to artists for interviews encouraged.
Even if I had nothing to do with this album, your expertise as a writer and your deep heartfelt appreciation and understanding of music and it’s profound effect and connection with the human soul experience , makes reading your article/ interview a mandatory!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Billy MWB