BENTLEY’S BANDSTAND: JANUARY 2024
By Bill Bentley
Lance Cowan, So Far, So Good. Spend any time writing about great American music the past 40 years, and there’s a good chance Lance Cowan will have appeared in that world. Cowan has been one of the most inspired publicists in the middle of all that music for so long it’s no surprise that he’s also a formidable singer-songwriter. But what is a stone cold surprise is just how great an artist he is. It’s a pretty good bet that no other publicist has ever had these kinds of songwriting and singing abilities, much less had it for the most part hidden away. Surely it’s one of the great surprises of living this life in music. Cowan’s songs have a super-deep resonance whether he’s writing about romance, people he’s met or just living the life that he does. It takes a special talent to work one side of the fence promoting so many great other singer-songwriters over the years and then switching hats and heading into the recording studio. The man’s has that special openness that the best singers always possess, and then the eagle-eye ability to write the kind of songs that voice fits. Then there’s originals like “Little Johnny Pierce” and “Ben McChee” that are able to bring to life the kind of characters that are never forgotten. In the space of a song it feels like new friends have come alive. This is music for the ages, and the dozen songs offered on SO FAR, SO GOOD feel like an incredible study of America firmly rooted in the past, but also able to make the jump into the present and, often, right off into the future. What a wonder.
Jesse DeNatale, The Hands of Time. There are a handful of American musicians who can be counted on to hit the bullseye everytime they step before a microphone. They all have a longview sensibility to how they approach their music, and it is built into their sound and their soul that they will never fall short of their promise. Jesse Denalte is a San Francisco homeboy and it shows. There is a sense of the city’s history hardbaked into his songs. It’s a cross between traditional greatness and an ability to take chances when those chances are called for. The man’s new album, THE HANDS OF TIME, gathers all the wonder of DeNatale’s first three albums that is given a new spin right into the cosmos of pure glee. No matter what the subject matter of songs like “Sweet Arrival,” “Where Am I” and “Late Semptember,” there is always a near-spiritual sense of mystery crossed with surety which sinks into all the songs. This is someone who doesn’t ever take for granted the power of a great song, but also isn’t afraid to take chances and swing for the areas of life that are almost uncaptureable. But capture them Jesse DeNatale does, over and over, which makes THE HANDS OF TIME able to never grow old. It’s almost like it’s a new album every time it’s listened to. Kind of like San Francisco itself: it never falls short in the surprise department. No matter how many times an avenue is walked, there will be a fresh sense of wowness hiding in plain sight. Just like this music. It’s a magic trick that never grows old. The world turns.
The Feelies, Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of The Velvet Underground. Underneath all the feelings of darkness and depravity, the Velvet Underground were one of the greatest straight-up rock & roll bands ever to plug in a guitar. And the way The Feelies approach the Velvets’ songbook is right on the money. Take the velocity of some of the greatest songs ever written and then pour the soul into those vessels and let them burn. There are no tricks needed or extras added. Instead the sheer greatness of everything from “Sunday Morning” to “Oh Sweet Nuthin'” is captured at this live concert in 2018 by a band that truly did have a lifetime love affair with the Velvet Underground. Frontman Glenn Mercer was able to capture the attack of Lou Reed and run with it. Gutiarist Bill Million, bassist Brenda Sauter, drummer Stanley Demeski and keyboardist Dave Weckerman are not a copy band. They are pioneers on their own, and what they do with this songbook of eternity is astounding. Once the quintet get about five songs in, it feels like The Feelies have taken off on a sonic rocketship of their own creation, and nothing is going to stop them until the end of time. All the emotions of rock & roll allows them to stand tall as if they’ve written these majestic songs themselves, and they return the favor by putting their hearts all the way on the line. Heads held high.
Betty LaVette, LaVette! Soul singer Betty LaVette is badass to the bone. She does not take any turns that aren’t absolutely needed, and the way she lays into a song sounds like she’s hoping to sing her way to the Holy Land. Her voice has seen its share of hard times, but it also has a bottom line of beauty which speaks of decades of adventures–both good and bad–and unrelenting belief that shows what the human spirit is capable of. On LAVETTE!, the woman has zeroed in on the songs of Randall Bramblett and chosen 11 that she knows will take her to the river. That’s because Bramblett’s originals do not tell anything but the truth. The words and music come together to not only feature the absolute essence of soul, but they also keep an eye open on the present and future so never to be boxed-in by the past. These are sounds that realize the world cannot go back to a previous time. There’s too much at stake to put it in reverse now. Betty LaVette knows at her deepest spots the past is a losing battle to live in. She has seen her shares of ups and downs to know that up is always better than down, and she will do her damnedest to get there. In so many ways, there is really no one like Ms. LaVette out there right now. She walks into the music like she owns it, and no one can take it away from her. Her life story might have enough bruises to scare even the strongest, but in the end all that has happened has given the singer the kind of faith that can’t be forgotten. Betty LaVette is in it until the end, and with the unbeatable faith she shares on these heart-bending songs there is no doubt this is someone who will keep on keeping on–no matter what. Do not fear.
Lost Planet Airmen, Back from the Ozone. There is no doubt that Commander Cody & the Lost Planet Airmen were a new deal band in the late 1960s when they took over the clubs in Berkeley. There wasn’t a lot of superfueled country & western groups injecting 100% early rock & roll into their grooves like the Airmen did way back when. Austin still hadn’t hit the gas on redneck rock just yet, while the Flying Burrito Brothers were more of a Los Angeles concept. That left the Bay Area bunch to jack things up right. Which is exactly what Commander Cody and his crew did, and let the cow chips fall where they may. Like almost all combos, things got sliced and diced over the years, and the Commander himself went to the big honky tonk in the sky a few years ago. Fortunately, several of the original Airmen are alive and poop-kicking together now, and this mighty fine release, recorded in San Rafael, shows great ideas never go away completely. Bill Kirchen, John Tichy, Bruce Barlow, Paul Reveli, Bobby Black, Austin de Lone, Peter Siegel and Andy Stein are the Airmen enlisted this time around, and what a way-fine rowdy bunch they are. They even signed up Louise Kirchen for vocals on “Out of My Mind.” More than a half century before they first tore up a bandstand, this is an aggregation that sounds like they never dropped a stitch, and love their country sound with all the romance they had at their inception. Besides the opening door-busting cover of Dallas Frazier’s “Ain’t Nothin Shakin,” the set list now is pure Lost Planet Airmen, and between the heat they play with and the pride they show doing it, this could easily be a live set at the New Monk in Berkeley in 1970. Lost Airmen found.
Mustangs of the West, Down at the Palomino. There are all styles of country music in Southern California, enough for everyone to find the kind they like. Mustangs of the West have been playing long enough to have performed many of them, and the beauty of the group is they keep expanding their sound because, well, that’s what great bands do. DOWN AT THE PALOMINO is named in honor of the revered club in North Hollywood that for over a half-century led the way in presenting country music in Los Angeles. The biggest stars and some of the unheard heroes of the style called the stage home, and there surely won’t be another Palomino on this planet. Mustangs of the West know all the territories of the country sound, and are not shy about playing exactly what they feel like. Their knocked-out new album starts with the title song and lays out exactly where they’re at. The five Mustangs all have various backgrounds, but one thing is for sure: they take their country music seriously. Between their original songs and classy covers, it is no surprise they’ve also become one of the fastest-rising groups in the genre. Songs by Timothy B. Schmit, Audioslave, REO Speedwagon, Rolling Stones, Robbie Robertson, Buddy Holly and Chrissie Hynde sound brand new in the Mustangs’ hands and voices. That isn’t as easy as it may sound. The real secret of Mustangs of the West is that they are unafraid to sound like themselves, and also quite open to using all the many influences they’ve each accrued over the years to add to that mix. In the end, it’s this mixture that makes the Mustangs so irresistible. Walking the line between the past, the present and the future is the true key of all great groups. And this is a great group. Make no mistake.
Danielle Nicole, The Love You Bleed. When it’s time for full-on no-breaks rhythm & blues stoked by modern moves and grooves, Danielle Nicole is at the top of the list. There is such a deep feeling of someone who has likely fought the wars of love and lasted through it all. And here are songs that do not pull their punches. Produced by Tony Braunagel (Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Eric Burdon and more), this is a no-nonsense sound that comes straight from the heart. Nicole’s voice can go from down in the alley to the top of the church choir, while it always keeps a burning feel of reality in the middle. It’s clear from the first song, “Love on My Brain,” this woman can more than ably do things for herself, and is not waiting for anyone to show her the way. She’s learned and earned it all on her own. Based in Kansas City, in her years performing Danielle Nicole has garnered a tour bus full of awards, but there is a sense of breaking through on THE LOVE YOU BLEED. Like the woman felt it was time to banish whatever musical styles might have held her back before, and to go for broke on these dozen songs on the CD (9 on the vinyl album) and write from the heart what life has been and what it is like now. And, yes, what it could be. The breakthroughs come on every song, and there is such a sense of freeing emotion that in some ways Danielle Nicole sounds brand new. This is not someone playing around at the edges. Nicole’s voice is the sound of someone who has determined time doesn’t allow for any holdbacks. This is it.
Chris O’Leary, The Hard Line. There are not many hard-core bluesmen who have been seven-year U.S. Marine combat veterans, and then a Federal police officer. Chris O’Leary has always done what it took to keep going, and has now become one of the most vital blues musician alive. His sound is rough and tough, but also has such a strong dose of humanity that he is standing with very few others as the modern hope for the blues. O’Leary is the kind of singer and harp player who wades right into the musical action, and takes over because that’s the way he lives. Someone who has lived this man’s background is not looking for favors. He’s looking for standouts. At one point in his zig-zag career he was an integral part of Levon Helm’s group, and learned that there are no shortcuts. You practice, you play and then you do it again; no breaks and no regrets. Working with Muddy Waters’ guitarist Bob Margolin as a sort of mentor took ths singer-harp player into the kind of learning conditions that aren’t around much anymore, and O’Leary took everything he could find in those situations and turned them into lifelong lessons. Those years can be heard in the low-down sound on THE HARD LINE, and the way that this bluesman presents himself. There aren’t many chances any more to learn from such up-close sources, and the results are all in the sound O’Leary and band get on this stunning album. Here is someone who has really arrived, and he’s not going away. Chris O’Leary is ready to put in the alley whenever called for, and he’s not going to be packing anything on the bandstand that isn’t absolutely necessary to make sure his sound doesn’t have an ounce of fat on it. This is a former Marine who takes care of business the most direct way possible, in combat or playing blues. The man rules.
Shakey Graves, Movie of the Week. This new album by Shakey Graves, the inspired name that Alejandro Rose-Garcia goes by, is what might be called artsy in all the positive connotations of that handle. He’s been put into the Americana side of things, but in reality this is a fearless musician who follows those footsteps in the sky to wherever he wants to go. MOVIE OF THE WEEK is one of the more clearly groundbreaking collections that slipped out last year. And while it did not make the splash it deserved, it sure sounds like music that will grow in stature forever. Think along the lines of mid-1970s Paul McCartney experimentations, but created by someone who maybe comes from the communes of Taos, New Mexico. This is seriously off-road songs from the common fare of what is jamming the the Triple-A charts these days, and thank goodness for that. Shakey Graves has absolutely taken to the road less-traveled, and by doing that has made his reputation at the very top of those recording music that has a good chance of lasting a half-century or so. What is extra interesting is that the album package doesn’t have a single credit on it–songwriting or musicians–exceot for the song “Ready or Not,” which features the guest singer Sierra Ferrell. Even if the MOVIE OF THE WEEK didn’t get much attention when it first appeared in 2023, that doesn’t mean its ride is over. This really does sound like a work that might grow in interest as it ages and finds its way into listeners’ ears. There is something that gets under the skin, even on first listen, and then grows inside whoever gets within earshot. That uphill ride, of course, is that it really doesn’t sound like anything else right now. When, thank goodness, it is actually better than almost everything else. And while Shakey Graves has made strides forward since he first appeared, this is a musical work that could actually become seen as a masterpiece someday down the line. It just might take a decade or two. Shakey Graves forever.
Various Artists, Bear’s Sonic Journals: Sing Out! They really know how to throw a righteous benefit in the Bay Area. This 3-CD collection, brought to life by the vaults of Owsley Stanley (better known as The Bear for his many years masterminding Grateful Dead’s sound and manufacturing primo LSD), is a 360-trip among the folkish groups that roared side-by-side in their electric bands and other early acoustic accomplices in the 1960s. It’shosted by, natch, Wavy Gravy, and is a journey into another time, even if it was recorded in 1981 at the Berkeley Community Theatre. There is such a family feeling among the different artists participating that the collection almost smells like incense. Country Joe McDonald opens the set with a sturdy cross-section of folk classics and a few perennials out of his Country Joe & the Fish songbook, and the immediate response is that this is confirmed soldier in the counter-culture ranks, someone who never blinked an eye into going into the thick of things. Rosalie Sorrels with Mitch Greenhill casts a strong spell on the audience with a voice that always stole a show. Kate Wolf is featured on Disc 2, and while she never broke through long out of the folk ranks, she is still revered by all those who were there. For sonic energy, the Grateful Dead’s dueling drummers, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, come out to tangle for a stretched-out Dead-show standard “Rhthm Devils.” Which leaves Disc 3 to the evening’s headliners Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, backed by Kreutzmann and Hart. The songs include a few originals, deep folk songs, along with covers of Marty Robbins and Buddy Holly gems. Quiet and deadly.
Reissue of the Month
Lou Reed, Hudson River Wind Meditations.
This is hypnotic electronic music created alone by Lou Reed in his apartment next to the Hudson River in New York’s West Village. And then used while Reed did his Tai Chi practices on the roof and at home for inspiration and meditation. No words are needed. It’s all here.
Book of the Month
Joel Selvin, Jim Gordon: Drums and Demons. Everything starts with the drums. Listen to any great recording, and down in the bottom is the bass drum’s pulse and the snare drum’s pop. Add on some swinging cymbals or a chugging hi-hat and the sound is complete. One of the flat-out greatest drummers of the rock & roll era was Jim Gordon. A Southern California pillar of percussion, he was on records starting with Gary Lewis & the Playboys, right up to Eric Clapton’s Derek & the Dominos, Traffic and beyond. Unfortunately Gordon’s mind was also laced with serious mental problems that took him all the way down. And worst of all, he took his mother with him, murdering her with a hammer in the early 1980s. The man spent the rest of his life in a mental institution, and near the end turned down being released. Joel Selvin’s 100 mph biography takes the reader through all the twists and turns of a storied life in music for the second half of the 20th century, and needless to say there really is no other life like it. Jim Gordon was simply better than other drummers, while he had gargantuan challenges just trying to live a normal erxistence. When the drummer lost the ability to tell reality from the terrible voices in his head, he took the E-ticket to insanity and never came back. Selvin’s research takes him into so many of the great live groups Gordon played with, all captured with an eagle’s eye, and the recording sessions the drummer was on that helped definte modern music. It’s a one-of-a-kind story, and captures the total highs and unbelievable lows of a man who helped create our present-day music of the spheres. A Domino’s fall.
Song of the Month
Sam Llanas, “Hideaway”
The latest song by Sam Llanas sounds like an instant American classic the second it starts. There is something so inviting, so positive, so full of life that “Hideaway” feels like it has been part of the musical landscape for the past 50 years. It’s one of those tracks that is beyond every classification that could be tried on it. Instead, it’s just an instantly perfect song that makes life feel it could go on forever for everyone. Llanas has always had a 50,000 watts voice, one that is so inviting it is impossible to resist. In BoDeans, he always went directly to the heart of whatever he was singing. Now, all these years later, he is even better. This is the song for 2024 to be the year we get close to the end of time, but change directions before it’s all over. We have entered the twilight zone, and once again rock & roll will surely save us all. One more time.
Bentley’s Bandstand: January 2024