The Mouse That Rocked: A Tribute To Stanley Mouse
For those unfamiliar – Detroit’s visual artist Stanley Mouse moved to San Francisco & became the artist who put a “face” on rock music. Stanley created many of the rock ballroom posters & album covers for several famous 60s rock bands & artists (Cream, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, The Beatles, Moby Grape & many others).
This collection provides 12 newly recorded tracks by varied artists performing the music of legendary bands associated with Mouse’s artwork. The set opens with the ghost of Doug Sahm on his classic “Mendocino,” as originally performed by his Sir Douglas Quintet & rendered here with equal exuberance & skill by his son Shawn Sahm.
Each track was recorded in different studios with their respective producers on the board. The ambitious undertaking produced The Mouse That Rocked: A Tribute To Stanley Mouse (Dropped April 23/Blue Rose). Each tune has its merits, but several stand out for their musical aplomb if not the soulfulness. Digging deep Chuck Leavell’s “Three Hundred Pounds of Joy,” an original by Howlin’ Wolf is performed with lots of finesse.
The imitation pitfalls are overcome since the new vocalists are somewhat tempted to imitate out of respect. However, despite her powerful vocals, Nicole Atkins does a wonderful job on Janis Joplin’s (Big Brother & the Holding Company) “I Need A Man To Love.” She doesn’t attempt to get the raw ingestion of Joplin but maintains the expressive, well-accentuated moments that the song requires. She succeeds. There are moments when Nicole screams that sounds like Joplin stood beside her – nice touch. But the actual “bluesiness” of Janis isn’t there. That’s the difference. But it can’t be denied – Ms. Arkins asserts herself with Joplin intonations with lots of energy, soulfulness & authenticity. And sometimes, that’s quite enough. It is here.
So, in slides, a Journey song “Lights,” & the group Poor Man’s Whiskey adds banjo & fiddle to create a credible rootsy, Americana arrangement. I never liked Journey. But this is well done. Who would’ve thought?
The most energetic song that’s also handsomely arranged is Leftover Salmon’s “I Don’t Know You,” an old New Riders of the Purple Sage track produced by Steve Berlin. Some tunes on this set work better than others (but that’s to be expected). This is a perfect mix. It’s just loaded with whiskey, sawdust & chimney smoke.
Highlights: “Mendocino,” “Three Hundred Pounds of Joy,” “I Need A Man To Love,” “Lights,” “I Don’t Know You” & “Easy Wind.”
Musicians – All musicians on each song are listed individually on the Blue Rose website below.
CD cover art by Stanley Mouse. CD @ Amazon & https://bluerosemusic.com/products/the-mouse-that-rocked-a-tribute-to-stanley-mouse-cd