Ben Blankenship – Made By Tornado
This set is made for a top-down convertible cruising an endless highway under blue skies with fuzzy dice bobbing from a rear view. Low-cut yellow tank top tight jeans with white sneakers no socks. Ray-bans & a magnetic Jesus with Elvis on the dash. Am I being funny? Or nostalgic?
There are 11 rock n’ roll storm clouds hovering over Ben’s Made By Tornado (Drops Aug. 16/Independent/41:00). East Nashville’s Dave Coleman & Music City studio musician & solo artist Ben Blankenship produced this cauldron of country creativity & traverses topical issues, with humorous observations, tunes with intelligent lyrics with sardonic wit & frames it with excellent musicianship.
Vocally, Ben ain’t Roy Orbison or Elvis. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a stylistically vibrant approach to his material. What he comes close to on “Traveling Girl,” is the melodic vocal tonality & guitar snap of what Rocky Burnette produced decades ago with his hit “Tired of Toein’ the Line.” And that was quite liquid in its rock n’ roll flow. That’s it, Blankenship has a fluid rock coherence.
With “Tornado Dream,” he applies a suave aspect somewhat in a Chris Isaak mold. It’s all good because Ben doesn’t forget that this music is built on many entertainment values. Backup vocals on the title track add color.
There’s a danger of falling victim to cliches since Ben flies at times close to the novelty sun when he sings the more traditional 60s-type country-oriented melodies. But he does it so well it can be forgiven. The guitars can sound like the old mainstream commercial pose but back in the day, that sound turned many hummable melodies in the 60s into hits. Even with an average tune like “Sacred Ground” with its retro guitar tone gets a lift when the female vocal slides into place beside Ben’s excellent narrative. This is closer to the Bakersfield country sound than the Deep South.
“Oblivion Hotel” is characterized by a Buck Owens fervor & it’s nicely done. Good choice for a single & a pitch to George Strait. Some tunes are just good & follow the country recipe with tight well-emphasized precision. “So Many Places” really sounds different & should be where Ben takes his repertoire. Excellent tune.
Songs chug along quite well & Ben’s vocal is always youthful. He doesn’t have that George Jones maturity, Johnny Cash assertiveness, or Willie Nelson rawness. He sounds rootsy & accomplished with his sprinkle of pop swipes which ignite many of his tunes.
Highlights – “Traveling Girl,” “Tornado Dream,” “Sacred Ground,” “Oblivion Hotel,” “Greenwood,” “Snake,” “Spider In the Cider” & “So Many Places.”
Musicians – The Bee Benders: Ben (vocals/lead guitars/Fender bass VI), Carol Jane Buttenham (vocals), Jim Alderman (drums/percussion), David Martin (bass), Mark McKenzie (lap steel) & Patrick Dennis (harmonica).
Color image courtesy of Ben’s website. CD @ Bandcamp + Music Samples @ https://benblankenship.com/home