Dr.John is still on a mission – a protest album, with a little help from stellar buddies.
He has clearly been deeply affected by the trauma of Hurricane Katrina.
This is the second album highlighting the fallout of lack of attention from
the federal government of the USA on his former city of New Orleans. He ain’t
too impressed with the war in Iraq either. This 13-tracker sees the seasoned
musician bringing us a heartfelt, painful and thought provoking album once
again.
Target of his anger, and there’s plenty of anger believe me, is the American
administration. Promises Promises featuring Willie Nelson sums it all
up – "The road to the White House, paved with lies / paved with lies /
paved with lies….the truth will set you free."
City... begins with hangdog and funky Keep Goin’, which, like much
of the album, which is a masterful lament, the doctor still offers hope.
Time For Change features Slowhand – Eric Clapton - who peppers the track
with bluesy, Jeff Skunk Baxter (Steely Dan) licks. This could be the Dan,
especially on the ¾ way jazzy groove which is in sharp contrast to the
wind-down ballad You Might Be Surprised sounding like Van Morrison in the
process, with Dream Warrior’s menacing funky groove held tight so he can declare
himself, "I’m a Samurai of the holy lost cause" which seems to take the
content off on another tangent.
Inevitably, Iraq is broached. He hits it straight. Black Gold is about
oil – "For that black gold politicians, sell our souls / For a taste of that black gold."
Later in, NO is the focus once again – Stripped Away. This is another
funk-based lament with Clapton adding sublime bluesy riffs and picks over his
most direct lyrics, "There was a time New Orleans looked so hip / With all
that rot and decay / Along come the waters / Now It’s all stripped away."
Purely on a listening/music basis, Land Grab has some thrilling (Temptations-like
Papa Was A Rolling Stone) brass solos, and it’s the most accessible he gets.
Things get a bit swampy on the title track. The low groove and graphic lyrics
are quite damning, as they should be. The bell tolling at the end is quite a
profound ending.
1. Keep On Goin’
2. Time For A Change (feat. Eric Clapton)
3. Promises Promises (feat. Willie Nelson)
4. You Might Be Surprised
5. Dream Warrior
6. Black Gold
7. We Getting’ There (feat. Terence Blanchard)
8. Stripped Away (feat. Eric Clapton)
9. Say Whut?
10. My People Need A Second Line (feat. James ‘12’ Andrews and Troy ‘Trombone Shorty’ Andrews
11. Land Grab (feat. Terence Blanchard)
12. City That Care Forgot (feat. Eric Clapton and Ani Difranco)
13. Save Our Wetlands (feat. Terrance Simien)
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
