Description
Trap Door is a six-track 12-inch vinyl EP by the American singer, songwriter, and producer T-Bone Burnett of The Alpha Band fame, released on Warner Bros. Records in August 1982. It was Burnett’s first release on the Warner Bros. Records label after leaving Takoma Records. Whereas his previous record, Truth Decay, had the feel of an early Sam Phillips recording for Sun Records, Trap Door is filled with tight, radiant folk-rock.
In Billboard‘s Critic’s Choice ’82 (published in the January 8, 1983 issue), one of the magazine’s editors listed the Trap Door EP alongside albums by Van Morrison, Roxy Music and Prince, stating that “Burnett’s first solo outing, ‘Truth Decay‘, was an often disturbing, musically rich triumph. This more conventionally rocking mini-album is more accessible, but its underlying intelligence is no less impressive.”
T-Bone Burnett, founding member of The Alpha Band, returns to vinyl with a six-song EP that has already been heralded by secular rock critics as one of 1982’s best albums. The important issue for the sake of the record-buying public is what this collection of songs says to its listeners. What may be even more important to the church is how they are being said.
‘Trap Door’ (Warner Bros. 23691) possesses a quality often non-existent in current music written by Christian artists: lyrical objectivity. This approach is highly unique and not easily accomplished since a Christian’s view of the world is highly subjective, evaluating life through the mind of Christ. Here however, Burnett has written clear, distinct scenarios with characters that live and breathe; yet each stands without the writer’s personal judgement. The only subjective moments come when he speaks for himself, as in the passionate devotional, «Poetry».
In «A Ridiculous Man», the title’s descriptive adjective was penned by Dostoyevsky, whose story “Dream of a Ridiculous Man” was the basis for this song. This objective style may sound cold and distant, but in fact the opposite is true. One emerges from these encounters struck with the “furious” love of God as voiced by a man who could, as expressed in «Hold On Tight», love Ortiz “as my own life.”
If all this doesn’t hit you as deeply the first time through, the music will. ‘Trap Door’ bears T-Bone’s name (and rightly so), but make no mistake about it; what you hear is the work of a tight-knit ensemble that believes in economy and precision. Every note on this record matters. Basically the sound is tight and percussive; hands and drums and guitar strings crack the silence repeatedly. There are ghosts about, and echoes of other times and voices: Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Carl Perkins, John Lennon and a few latin Rosas from Spanish Harlem. But primarily it is reminiscent of Burnett’s previous LP Truth Decay and the three Alpha Band albums.
‘Trap Door’ is a major work that speaks truth where you least expect it. We can all hope and pray it will fall into the hands that need its message most.
One more thing: it is evident by now that guitarist David Mansfield is one of the most accomplished and versatile players on the scene today. His work on this record as well as the soundtrack to ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and the Alpha Band albums testify to his gift for playing a variety of stringed instruments with both competency and sensitivity. [Thom Granger, CCM, December 1982]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/trap-door-remastered-ep/1117600263)
12-inch vinyl EP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Hold on Tight” – 3:43
A2. “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” – 3:01
A3. “I Wish You Could Have Seen Her Dance” – 3:46
Side Two
B1. “A Ridiculous Man” – 3:49
B2. “Poetry” – 3:38
B3. “Trap Door” – 4:11
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl EP. Rhino Handmade re-issued the EP on CD in March 2007 which also included the Beyond The Trap Door EP as well as the Proof Through The Night LP. The double CD was issued in a numbered limited edition of 5,000.
CREDITS. Produced by Reggie Fisher and T Bone Burnett. Engineered and mixed by Reggie Fisher and Geoff Gillette. Mastered by Bernie Grunman.
Musicians: T Bone Burnett (vocals, guitar), David Mansfield (guitar), Steven Soles (vocals), Tommy Funderburk (vocals), Billy Swan (vocals), Mark Saffan (vocals), Charles Duncan (vocals), David Miner (bass), David Kemper (drums).
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