Description
Muscle Shoals Sessions is an album by the American jam band Blues Counsel, independently released by the band in May 2013.
I could simply tell you that ‘Muscle Shoals Sessions’ might be one of the best pure roots influenced rock & roll albums I have heard in a decade. But, I am sure listeners need a little more than such a broad statement to sway them, so lets take a look at what the mighty Blues Counsel has offered up on their new studio album, ‘Muscle Shoals Sessions’. Recorded in the fabled Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, this record absolutely ooooozes with that mysterious, unmistakable, well, STANK that permeates the best records made at Muscle Shoals … the aura is that palpable. The fact that Blues Counsel are a collection of studio quality musicians who played together in some form for almost 30 years may account for musical performances that practically leap out of the speakers at you. True to the band name, The Blues is the engine that fuels this well-oiled musical machine. However, it is merely a small part of the overall picture. One of many different chassis, if you will. Folk, heartland rock, Memphis soul, 60’s pop, jam band elements, Latin music, and straight ahead rock & roll all find their way onto ‘Muscle Shoals Sessions’.
The band is made up of 6 absolutely stellar musicians with 6 distinct musical personalities that helps give the band a uniquely ecumenical (in a musical sense) approach. All of the members write and sing and all of them come up with solid material. In fact, as good as the playing is, the songwriting is what really carries the disc. The album starts with a Tom Lane penned song, «Wonder Working Power» in a simple but well stated song of devotion that fuses a Latin groove with a jam band ethos. Think Pablo Cruise with Dickey Betts on guitar. It gets things off to a rip-roaring start. Will MacFarlane, who most would agree is one of the finest blues guitarists in the land, offers up the charming blues shuffle, «Final Say»; a song reminding us that God’s power trumps anything the enemy can throw our way. Along with a co-write with Hooper and percussionist extraordinaire, Emedin Riviera on the salsa inflected «Santo» (Holy) MacFarlane wrote the album closing instrumental, «Shoal Train», a rousing Memphis soul workout that features stellar horn arrangements and instrumental breaks from each band member. However it is MacFarlane’s take on the Blind Willie Johson classic «Soul of a Man» that stuns with its raw, emotional heft. It doesn’t hurt having the incomparable Ashley Cleveland wailing away on background and harmony vocals.
Bassist Rick Cua contributes the classic rock & roll element to Blues Counsel, but his extremely hook filled cuts, «Red Motorcycle» and «Love is the Weapon» have as much to do with classic pop songwriting as they do blues rock, giving them an accessibility that adds a unique wrinkle to the project. The former is a “four on the floor” rocker extoling the virtues of getting on you bike and hitting the open road. The latter is a metaphor for fighting the principalities of this world by loving each other and doing it well. Lane contributes the beautiful, soulful ballad, «Shine Your Glory» and the Allman-esque «Fight For You»; a song that plainly espouses the truism “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Tony Hooper, along with playing som amazing/blazing guitar and keyboards, also contributes 3 extremely well written songs in the amusing «Dang Judy» a lean folk/rocker that features the discs best line as Hooper chastises a friend for her nicotine habit: “you may not go to Hell but you smell like you been there”; the atmospheric, ‘South meets Bad Company’ rock ballad, «Poverty», which is a metaphorical telling of the wages of sin and the toll it has on humanity and featuring a typically incendiary guitar solo from guest, Phil Keaggy; and the wistful ballad «Chimney», co-written and sung by Lane. It must also be mentioned that drummer, Tony Morra, has the uncanny ability to empathize, perfectly, with whatever stylistic avenue the band is driving down at the moment. His drumming is, in turn, muscular and sensitive when the situation calls for it. In addition, his production perfectly balances the band’s technical chops and raw, live band sound in one bodacious package. All told, Blues Counsel has a little something for almost any listener. The bonus is that the quality of the songwriting, playing, and the almost supernatural interplay between this band of brothers raises ‘Muscle Shoals Sessions’ to a level that few bands can ever hope to attain. [Shawn McLaughlin, Christian Musician, July/August 2013]
> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/muscle-shoals-sessions/650690391)
CD tracklist:
01. Wonder Working Power – 4:07
02. Final Say – 3:00
03. Dang Judy – 3:36
04. Poverty – 4:34
05. Red Motorcycle – 3:46
06. Shines Your Glory – 4:19
07. Love Will Be the Weapon – 4:00
08. Soul of a Man – 6:00
09. Fight for You – 3:24
10. Santo – 3:54
11. Chimney – 5:18
12. Shoal Train – 4:41
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