Here we go; it’s the first album review of 2022 and we’re starting with on a high. “Delta Man” isn’t just an album packed with great songs, it’s also a wonderful celebration of over forty years of friendship and collaboration between two very talented and very different singer/songwriters. The fifteen (quantity as well as quality) songs on the album span almost the entire period of their friendship. Bobby and Jerry bring very different strengths to the partnership; Bobby’s a songwriter with country and honkytonk influences and a great voice who’s had a fairly conventional ride through the music business (if such a thing exists), while Gerry pulls in influences from rock and jazz (among other styles), plays a mean guitar and took time out from performing in the mid-eighties to bring up his family in LA before coming back to music full-time in 2017. The varying musical influences and career paths make for a very potent writing partnership.

The opening song of the album is an example of the almost random art of hitmaking. “Kinda Like Love” is a fabulous piece of songwriting that should have been a huge country hit. It’s amazing that it’s never been picked up by a major artist (although it’s still not too late, you can imagine a Luke Combs cover working really well). It was covered by Molly Hatchet in the eighties, but didn’t make a huge impact. All the characters are there – the beautiful young woman, the handsome cowboy and the slightly jealous onlookers in the bar and then there’s the classic lyrical and melodic hook in the chorus. Maybe there’s still time for this one.

The rest of the album is split fairly equally between Bobby’s conventional country/rock/blues and Gerry’s more eclectic stylings and vocal delivery. It’s noticeable that there are a lot of musical references running through the album and hints at influences from a wide variety of artists. “Rockin’ On a Country Dance Floor”, with Bobby Allison’s pure country vocal is a great example; there are nods in the direction of The Allmans and Jerry Lee Lewis and instrumental quotes from The Beatles and Roy Orbison. All of that and a song that’s great fun as well.

And that’s just two songs; there’s plenty of variety across the album, from the slow country waltz “The Good Life” with piano and pedal steel and hints of Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit” in the harmonies and the and the descending IV-III-II-I chord progression, to the Bo Diddley feel of “Delta Man” and the rockabilly styling of “Train Train Train” to the “Blue Bayou” feel of “In the Pass”. With powerful lyrical messages as well, there’s plenty to keep the interest over fifteen tracks and forty years. Welcome to 2022.

“Delta Man” is out on in the UK on Friday January 21st.

Bad Touch TitleWhen you find out that a rock band’s from Norfolk, there’s one connection that you have to make and, yes, there is a link to The Darkness. Bad Touch made their debut EP in the Leeders Farm studio owned by The Darkness, but that’s where the link ends. This isn’t spandex hair metal; from the opening gently-picked guitar spiced up by a bit of slide, it’s obvious that Bad Touch’s roots go much further back than the noughties. Mix up a brew of the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zep, throw in a bit of Chris Robinson and you’re just about there.

The single “Wise Water” is a taster for their new album “Halfway Home” which is released at the end of this month and it’s pretty successful in that respect. You get a sledgehammer guitar riff, a slide solo, a breakdown to drums and vocals (you know, the bit where the audience clap along) and a big live ending. It’s a pretty good single and if you like what’s on offer here, you’re probably going to like the album. We’ll find out in a few weeks.

“Wise Water” is out now.

Get it while you canI’ve been hearing a lot about Rosco Levee over the last six months, so I was pretty chuffed when this review copy arrived a few weeks ago.  “Get it while you can” is the second album from Rosco Levee and the Southern Slide, following 2012’s “Final Approach to Home”.  Coming straight out of the heart of the Medway Delta, Rosco, with Andy Hayes (guitars), David Tettmar (drums), Simon Gardiner (bass) and Lee Wilson (keyboards) play a joyous blend of blues, rock and country with a healthy dose of 1970s southern American rock, but more about that later.

If you want great blues and blues/rock guitar players we seem to have dozens of them at the moment (here and across the pond) but, personally, I’m really fed up of hearing about the new Clapton, the keeper of the faith and the guardian of the flame. There’s no denying that Rosco Levee is influenced by the Allman Brothers and the Rolling Stones (and a few more), but there’s such variety on this album that it stands way above the work of the purists and the one-trick ponies.  More importantly, it sounds like the musicians are having a great time.

Before getting really stuck in to this one, I have to say that, on the first listen, I wasn’t too keen on Rosco’s vocals; maybe it was too early in the day.  There’s a lesson here; never review anything that you’ve only listened to once because you’ve almost certainly missed something.  After a few more plays, the lead vocals became original and distinctive with a hint of Freddie Mercury on early Queen albums or perhaps Squeeze singer Glenn Tilbrook.

So the album starts the way great albums do, with a statement of intent in the blistering “Some Angels Fall”, which throws in everything from a big dirty guitar intro to a huge chorus with a horn section and a couple of kitchen sinks thrown in for good measure.  The next two songs are similarly uptempo, the shuffle beat, keyboard-driven “Gambling Man” followed by “Howitzer Eyes”, powered by a bass riff and twin lead guitars before the first hint of a change of tempo.

The next three songs feature Rosco’s acoustic guitar work, “Back to the Banks” adds a bit of piano and has a strong feel of the Stones’ “You Can’t Always get what you want”, “Whiskey Blues Goodnight” starts with acoustic slide and builds into a blues stomper while “My Gospel” has a strong feel of Rory Gallagher’s acoustic sets; the structure of the song’s very simple and it relies on great guitar and vocal performances.

“When the Band Starts to Play” is a slow blues with an impassioned vocal building up to a huge finish with loads of backing vocals, while “I Got my Own Plan” is pure swamp rock.  The final three songs, “Redemption Calls”, “Look Out Moses” and “Southern Belle” run through country, spaghetti western themes, Mexican brass arrangements, call and response, tempo changes and varied dynamics.

This album quite clearly displays its influences, but it never feels derivative.  The arrangements are hugely varied, from vocal and acoustic guitar to full band with keyboards and horn section, and it all works.  It was even recorded direct to analogue tape in the studio by a bunch of people who just want to make great music.  So what’s not to like?

Released January 27 2014 on Red Train Records UK (Cat 427002).