Reviews Roundup – Willie Nile vs. Tom Russell vs. Ray Vaughan
WILLIE NILE
American Ride
Loud & Proud
I heard the debut album from Willie Nile, when it came out back in 1980 after someone proclaimed it “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”. But then someone called him the “new Dylan” and we went our separate ways. But he’s never stopped working despite me not paying attention, and here we are, 33 years down the line, and while I’m ticking off the days till death, 65 year old Willie is doing better than ever.
This actually started life as a fan-funded Pledge Music project, but when the funding goal was reached in four days, and pledges topped out at three-times the initial target, the Sony-distributed Loud & Proud picked it up, and Willie was back in the big time. And it’s very good.
For sure, he’s rocking the blue collar Springsteen vote, but it actually sounds like he means it, rather than something he saw on CNN. There is a vim and a vigour which commands your attention. Across 12 tracks he puts the world to rights with a traditional verse – chorus – verse that hooks you in and holds on tight. There’s no slack here as he rattles through some truly excellent songs like ‘This is Our Time’ and ‘If I Ever See the Light’ before crashing to a close with an electric cover of Jim Carroll’s ‘People Who Died’. An absolute gem.
TOM RUSSELL
Aztec Jazz: Live with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble
Proper Records
I’ve liked a few Tom Russell tunes over the years. Not as many as some, what with him having bunged out close to 30 albums over the years. But this is stretching it a bit for me.
See, he’s gone and revisited some of his songs on the company of the 32 piece Norwegian Wind Ensemble and regular guitarist Thad Beckman. So, over the space of 55 minutes, that’s a lot of wind. Now I’m a simple man, so some of the arrangements are over worked for me, but Russell has always marched to his own beat, so props for trying.
Folks who are in love with the likes of ‘Nina Simone’, ‘Guadalupe’, ‘Goodnight Juarez’ and the rest may find themselves intrigued with the additions of oboes, trumpets, saxophones, French horns, trombones and anything else you can blow into, but the more casual listener may wonder what the fuss was. A couple of the numbers do stand out, though, and I’ll be paying regular visits to ‘Criminology’ and ‘St. Olavs Gate’.
For fans only then, but I reckon they’ll like it.
RAY VAUGHN
Way Down Low
self released
No relation to Stevie of that ilk, this sees one time punk, now solo troubadour, Ray Vaughn, going a bit Pearl Jammy, but the rubbishy later years, not the mega selling debut album.
It certainly sounds good, but then he does have Grammy award winning producer Michael Rosen onboard. A fella who has worked with the likes of Tesla, Rancid and Papa Roach. His former punk colleague Ed Rawlings is on guitar and they’ve pulled in uberdrummer Michael Urbano who has played with everyone including Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind, John Hiatt, Cracker, Paul Westerberg, Red House Painters, Willy DeVille, and Sheryl Crow.
Thing is I didn’t really rate the songs. But then that whole post grunge, quasi punk thing just doesn’t float my boat. A couple of the songs veered close to Americana, so the likes of ‘Boardwalk’ managed to raise my interest, but much of the album just washed me over. However, I’m sure that if the half a million Americans who bought the last Pearl jam album, “Backspacer”, get to hear this, then they’ll really enjoy it.
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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