Shemekia Copeland - Done Come Too Far

I won’t lie.  There are times when I find listening to Shemekia Copeland hard work.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m firmly in her camp when it comes to the social issues highlighted in many of her songs – with the input of her manager and lyricist John Hahn.  But sometimes it can all seem a bit earnest, her delivery a bit declamatory.  And she also has an occasional fondness for vocal vibrato that I don’t share.  But for all that, Shemekia Copeland is still an artist who demands attention.

Shemekia Copeland brings some sunshine with her smile

Pic by Victoria Smith

There are several songs here that continue her focus on civil rights and the black American experience.  The opening ‘Too Far To Be Gone’ rides in on a heavy, insistent riff, while Copeland references inspirations such as Rosetta Parks in a forceful, positive vocal that speaks of continuing unity and resolve.  There’s a strong bridge, and Sonny Landreth contributes some trademark slide guitar.  Later, the title track ‘Done Come Too Far’ shares a similar tag line, but is a more sombre affair.  Here the focus is less on inspirations of the past than the need for grim determination in the face of continuing challenges, over solemnly steely, twanging guitar and with added resonance from the brooding voice of Cedric Burnside.
Meanwhile ‘The Talk’ is a powerful illustration of those challenges, a dramatic monologue in which a mother tutors her son in how to cope with life-threatening provocation, summed up in the lines “As sure as you’re black, there’s a target on your back”.  Copeland’s vocal is emotive, although for me she doesn’t need to lean on a shaking, warbling vibrato to convey the emotion.  As compensation though, there’s some excellent, edgy guitar work from Will Kimbrough – not one of the North Mississippi Kimbrough clan – who also co-writes most of the material with Hahn.  ‘Gullah Geechee’ is a more stripped back tune, all handclaps, moaned backing vocals, and African gourd banjo as it adds a historical perspective by harking back to earlier experiences of slavery.
Other serious subjects get an airing in the form of ‘Why Why Why’, a soulful but rootsy ballad expressing the confusion of a victim of infidelity, with excellent weeping slide from Kimbrough.  ‘The Dolls Are Sleeping’ is a slice of dark storytelling about child abuse, put over by little more than Copeland’s voice and acoustic guitar from Oliver Wood.  But the best song in this vein is perhaps ‘Pink Turns To Red’, a brisk and coherent track that tackles the subject of mass shootings with urgency, strong imagery, and more quality slide colourings from Kimbrough.
This is all weighty stuff, and Copeland and her team evidently recognise the need for a spoonful of sugar to help it go down.  So ‘Fried Catfish And Bibles’ is three minutes of zydeco-dressed fun, and ‘Fell In Love With A Honky’ is a comical salute to interracial relationships that’s a rattling country tune right down to its fiddle and pedal steel guitar.  ‘Dumb It Down’, an eye-rolling pop at social media influencers, is lightly funky and relaxed but its bright chorus sounds derivative, and there ain’t much else to grab the attention beyond some low-key burbling sax.
The album closes strongly though, with ‘Nobody But You’, a song by her bluesman father Johnny.  It’s a stop-time riffing, bump’n’grinding blues delivered with woozily behind-the-beat drums from Pete Abbott, lolloping bass from Lex Price, and stinging guitar from Kimbrough.  Oh yeah, and Copeland confidently explores all the vocal angles the song has to offer.
Done Come Too Far is a tough listen at times, from a lyrical perspective.  But Copeland and Hahn deserve credit for tackling big issues.  And the album also works musically, thanks to Will Kimbrough’s songwriting and production.  All in all, Done Come Too Far is another impressive outing from one of the most significant contemporary blues artists out there.
 
Done Come Too Far is released by Alligator Records on 19 August.

Mike Zito And Friends - Rock'N'Roll: A Tribute To Chuck Berry

Doubtless some folk will think that putting together an album that revisits a bundle of Chuck Berry’s hits – 20 of ‘em, to be precise – is a redundant exercise.  Others are liable to see the unique selling point of this album as the range of guest guitarists on display, including the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Robben Ford and Eric Gales.

For me though, one of the key attractions is that Mike Zito has made an old-fashioned rock’n’roll record.  See, while Zito is rightly appreciated as a leading modern-day bluesman, his 2015 album Keep Coming Back, made with his then band The Wheel, was very much a

Mike Zito - Let It Rock!

rock’n’rollin’ affair.  Hell, it even featured a cover of Bob Seger’s ‘Get Out Of Denver’, a direct descendant of ‘Johnny B. Goode’ if ever there was one.  It was also, as I have never tired of pointing out, my favourite album of 2015.  In short, Mike Zito’s affinity for this brand of rock’n’roll is the catalyst for a tribute album that captures the fun, energy and magic of Chuck’s music while giving it a modern sound.

And to some extent, all those guest guitar honchos are an unnecessary distraction, because with songs as good as ‘Rock And Roll Music’, ‘Johnny B. Goode’, ‘Back In The USA’ and all the rest, all a pro like Zito needs to do is wind ‘em up and crank ‘em out.  You can’t lose.  Though it’s fair to say that many of them in fact make contributions that merrily catch the Chuck Berry spirit.

Fittingly, the album opens with W.C. Handy’s ‘St Louis Blues’, celebrating the hometown of both Chuck and Mike, and here with an on the money lead guitar slot from Chuck’s grandson Charles Berry III.  It also sets the standard for the fundamentals of what follows, with a lively rhythm laid down by Matthew Johnson on drums, backed up by Terry Dry on bass, while Lewis Stephens whacks out some pounding piano.  And as on several other tracks, there are horn interjections to add further highlights, though any horn players seem to be uncredited.  And Zito’s voice, it’s worth emphasising, is an excellent fit for these songs.

Early highlights for me include the aforementioned ‘Rock And Roll Music’, on which Joanna Connor delivers some slithering slide guitar while backing up Zito on vocals, and the horns bring Hispanic hints to the fray.  Walter Trout gets very much in the mood on ‘Johnny B Goode’, duetting with Zito in rabble rousing fashion before the two of them cut loose simultaneously on guitar.  Meanwhile Anders Osborne reflects the more laid back vibe of ‘Memphis’ with some relaxed, sparkling slide that’s witty in tone as it plays around with the melody.

‘You Never Can Tell’ and ‘Back In The USA’ both illustrate Berry’s quality as a lyricist, respectively a perfect little short story of young love conveyed in a couple of minutes, and a brashly energetic, neon-lit collage of Fifties America, sizzling burgers and all.  Robben Ford

Eric Gales - one of 21 guest guitarists reeling' and rockin'

decorates the former with playful guitar, finding unusual angles, while Eric Gales reins in his usual whirlwind self on the latter, catching the mood with pinging playing over pummelling drums from Johnson.

Luther Dickinson brings a fresh guitar tone to ‘Too Much Monkey Business’ and doubles up on vocals with Zito entertainingly on the tongue-twisting lyric, while Stephens gets down to some rootin’ and tootin’ on piano.  Contrastingly, Sonny Landreth scatters woozy slide licks around with restraint on ‘Havana Moon’, respecting its dreamy salsa feel.

‘Downbound Train’ is an interestingly dramatic slow turn at the story of a hellbound loco, with spot on spooky guitar licks over ticking drums, though Alex Skolnick perhaps gets too modern in feel in his hurtling solo.  And ‘Thirty Days’ also strikes a different chord, featuring Albert Castiglia on its very country-leaning twanging.

There’s plenty of other good stuff too, but the album has its imperfections, just like Chuck himself.  The song selection could have been better, eschewing the fluff of ‘My Ding-A-Ling’ and one or two lesser tracks in favour of the mysteriously absent ‘Little Queenie’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’.  And the treatment of the slower ‘Wee Wee Hours’ is a real aberration - I’m no Joe Bonamassa-hater, but Zito really should have asked him what in the Sam Hill he thought he was doing slathering the song in a succession of full throttle guitar breaks that bear little relation to a Chuck Berry vibe.

But those concerns aren’t enough to spoil an album that’s a fitting, fun tribute to one of the giants of rock’n’roll music.  So kudos to Mike Zito for that, and for delivering what to these ears is the most enjoyable thing he’s done since Keep Coming Back.

Rock’N’Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry is released by Ruf Records on 1 November.