Tom Guerra: “Sudden Signs of Grace” Review, by Nancy Foster

Text (c) Nancy Foster / FFanzeen, 2020

Introduction (c) Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen

The following is a guest review of the new album by New England-based musician Tom Guerra, written by Nancy Foster. – RBF, 2020.

Tom Guerra

Sudden Signs of Grace

Casa Del Soul Records

www.tomguerra.com

Sudden Signs of Grace is the fourth solo album by guitarist/songwriter Tom Guerra. It follows American Garden in 2018, Trampling out the Vintage in 2016, and All of the Above in 2014. Guerra is also known as a collaborator of the world’s greatest band, The Yardbirds and for his tastefully name rock‘n’roll band, The Mambo Sons.

“It’s All In The Skies” is a singer/songwriter plus alternative country amalgam like Tom Petty writing for Old 97s. There is something about the lovely, wistful vibe that brings the Hummingbird Syndicate to mind. In fact, when the quarantine lifts, Jon Macey and Tom Guerra should book a show or tour together.

“Lonely No More” is an uplifting ballad about “being back amongst the living.” Guerra says in the liner notes: “Everybody starts out lonely, and with luck and grace, we find ourselves, and then each other.” Matt Zeiner paints this number with warm washes of color, using piano and Hammond organ.

As far as “Lover’s Time,” Guerra and I aren’t on the same page – we are on the same word! I have always thought a guitar – especially a twelve-string guitar – and a male voice were beauty personified. Guerra says that he has “always enjoyed twelve-string, poppy tunes,” like similar tunes in his songbook, “Here’s Tomorrow” and “Tell The World.” For me, this is in a Dave Edmunds/Nick Lowe mode: multi-layered harmonies and driving power chords on a pleasant wave of nostalgia, all delivered anthemically.

“Sudden Signs Of Grace,” the title track, features Kenny Aaronson on fretless bass. If Aaronson’s name sounds familiar, it may because of his association with Bob Dylan and George Harrison. Guerra wrote this after a walk in the woods on New Year’s Day. It is delivered in a world music mode.

When Guerra heard Eddie Money was ill, he recorded one of his favorites by Money and sent it to him. “Gimme Some Water” takes me back to high school days when the Southern Rhythm and Blues of the Allman Brother ruled the radio. I am hearing a pastiche that includes The Eagles, Jackson Brown, and Steve Miller.

“The Greatest Show On Earth” was inspired by a Syd Barrett quote: “I’ve got a very irregular head.” Something about the line, “Welcome to the greatest show on earth!,” is deflating. Guerra, here and throughout this recording, captures happy/sad ideas and emotions. That dichotomy sums up our conflicted times. Being on the edge of a cliff is exhilarating because the joy of life is the strongest at the moment when it is all at the most risk of being ripped away.

“Just Like The Sun” is a thirty-year-old lyric that Guerra discovered and resurrected to put to music. It features Matt Zeiner and Morgan Fisher of Mott The Hoople and Queen on keyboards, giving the song an exalted, hymn-like power. Aaronson crafted the strings and string arrangements on “Inspiration Memories,” which Guerra dedicates to his father. The sense of the weight of the passage of time is emphasized intermittently through percussive sounds that represent a ticking clock. (Or maybe a ticking bomb considering our current political landscape!)

“Down The Farm” sounds like an unholy union of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. A Rainbow Coalition collaboration on an alternative plane. It is transporting to hear “Streets Of Baltimore.” Whether you are Team Bare or Team Parsons, Guerra delivers the best musical theater since Scott Walker took Jacques Brel to a whole new level with “Amsterdam” and “My Death.” I can’t help but envision the angel wings of Chet Atkins embracing Guerra and the musical soulmates here. “The Sleep Song” closes this bittersweet, nuanced recording with a cool instrumental that is both mellow and majestic.

Guest CD Reviews by Nancy Neon

Text by Nancy Neon / FFanzeen, 2018

Images from the Internet

Michael J. Roy

The Bright Side

https://michaeljroy.hearnow.com/

Roy opens with a track called "The End." So, for Roy, the end actually becomes a beginning with a new recording for 2018. The song has a T-Rex feel. Lyrically, Roy seems to be singing about a relationship, be it romantic or creative, that teetered on the precipice of greatness only to implode. "Same Old Thing" has a cool, downbeat feeling. Musically and vocally, it will turn those on who dig Jakob Dylan or Tom Petty. It is a powerful song of regret that highlights what I have always called Roy's painterly style of guitar playing. "Impossible Ways” is vocally strong with a ‘60s pop feel. "Mr. Berserk" is someone we all know; he tries to come off as if he has it all under control, but blows up like a grenade with any or no provocation. These are some of Roy's best lyrics, where he sings of "Mr. Berserk" being followed around by a shadow that cannot be escaped. "Moving to L.A." is something I can relate to after a bad fall on the ice in Boston last winter. The track has a lovely vocal, melody, and arrangement. The music and lyrics touch the listener with an amalgam of wistfulness and wanderlust: "I can't believe/I've stayed here so long/It makes no sense/Once the summer's gone/It seems I don't know/Why I'm here at all/And I can hear that balmy West Coast call." "Point Of No Return" has a Bob Dylan/Tom Petty style vocal and overall vibe. "All The Time That Never Was" has a feeling of sadness and regret over real or perceived unrealized potential. Roy describes it as "pining for things that you know are never going to happen." This concept has resonance for me as I have been troubled by my own sense of unrealized potential. “Thin Air" has the message of striking back and ultimately surviving creatively against the threat of obsolescence. "A Reason to Live" speaks of the renewal of hope and life in the face of the increasing pressure of time and mortality. This track is fast paced, energetic, and the catchiest of the bunch along with the closer, "The Bright Side." As with "A Reason to Live," on "World Run Wild," Roy's musical mojo is at full force as he sings" My mind is on fire." So is his guitar! "The Bright Side" is a shimmering, jingle jangle power pop track in a Byrds/Dwight Twilley Band vein. When I spoke to Roy about the recording, I mentioned that I always thought he was the George Harrison of the Boston-based bands Fox Pass and Tom Dickie and the Desires. Roy showed he understood what I meant by responding by saying "dark horse." (In addition to the dictionary definition, Dark Horse was Harrison's record label.) The Bright Side is a powerful follow up to Roy's 2015 release Eclectricity.

Tom Guerra

American Garden

www.tomguerra.com/

The song "Nevermore" opens this recording with power chord/riff stylings in a classic rock vein. Guerra's voice is a combination of approachability, vulnerability, and moxy. "Goodbye to Yesterday" was written by Guerra and bassist Kenny Aaronson of The Yardbirds. This song has elements of blues, garage rock in a Sonics vein, and ‘60s pop-oriented harmonies. "Walls" is a Tom Petty number that Guerra recorded soon after Petty's death. The vocal is downbeat and the arrangement is faithful to Petty's style. "Jack for Joe" is Guerra's homage to his former roommate/manager, Joe Polito, who died about 30 years ago. Guerra described Polito as having "lived life at full-throttle racing speed." Guerra expresses a lingering fondness for his halcyon days while asking “where can we go now that we can't go home again?" "Blood on the Rising Sun" was written after the Charlottesville riots and features Jon Butcher on lead guitar. Guerra uses a Dylan/Petty style vocal to create a 21st century protest song that ends with the chant "hate cannot replace us." "Family of One" and "Lyin' King" are two more Guerra/Aaronson collaborations. These were intended for inclusion on a Jack Douglas-produced Yardbirds album – a concept that was sadly shelved. The bridge "Now that tomorrow is here at last" is a line Guerra intended as response to the Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things." "The Lyin' King" has blues harp and a garage rock-oriented feel. "The Story" is a song Guerra was moved by after hearing Brandi Carlile's version. Here Guerra's voice sounds like he is broken but still fighting to summon up faith and strength to strive for love. "Meet Me at the Bottom of the Glass" is a piano/vocal arrangement with Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople on keyboards. Like "Jack for Joe," it is about Guerra's friend who was lost to alcoholism. The closer, "American Garden," is thematically a pastiche of three Vietnam veterans with whom Guerra had conversations about their war experiences. The title track has an Apocalypse Now vibe with its psychedelic feel, distorted vocals, and helicopter sounds. The pop rock section of the song juxtaposed against the more ominous elements of “American Garden” highlight the dichotomy of the relative innocence of pre-Vietnam War versus the lost idealism of the post-War period. The image of the "American Garden" is all the more startling when you realize Arlington cemetery is one interpretation of the album title. This is Guerra's third solo recording. Also check out his band, The Mambo Sons.

DVD Review: 10cc in Concert, 2007

Text by Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2013
Images from the Internet

 

10cc in Concert: Featuring Graham Gouldman and Friends
Directed by [not released]
Weinerworld Limited / New Wave Pictures
108 minutes, 2007 / 2013
www.newwavepictures.com
www.MVDVisuals.com

Going into this DVD, I was trying to remember anything at all about 10cc. I knew they were a British pop art band (re: prog) from the first half of the 1970s. In the early ‘80s, I interviewed Jonathan King, who claims to have given them their name (which I believe, considering what it means). But I don’t own a single one of their many records, and off the top of my head, I couldn’t think of a single one.

The second song in, there was one with which I was familiar, “The Things We Do For Love.” I remember equating it, at the time, with the likes of REO Speedwagon, or some of the other glossy prog pap. Sort of the Brit version of the likes of Toto and the Eagles. This is also shown in another overproduced hit later in the show, “I’m Not in Love.”

Let me make this clear, whatever my opinion for the output of the band as a whole, I have incredible respect for their musicianship, their voices per se, and the work they do. However, as a collective, I find them incredibly insipid. That is to say, they make a perfect Top 10 band for their time period. And they have not lost their knack over the years. Sure, most of this is rehashing of material from back when, but if you’re a fan of the band (nothing to be ashamed of), this is golden.

The audience reaction alone shows that 10cc is loved, and this reunion tour, filmed in 2007 at Shepherd’s Bush Empire (London) and originally released as Clever Clogs, is perfectly catered to them. They are a two-pronged – or progged? – group, comprised of a couple of songwriting teams. The first is more pop, the other more artsy. Truthfully, I don’t know which style I find more meh. I’ve never been a prog fan of any kind, from its nascent form and onward. If I never heard another song by ELP or ELO, I don’t feel like I’d be missing, well, anything.

Okay, that being said, I feel a bit gushy about a segment of this where Graham Gouldman covers songs he had written for others, including “Bus Stop” (in my opinion, the best song the Hollies ever did), “No Milk Today” (one of my favorite Herman’s Hermits hits that was more popular in the UK than the US), “Look Through Any Window”( another Hollies hit), and the phenomenal Yardbirds classic “For Your Love” (even if it made Clapton leave the band). The covers by 10cc are obviously not the originals, but they are still good songs that hold up, nonetheless. Perhaps, in part, the reason I liked this part of the DVD, other than nostalgia, is that for the first three songs, it’s just two acoustic guitars and four vocals. No overwhelming gloss, no show-off instrumentalism (and contraptions, such as chimes). Just some basic killer riffs over decent lyrics. With “For Your Love,” it is back to full-band mode, but again, it’s not hyper-glazed. And besides, it’s such a great song, period.

For “Old Wild Men” and the relatively newer “Beautifulloser.com,” original 10cc drummer and vocalist Kevin Godley comes back and shows that he has a better voice than Gouldman, as does Mick Wilson, who does his solo with the likes of “Donna,” “The Dean and I” and the aforementioned “I’m Not in Love.” That’s not to say Gouldman has a bad voice, far from it, but it’s lost the most range over the years. But he still comes strong, such as when he brings up “The Bridge to Your Heart,” which is a tune from his other band Wax (which Gouldman had formed with Linda Rondstadt stalwart, Andrew Gold (2011).

For the finale, “Rubber Bullets,” Goldley joins again for vox and percussion. The song makes me think of a more poppy version of a cross between Elvis’s “Jailhouse Rock” and Stiff Little Fingers’ “Suspect Device,” if they had tight harmonies and was a bit, well, limp (other than Rick Fenn’s blazing guitar solo).

Of course, the image is HD, and the sound top notch (one of the joys of recent recordings). Fans of the band will be happy to release a little 10cc.

There are some interesting extras. First is a 50 minute talking head interview with Gouldman who discourses about his writing process, discussing it song-by-song from the show. He also describes recording the pieces, and other matters regarding the band history. The second extra is a 17 minute clip from a show on March 19, 2007, at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, where the band plays “Old Wild Men” and “Rubber Bullets”; it was Godley’s his first show in 30 years. The sound and visual is a bit fuzzier, but important music history to some. There is also some backstage footage. Interestingly, he’s wearing the exact same thing in the London show. The last extra is the 10-minute “The Art of 10cc with Storm Thorgerson,” which is an interview with the man who created the graphic design for 10cc’s sheet music and album covers.

Band:
Graham Gouldman: Vocals / bass/guitar
Rick Fenn: Guitar/bass / vocals
Mick Wilson: Percussion / vocals
Mike Stevens: Keyboards /sax / vocals
Paul Burgess: Drums
Kevin Godley (special appearance): Vocals

Set list:
The Wall Street Shuffle
The Things We Do For Love
Good Morning Judge
I’m Mandy, Fly Me
Life is a Minestrone
Art for Art’s Sake
Bus Stop
No Milk Today
Look Through Any Window
For Your Love
Old Wild Men
Beautifulloser.com
Silly Love
Donna
The Dean and I
Bridge to Your Heart
I’m Not in Love
Dreadlock Holiday
Ready to Go Home
Rubber Bullets

The FFanzeen Art of Alan Abramowitz

Introductory Text by Robert Barry Francos, 2010
Art and art text by Alan Abramowtiz, 1977-88.
Art can be made larger by clicking on it.

The following artwork was featured as a regular full-page column in FFanzeen through most of its history. I highly suggest you detatch it and use your photo software to enlarge further to full get the full effect of both the art and the text. These are presented in no particular order. -- RBF, 2010

Blondie

Patti Smith

Rockpile (Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds)

The Yardbirds

Roy Orbison

The Heartbreakers (Johnny Thunders, Walter Lure, Richard Hell, Jerry Nolan, Billy Rath)

Suzi Quatro

Sparks

Buddy Holly

Rock and roll philosophy: The Outsider and the Edge

DVD Review: “Eric Clapton: The 1960s Review”

Text © Robert Barry Francos/FFanzeen, 2010
Images from the Internet

Eric Clapton: The 1960s Review
Directed by Alex Westbrook
Sexy Intellectual, 2010
120 minutes, USD $19.95
Chromedreams.co.uk.com
MVDvisual.com

When I was in school during the early ‘70s, there was some standard bathroom graffiti, such as “Frodo Lives”, “I Grok Spock,” and “Clapton IS God.” At the time I wasn’t into Middle Earth, being a Stranger in a Strange Land, or music that much (that would start in 1975), so they were all lost on me back then.

Over the years, I have come to understand all of them (and even appreciate some). Which leads me to another anecdote: during the ‘60s, while I was in a 3-week long sleepaway camp as a tyke in the ‘60s, the only record anyone thought to bring was the 45 of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” When we had a social, it was all we played that summer (I don’t remember them ever playing the other side the entire time). When we wanted to slow dance, it was played at 33-1/3. When we wanted to let loose, it was at 78 rpms. For sing-around-the-campfires we vocalized to social justice songs by the likes Phil Ochs (“Draft Dodger Rag”) and Buffy Ste. Marie (“Universal Soldier”), but when we wanted to dance, it was always “Sunshine.”

Eric Clapton was the guitarist in some of the most outstanding bands of the late ‘60s British music scene, which went from being blues based to full-on rock, from the Yardbirds in 1966, to Bluesbreakers, then Cream, and ending the decade with Blind Faith. All of them relied heavily on Clapton’s wicked fretwork. He could do a solo for more than 20 minutes (especially when stoned out of his gourd, as he was frequently toward the later part of the decade).

This two-hour British documentary starts off with his childhood where he discovered American Blues 78s (first acoustic Delta, then electrified Chicago), and quickly learned to play them as a young teen. He joined a loose band of fellow Blues fans known as the “Roosters,” before meeting Giorgio Gomelsky (whom I have met more than once in the 1980s, while working at a recording studio in Manhattan; he was licensing out Yardbirds cuts) and then joining the Yardbirds. Whichever one of the Yardbirds’ three top-notch guitarists you think is best – Clapton, Jeff Beck, or Jimmy Page – Eric started it off. Of course, he quit after recording their biggest hit, “Heart Full of Soul,” as he felt it was not pure enough blues. As time went on into other bands, he would become more commercial sounding, leaning towards pop more than Blues. Thankfully, this documentary addresses that peculiarity (you’ll have to see it to find out which side it comes out on).

The whole “God” thing started, though, when Clapton joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. It’s kind of ironic that he was associated with being a god when he was so influenced during this period by Robert Johnson, who supposedly sold his soul to the devil (Clapton would later do the song “Crossroads” about Johnson, while in Cream). He left that band due to lack of moneymaking potential. He definitely was ambitious.

My interest in Clapton’s career, for reasons stated above, is in the Cream period, where he had a contentious relationship with his two other band mates, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. While I found this era to be my favorite of his career in general, to me his best song is still “Layla,” but that was in the ‘70s while being in Derek and the Dominos, so it is not covered here (therefore, I digress…). This band would be short lived, though, because they quickly found they just did not get along, even with pharmaceuticals (according to Pattie Boyd’s whiney autobio, Wonderful Tonight, he was often in an alternative state).

One of the more fascinating points in the documentary discusses in some length the relationship between Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, who came to England and jammed on stage with Cream, basically blowing Clapton away. I’ve heard two different versions of Clapton’s feelings about Hendrix, one being jealous and the other being admiring. This documentary leans towards… well, again, you’ll have to see it.

A point of interest in seeing this documentary at this moment comes with the timing of having just read Cheetah Chrome’s new autobio, A Dead Boy’s Tale. Both the Dead Boys’ second LP and much of Clapton’s Cream material were both recorded by the same producer, Felix Pappalardi, with opposite results. The material of Cream was certainly more suited for Pappalardi’s style, as he worked on the likes of “Sunshine” and “Strange Brew.”

By the time Clapton got to Blind Faith, with Steve Winwood, I still found the storyline interesting in the documentary, though musically I found the band to be an utter bore (the Ramones explained to me why). Clapton went from Blues to pop to sheer masturbatory guitar noodling (Jimmy Page would suffer the same fate with Zepp).

Narrator Thomas Arnold takes the viewer along on the ride, and fortunately does so by keeping our interest. As with other Chrome Dream documentaries, there is a lot of pieces of music, so we get to hear Clapton’s changes over time, and there are even a few brief interviews with him, from 1968, 1991, 2005 and 2006.

There are many talking heads explaining just who Clapton was, what he accomplished, and what he was like in person, such as Yardbirds members Top Tophan and Chris Dreja (whom Clapton replaced, and constantly looks like he’s pained by the experience), John Mayall, Manfred Mann’s Tom McGuiness and Paul Jones, and the irascible Neil Innes, who was in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (not to mention the lead Rutle). Other associates include the Cream road manager Ben Palmer and Bill Haverson, the engineer for many of Clapton’s work at the time. Of course, rock journalist Alan Clayson, who not only wrote the bio for Cream and its members, but it seems is on just about every documentary put out by Chrome Dreams. They all paint a picture of the man of that time.

I find some of the people not interviewed kind of interesting, such as the aforementioned Pattie Boyd and Giorgio Gomelsky, Robert Stigwood (who managed Blind Faith), or even Steve Winwood (who I would rather hear talk than play). Also not addressed is his substance abuse (did you see how stoned he was in the film Tommy, singing/stumbling through “Eyesight to the Blind”? Yes, I know, it was the ‘70s again, but it started in the ‘60s).

The two hour length was just the right amount of time, and amazingly I found myself engaged straight through. The balance of clips and interviews kept the pace going nicely, and I definitely learned something about Eric Clapton, and his musical process of the period.

There are three interesting short documentaries as extras. The first one is about the lead up to the Yardbirds backing up one of their idols, Sonny Boy Williams, at the Crawdaddy Club in England. Another is Paul Jones discussing Eric Clapton’s Powerhouse, a studio group formed in 1966 that really deserved more attention as my knowledge of them is pretty limited. The last is engineer Bill Haverson’s amusing tale of a missing guitar foot peddle while recording Cream’s “Badge.”

While not authorized by Eric Clapton, this documentary is fair and seems somewhat comprehensive (other than bits I’ve mentioned above). Certainly he comes across favorably, and as he is a major musical figure of the time, apparently deservedly so.