Customer Reviews

Cadillac Jack's #1 Son

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

kevin gordon's music is like no other. his stage presence alone can move mountains. he and his band -- ya gotta see him LIVE--- will drive you crazy. kevin is the real deal.

Firstly...if you like rocking country music THIS IS FOR YOU! There really isn't a bad track on this CD. I first came across Kevin Gordon as an opening act and from the first guitar chord to his last song in the set he held his own. Check out my favorite song on the CD "Evan Pick Up the Line" This man is for real and he is also a very down to earth person also having met him 1/2 a dozen times at his gigs. Can't wait for his new one!

With lines like "she's an awkward angel with a heart divine" and "the big world turns too slow," lyrical narratives that possess all the vivid details, character development and pathos of notable literature, and a sound as expressive and beautiful as water--from its placid lakes, whirling eddies to raging tides, Kevin Gordon's music is inspiring, thought-provoking and easily addiciting. (sorry for that long sentence, folks!) I had the fortune of seeing Kevin way back in 1995 at my favorite pizza joint/bar in Iowa City. His experience and talent were already coalescing into an unforgettable sound, and I spent the next few years relishing his Carnival Time album, singing the refrain to the only-once-heard "Pauline") and longing for his next album. How great to see his skill as a writer and a musician not only reaffirmed but developed into a more complex yet polished sound.

Listen to "Company Car"; now imagine you're at a Bruce Springsteen concert circa The River Tour, and smile. But Kevin Gordon is not another Springsteen imitator....he is a first-rate songwriter. "Dissatisfied" is a screenplay waiting to be written. This CD kept me company on a solo drive to Utah six months ago and I still can't get enough of it! Roll down your car windows, dial up some volume and enjoy....

The most amazing thing about this album is that it is literate without being preachy and rocks without losing sight of its true roots. With echoes of Springsteen (the album was produced by former E-Streeter Gary Talent), Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, and countless unknown roadhouse warriors across the south and midwest, Kevin still manages to make this album sound fresh and original. If you ask me my favorite song, I will likely tell you "Company Car", but it is "Dissatisfied" that I find myself humming at odd times. Buy this album and then listen to it. And listen again. And again. I doubt you can listen to "Lucy and Andy Drive to Arkansas" without missing your own passion as a teen, in over your head in a relationship that is so strong that you would run away to Arkansas to try to get married. "If that motor turns over, forever's gonna be a mighty long ride." Good stuff!!

I saw Kevin while he was touring with Southside Johnny and he was great. Bought the CD as soon as the show was over! I'm not even a big country fan, but I really liked his voice and his style.

Got turned on to Kevin Gordon through the death of a friend, I inherited his CD's, then read about Kevin and his sojourn from the land of busted dreams up on I-20 in hard scrabble north Louisiana. Excellent lyrics and love that rockabilly guitar ! Captivating to say the least. Shades of John Hiatt in his songwriting and Carl Perkins in his licks. Well worth the money in these days of plastic porters and looking glass tyes !

this is one of the better cd s of this genre that ive heard in quite some time! it is definitely in the steve earle mold but still maintaining an original feel. favorite cut is COMPANY CAR-song makes music vital and inspiring-

How good is Cadillac Jack?

This good -- the least interesting cuts are roots rock songs in the style of the late, great Blasters (Fast Train, Blue Collar Dollar, Looking for the Killerman, plus two more). Problem, the only one in my view, for the CD is that five pretty much indistinguishable songs -- even if spread through the 12 tracks -- is a couple too many.

With that quibble out of the way, to the praise. Company Car: drum downbeat rocks into the story of a couple of would-be big guys in a small town going from bar to bar and showing off one's new "Detroit diamond" with his uncle's business name stenciled on the side. Pauline: maybe the best, "big Mama drives that Lincoln like a smoking battleship/so Pauline, sixteen, can stand out in the cold/shiver as she listens to the rock and roll show..." What a nice Mom, letting her little girl get close to her dream, even if she never does get out of East Moline, as Mom probably knew would happen from the start. Simply a great mid-tempo snapshot of a young, circumscribed life. Lucy and Andy Drive to Arkansas: another rocker, these two do get out, to a pregnancy-driven elopement. Dissatisfied: strange little organ intro to the story of a guy who just can't get enough of the American dream for his wife, who has to settle for magazines and gum at the Stop 'n' Go. Nice duet vocal here from folkie Kate Campbell. Junior's Guitar: bluesman misses fame, dies bitter, but what he could do with his disappeared guitar. Evan Pick Up the Line: what happened to the ones we were wild with, what happened to our wildness, don't we as the years pass want not much more than to grab again that old friendship, a cold beer and a long drive. Heaven and the Hanging Tree: "reaching for the right place in balance" still and always.

A very worthy piece of work.

kevin is a excellent songwriter and performer. these songs are about life experiences and are performed with great emotion. must cd for your collection and catch his live performances he's great.