Hell Can Wait

Carlos Guitarlos | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nomad Records
• ASIN: B000AXWHKS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,511 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

David Sinclair – London Times

"A musical and emotional masterclass!"

Product Description

Throughout the 90's and into the new millennium, Carlos Guitarlos could be found playing guitar for pocket change on the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District. Oftentimes, Carlos slept on those same cold streets where he eventually became a street-corner legend (The SF Bay Guardian name him the city’s "Best Street Musician" in 1994). For the one-time musical leader of legendary Los Angeles roots-rockers Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs -- inspiration for the 1984 Van Halen song "Top Jimmy" -- it had been a long, slow downward spiral of divorce, diabetes, and drugs.

In the wake of his hard-knock life, Carlos found himself in a San Francisco hospital, fighting for his life with congestive heart failure. That experience, combined with the alcohol-related death of his friend and former band-mate, Top Jimmy, proved to be the catalyst of his personal turnaround. Within a couple of weeks of his hospital stay, with the help of his family, Carlos finally found his way back into a recording studio, hence the release of "Straight from the Heart" in 2003, which features the helping hands of old pals Mike Watt, John Doe, and Dave Alvin. The album’s title track was written from his hospital bed.

Showcasing Carlos’s stinging, fluid fretwork, lived-in vocals, and uncanny ability to write original songs in a wide variety of classic styles, the album made Rolling Stone Magazine’s "Top Albums of 2003" and it was swiftly picked up for national distribution, a fact that was covered by Billboard Magazine, who described his re-emergence as "one of the most surprising music stories of the year."

The long-awaited follow up, "Hell Can Wait", features a stronger, healthier Carlos on another 19 original compositions. Guest artists include Marcy Levy (Clapton, Shakespear’s Sister), Gene Taylor (Blasters, Fabulous Thunderbirds), and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a feast, September 21, 2005

By 

Bay Area Music Lover (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hell Can Wait (Audio CD)

This is a feast of traditional American music forms and wry twists. The opening cut sounds like Delta country blues, but perhaps with a little Leon Redbone circa 1970's thrown in. From there the CD rambles through many forms, such as the Fats-Domino-style "Here I Am," the soul stylings (with Marcy Levy) of "I Found a Love," the Los-Lobos-style (with David Hidalgo) "Shake My Blue" and the Doug-Sahm-jukebox music style of "I've Been Drinking Again." But the songs are all Carlos originals, with a co-write credited to Levy and Top Jimmy here and there.

The song "Baby's Coming Home Soon" (not sure exact title) starts out like a session from Dylan's "Everybody Must Get Stoned" and crosses paths with old time blues. "Sure Is Good" has the folks from Double Naught Spy Car throwing in what sounds like a TV theme I can't quite place. Hidalgo, Marcy Levy, and the wonderful Gene Taylor add spice, but it's Carlos who serves up this feast. If you don't like one kind of song, wait until the next cut: there's everything here from calypso style to a hard-to-sing-real-fast bluegrass-tinged number.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carlos Guitarlos, something special., February 25, 2011

By 

Thomas Warren (OHIO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hell Can Wait (Audio CD)

This is just some of the best music I have heard. So different , so cool just love this kinda twangy, bluesy sound. And nobody got a voice like Carlos. Want some real cool and unique music, look no further its right here.