Customer Reviews

Somhelgisfel

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every now & then in a drunken haze I find myself stumbling to the door of Joe's Generic on 6th st Austin & askin "Is Joe Richardson Playin" --this hole in the wall no cover all beer bar is blues heaven when our white haired guitar god and his gang are jammin & thats when this drunk & many others are treated to some beautiful - beautiful music (sumthin I'll dearly miss after movin back to India). this is one of my favourite cd's to drive to & should be part of every music blues lovers collection -- some of the best stuff on this cd is black sheep, feelin like the dead , trouble and the epic mother rain. its hard to review a cd for someone like the express cause after you've seen em play live listenin to their music again is like a high where u loose track of time & self & drown in the waves comin from his guitar, but for those who can't see em live pop in this cd -roll up that joint & slowly loose yourself to their music

Keep the doors and windows unlocked when you hear this--a handy exit is the best thing for survival instincts when you feel your flesh crawl. This is what a Rottweiler would sound like if it could play music, and Joe looks like that evil wizard Saruman in "Lord of the Rings." If you want to conjure up some powerful spirits, don't expect anything that will be easy to handle when the Express summons them-or else. This is primal, raging, and aboriginal in nature, and if you find the hair standing up on the back of your neck, just be glad your head is still attached to feel it. Joe and his buddies can crack your back as well, just trying to move to those on-the-torture-rack rhythms. Lenny Kravitz gets a thumbs-up for "The Gospel," and Jimi and Stevie Ray sent "Cry" and "Mother Rain" down from the Heaven's Hall of Guitar Heroes. Watch out for the "Black Sheep of the Blues": you're gonna be the one who gets skinned for your hide. Not safe yet? There's a touch of dobro mojo when you reach "Virginia," but "Witch Cat" will boil you alive in a Louisiana bayou cauldron with a voodoo chant. Dig this--J.S. Bach gets soul too: Joe blows a "Mass in Delta Minor" on harmonica. Salvation comes with the morning light, and pray for mercy.

Somhelgisfel (pronounced: some-hell-just-fell) is a stong follow up to their debut release. This set offers guitar driven blues like "Black Sheep of the Blues" and "Trouble" as well as several acoustic tracks like "Golden Idol" and "Somhelgisfel"...and there's even a rap track called "The Gospel". I particulary like "Cry", it's very SRV as well as "Mother Rain". Electric or unplugged, Joe Richardson is probably the best bluesman to grace the streets of Austin since Stevie Ray Vaughan.