Customer Reviews

The Player: A Retrospective

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David Bromberg The Player: A Retrospective Columbia / Legacy CK65263

Bruce Dickinson must have heard my prayers! Just when I was beginning to panic from not hearing anything from Bromberg in so long, Bruce put together this compilation of some of the player's early stuff for Columbia's "Common Chord" series! David is well and living in Chicago, building violins and venturing out only for rare, well-received concerts. Recorded from 71-74, this cd starts off with a rousing rendition of "Sharon", through a live cut with George Harrison of "The Holdup", and a beautiful live version of "Mr. Bojangles" (both previously unreleased on cd) that make you fall in love with this wooly-haired wild man all over again! Bob Dylan accompanies David on a soul stirring version of "Sammy's Song" that is also making its cd debut! "Suffer To Sing The Blues" is one of my new favorites, along with old standards of "Wallflower", "Statesboro Blues", "Mr. Blue","The Joke's on Me,"and more! The joke will be on you if you don't treat yourself to this disc! John Hathaway

David Bromberg is one of those musicians that is tough to pigeonhole. His gumbo recipe consists of a touch of blues, a dab of funk,a dollop of old timey folk, with an off-kilter, slightly out-of-tune delivery thrown in for lagniappe . He's hung around the periphery of the music scene for quite a while now. With his unique blend of sardonic, off-the-wall wit and masterful song-styling, his has always been a distinctive voice in the cookie cutter landscape of contemporary music. Best known for his rendition of the Jerry Jeff Walker classic, "Mr. Bojangles," he's never been a big success commercially, but has always been one of those performers who truly deserve wider exposure.

For Bromberg fans, this CD will be familiar territory, as is the case with all "best-of" compendiums. As retrospectives go, however, this is particularly well produced, both in terms of sound quality and song selection. It provides as good an overview of a long and productive career as a 15 song CD can achieve. There are a few songs left off the album that I personally would have liked to have seen included in a true "retrospective," however. Bromberg's 1977 recording of "Child's Song," off his Reckless Abandon album, for instance, is the most bittersweet and poignant rendition of that song I've ever heard. Also missing: "Send me to the L'Ectric Chair" (1974, Wanted Dead or Alive), "Joke's on Me," (1975, Midnight on the Water), "Sweet Home Chicago" (1976, How Late'l Ya Play 'Til?). His '77 best-of release, Out of the Blues: Best of David Bromberg, is another possibility for getting a taste of his earlier recordings, but what is truly needed is a two or even three CD disc (Rhino Records style), to present a true compendium of this singer/songwriter's prolific career. Hopefully, fans will be rewarded with something of the sort in the not too distant future.

BK

I first became aware of David Bromberg when he guested on a summer replacement series hosted by the late Bobby Darin in the early 70's. Here was this amazing musician with the unusal face and unusal voice to match. But could he play! I proceeded to see him in concert dozens of times since that day and anticipated each album release. I started my own band, named it the SOUL REVIEW after a comment of David's at the start of his first COLUMBIA RECORDS album. We played several of Bromberg's songs.
Hearing this album brought all of that back to me...and then some. It made me wonder....where is David Bromberg now? David if you stumble on this review....I would love to talk with you.

This CD is just plain fun. Bromgerg's ability to have a good time while singing traditional songs makes this CD worth playing over and over again. Statesboro Blues is twisted reworked with different lyrics, the same is said about Mr. Bojangles. The story telling is shere delieght and just good fun. One of the most moving songs is Sammy's Song. It is about a boy taken to a brothel by his uncle. The song is tender and deepley moving,with story telling details that transend song structure. There are happy songs as well, like Yankee's revenge. A great bluegrass,folk, country mix instumental with a feeling of a outdoor country dance festival that would make anyone get up and dance. This followed up by Wallflower. A song that has great lyrics about a man approaching a women at a dance. The song Sharon, has unusual chord changes while the lead guitar and bass lines are held down by Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh respectivly. And no one can complain about the obvious truth to the song, You've got to Suffer to Play the Blues. This CD has a great mix of styles from a great artist. The usual problems of a "retrospective", which is lack of cohesion is avoided here. Everything blends together perfectly.

No David Bromberg "greatest hits" CD (boy that's an oxymoron) is complete without New Lee Highway Blues. This should have been a double CD with some previously unreleased material from Bromberg's peak period. Great stuff, just not enough of it.

Retrospective is an apt title for this collection, as it is not what I would call the "best" of Bromberg...of course, someone out there might. Most of these songs, though, are killers: Dehlia is incredibly heartfelt and honest without smacking of nerdy technicality (as some white "folkies" can). Sharon is great to crank up when the wife is out... Mr. Bojangles is transformed miraculously from cliche' to poetry...But why why WHY put sappy tunes on like the annoying Mr. Blue when there is so much better Bromberg stuff out there??? I would get either one of the "How Late'll Ya Play Till?" disks for a more consistently blissful Bromberg experience.

Folkie from way back,Bromberg's 70s catalogue has been thumbed through, here, to extract what are, from my recollection, a fair estimate of his talents. Reviewers tend to be cautious of attributing as much gusto about his voice as his virtuoisty with stringed things, with good reason. However, there is little to quibble about in the very moving version of Jerry Jeff's, Mr Bojangles,(the definitive recorded take), Dehlia, or the unforgettable, Sammy's Song. The live version of Dylan's, Wallflower is pure joy as is the riotous,The Holdup which gets two airings herein, the second and final track of the CD, lifting you from your seat. Great stuff, Dave. Stride on!

I've been listening to David Bromberg for 30 years & I never get tired of him. From concerts in Syracuse & Ithaca New York in the 70's & old albums through the 80's & now via CD's. Treat yourself to one of the best!

The last time that I had mentioned the name of the artist under review, the well-regarded highly-skilled guitarist David Bromberg, was in a review of Rosalie Sorrels "The Last Go Round" album. That work was a recording of her last concert at Harvard in 2002. Originally the late Dave Van Ronk was to be on the program but he passed away a few weeks before the concert. David Bromberg was brought in as a replacement on short notice and wowed the house. I am sorry that I do not remember his play list and his work was not produced on the Sorrels CD. Not to worry though you can be sure that it included some of the tracks on this CD that represent some of his best work over a long career going back to the 1960's.

Virtually everyone I know has commented on Bromberg's extraordinary command of the guitar, his knowledge of what is called the American songbook and his, let's face it, at times thin and reedy voice. Forget that last part of the comment though because what you get in return are very innovative Bromberg presentations of well-known material. Obviously, Bromberg, having played with legendary cowboy Jerry Jeff Walker, needs to give us his version of "Mr. Bojangles". But how about a talking "Statesboro Blues", the Blind Willie McTell classic that most cover artists try to go up tempo on. The he goes 1950's on us with "Mr. Blue". And then gets down and dirty honky-tonk with "Wallflower". See what I mean, the guy knows his stuff. Get this thing and find out for yourself.

No one who has lived in America at any point during these past thirty years should miss this guy and his music. An original.