Legend of Vernon McAlister

Richard Leo Johnson

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 31, 2006)
• Original Release Date: January 31, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cuneiform
• ASIN: B000C4A1YO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #203,561 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A rustic strain of ambient Americana has been in the wind for the last year or so, with Daniel Lanois's solo pedal steel album, Belladonna, and Jeff Beal's literally haunted score to Carnivàle taking American roots into ambient spaces. Richard Leo Johnson's The Legend of Vernon McAlister may have upped the ante. Johnson was already a critically acclaimed fret-burner, bringing two-handed tapping techniques to his double-necked acoustic. Here, he opts for a gentler, but possibly more avant-garde sound, trading his acoustic for a National Steel guitar. Like a Dobro on steroids, the National Steel is a metal guitar whose overtones and strange resonances make it capable of the most unearthly sounds. Creating a mythological narrative around the story of Vernon McAlister, whose name is actually etched on Johnson's ancient instrument, the guitarist creates a sound that is both mystical and rural, like the lost ghost of McAlister slipping his sound through static and haze. Johnson overdubs himself, picking and sliding notes and often using an e-bow that makes the instrument sound like a musical saw. The Legend of Vernon McAlister traverses the Appalachian fantasy of "Morning Glory," serene backwoods reveries on "Side Road to Splendor," and experimental tone poems on "Briar Patch Harmony." Richard Leo Johnson has created an album of hidden and subtle charms. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, creative, and haunting, March 30, 2007

By	Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Johnson has a very rich imagination when it comes to solo guitar, and a technique that lets him explore his every idea. I'd found his music intriguing in the past, but this album really cemented his appeal to me.

"The Legend of Vernon McAllister" doesn't have the pure fire and amazing technique of some of Johnson's earlier work, but I think it's a lot musical in many ways. Metal bodied resophonic guitars have a echo-y, haunting sound that demands a more nuanced approach; you want to spreaed the notes out and let them ring, and Johnson takes full advantage of this.

In place of the rapid-fire tapped runs in his earlier work he presents the listenier with some languid, melodic lines that create an entirely different feel and ambiance. Listening to this album, you can close your eyes, and find yourself sitting on the front porch on a warm day, with a breeze gently passing by, and Vernon McAllister playing his plaintive songs.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-Blowing, March 13, 2006

By	Stephen Silberman "writer, Wired Magazine" (SF, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Broken prairie dreams for our broken time. Exquisite, adventurous, heartbreakingly beautiful, this album is also like a one-man "basement tapes" -- a field recording from outside the Matrix. Fans of Steve Tibbetts, Michael Hedges, Crazy Horse, and Ralph Towner should definitely check this. The whole "legend" thing is a little corny, but the story behind this obviously haunted instrument is cute, and Johnson makes his rusty axe sing like barbed wire with a fever. A modern landmark pointing down old Highway 61.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monumental creative talent unleashed, March 8, 2006

By	Gayla D. Paul (Cedar Rapids, IA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having been a fan of Richard Leo Johnson for several years, I anxiously awaited the release of this work, which I understood to be a departure. I think the concept is just wonderful - creating a story and soundtrack to build a person from the name scratched in that old guitar.

Although Richard's playing has come to be synonymous with Olympian Guitar Gymnastics, this recording finds him in a quieter frame of mind, listening to what this old guitar has to say and letting it have center stage. It sounds to me like this is an artist having a blast experimenting with this tool - bowing it with the bow from a cello, using an Ebow, banging on it with pencils, recording and playing it back backwards, finding his "inner Vernon McAlister" and creating out of those magical moments. Some of the pieces are almost disturbing, but most of them are heartbreakingly beautiful. I love The Front Porch Faces Sunset and Everything Is Beautiful and Sad especially - well today anyway, this is one of those recordings that will likely produce a new favorite every day. Ok, see right now I just got to More Than All the Stars in the Sky and suddenly that's my favorite.

Well done, Richard - I can't wait to hear what's next.