Tom Terrific & The Rhythm Aces (WO)
Aug 26 '02 (Updated Aug 27 '02)
The Bottom Line These 14 tracks contain a wealth of talent, a pleasing blurring of genres and the type of music impossible to pigeon-hole, but definitely a wealth of tuneful riches.
Host: TheUnknown285
What: Greatest Hits Write-Off
Premise: Take one of your favorite artists/groups and design a Greatest Hits package for them, using at least 2 albums to create your compilation. List what CDs the songs came from and chose between 10 and 25 songs. If using an existing Greatest Hits package, your choices must be substantially different.
Every once in a while you will come across a singer-songwriter that is honestly blessed with an abundance of the Musical Muse's gift. An individual equally at ease writing, singing, playing, and producing, and equally talented to boot. Such an artist is Tom Faulkner, whose largely word-of-mouth and indie radio following, is both fervent and vocal in its praise. I count myself among this growing number of international fans.
Many groups wouldn't dream of collecting a Greatest Hits package from the material contained in just two albums. Most are content to have 3 or 4 good songs per CD, and wait a few more years or CDs, before beginning to think of repackaging, or providing an equivalent "live" compilation.
Faulkner's first release, 1997's Lost In The Land Of Texico, (aka Texico), was the culmination of many years paying musical dues, making ends meet, and eventually realizing the dream of building his own, state-of-the-art recording studio in Dallas, TX. Texico is a word and melody series of postcards from life on the road: south of the border, (Angelina), in New Orleans, (Watching The River Rise), or in Texas, (Get Out of Austin).
His latest effort, Raise The Roof, (aka Roof), was released just last month, and many fans have already seen this meets the earlier promise of the outstanding Texico. Roof offers up more of Faulkner's sumptuous leather-and-velvet vocals, joyous gospel-tinged rock n' roll, novelty spins on modern culture, (Too Much TV), melodic tales, and blues wizardry, (Blues Across America), in addition to a full handful of other styles, masterfully recorded.
You can find Texico on Amazon.com, but thus far Roof, is only available via Tom's website, which offers Mp3 samples of all songs on each CD, plus more information about many of the songs and musicians featured. (I've written a detailed first review on Texico, and will be polishing my Roof one, as soon as we are able to add this to the Epinions data base).
Between the debut's 10 tracks, and Roof's even dozen, there are fully 18 or 19 I can envision on my own version of a Greatest Hits package from one of the best practitioners of Texas Blues, mixed with Tejano, Cajun, Louisiana R&B, Delta slide and Pop seasonings. In the interests of brevity, however, I will hold this to 14 outstanding choices-winners all.
Picks From Lost In The Land Of Texico (1997):
1. When You Call Upon The Heart. Tom co-wrote this soaring ode to the heart along with Patrick Henderson; a song about taking risks. Featured in the Showtime movie, Curse of The Starving Class, this offer up both beautiful vocals and perfect guitar licks.
2. Angelina. Since I'm mainly a rocker and dancer, slow songs often leave me a bit underwelmed. Not so this lovely acoustic love song, the tale of an innocent beauty and the man who remembers feelings never acted upon, in another world, another time. The Tejano accordion flourishes are icing on this Quincenera confection. Stunning.
3. Do Bea's Dance, revs up the pace again, this time with an evocative bayou romp, set in a real place, with a rowdy bunch of patrons all ready set to welcome the weekend and let the good times roll. You can envision Bea's twinkling black Cajun eyes snapping with relish as she leads and exhausts partner after partner, replete with percussion and Zydeco accordion backbeat. One of my all-time favorite songs:
Hey Baby, wanna dance tonight
On the bayou by the bay?
Let's go load up the Coupe de Ville
And start headin' on down that way.
The barbecue down at Palestine's
Will have to hold us 'til we're there
'Cause I can't wait 'til I'm face to face
With the front door of Rodair's.
4. River On the Rise, slows it down a bit, with a raunchy bump-and-grind of a New Orleans blues, a la Randy Newman. As lazy and drawling as a sweating glass of mint julep on a shaded porch, Faulk references to Tipitina's or one of his favorite Cajun bands, Filé, or the marvelous luncheon spot, Camelia Grill, make me wish I was way down yonder in New Orleans.
5. Get Out Of Austin, always reminds me of the push-pull syncopated funk of Little Feat, and the slide artistry of Lowell George. As Tom explains it, his influences included the Nevilles, (neé Meters), and Bonnie Raitt. Since Lowell, Bill Payne and gang have plenty of Nola influences, and Bonnie showed LG her bottleneck style, I stand corrected, though if you love the musical patter of Little Feat you will surely love this one! Check out the rollicking piano licks.
Picks From Raise The Roof, 2002
6. Raise the Roof. The new CD leads off with this title track, which combines classic boogie woogie rock n' roll, barroom shuffle and burnishing of gospel background vocals for a strong, sassy and irresistible dance number. My kind of music-stuff that lets this dancer strut her stuff.
7. Chula's Way. Another of Faulkner's abiding influences, co-producer Adrian Cabello's masterful Tejano accordion, (plus various keyboards and percussion), sets up this song, whose time changes, trumpet fillips and various melodies remind me strongly of, (sorry Tom), Little Feat's Regarding The Mambo as well as any number of Los Lobos' finest works. The stellar piano solo gets the nod as well.
8. Blues Across America. I can see this song in heavy rotation, both due to plenty of engaging hooks and the joyous chorus:
Way down here in the heart of Texas
There's our own kinda blues goin' on.
Elmore James, Stevie Ray, Freddie King, Robert J's
Licks are heard on every song.
They play 'em wild as a herd of horses
Rumblin' through the open plain.
If I drove you down a backroad,
Dumped you in a honky tonk
You'd never want to go home again.
'Cause the broke-down sound of an old Telecaster's
'Bout the sweetest sound I know
Blues across America
Gotta have it on the radio,
Blues across America
I gotta have it everywhere I go!
Faulkner trades lead vocals with a couple of highly regarded bluesmen, Memphis veteran, James Govan, and Mardi Gras Town's own night tripping keyboardist, Dr. John. Yes, the Good Doctor gargles his vowels, but this is right up there on my favorites list, adding just enough Pop polish to make blues a whole heck of a lot more accessible to the less than fanatical amongst us.
9. Why Should I. In a recent phone interview, Faulkner gives the nod to this tune, stating that melody is one of his favorite things. And while we may agree to disagree, (give me the boogie and funk numbers, please), it still rocks in an alt-folk/rock sort of way. This one is more bittersweet than the standard here, and a subtle guitar hook bids me slow down and listen, really listen to what this singer-songwriter-storyteller has to say:
I let somebody, let somebody
Into my life.
They led me 'round, they let me down
It won't be that easy again.
When thunder comes calling
I crawl back inside,
Where I distance myself from the rain
10. First Man, is midtempo, bringing me out of the last number's reverie and introspection. A cautionary tale, regarding the way we use our country, and the true real estate owners, Indians' spin on this. It starts out with a Texas folk feel, on acoustic guitar. Pumping accordion kicks in then Tom's supple voice commences to wail. I've listened to this any number of times, and there is always something new that jumps out at me-sometimes the chorus, sometimes the bridge, sometimes the way the plaintive dobro wails.
11. Too Much TV. Eager to share my writing muse, I confess to once showering Mr. Faulkner with a couple handfuls of my Epinions reviews, (groan). With great kindness and courtesy, TF waded through a bunch of these and commented, on one Infomerical piece, that he had a new song along these very same, (tongue in cheek) lines.
This one is surprisingly catchy. The great backup singers add considerably, and the perfect percussion scratches an itch I didn't even know I had until now. A tongue twistingly profusion of late night and day time shows trip across Tom's mordant lips, and a little crack about The Weakest Link turns into a delicious round of doo wop-sounding coda.
12. This Place In Your Heart, slows down the pace again with an unabashed relationship song lilting in waltz time. Acoustic guitar offers spare accompaniment to Tom's words:
I go 'round and 'round in circles
Trying to find my way back to you.
Someone tell me why in the world
Such a sensible girl
Would leave me this place in her heart?
Cabello's bluesy B3 smartly replaces accordion, and is well-matched with stately piano and bass chords.
13. Ethyl's House, returns us to Louisiana, and the soap opera-like lifestyle of Ethyl and her various relatives. Besides the Taj Mahal type cakewalk into town chugging acoustic riffs, metallic spoon percussion and a tangy touch of Zydeco accordion adds spicy goodness. Faulkner's emotive voice colors this one with humor, pathos and more than a touch of good natured-fun as he muses with slowly shaking head and raised brow:
Oh, it makes you wonder
How they ever get through the day.
Well, it makes me wonder
When we ever will find a way.
14. Vaya Con Dios, clocks in at 6:33 minutes, and combines all elements of Faulkner and Cabello's work I love best: fluttering Tejano accordion, subtle guitar hooks, throaty rather than nasal singing, and a catchy chorus that deserves a place on your CD player.
All together this makes a cohesive cross section of Faulkner's particular genius. He's managed to bridge the musical wasteland with a varied output of music both current and timeless; eminently listenable. Both CDs receive my highest recommendation, and thus far, each person I have turned onto his body of work, has given it 5 stars as well.
For what's sure to be more interesting 5 star Greatest Hits compilations, here is the list of other participants, which this contrarian has turned on its ear, so that those at the end of the Epinions' alphabet get first billing:
Yogore, Whitty, Vince006, (your host) TheUnknown285, The_fly, Tbthorn, Speeddemon531, Shilmafone, Pt-Paratroopa, Paulyoungotti, Netnut746, Monssfisch, Mom2TyZick, Mefreakboy, MattA75, Laura10801, LatteChick, Lambchops, Kuuleimomi, Kristinafh, Jeremy1456, JennJoy, Jenb123, Jeff_wilder78, Helga17, Ekid911, DXBari, Donnie013, DrFaustus, Dedemw, Deaser26, Cripper, Copernicus, Clum and Cletta1201.
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