Rory Block: “Ain’t Nobody Worried” (2022) CD Review

In 2018, blues singer and songwriter Rory Block released A Woman’s Soul, which was a tribute to Bessie Smith, and was the first volume in her Power Women Of The Blues Series. The second volume, Prove It On Me, was released two years later, this one celebrating the music of several female artists, including Ma Rainie and Memphis Minnie. Now the third volume in the series has been released. Titled Ain’t Nobody Worried, this one features more recent work of female artists, songs from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (at least, for the most part). As on Prove It To Me, Rory Block provides all the vocals and plays all the instruments on this release.

The album kicks off with “I’ll Take You There,” a song originally recorded by The Staple Singers in 1972, with Mavis Staples on lead vocals. The lyrics of this song give this release its title: “I know a place, yeah/Ain’t no nobody crying, no no/Where there’s ain’t nobody worried.”  Rory Block provides her own glorious backing vocal work. This song has a loose, improvised vibe, particularly in the vocal work, and she even calls out Mavis by name just before the end. She follows that with “Midnight Train To Georgia,” another song from the early 1970s. It was a big hit for Gladys Knight And The Pips in 1973. Rory Block delivers a delicious, soulful version. Just listen to the way she delivers the line, “But he sure found out the hard way that dreams don’t always come true.” I love the way her backing vocals interact with her lead vocal line, as when Rory sings, “I’m going to be with him” and she, as her own backing vocalists, responds, “I know you will,” following the pattern of the original recording.

Rory Block then goes back to the 1960s for “My Guy,” the Mary Wells hit from 1964. There is something adorable about this song, and about Rory Block covering it. It is just so sweet, so innocent, which of course is not something you generally associate with someone who usually delivers the blues. And Rory Block’s rendition has an acoustic blues vibe. She is clearly having a good time with this song. That’s followed by the most recent song selected for this album, Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which was released in 1988. This song was played so much when it came out that it was easy to forget what a great song it really is. I was getting seriously into folk music then, and other folk artists made references to it at the time. The song was everywhere. Rory Block delivers a fairly faithful rendition, reminding us of the incredible strength of the song. “I had a feeling that I could be someone, be someone, be someone, could be someone.”

I love the guitar work at the beginning of “Cried Like A Baby,” and on this track Rory Block really tears into the vocals, making it one of my favorites. This is a song that Koko Taylor included on her 1985 album Queen Of The Blues, and it is Koko Taylor that Rory Block refers to on this recording. But this song goes back quite a ways before Koko’s version. In 1954, it was recorded by Big Maybelle and released as a single under the title “I’m Getting ‘Long Alright.” Anyway, Rory Block’s rendition is a total delight from beginning to end. “My landlord done told me/Not to worry ‘bout the rent/All you want to do is hold me/And my rent won’t cost a cent.” Toward the end, Rory provides some vocal riffing about Koko Taylor, and her advice: “Koko said, Little Miss Dynamite, don’t you shed a tear.” That section adds even more to the joy of this track. Another highlight is Rory Block’s rendition of “Love Has No Pride,” a song from Bonnie Raitt’s 1972 LP Give It Up. “And I’d give anything to see you again/I’ve been alone too many nights/To think that you could come back again.” You can hear the hurt in her voice, in her delivery. And I love the lonesome quality to her guitar playing.

The Grateful Dead turned me onto a lot of different music over the years. One artist I learned about through them is Etta James. In the mid-1980s I heard a tape of her singing with the band and was blown away by her performance, and so I started digging into her catalogue. On this album, Rory Block chooses “I’d Rather Go Blind,” a song Etta James released on a single in 1967 and on her Tell Mama LP the following year. Rory Block delivers a particularly strong vocal performance on this track, including some soulful backing vocal work. Interestingly, she follows that with one of her own songs, “Lovin’ Whiskey.” In the disc’s liner notes, Rory mentions that this is the song that really launched her career, one she didn’t initially even want to put on the record, that being her 1986 album I’ve Got A Rock In My Sock! Of course, she had a career before this song, and had put out several albums, but this song was a big one for her. And it is great to hear her revisit it here. It is a moving, heartfelt performance. Things then get fun with “Dancing In The Street.” This is a song that has been covered by a lot of artists over the years, including the Grateful Dead, Van Halen (which is the first version I ever owned on vinyl), The Mamas & The Papas, and The Kinks. But that first version by Martha And The Vandellas is probably still the best, and it is that version that inspires Rory’s Block’s rendition here.

Rory Block then slows things for her cover of Carole King’s “You’ve Got A Friend,” a song from her fantastic 1971 album Tapestry. “Hey, ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend/When people can be so cold.” The world often feels cold these days, and friendship is so important. It is what gets us through our troubled times. You can hear it in every note Rory sings here. I like the way she ends her version, riffing a bit vocally. She then reaches back farther for the album’s final track, a cover of Elizabeth Cotten’s “Freight Train” (her name is misspelled on the disc as “Cotton”). I love this song, and I love how Rory Block handles it. “When I die, just bury me deep/Down at the end of old Chestnut Street/So I can hear old Number Nine/As she goes roaring on by/So I can hear old Number Nine/As she goes roaring on by/When I’m dead and in my grave/No more good times will I crave/Place a stone at my head and feet/Lord, and tell them all I’ve gone to sleep.” It’s crazy to think that Elizabeth was still a child when she wrote those lines.

CD Track List

1. I’ll Take You There
2. Midnight Train To Georgia
3. My Guy
4. Fast Car
5. Cried Like A Baby
6. Love Has No Pride
7. I’d Rather Go Blind
8. Lovin’ Whiskey
9. Dancing In The Street
10. You’ve Got A Friend
11. Freight Train

Ain’t Nobody Worried was released on October 7, 2022 on Stony Plain Records.