Mark Muleman Massey: "Been A Long, Long Time" (2024) CD Review

Mark Muleman Massey is one hell of a good blues singer and songwriter. He was born in Mississippi, and started performing in the northern part of that state in the early 1990s. His latest album, Been A Long, Long Time, which was released in the fall, contains mostly original material written by Massey, Ed Hill and Billy Lawson. Mark Massey plays guitar on these tracks, as does Billy Lawson (Lawson also produced the album). They are joined by Jim Whitehead on keys, Travis Wammack on guitar, Kelvin Holly on guitar, Bob N. Weaver on bass, Roger Starr on drums, and Robert Fossen on harmonica, along with The Webster Street Horns. The Avalon Sisters provide backing vocals.

The album opens with its title track. "It's been a long, long time," Mark Massey repeats at the beginning of the track, and we know he could take that in so many directions. Perhaps you have a few ideas yourself where he might go. And he then sings, "It's been long time coming since I felt this good." And we are relieved, for we are right with him. We want to feel good, are ready for it, are eager for it, and this music is helping in that regard. "Welcome to the neighborhood," he tells us, and it is like this very album is the neighborhood, this first track telling us he's glad we're here. And so are we. For who in this country doesn't have the blues these days? Most of the good stuff is being dismantled by fascists, but we still have the music. This track features some great work on harmonica. That's followed by "Baby's Gone." "Yeah, I've never lost a love like this before, and, fellas, I truly hope you don't feel the pain that I am feeling tonight," Mark tells us in a brief spoken word introduction. And then he delivers a great, soulful vocal performance. "What a crazy world I've been living in now/I must go on, though I don't know how." Of course, any line about this world being crazy speaks pretty strongly to us now. This is a beautiful, moving song, with a classic blues and soul vibe. There is a bit of a Van Morrison feel. "My baby's gone, gone, gone/She's gone for good/I'd tell her I'm sorry on my knees/If I could." I can't imagine how I could face this crazy world if my baby were gone. This is one of my personal favorite tracks.

Mark Massey then picks up the energy with "Can't Tell Me Nothing About The Blues," in which he sings, "I was born in Mississippi/Nearly died there twice/Once at my birth/And the other was shooting dice." Those lines feel true, feel autobiographical. And when he says that we can't tell him about the blues, he means it. We hear it in his voice, in his delivery. That is a voice that knows the blues. He also sings about how he "Spent some time in Parchman," which is true. Apparently when he was nineteen, he went to Parchman Prison, and it was there that he really got into the blues, becoming a member of the Parchman Prison Band. This track contains some good stuff on guitar. It's followed by "Give Me Your Love." There is a wonderful classic sound to this one, and another soulful performance. "Fall in these arms/That have missed you so much." Oh yes! He really knows how to deliver these slower numbers. This is fantastic. "Bring down the wall/That I helped you build." It's never too late, right?

The album's first cover is a country number, Hank Williams' "Hey Good Looking," here delivered with a kind of funky blues vibe, which works surprisingly quite well. This track actually had me on my feet, dancing around, the first time I listened to this disc. I imagine the band must get the crowd moving when they play this one in concert. "Hey Good Looking" is followed by another cover, this one a Tom T. Hall song, "That's How I Got To Memphis."  It's another interesting choice to cover, for, again, it's not a blues number, but a country song. Here it is delivered with a good soulful energy. "If you love somebody enough/You go where your heart wants to go/That's how I got to Memphis." I know that feeling. If my sweetheart decides to move out of Los Angeles, I'll be going too. To Boston, to Sicily, even to Memphis, wherever I find she's going.

Mark Massey goes back to original material with "She's Married To The Streets," delivering a delicious mix of blues and soul. "You can't compete/She's married to the streets/She'll make promises that she can't keep/She's married to the streets." He conjures a vivid image of this woman in our minds. I see her stepping through the smoke of twilight and disappearing down an alley. Then we get the album's final cover, "I'm Sorry About That," which was written by Bobby Womack and recorded by Wilson Pickett. Mark Massey delivers an excellent vocal performance, one of passion and regret. His apology is sincere. And this track features the horn section. Here he sings, "They said to be sorry/Is a sure sign of weakness," something that a large number of people in this country sadly now believe, having been misled by a fragile sociopath with narcissistic personality disorder. So I love the little laugh Mark gives at the end of that line, letting us know just how ridiculous, how foolish, that notion is. Oh, if only other people could learn that.

The horns are present on "My Used To Be" too, an original number about not wanting to run into an old flame. That means him not being able to go to any of their old places. So not only is she gone, but she's taken his city with her. "No more strolling down by the park/I don't want to see her in another man's arms." He declares he'd take her back, but by then we already know that. "You see, my used to be, she used to be everything to me." Ah, it is clear she still is. This song serves as a warning, as a lesson to the rest of us. Hold onto that love, friends. That's followed by "Going Back To Memphis." Yes, earlier in the album Mark Massey sang about how he got to Memphis; now he tells us he's going back there. This is a fun number featuring some very cool work on harmonica, as well as some delicious stuff on keys. "I'm going back to Memphis/Where the women know how to rock and roll." The album concludes with "Your Good Stuff," a playful number that has a good funky edge and also includes the horn section. "I ain't gonna miss you/Go on and leave/Take your good stuff with you."

CD Track List

1. Been A Long, Long Time
2. Baby's Gone
3. Can't Tell Me Nothing About The Blues
4. Give Me Your Love
5. Hey Good Looking
6. That's How I Got To Memphis
7. She's Married To The Streets
8. I'm Sorry About That
9. My Used To Be
10. Going Back To Memphis
11. Your Good Stuff

Been A Long, Long Time was released on October 31, 2024.