The album opens with "Thank You Memphis," which has a vibrant, uplifting sound from its start. Its opening lines are "Life changes, you got to change with it/You can't be afraid to try something new." And soon he sings, "You knew I needed to run to your arms/When life drove me to my knees/You helped me heal, helped me make it real/You helped me find my way back to me." A special person can help in that way, and a special place can do the same thing. And the latter is what this song is about, a special place called Memphis. This track not only contains some good guitar work and delicious stuff on horns, but also a lot of great work on harmonica, including a really nice lead. The traveling continues in "Where Love Takes Me." "No matter where I'm going, one thing is for sure/Ain't going to bother taking no detour," Mick sings at the beginning of this one. "But I'm only gonna go, only gonna go where love takes me." That's a good lesson, especially these days. Where does your heart lead you? Another line that stands out is this: "I don't know where I'm going, but I'll go there with a smile." We can hear that smile in his delivery, and even little laughs. This track also features the horns, which add to the positive vibes. I also love that guitar lead in the second half, and that cool work on organ.
"Did You Ever Wonder?" was written by Mick Kolassa and Doug MacLeod. Doug also joins him on guitar and vocals for this one. "You know, Doug, there's some stuff that really gets me wondering," Mick says at the beginning. "Well, we drive in a parkway, and park in a driveway," he starts, quoting a line from George Carlin, my favorite comedian, who often took a good look at some of the quirks of language. This song is playful, the lyrics delivered as sort of spoken word, the song a conversation between the two. "When does breaking news finally get broke?" "Are fat chance and slim chance really the same?" "And what in the world was the best thing before they had sliced bread?" Rick Steff plays accordion on this track, helping to create the atmosphere. That's followed by another fun number, "Too Old To Die Young." This song mentions some of the famous musicians who did die young, touching on that whole 27 thing: "I haven't made millions, just nickels and dimes/But I've made 27 2.7 times." There is nothing good about dying young, nothing glamorous or romantic or cool about it. This song celebrates being alive, even if it means being old. "There's a whole lot of things I'm going to try again."
Mick Kolassa slows things down with "Happy Endings." In its first line, he tells us, "There's no such thing as happy endings." He then explains: "Endings mean it's all over/Endings mean it's the end." Ah, true, but there are certainly some things I will be happy to see end, such as the mess occupying the White House. This track features some seriously cool work on keys. "Happy ever after is a fairy tale/There's nothing happy about goodbye/Happy ever after is an illusion/Happy endings are a lie." And check out that guitar lead by Dexter Allen in the second half. Then we get "Amy Iodine," a delightful, playful number with a nice rhythm and some odd little touches right from the start, cluing us in that this is going to be something different. And indeed, his new lady friend is different. "She knows how to please me in, oh, so many ways/She really understands me, she was programmed that way." And he's named her Amy Iodine (or did she name herself?). This is a song for the strange new world we are quickly marching into. There is plenty of humor here, with lines like "I get all this love for only $9.99 a month" and "What do you mean reboot, I was almost there." Rick Steff plays mini Moog on this one, as well as piano, so he is in large part responsible for creating the interesting dynamic, that combination of the old and the new. Things then gets funky with "You Bumped Me Again." This song is funky, but definitely still bluesy, and with some great stuff from the brass section. The band is getting loose, getting into the groove, and the results are delicious.
There is a wonderful joy to Mick Kolassa's blues. On "Where Love Takes Me," he sang about going somewhere "with a smile," but it isn't just that song where we hear the smile in his vocal delivery. That smile is audible throughout the album. His voice tells us we can get through these troubles, no matter what it is he is singing about on any given track. Take "Does Your Mama Know," for example. It's about a relationship, and having to sneak around, but the music can make you feel good about whatever it is you're dealing with. And of course that harmonica work always helps. Then "Eating My Soul" slinks in, immediately announcing that it is several shades of cool. There is a deeper vocal delivery here, and that work on saxophone is just so damn good, even before that fantastic lead. Yet this song comes from a darker realm. "I can’t remember what started it all/Just know I need it to end/I used to fly, now I only fall/And I’m feeling like I lost my best friend." This track contains some wonderful stuff on guitar. "I think I'm losing control/Never felt more like crying out loud/And I feel like it's eating my soul." Everything about this one is perfect. It's one of my favorite tracks.
For a song titled "I Can't Sing No Blues Tonight," it's particularly bluesy, through and through. In its rhythm, in that work on keys, in the guitar work, and yes, in the vocal performance. Blues that feels just exactly right, you know? It even uses that perennial blues line "I woke up this morning," though not right at the beginning. I am especially digging that stuff on keys. "I feel so low, I can’t sing about it now/I'm down so low, too low to sing about it now/What they've done to me, lord, it should not be allowed." That's followed by "That Don't Mean." This one has some strong opening lines: "Not looking is easy, not thinking ain’t hard/Not worrying is simple when you hold all the cards/Now that don’t mean, don't mean that trouble ain’t there/You just make it worse when people know you don’t care." Those lyrics stand out to us especially these days. A lack of empathy is just one of the many terrible characteristics of the rapist currently occupying the White House, and of the creatures that voted for him. This track features some excellent work on guitar, and is another of my personal favorites.
"Somebody Else's Whiskey" is a fun song, featuring the horns and a funky dance element. It's a song about taking what isn't yours, "There you go again, that don't belong to you." There is more nice stuff on keys. I also like how the guitar responds to Mick's lines in the second half. That's followed by "Bad Decisions," which was written by Mick Kolassa and Eric Hughes. Eric plays both guitar and harmonica on this one, delivering some great work on both instruments. "We can have a couple drinks and make some bad decisions," Mick sings here. Oh yes, bad decisions never sounded so good. Mick's vocal delivery here has a certain level of intimacy that totally sells the song, makes it sound wonderful. And, yeah, there is a laugh to his delivery at key moments. The album concludes with "A Yankee Heading Home," which is a perfect bookend to "Thank You Memphis." This one takes us north, and has a gentle, pretty sound. Heading home always sounds so good in song.
CD Track List
- Thank You Memphis
- Where Love Takes Me
- Did You Ever Wonder?
- Too Old To Die Young
- Happy Endings
- Amy Iodine
- You Bumped Me Again
- Does Your Mama Know?
- Eating My Soul
- I Can't Sing No Blues Tonight
- That Don't Mean
- Somebody Else's Whiskey
- Bad Decisions
- A Yankee Heading Home
All Kinds Of Blues was released on July 19, 2024.
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