The album opens with an
original track, “Change In The Weather,” a fun, kind of funky number written by
Phil Berkowitz and Danny Caron. It has a great vibe, and some good lyrics as
well. Check out these lines: “Can you
feel a change in the weather/Making clouds around your heart/A chance to dance
around the subject/For the sake of playing a part.” And these: “The weeds will start to grow among the flowers/That we planted in hopes
of a better tomorrow.” Oh yes. There is some cool work on harmonica toward
end. They follow that with a cover of “I Take What I Want,” the Sam & Dave
song that was included on that duo’s 1966 LP Hold On, I’m Coming. It’s a fun, upbeat soul tune, and The Lucky
Losers do a good job with it, with Phil delivering more good work on harmonica.
Another cover follows that, Jimmy Rogers’ “What Have I Done,” a really cool
blues song. I always liked the lines, “You
got me coo-coo, baby/Coo-coo in my head.” Love can do that to you.
We then get a couple of songs
written by Cathy Lemons, starting with “A Winning Hand,” the album’s title
track. It’s performed as a duet, and I love that moment when those backing
vocals come in. Lisa Leuschner-Andersen provides the backing vocals. Steve
Freund is on lead guitar on this track. “This
game is all I got.” Then “Suicide By Love” features some really nice work
by Joe Kyle on upright bass and Chris Burns on piano. This is a cool late-night
jazzy song, one of my personal favorites. I love the way Cathy delivers lines
like “I was drinkin’ and druggin’ oh so
well/I had my portrait taken at the city jail.”
The Lucky Losers do an
interesting rendition of Bob Dylan’s “What Was It You Wanted,” giving it a
perkier vibe than the original recording. Chris Burns’ work on organ is
featured prominently, and Phil Berkowitz delivers some good stuff on harmonica.
Marvin Greene is on lead guitar on this track. They follow that with a really
nice rendition of Allen Toussaint’s “What Is Success,” their vocals blending
well. Ben Rice plays slide guitar on this track. They also give us a fun
version of “Baby, You Got What It Takes” and a kind of sweet rendition of
Charles Brown’s “Cry No More,” both of which feature Kevin Zuffi on keys.
While on the new album, Cathy
Lemons has a song titled “Take The Long Road,” on this release Phil Berkowitz
delivers a song titled “Long Hard Road,” a good bluesy tune with a horn
section. “’Cause I’ve been trying so hard
to love you, baby/But you see I’ve got to love myself/’Cause I’ve given up pretending/To
be somebody else.” Michael Peloquin is on saxophone, and Tom Poole is on
trumpet. This disc concludes with two more original compositions. The first is “Detroit
City Man,” a mean and cooking blues tune written by Cathy Lemons. She really
gets into this one, telling us the story of a guy who maybe is less than perfect. “He had blond hair and blue eyes/He was long
and lean/Everything he said to me/My god, lord, I swear he didn’t mean.”
And then “Don’t You Lose It,” written by Phil Berkowitz and Danny Caron, has a
classic mellow rhythm and blues vibe, and is another of the disc’s highlights. “Can you hear the whistle blowin’/It may feel
like a warning sign/The past exists only in your mind.”
CD Track List
- Change In the Weather
- I Take What I Want
- What Have I Done
- A Winning Hand
- Suicide By Love
- What Was It You Wanted
- What Is Success
- Long Hard Road
- Baby, You Got What It Takes
- Cry No More
- Detroit City Man
- Don’t You Lose It
A Winning Hand was released on June 1, 2015 on West Tone Records.
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