Terry Holley - Acoustic Covers

Terry Holley - Acoustic Covers

2010, The Standard Electrical Record Company

Terry Holley is a man living his dream.  Over the course of three months Holley recorded eleven covers of classic tunes in his home.  Mixed in a Florida studio with limited compression, the album Acoustic Covers gives life to Holley’s straightforward style of acoustic guitar play, mixing in organic and synthesized instruments.  Holley will be giving away one hundred copies of the album as Christmas gifts to family and friends this holiday season, and will also be offering Acoustic Covers for sale online in the near future.  Holley expects to lose money on Acoustic Covers, but is proceeding purely on his love for music.

Acoustic Covers is literally titled.  There isn’t much original or surprising in the eleven tracks offered here, but Holley offers consistent and loving renditions of classic rock songs one might assume were among his personal favorites.  Holley keeps the arrangements simply drawn, offering up just enough instrumental support to build a sufficient canvas to backlight his guitar-based melodies.  The results are generally very solid; while Holley never quite sets the night on fire with his guitar style, he manages to move from song to song with a bit of spirit and panache in spite of the middle-of-the-road arrangements.

Holley opens with The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream”, a straight-up instrumental read with a playful feel.  You can almost hear Holley’s smirk throughout the song.  “Splish Splash” is similarly arranged, adding light percussion this time around.  Musically solid, there’s a somewhat canned feel to this one – like slightly upbeat Muzak.  Holley shows some real bounce on Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, working some jazzy life into the transitions.  Holley keeps upping the ante here, getting some real bounce into the act as the song progresses.  Holley takes The Beatles to the music box on “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” with a faithful instrumental that keeps things simple.

Holley has some fun with Pure Prairie League’s “Amie”, a sweet cover that captures the melodic heart of the song in a tight and well-played cover.  Holley then steps out on a bit of a limb with The Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee”, incorporating flute and strings in a solid rendition that seems a bit more ambitious than what has come before.  The Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” is up next in a sufficiently intricate rendition that is aurally appealing.    Holley captures the snarky feel of Eric Idle’s “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”, offering up a light and airy reading that will leave a smile on your face.  “Obladi, Oblada” gets back to the music box Beatles feel noted earlier in a straight-up, enjoyable rendition.  Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade Of Pale” is eminently reverent to the original arrangement even if it seems a bit dissociated from the emotional heart of the song.  Holley closes with Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” in a technically splendid performance.

Terry Holley certainly chases the dream on Acoustic Covers.  In this regard the album is a huge success, as Holley manages to perfect a dream long held.  Acoustic Covers is a pleasant listen that is certain to please the ears and provide for hours of solid background music.  Holley is proficient with the guitar; technically consistent and able to display the occasional spark that turns a mediocre album into an above-average one.  Acoustic Covers does tend to be a bit too straightforward at times.  It would be nice to hear Holley actually interpret the songs offered up here rather than just playing straight melody lines.  But for what it is, Acoustic Covers is worth spending a bit of time on.  And as a dream come true, you could do worse.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

 Acoustic Covers is available as a digital download from Amazon.com, CDBaby and iTunes.

Review: Robert Valente - Alive

Robert Valente - Alive
2008, Robert Valente

Robert Valente chooses not to dwell on biography, letting his music speak for him. We'll follow his lead. Valente's latest, Alive opens with Gospel Man, a rocking Country tune that's irresistibly catchy. Gospel Man is fast-paced and full of sound, hiding, for one song, the anomalies in Valente's voice. They come fully into the light on True Again, where Valente sounds like Neil Young singing at pianissimo. You Don't Know gets more of an Early Rock feel (think Bill Haley), while bringing out more of the thinly veiled evangelical content of the songs on Alive. Valente co-opts elements of Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind on The Answer, walking a fine line between being derivative and outright borrowing. Love Has A Way is a nice rebound; a decent song with a pleasant melody. It does tend to be a bit too repetitive both in lyrics and arrangement, but at base is a pleasant listen.

Country Singer is a pure example of what is called "testifying". Valente acquaints listeners with his life before he was a Christian, how he became a Christian and how it has changed his life since that time. The song is presented in an old blend of Country and Easy Listening. The arrangement is bland and innocuous but will have emotional impact for those who enjoy this sort of testimonial. The title track, Alive, struggles to be celebratory but sounds a bit disjointed in the process. This Old World plods on over four minutes that seems interminable. Valente stumbles through In Your Mind and Candy on the way to the closing number, Take My Heart, a heartfelt if mildly clumsy love song (of sorts).

Valente starts slow on Alive, finding his groove as a songwriter in the middle but then fades at the end. The musicianship on Alive is solid throughout with a mixed bag of songwriting. The music is heartfelt enough, with Valente singing what he knows and believes rather than affecting a pose or style. When everything clicks, Valente is anachronistically charming. At worst, Alive is too innocuous to be abrasive, but can be difficult nonetheless. Valente likely falls into a gap between Popular Music and CCM that qualifies as a true niche. That means the demographic for this album is likely a small one, but they're likely to be highly devoted fans.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Robert Valente at http://www.robertvalente.com/, where you can purchase Alive on CD. Alive is also available as either a CD or digital download from Amazon.com.

Review: Chip Taylor - Yonkers, NY

Chip Taylor - Yonkers, NY
2009, Train Wreck Records

Chip Taylor is the legendary songwriter responsible for such hits as Wild Thing (The Troggs), Angel Of The Morning (Juice Newton), Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) (Janis Joplin) and I Can't Let Go (The Hollies). His songs have been recorded by the likes of Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix. The younger brother of vulcanologist Barry Voight and actor John Voight, Taylor has a wealth of childhood stories to tell. He's saved the best of them for his latest album, Yonkers, NY. Yonkers, NY is released as a two-disc set. The first disc is done "Worlds + Music" style, with spoken words stories injected between (and sometimes in the middle of) songs. The second disc is edited to supply just the songs.

Taylor grew up in Yonkers, and tells about his formative years as Jamie (his nickname as a child). The arrangements are lush Americana, and Taylor takes us back in time when trains, horses, girls and family were the most important things in the world. Yonkers, NY opens with Barry Go On (Put Yourself On The Mountain), a missive on being told to become what you want to be as a child. It's a wonderful tune full of both the excitement and angst of being a young child in a big world. Charcoal Sky recounts learning all about trains from his father and a friend who was a conductor on the Hudson River line. Taylor reminisces about laying nickels on the train tracks to get train-pressed souvenirs with his brothers in a sweet and loving tribute to times gone by. Hey Jonny (Did You Feel That Movie) has a shuffling rockabilly feel that is guaranteed to get your feet moving and incorporates Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock. Without Horses is a love song, of sorts, written perhaps from Taylor's father's perspective, about one man's love for betting on the ponies. Written in a gentle waltz, Without Horses has a real melancholy feel.

Taylor gets a gentle mix of R&B and Honky-Tonk on No Dice, an entertaining vamp that allows his band to show off their chops between verses. On Bastard Brothers, Taylor tells about his brothers complaints leading to Taylor's violin turning into a Ukulele one Christmas morning. The story that goes with it is funny and touching, and the song turns into a sort of back-handed thank you. Piece Of The Sky is a song about finding your dreams, whatever they might be. Here it's a win at the race track, but the universal nature of the song is appealing. Saw Mill River Road is about the local Country Music bar of Taylor's younger days. You can hear the Johnny Cash influence in this one, particularly in the "flashback" portion of the song. Yonkers Girls is a reminiscence of about the wiles and ways of the women of Taylor's youth grouped by their hometowns. Taylor closes out with Yonkers, NY, a musical portrait of his hometown that's both highly descriptive and deeply personal. Taylor describes a working class town with trials and tribulations like most similar sized towns in the US in the 1960's.

Chip Taylor has an easy, likable style as both a songwriter and story-teller. His voice isn't what you'd call pretty, but it's full of character, life and experience and is a very enjoyable voice to listen to. Yonkers, NY works so well because Taylor lived each song and each moment. Part confessional and part musical novella, Yonkers, NY uses intelligence, remembrance and humor to bring the people and places of his childhood alive. This might just be Taylor's masterpiece. Yonkers, NY is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Chip Taylor at www.trainwreckrecords.com/chip.html or www.myspace.com/chiptaylorsolo. You can order a copy of Yonkers, NY from Trainwreck Records on either CD or LP, or you can download the album from Amazon.com.