At just under an hour in running time, this CD is just about equivalent
to half of a typical Cowboy Mouth live show, showing off their
songwriting virtuosity and variety, their hard-driving attitude and
performance, and the and the fervour with which audiences receive them.
There is a quality to this album and to Fred's interaction with his
audience not unlike a tent-meeting revival, and this should come as no
surprise -- because Fred is a kind of evangelist -- an
evangelist for life and joy and, above all else, good old-fashioned
rompin' stompin' rock and roll. A past review says "...on a bad night
they'll tear the roof off. On a good night they'll save your
soul."
Throughout this set, as at any CM show, you can hear Fred exhorting the
audience to get into it -- to sing along, to jump up and down and yell
to "gimme a little rhythm, y'all..."; there are no passive observers
allowed at a Cowboy Mouth show -- "I don't give a damn about yesterday,
and I ain't too concerned about tomorrow..." -- but while he has those
people there he and the rest of CM give them one rockin' show -- and
you can hear them respond.
"...you're not allowed to sit and stare, we'll do our best to make you
care..." brings a roar and cheers every time.
Some of the band's strongest songs are here -- and some others aren't
(which is why i give only four stars -- i think that the selection
could have been slightly improved -- where are "Son of an
Engineer", "My Little Blue One" and "How Do You Tell Someone"?)
Standout songs/performances:
"Love of My Life" (as always when done live; this one just doesn't work
in its studio version, but live it's an excuse for Fred to really rant
and rave) is a pure rock'n'roll experience, with its cheerful
reflection that she's *not* "the love of my life anymore", as Fred
incites the audience to even higher levels.
"Here I Sit in Prison", is lead guitarist J. T. Griffith's cheerfully
skewed take on the "Folsom Prison"/"Mama Tried" genre, as the narrator
is not only not sorry in the slightest that he gunned down his best
friend when he caught him with his wife -- his only regret is that he
didn't get her too.
Rhythm guitarist Paul Sanchez's "Louisiana Lowdown and Blue" speeds up
a cajun beat to tell the story of escaping from The Past.
Fred's "Bad" is in a swing vein (complete with megaphone-effect backing
vocals and JT's lovely tinkling electric piano), as the narrator
informs the woman who unceremoniously dumped him after he was so good
to her that "I'm gonna be bad, every time I think about you..."
"At the Foot of Canal Street" is an old-fashioned Dixieland gospel
(again featuring JTG on piano) inspired by one of New Orleans's famous
cemeteries.
And, of course, we have -- again -- Fred's anthem -- "Jenny Says" --
the story of a doomed relationship with a woman who can't understand
what obsesses him.
Put this on.
Turn it All The Way Up.
Then turn it up some more.
Imagine you're packed like a sardine in a hot, dark sweaty club with a
couple hundred intimate strangers. Grab a beer. Get ready to rock out
harder than you ever have in your living room before.
And then realise that, good as it is, essential as it is, this is
merely the best approximation of that awesome thing that is Cowboy
Mouth live that you can buy...
