MUSIC REVIEWS
Loretta Lynn, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
(Sony Legacy)
Loretta Lynn, now 86, hasn’t been touring since she suffered a stroke in 2017, but the Kentucky singer-songwriter’s creative output remains strong on her new album, “Wouldn’t It Be Great.”
For years, Lynn has been recording her extensive catalog of songs with producing help from John Carter Cash and her daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell, ensuring that her legacy as one of America’s greatest songwriters and singers will continue for the next generation even as she’s had to slow down her public appearances. Recorded before her stroke, the album was delayed a year as she focused on her physical health.
The collection of Lynnpenned songs stays true to the country music icon’s favored subject matters, from love, heartaches, drunk husbands and angry women, but also family and spirituality.
Half new songs and half previously recorded, her high Appalachian vocals are unmistakably clear and refreshing with simple bluegrass and acoustic instrumentation that highlights the lyric and storytelling behind her nearly 60-year career. For a woman who has outlived her husband, as well as some of her children, her loneliness and pain is heartbreaking on a song like “I’m Dying for Someone to Live For.”
“Ruby’s Stool” sounds like a companion to her classic “Fist City,” as Lynn’s feisty side comes out in a barroom dispute with another woman. “Wouldn’t It Be Great” is a sorrowful plea to her late husband Doolittle to give up drinking for the sake of their relationship and contains little gems of simple and personal writing, such as “love went to waste when my sexy lace couldn’t turn your face.”
On “Ain’t No Time to Go,” Lynn tenderly sings with just a soft banjo plucking in the background to “stay with me a little bit longer.” It feels like a promise to her fans that she’s got much more to say if they keep listening.—Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press
Paul Collins, “Out of My Head”
(Alive Naturalsound Records)
New York-born Paul Collins has been carrying the torch of power pop for decades in bands like The Nerves and The Beat as well as a lengthy solo career. In just 33 minutes, “Out of My Head” completes an 11-stop journey that’s loaded with melodies and hooks that make it one of the most enchanting records in his catalog.
Collins sings, plays guitars and drums and is assisted mainly by bassist Paul Stingo, who also adds delightful supporting vocals.
The jagged guitar solo on “In and Out of My Head,” the opening track, mirrors the confusion of someone who is trapped in feelings from a past still haunting the present. Blink and you’ll miss “Go,” 95 seconds of energetic drums and strums backing a typically adolescent lyric that any heart broken adult could sing, too.
In a curious case of coincidence, or something else, there are three songs in row each lasting 2:23 — the “Kind of Girl” could play as Charlie Brown makes another failed attempt to approach the Little Red-Haired Girl; “Just Too Bad You’re Leaving” has a perfectly melancholy melody; and “Emily” applies gentle Hollies-like harmonies to a theme of uncertainty and ambiguity.
There’s a more reflective approach on the last three songs, a sudden power cut that may have been more effective had “Lost Again,” “Tick Tock” and “Beautiful Eyes” been interspersed among the faster ones.
“Out of My Head” could have been recorded anytime over the past 50 years and it’s a blast that Collins is still making albums like it today.—Pablo Gorondi, The Associated Press
Joe Bonamassa, “Redemption”
(J&R Adventures)
There are a few months left in the year, so though “Redemption” is his third album of 2018—after a strong collaboration with Beth Hart and a double live album of covers of tunes by British legends like Eric Clapton, Cream, Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin—it’s possible Joe Bonamassa still has a release or two in his bag.
Should he end his annual output here, however, Bonamassa will be going out in style. “Redemption” displays his customary diversity of blues-rock forms and his superior six-string chops, but the album also rocks a little harder, is enhanced by a lively horn section and even shows some vulnerability.
Without getting too specific, Bonamassa has talked about going through an unexpected rough patch. Song titles include “Evil Mama,” ”Deep In the Blues Again” and “Self-Inflicted Wounds,” and he even sings the line, “She gave me grief/And a whole lot of blues.” Another lyric focuses on causing pain after hooking up with a face in the crowd. It’s not hard to guess the story line.
You won’t hear anyone credit—or blame—Bonamassa with reinventing the wheel but, by recalibrating his skills, “Redemption” rolls along with enough power and panache to stand as one of the most convincing vehicles of his musical vision.—Pablo Gorondi, The Associated Press