LONESOME BOB
Things Change
(Leaps Recordings)
Many a blues fan from decades past cut his or her teeth on a transistor radio stashed beneath a pillow, stealing a listen to some distant AM signal blasting out from Chicago or Memphis. Howlin' Wolf's "Moanin' in the Moonlight," which opens with a guttural moan that'll chill your spine in daylight, must have been unforgettable in darkness.
A lot of CDs cross this desk each year, but never has one come so close to capturing the Wolf's vibe as does Lonesome Bob's Things Change. In fact, it happens more than once over the course of these dozen songs. During "Where Are You Tonight," about his teenage son's death, or perhaps during the moaning outro to the title track, Lonesome Bob (AKA Robert Chaney) summons something that can't be faked.
LB gigged in the 80s for an extended stint as drummer for Ben Vaughn, and he briefly played guitar with former Mekons singer Sally Timms. A Nashville resident for several years, he's collaborated here and there with country singer Allison Moorer. Things Change, LB's second solo CD, sways under the influence of a plethora of genres, spitting out stark, brutally honest songs. His voice is reminiscent of that of David Allan Coe; more importantly, one can almost smell the bourbon and cigarettes on his breath.
"Heather's All Bummed Out" weaves a captivating tale out of suburban boredom, which can't be easy. "So tonight she'll meet a man from the Internet mail/She doesn't know it yet but he just got out of jail," sings LB, fanning those dark flames. "Dying Breed" turns LB's unflinching focus to the legacy of addiction. "No one grows old in this household/We are a dying breed," he sings over dobro and standup bass. "In the Time I Have Left," an R&B-flavored ballad, replaces illusions of dreams and forever with frailty and mortality, all the while vowing, "In the time I have left I will love you everyday." Before the song ends you'll be wondering just who you want to make teary-eyed by putting this on a mix CD. And of course, there's "Where Are You Tonight," which is not to be heard lightly; listening to a father wail for his dead son is an experience like no other.
LB does lighten up here and there. During the studio chatter that opens "I Get Smarter Every Drink," guitarist Paul Slivka absent-mindedly noodles with the opening lick to Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried," and indeed, Haggard's influence can also be heard in the song proper. "My thoughts become much clearer when I have lubricated them," sings LB as the band knocks out a two-step behind him. He also throws in a bonus cover of Clarence Carter's "Patches," which helped build his live reputation. It's a fairly straight reading of a song that could easily tip into hokum, but is clearly rendered here in the interest of sincere fun.
Whatever Lonesome Bob sets his sights on, he hits it with unwavering aim. As you might have gathered, he's the sort of songwriter you just want to quote over and over to friends, foes, lovers and telemarketers. Almost every purveyor of every subgenre of metal-this or techno-that sounds like A Flock of Seagulls compared to the badness of Lonesome Bob. Unforgettable. Brian Briscoe [buy it]
For fans of: early 70s Howlin' Wolf, Merle Haggard, Billy Joe Shaver
