albums

Rip It Up, Issue 176, 1 March 1992, Page 28

albums

TONY JOE WHITE Closer To The Truth (Interfusion) Until his re-emergence a few years ago, writing and playing on four tracks of Tina Turner's Foreign Affair, one would have been forgiven for thinking Tony Joe White was permanently lost in the everglades. After all, it had been a couple of decades since those albums which gave us — along with the many singers who rushed to cover the songs — such classics as 'Polk Salad Annie' and 'Rainy Night In Georgia'. But as Turner's Foreign Affair (the title track is one of White's) unquestionably proved, the Louisiana man's swampy guitar rhythms, fluid lead playing and sharp songwriting were decidedly intact. Now, with a whole album to get Closer To The Truth, it is interesting to compare the different versions of two of the songs. 'Steamy Windows' maintains essentially the same arrangement as on Turner's yet, in comparison, White's languid vocal drawl lacks the sense of sweaty passion demanded by the lyric. However on'Undercover Agent For The Blues' White retrieves the

(admittedly unspectacular) tune from Turner's heavy handedness. So while White's low-key approach can at times inhibit his material, for the majority of this album he effectively creates a sly, sleepy-lidded sound that is very seductive. Consequently even a 12-bar bash like 'Main Squeeze' ends up

hugging you close. Unsurprisingly the best of this dozen good tracks are the big smokey . ballads: a swaying '(You're Gonna Look) Good In Blues', the conservationist title number and 'The Other Side' with its lyric of quiet protest.

Instrumentally the album is perfectly attuned to White's vocal style (although it has a huge, spacious production sound). Over the restrained brilliance of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section he strums and picks with deceptive simplicity. Whether applying his trademark 'whompar' electric

technique or glorious acoustic work (on 'Cool Town \Abman') Tony Joe - White is a master of laconic guitar. There are few musicians who can make an album this way and still get it to shine. JJ. Cale is one, but he hasn't been around for a while so the re-emergence of Tony Joe White becomes all the more welcome. ; PETER THOMSON LUKA BLOOM The Acoustic Motorbike (Reprise) BRUCE COCKBURN Nothing But A Burning Light (Liberation) The era of the navel-gazing singer-songwriter with one eye on the ego and the other on the potential pad in Laurel Canyon is well and truly kaput. These days there's a healthier screen of cynicism preventing too many half-baked prophets from cashing in on the world's woes. Which means Luka Bloom and Bruce Cockbum have already passed the audition. Luka Bloom, with his pseudonym gleaned from Suzanne Vega's song and Joyce's Ulysses, is Christy Moore's brother and although he doesn't reach his sibling's resonance or experience, Bloom has his own brand of Celtic lyricism aided • by most of the Hothouse Flowers. . Lilting bedsit images and wistful melodies make 'March Watches Everything' and 'I Need Love' quite

fetching and This Is Your Country' is a moving expatriate vision of home. Unbelievably, he manages to convincgly resurrect the old chestnut 'Can't Help Falling In Love' by imbuing it with his own pathos, a feeling he manages to duplicate in the closing 'Be Well'. Pleasantly moving, The Acoustic Motorbike is have guitar and wheels will travel. Unlike Bloom, Canadian Bruce Cockbum has been around since Adam was a cowboy and his repertoire runs to the more tasteful protest end with a few spiritual thoughts thrown in. The by now hackneyed 'keeping the environment for future generations' line is contained in a good song structure, 'A Dream Like Mine' and it's clear straight away that Booker T's shimmering Hammond is gonna lift this solo album well above the mundane. The theme of impermanence on 'Mighty Trucks of Midnight' gives space for the Cockbum drawl and Booker T once again adds the evocative touches. This recipe is repeated on the tingling ballads 'One Of The Best Ones' and 'Somebody Touched Me' and add to that the goose-pimpling conscience in 'lndian Wars' and Greenpeace Years instrumental 'Actions Speak Louder 7 and you've got that rare animal — a concerned singer-songwriter with

songs as strong as his causes.

GEORGE KAY