Camp Black Dog – Rock & Roll Summer Camp ’98
In the wake of the recent slaughters in the major-label ranks, one hardly needs further convincing as to the virtues of the indie way of doing things, but this record provides precisely that sort of evidence, in a manner far removed from business concerns altogether. At the level of Mississippi label Black Dog Records, a label is more akin to a family — partly in the literal sense, with siblings, spouses and cousins all part of the mix here, but also extending to include everyone else involved in the operation.
Rock & Roll Summer Camp ’98 brought together the Black Dog family — from husband-and-wife owners Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirratt of Blue Mountain, to Cary’s cousin Chris (the producer), to Laurie’s brother John (ofWilco), to Philadelphia band Marah, to singer-songwriter Noah Saterstrom, and a handful of others — for a few days of r ‘n’ r (recording and relaxation). The result is an album that ranges from revelatory to run-of-the-mill, but never loses the informal charm that was the point of the project to begin with.
The record starts out remarkably strong, with four straight cuts that rival the best in any of the participants’ individual catalogs. “Livin’ On The Road”, written by Marah brothers Serge and Dave Bielanko, kicks things off with a bang behind the dueling banjo licks of Dave and Noah Saterstrom. George Sheldon takes front-and-center on the second cut, “S.O.B.”, which proves even more rockin’ than the opening cut. John Stirratt steps up next with “Not So Far Away”, far and away the best pure-pop cut on the disc. Cary Hudson’s “Big Black River” follows, featuring Hudson and Laurie Stirratt on soaring vocal harmonies.
From there on, it’s all downhill; nothing else quite measures up to those opening tracks in terms of songwriting, though moments of instrumental inspiration continue to surface here and there. Capping things off, and underscoring the spirit of the session, is an unlisted 25-minute bonus track (if you can even call it a “track”) of studio chatter that’s either annoyingly sophomoric or refreshingly ridiculous, depending on your perspective. I’ll take the latter, thank you very much.