The premiere perpetrator of the laid-back Oklahoma country-blues shuffle is back in fine form on his 12th outing. Its the strongest body of work J.J. Cale has offered in years.
The title track opens with a lovely, speaker-bouncing, twangy fade-in, reminiscent of the Byrds Wasnt Born to Follow. A nice steady beat anchors the song as jazzy, wah-wah-flavored riffs float under the tongue-in-cheek lyrics following Cales plea: Guitar man, tell me what your secret am. His trademark gruff vocal manages to drop several names (Stratocaster, Gibson, Martin, Marshall) as he growl-talks his way through the verses.
Also exceptional is Days Go By. an appropriately laid-back, bluesy shuffle that accompanies a pagan homage to one of Cales favorite pastimes, the ol loco weed. Low Down is another typical Cale blues number. Slightly more uptempo with a steady, chug-chugging rhythm, its graced with the types of leads that made Clapton and Knopfler sit up and take notice.
Miss Ol St. Louie is a pretty piece, replete with ragtime piano invoking the era of Mississippi riverboat gamblers. Perfect Woman gives a nod to Bill Justis Raunchy, while Cales take on the traditional Old Blue is surprisingly contemporary, with double-tracked vocals, electrified leads and a drummer.
There is one clunker in the batch. Death in the Wilderness has a trite lyric and jarring synthesized keyboards coupled with a feverishly overpowering drum track, solidifying the argument to dissuade Cale from his penchant for doodling in the digital domain.
The remaining cuts on the CD are pleasant enough fare, with throwaway lyrics, loads of rhythm, and enough purdy leads to satisfy the most die-hard Cale-head. These are the kinds of skeletal tunes that seem negligible at first but grow on you with repeated listenings.
