John Mellencamp - Life Death Love and Freedom CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

John Mellencamp delves into American folk, blues and country on his latest release, the moody Life Death Love and Freedom. Produced by T Bone Burnett, the album’s stark songs of life, death and hard living bare a similarity to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand, also produced by Burnett, but while that album featured all covers (one a Page/Plant song), all 14 tracks on Life... were written by Mellencamp.

From the opening notes of “Longest Days,” you know this isn’t pop fare here. Mellencamp laments life’s struggles when he sings, “Sometimes you get sick and you don’t get better. That’s when life’s short, even in its longest days.” The sparse acoustic guitar backing puts his vocals front and center in a song far too many people can relate to.

The mood picks up on the rocker, “My Sweet Love,” an ode to romance with a ‘50s feel and driving drums. The bluesy “If I Die Sudden” finds Mellencamp wishing to be left in peace should he pass away as he sings, “there ain’t nobody needs to know, that I’m gone.” He delivers the tune with the authority of a 75-year-old bluesman.

He tackles race on “Jena,” a song about the Jena Six trial in Louisiana where six black teens were accused of attempted murder against one white teen by an all-white jury. Racial tolerance is also the subject of “Young Without Lovers,” a menacing blues cut and standout on the CD.

“Troubled Land” harkens back to “Crumblin’ Down” musically with its swampy groove and sings of bringing peace while warning of the hurricane on the horizon. On “A Ride Back Home,” he pleads with Jesus to take him home, saying that his time has come and gone. It is the song of a weary man wishing for the end.

This album is not for the casual John Mellencamp fan. These tracks won’t be burning up the chart anytime soon, but that’s not the point. His take on the old American music largely succeeds. The record is one of the most compelling of his storied career and a rewarding listen.

Robert Plant/Alison Krauss - Raising Sand CD Review

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Raising Sand
Rounder Records

Written by General Jabbo

For those who only know Robert Plant as the primal screamer behind such Led Zeppelin classics as “The Immigrant Song” and “Whole Lotta Love,” his pairing with bluegrass star Alison Krauss may come as a surprise.

Zeppelin wasn’t all about bombast though. For every “Black Dog,” there was “That’s the Way.” For every “Rock and Roll,” there was “Gallows Pole.” Indeed, Plant’s roots are as much in country, blues and folk as they are in rock and roll and heavy metal. Always one to experiment musically and a professed fan of Krauss, Plant phoned her several years ago to express interest in working with her. It wasn’t until their duet at a Leadbelly tribute at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame though that they considered recording an album.

That album is Raising Sand. Produced by T Bone Burnett, with songs selected by Burnett with input from Plant and Krauss, Raising Sand is a diverse mix of blues, country, folk and roots rock songs from a wide range of writers, including: Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Phil and Don Everly, Little Milton Campbell, Mel Tillis and Sam Phillips.

The combination works to great effect, with Plant and Krauss sharing lead vocals on a number of songs, including a fun romp through the Everly Brothers’ “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),” a bluesy take on “Rich Woman” that would be at home on Plant’s Mighty Rearranger disc and a version of Mel Tillis’ “Stick With Me Baby” brimming with the hope and optimism of a couple in love against all odds.

The solo tracks work too, highlighted by Krauss’ haunting takes on Phillips’ “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us” and Waits’ and Kathleen Brennan’s “Trampled Rose.” Plant’s emotional reading of Clark’s “Polly Come Home” and a heavy take on Townes Van Zandt’s “Nothin’” are highlights as well, with Plant’s and Krauss’ musical worlds colliding on the latter with its country fiddles over Zeppelinesque guitars.

Plant even covers himself, with a stripped down version of “Please Read the Letter” from 1998’s under-appreciated album with Jimmy Page, Walking into Clarksdale. A song of breakup, Krauss’ harmonies offer the woman’s perspective – as if they were both reading the same letter.

Backed by a crack band including Marc Ribot, Norman Blake, Mike Seeger, Jay Bellerose, and Dennis Crouch, Raising Sand sounds at once familiar and new. Two forces in their own right, Plant and Krauss combine to make something fresh and exciting. With rumors of a tour, the possibilities of Plant and Krauss reinterpreting each other’s catalogs makes this pairing even more intriguing. If Raising Sand is any indication, theirs could be the must-see tour of 2008.