Album review : THE BONESHAKERS – Live To Be This

July 23rd, 2025 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to Randy and Jenny for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio playing tracks from the new album. First broadcast 10 August 2025.

Gulf Coast Records [Release date 18.07.25]

It’s tempting to interpret The Boneshakers album ‘Live To Be This’ as a conceptual realization of a soulful style that has come back into fashion.

Acclaimed guitarist Randy Jacobs may have penned some hits for other artists and laid down his funky licks with the finest of his generation – even dabbling in jazz tinged instrumental music – but the fact he repeatedly returns to the mothership suggests Funk and Soul music is his calling.

The singers in the band may also have changed over nearly 30 years –Sweetpea Atkinson (RIP), Malford Milligan, Mindi Abair and now the explosive Jenny Langer – but the musical template remains the same, as on this, the band’s 11^th release.

A groove-laden mix of funk, blues, r&b, rock and soul gives the band the kind of musical backdrop that finds them handily placed to connect with a new generation of soul fans.

2 things make this album special, firstly the way singer Jenny Langer has grown into her role as a versatile soulful singer, as she tackles a wide array of songs with complete confidence, born of plenty of road work with the band.

The second thing is the choice of songs and guests. Some of the material comes from such unlikely bedfellows as Betty Davis, Eddie Hinton, Iggy Pop, Screaming Jay Hawkins and even Aussie singer-songwriter writer Paul Kelly, with who Randy has worked previously.

Guest wise, Bobby Rush makes the biggest impact on a spirited duet with Langer on ‘Salty’, (originally Eddie Hinton’s ‘Things Got To Get A Little Bit Salty’).

The indefatigable nonagenarian opens the song with a characteristic ad-lib, before becoming her perfect foil on a ballad with a resilient message and a great hook.

Charlie Musselwhite adds expressive harp on self penned shuffle called ‘Evil No More’, while the great Coco Montoya confirms he is a master of touch, stinging tone and timing, alongside Jimmy Carpenter’s slighty mixed back grainy sax, on ’Don’t Deny Me’.

The latter is a Jerry Lynn Williams song, originally given prominence by John Mayall and invested with added impetus here.

‘Live To Be This’ is built round the perfect triumvirate of Randy Jacobs grooves, Langer’s vocal versatility and producer John Wooler’s intuitive knowledge of the material and his editing skills.

Indeed it appears it was Wooler who suggeted the up tempo opener ‘I’ll Kick A Brick (For My Man)’.

Langer provides the vocal edge, while sax player Ron Holloway and guitarist Jacobs trade fiery lines. An all too soon fade robs us of the full force of a spine tingling Holloway solo, but perhaps it was Wooler’s intention to keep us wanting more?

Jacobs is also a model of restraint, always serving the song while fleetingly adding a mix of wah-wah and piercing runs.

This is particularly so on the mid-tempo funk of ‘Aint Got Enough For Me’ on which he subtly solos in the middle of a song and then just as quickly recedes into the background.

Langer finds her own equilibrium via confident phrasing on a variety of material on which she constantly searches for an emotional connection.

She’s at her best as a high register counterpoint on the deep funky groove of Betty Davis’s 1974 ‘They Say I’m Different’, the cover of which evokes early 70’s War.

She also revels in the slant rhyme couplet of ‘Muddy Waters and T- Bone Walker’ and ‘Leadbelly & Sonny Terry’ on a song that references a roll call of blues icons.

The revamped version eschews Chuck Berry and the whole of verse 4 of the original (including Little Richard and Robert Johnson), but adds Dr. John, and a defining wah-wah guitar break from Jacobs over Lenny Castro’s percussion.

Langer is equally good on another chunky Eddie Hinton tune ‘Here I Am’, on which the band intuitively comes together with wah wah guitar and horn stabs into the fade.

You can feel Langer’s frisson on a cover of Ike & Tina Turner’s ‘Took A Trip’, which incorporates a new wah-wah intro, and possibly less horns than original.

Jacobs provides further variety by handling the vocals on the Screaming Jay Hawkins classic ‘I Am The Cool’, helmed by Don Was on bass.

The newer version ditches the original buzz guitar for a cleaner sound. Jacobs enjoys a “I like that” ad-lib moment after a fiery Mark Pender trumpet solo, suggesting he’s very much into the musical moment, while almost parodying the braggadocio lyrics.

The album also benefits from concise sequencing which finds the up tempo ‘I Need Somebody’ lodged between the funky organ-driven cover of Bobby Patterson’s ’How Do You Spell Love’, and the first of two differently mixed Dobro duets called ‘Dobro Jones’.

There’s even room for some Florida soul on ‘Tears Of The World’ built on a punchy horn arrangement and a stinging guitar line.

Ultimately ‘Live To Be This’ might be heavy on covers, but the essential connection between the story telling narratives, king size grooves and the sheer exuberance of playing serves it well.

Paul Kelly’s ‘The Cake & The Candle’, provides the perfect book-end to a retro-tinged album with a wide musical sweep that drips with soul. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

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