Album review: JAMES OLIVER – Live In The USA

November 22nd, 2022 by petefeenstra

Pete Feenstra chatted to James Oliver for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio in November 2022.

Bandcamp [Release date 05.10.22]

From the the exuberant count-in of ‘T Bone Shuffle’ to the rip roaring finish of ‘It Wasn’t Me’, James Oliver’s ‘Live In The USA’ finds the thrilling young Welsh guitarist releasing what is effectively more of a career document and celebratory party record than a musical step forward.

To be clear that’s in no way a criticism, but rather a rumination on the role of the album in these contemporary digital times.

In James hands it’s literally a diary of where he’s at both career wise and in this case geographically. He’s an incredibly gifted spontaneous guitar player who makes the most of a once if a lifetime opportunity to play the late Danny Gatton’s iconic 1954 Gibson ES-295 and explore the related arc of rock and roll, r&b, rockabilly and the blues.

He thinks nothing of sudden tempo changes, drop-downs or different tonal influences often in the course of the same song!

Put simply, ‘Live in the USA’ is a celebration of all the facets that have enabled this extraordinary talent to make a name for himself during lockdown on Youtube (though he also paid his dues with a band called Glas – Welsh for blues), to touring Europe and being invited over to the USA for his first tour.

And on the evidence of this album he’s grabbed the opportunity with both hands, by doing what he does normally which is to plug in, play, rock the house and see where it takes him.

Such is his enthusiasm that what you hear is perhaps only half of what went down on the night, because in James’s book, what really went down is real, mistakes and all.

The fact this recording is from the desk unfortunately means that at times the crowd sounds muffled and far away, though there are moments when you can hear them erupt after an incendiary Oliver flurry. Such is the exhilarating energy of the power trio that they effortlessly thrill the American crowd, especially with Oliver’s dexterity and willingness to go to the edge.

He rocks out on a on the visceral ‘My Own Business’, and goes on to evoke the late Mick Green on ‘Don’t Lie To Me’.

I very much doubt the well heeled Connecticut afternoon crowd schooled in showmanship and subtle paced set’s would ever have experienced something like this, perhaps the equivalent of first coming across Wilko in The Feelgood’s, complete with Mick Green style machine gun riffs.

Other than exchanging online clips, Oliver and his rhythm section hadn’t rehearsed or indeed met until the first gig, meaning they launched into this live recording without a safety net, but it’s self evidently the kind of environment in which Oliver thrives.

He’s at his best when he connects with the crowd and goes through his full repertoire of licks and tricks on an extended version of ‘Help Me‘. This includes squawked chicken effects, staccato bursts, a dynamic drop-down with a subsequent violent resolution, not to mention his improv style vocals.

On his second solo he digs deep for his twang sound which gave his debut album its name.

In fact when you listen to his similar live recording at Cardiff’s Earl Haig club (but with a different set list) you feel like you are in the presence of a guitar player capable of going in any direction and into any related genre, wherever the moment takes him.

The reason he is so comfortable recording live is down to his sense of adventure, his natural ability and his relentless approach to rocking the house.

He transforms ‘Sweet Little Angel’ into a talking guitar piece admirably anchored by his impressive rhythm section of Steve Peck on bass and Tommy Reed on drums, before he slips into tremolo overdrive on Arthur Smith’s ‘Guitar Boogie’ and tears into the Bo Diddley beat of ‘Who Do You Love’, as he shouts in mock surprise to his band; “that’s good.”

Remarkably the trio frequently find enough space to breath and settle into a transitory but substantive groove as the animated Welshman delivers his unique exclamatory vocals over the kind of hi-energy and magical guitar playing that marks him out a special.

‘Live In The USA’ may be rough at the edges, but it’s intuitively mixed by Paul Riley who captures the spark of a great rock and roll party album with some memorable moments.

Above all it marks James Oliver’s successful American debut, the latest musical pit-stop of a career destined to take him on the up escalator on his own terms. ***½

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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