Mascot Records [Release date 06.12.24]

“The singing river ? Damned if there ain’t soul in the silt itself. Musician folks been heading down this way for years and I’ll wager I’ve seen ‘em all – yes sir, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They come down here to bathe by the banks of the Tennessee River, tryin’ to get some of them RnB vibes in the pores of their skin, take on board some of what those Swampers had way back when. Making hit records – that’s been the name of the game down here long as I can recall.

I’ve been hanging around FAME and that Sound Studio they got down here since I was knee-high to a grasshopper – heard me some of the finest R&B and soul over the years, bring tears to a grown man’s eyes. I mean, I remember hearing Aretha the first time, Jaimoe, Berry and Duane jammin’ in Studio B before they become real big, my man Jimmy Hughes – “the Wicked Pickett” – Percy Sledge….yessir – happy, happenin’ times back then.

Seen some sights over the years too. Watched ‘em bring in old Leon Russell’s piano set-up, seen how ole Otis Redding would cozy up to the ladies after a session, nipping on some moonshine out back with Dan Penn. Even saw them Rolling Stones pile in here one time, looking like the wildest bunch of misfits I ever saw….guess they came good in the end. ‘Course, they were picking up on guys we already knew round here – Jerry Reed, that crazy, snake-shootin’ muther Travis Wammack, Donnie Frits, Eddie Hinton, Bobby Lance – all them local cats.

Talking of which, didn’t I recently hear the darndest thing ? Emanating from the studio one night was sweetness itself, guy was hollering about being In Love although sounded to me like he was in lust more like, song was like disco got heavied up somehow. Well, I thought enough of it to hang around, pass the time, see what these boys was about. And I tell ya, they was about ready for a bath tub. Bunch of young longhairs from the Netherlands come down here to lick the studio walls and suck on that old burlap, searching for that magic they talk about…..the Muscle Shoals sound.

These boys, called ‘emselves The Wolf or somethin’ like that, wasn’t one of ‘em looked like they’d be out of their depth in a petri dish. But it wasn’t only the flare in their pants that took me back to the ‘60s….when the guy started geetar-riffing on Natural Woman, man with that funky bassline underneath and the keys all crazy-ass, I was right back there in 1966, man – like it was yesterday.

By now, I was saying to myself; “Self, now hold on a second here, either the Swampers got reincarnated or there’s a new boss in town sounding a lot like the old boss”. These boys were leaning into this moody soul and roll vibe, had my toes tapping along, “Out On The Town” it was called – they tell me folks back home call this “wolf-music”. Just when I was thinking I knew what these guys were about, didn’t they go and surprise the heck out of me with this little lament by the name of Let’s Stay Together. God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, that pretty ditty’s got “hit record” written all over it.

I guess when they do Ophelia, and mash up the guitar and them keyboards the way they do, that’s exactly what folks love about ‘em in those Netherlands they come from. Seems I first heard that stuff in the early-‘70s when music started getting heavier than a dead preacher. I like how these boys do it though – full-on but with a real tune behind it…..what they call “old school”.

Now these boys are smart, right ? I mean you can hear this ain’t their first rodeo. And despite looking whiter than a shitless sheet, these boys got some old-fashioned ‘tude to go with it. They got this number Truce that their wolf-tribe is gonna love – I mean it’s slap-yo-mama-good. I was sure I counted four of these dudes around the studio but they bring in horns, backing singers on this cut and you’d swear Skynyrd was back in the house with Cocker’s band.

I swear I never seen such fresh-faces with so many road miles on ‘em – I mean this band is tried and tested, primed and ready. And they’re feeling it like all the greats did, right ? I mean it’s a long road out there as they sang in So Hard To Make A Buck but these guys look like they started rocking out in diapers so they’re well on the way to the promised land, y’ask me.

And don’t be relaxing now with these cats, they get you bumping and grinding on Book of Life before they switch halfway through the song into the sweetest coda I’ve heard since Sam Cooke graced these parts. And I had to do a double-take, make sure ole Spooner Oldham hadn’t snuck in the back door ‘cos the Wolves (as I’m gonna call ‘em) got a tune called Winner which sounds as old as dirt and hangs heavy like the bayou air in summertime. Ain’t heard that electric Wurlitzer played that good since Spooner backed Aretha in days gone by.

Heard ‘em paying some respect to that ole Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section we used to have down here on Fools and Horses complete with some slow “yeah-yeahs” and silky guitar and keyboards messin’ with each other. Then they got this thing called Snowbird – think its what the goofballs call pro-gressive, but I call it classic. Must say, I got a kick outta the guy playing Snowbird with his Gibson Firebird. Ya dig it ? I guess they got a psychedelic rep back home so they went for a Coltrane on LSD-type feel…they nailed it too. That’s a Muscle Shoals Symphony, right there.

Felt like Snowbird was the sex of the record and it surely is wild, sultry and builds up-big, but then Ships In The Night is the smoke after. Man, my heart was aching for the guy in that story, one for pulling your gal in real close.

They all come to these parts to get infused by the brown nectar of the great Tennessee River, washed over with reverb from the cotton fields, doused with inspiration and I gotta say these longhairs been a breath of fresh air. Maybe there’s a Dutch Delta over there and these wolf-boys sure been filling their souls from its muddy banks. They’re gonna be shittin’ in tall cotton when they hear this record on playback.” *****

Review by The Ghost of Muscle Shoals

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)