UCC - Music reviews: Jeff Bridges, John Hiatt and Tedeschi Trucks Band

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Music reviews: Jeff Bridges, John Hiatt and Tedeschi Trucks Band

> Written by Brian Q. Newcomb
> September 2, 2011

> Jeff Bridges (Blue Note/EMI)

Let?s be clear right from the beginning, it?s
going to be impossible to discuss Jeff Bridges
the singer-songwriter apart from Jeff Bridges the
movie star. In fact, it?s doubtful we?d be
listening to this debut album from Bridges at all
if it weren?t for his Best Actor Oscar
Winning-performance as country songwriting legend
and drunk, Bad Blake, in the film ?Crazy Heart.?
As Blake, Bridges sang the songs of the road
weary and alcoholic music business has-been with
gusto and energy and excelled on fine tunes like
?Fallin? & Flyin?? and ?The Weary Kind.?

As for Bridges? movies, of course I?m a fan.
Early on he appeared in ?The Last Picture Show,?
a Best Picture nominated film for which he was
nominated as Best Supporting Actor. He appeared
in ?Tron,? ?Starman,? played the bad guy in ?Iron
Man? and recently reprised his role in ?Tron:
Legacy.? He even took on the John Wayne ?Rooster
Cogburn? role in the remake of ?True Grit,? and
managed to hold his own. But, no doubt he?s best
loved for his portrayal of the archetypal ?Dude?
in ?The Big Lebowski,? a cult film that has surpassed the tests of time.

But for my money, some of Bridges best work is in
strange little obscure films like  ?The Fabulous
Baker Boys,? where he?s a musician performing
with his real brother Beau Bridges, ?The Fisher
King,? where he trades roles and forgiveness with
Robin Williams as either the King or The Fool,
and ?The Amateurs? a surprisingly delightful and
(even more surprisingly) grace-filled film where
his character convinces a bunch of small town
buddies that they can solve their problems by
making some home-grown pornography. I still use a
scene from that last one in a sermon about
acceptance and friendship, when the Ted Danson
character comes out as gay to his friends.

As an actor, Bridges seems intuitively drawn to
films and characters with heart and soul,
every-persons who appear to be stuck in the midst
of life?s confusion, often just treading water
but who somehow manage to rise to the occasion in
the nick of time, usually with the help of friends.

But here we are, not reviewing the films of Jeff
Bridges, or even the music of Bad Blake. On ?Jeff
Bridges,? the actor joins the recording artist
ranks of Bruce Willis, Kevin Bacon, Jeff Daniels,
William Shatner, Billy Bob Thornton, and Russell
Crowe of actors turned singers. Even John Belushi
wanted to give up comedy to be a singer on the
road in The Blues Brothers, and as a singer he was mostly funny.

Of course, while most of these are hopelessly
self-serving ego projects (Did anybody buy a
concert ticket to hear Bruce Willis sing and play
the harmonica, or did they just like the idea of
being in the front row for the ?Die Hard? guy?)
Occasionally you get a Zooey Deschanel, who
besides her reputable film career (?Elf,? ?Yes
Man? and ?(500) Days of Summer?) has made a
couple of solid albums with M. Ward as the band
?She & Him.? Then there are people like Barbara
Streisand, Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez,
who made their name in music but turned out to be
fairly respectable on the big screen. But, we?ll
agree to leave John Travolta and Britney Spears
out of this one. As for, Bridges? music career,
he recorded an album back in 2000 called ?Be Here
Soon,? which at the very least suggests he?s been
wanting to do this­become a singer/recording artist­for a while.

This new disc opens strong with a fun, uptempo
country song, ?What a Little Bit of Love Can Do,?
befitting an artist following in the footsteps of
a, well, Bad Blake. Bridges worked with ace
producer (and one of the most prolific) T Bone
Burnett, who worked on ?Crazy Heart? and who?s
history with Bridges goes back all the way to
?The Big Lebowski,? where he was the Coen
Brothers? music guide. Together they turned to
songwriters who?d contributed to Bad Blake?s
repertoire for ?Crazy Heart.? Songs by Stephen
Bruton, John Goodwin, Greg Brown show up here
again, and Bridges himself writes three songs.

And that may be one of the issues here. Instead
of making a lighthearted follow-up to his musical
performances in ?Crazy Heart,? ?Jeff Bridges?
feels over-thought, almost too serious,
comparatively. The disc seems to lose energy and
tempo the deeper you go, and the darker, more
ponderous production values do little to belie
that conclusion. By the end, on the long and
aptly titled ?Slow Boat? (even Rosanne Cash on
harmony can?t lift this heavy freight) and the
two more slow songs that bring the disc to a
conclusion, you can?t help but wish they?d
decided to throw in a few ?hits? by Blake.

There are a few more bright spots though; Greg
Brown?s fun ?Blue Car,? for example. But Bridges
sounds more at home on sad slow songs, like those
by John Goodwin, ?Everything But Love? and ?Maybe
I Missed the Point? and Bruton?s ?Nothing Yet.?
For Bridges? own ?Falling Short,? Burnett has
orchestrated a full band treatment for a very
quiet little folk song, but little here suggest
that there is a clear or potent artistic vision
seeking to express itself, and Bridges? growling
low-range vocals rarely feel like the best choice.

There are often lots of excitement when a movie
star picks up a guitar and starts singing, but
?Jeff Bridges? suggests that Bridges will be
returning to movies before long. And in our
hearts and minds he, along with the Dude, will always abide.

> ?Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns?
> John Hiatt  (New West)

John Hiatt is one of the most highly regarded
songwriters working today, something revealed by
the many artists, including some pretty great
songwriters, who have covered his songs. Bonnie
Raitt?s cover of ?Thing Called Love? may be his
most recognizable hit song, but artists as varied
as B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, Jewel
and Mandy Moore have covered his songs. Even Bob
Dylan and Willie Nelson have recorded a John
Hiatt song, giving him cred as a songwriters? songwriter.

Working in that vast soundscape of Americana,
which can include everything from bluesy rock &
roll to folk and country, ?Dirty Jeans and
Mudslide Hymns? is Hiatt?s 20th album since his
earliest work in the mid-70s, where he was
compared to new wave punks like Elvis Costello
and Graham Parker. Alcohol and drugs almost took
their toll on his career, he came close to losing
it all, but ?87?s ?Bring the Family? proved a reinvention of sorts.

Not only did it contain his version of the Raitt
hit, but one of his best-loved songs ?Have a
Little Faith in Me,? which shows up in movie and
T.V. soundtracks here and there. ?Stood Up?
chronicles his struggle toward sobriety, ?Your
Dad Did? deals with tricky family history in a
humorous fashion, and songs like ?Learning How to
Love You? and ?Thank You Girl? and the album?s
title suggested that Hiatt was now singing about
these important homespun connections.

The string of albums that followed ? ?Slow
Turning,? ?Stolen Moments,? and ?Perfectly Good
Guitar? ? found Hiatt working at the top of his
game with a strong, commercial response at AAA
radio stations among fans of roots music and
Americana. For the last decade, his albums have
maintained a down home bluesy feel, while
expanding his reputation for crafting smart
storytelling songs and compelling performances.
?Crossing Muddy Waters? in 2000 and ?Master of
Disaster? in ?05 are standouts to these ears.

Here on ?Dirty Jeans,? Hiatt continues to tap the
collective unconscious, the joys of connection,
the fears and anxiety that often go hand in hand
in a culture that?s losing its grip on the
American dream. The disc?s title comes from the
lyrics of ?Adios to California,? which taps the
restless desire that keeps some folk moving on,
driven by desire and the hope for something more.
But more often than not he turns to the issues of
loss, most pointedly on a song that marks the
tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the attacks on the
World Trade Center, ?When New York Had Her Heart
Broke.? No one can explain the unexplainable, and
it?s the smart songwriter who admits, ?I was
there that day, and I don?t know what to say.?

Mostly though he leans toward the human dramas of
small-town families and the loss of homestead and
reputation in ?Damn This Town? and ?Train to
Birmingham.? In that last one, Hiatt admits ?It?s
the same old lonesome song I been singing all
night long,? before borrowing a quote from Johnny
Cash, ?Hey Porter, are we out of Tennessee??
Themes recur, but they echo the deep human
longings and the familial connections that can
sustain us. ?I Love That Girl? sounds a lot like
?Thank You Girl? but that?s okay. What goes
around comes around, yet recovery and
resurrection can occur where you?d least expect
to find them. As for NYC, Hiatt writes, ?she will rise. Again.?

> ?Revelator?
> Tedeschi Trucks Band  (Sony Masterworks)

In 2010 Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks were both
nominated for the Grammy Award for Best
Contemporary Blues Album. Tedeschi for her album
?Back to the River,? Trucks for ?Already Free,?
which went on to win the trophy. That Tedeshi and
Trucks have been married since 2000, it seems
that bringing together their creative and musical
lives was inevitable. Plus, now they won?t be competing against each othe r.

Both artists have built independent catalogues of
solid performances. Susan Tedeschi, often
compared favorably to vocalist Bonnie Raitt, was
nominated in 2000 for the Best New Artist Grammy,
while Derek Trucks grew up in the shadow of the
Allman Bros. Band thanks to his drummer uncle
Butch Trucks. It?s no doubt that he got his name
from Duane Allman?s collaboration with Eric
Clapton in Derek & the Dominos. With early honors
and names like these, come high expectations.
It?s almost surprising Trucks ever picked up a
guitar, and amazing that he has developed his own
distinctive and soulful approach to the slide
guitar. Most kids would have turned to sports or drums.

Together, finally, Tedeschi and Trucks have found
a wonderful way to compliment each other?s
strengths, and the evidence is all over
?Revelator.? I hate to overstate the Bonnie Raitt
sound connection, but Tedeschi?s voice and
Trucks? slide playing mingle in their natural
bluesy pop songs, with a bit of jazzy brass and
gospel singing thrown in for texture and depth,
so that the first words out of everyone?s mouth
is something akin to ?wow, she sounds like
Bonnie.? Which, I reiterate, to my mind is a good thing.

These are some great, energetic songs, and

Tedeschi and Trucks are not holding back. You can
check out this live amateur recording of the band
performing ?Bound For Glory? earlier this year
(<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-3yjfYYn9M>http://www.youtube.com/watch 
?v=s-3yjfYYn9M)
to see what I mean. It?s a rich smorgasbord of
traditional sounds ? Hammond organ fills, horn
riffs, gospel background vocals ? under the solid
leads of Tedeschi and Trucks, who know when to
step up and when to support the other.

And while ?Bound for Glory? is bound to be a
breakout track, ?Revelator? is packed with strong
songs and spirited performances. And, the gospel
influences aren?t limited to the band?s sound,
although they don?t play the Son House
traditional blues song the title suggests, ?John the Revelator.?

Backed by bassist Otiel Burbridge (formerly with
the Allman Bros.), who produced his own
testimonial album of Christian gospel songs
called ?Believer? in 2005, Tedeschi and Trucks,
with Mike Mattison (who sang lead with the Derek
Trucks Band and adds background vocals here) and
Gary Louris (Jayhawks) and others have written
songs that use gospel language and nuance to
describe more commonplace human connections.

?Hallelujah? begins the song ?Ball and Chain,?
which celebrates that one is bound to the lover
who is their ?pride and joy,? a crafty turn on
the old adage that committed relationships tie
one down. In ?These Walls,? which includes some
very Ravi Shankar sounding Eastern sounds, the
heroine is a single mother overcoming difficult
obstacles to tend to her family while ?she prays,
oh Lord, don?t let these walls fall down.?
Whether songs like ?Come See About Me? and ?Don?t
Let Me Slide? are intended as expressions of
religious faith or not is difficult to know, but
in this context I cannot hear them any other way.

?Revelator? is a long awaited collaboration
(although they?ve often supported one another?s
solo/band work), and a triumph overall. Working
together doesn?t diminish either Tedeschi or
Trucks talents or skill sets.  Quite the
opposite, in fact, this vibrant disc takes both
their work to the next level, celebrating each
one?s individual gifts in this soulful union of
sounds and talents. When it?s Grammy time next
year, there?s bound to be less competition around the breakfast table.

The Rev. Brian Q. Newcomb is Senior Minister at
<http://www.davidsucc.org/>David's UCC in
Kettering, Ohio, and a long-time music critic
published in Billboard, CCM Magazine, Paste, The
Riverfront Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
among others. Additional content from Brian is
available in his
<http://community.ucc.org/BrianQ/blog>Quincessentials blog at myUCC.