Americana Music Reviews

 

Stephen Bruton
Spirit World
New West - NW6037

by Al Kunz

Stephen Bruton grew up as the son of a Ft. Worth jazz musician and record store owner. Gravitating to a career in music only made sense. But what a career he's had so far. His first big break came thirty years ago when Kris Kristofferson chose him to fill a band vacancy. Since then he's worked as a sideman, session player, and producer for an astounding number of artists with a wide range of styles. A long list (but relatively small sample) would include the bluesy (Bonnie Rait, Storyville, Delbert McClinton), the folky (Bob Dylan, Steve Goodman, Vince Bell), the country (Ray Wylie Hubbard, Hal Ketchum), the rock n roll (Christine McVie), and his old Ft. Worth buddy, Oh Brother impresario T-Bone Burnett. Even Barbara Streisand. In '93 he recorded his first solo release. Since then he's continued working as a producer and player for others and released two more solo records.

On Spirit World, Bruton's fourth release, most of the tunes are bluesy and contain echoes of many of the artists he's worked with over the years. You'll hear not just what Bruton learned working with them, but also what he first brought to their recordings. Well, maybe not Streisand.

I've heard Spirit World described as "music for adults." It isn't bland adult-contemporary music. However, it does approach its subjects from the viewpoint of a mature adult who's had enough experience to put life's trials into perspective. "Yo Yo" opens the disc with the observation that the same life event can be either positive or negative at different times. "Whatever makes you cry / Is going to make you sing / Good news, bad news / Can be the same thing."

You may hear a little of Bonnie Raitt in "Teach Me How to Stay." It combines blues and rock in the same stylistic mix we've come to expect from her. Learning to love and the tribulations of making it last is a topic Raitt frequently tackles in song. Bruton twists this theme to cover it from the male viewpoint. Teresa James contributes beautiful harmony vocals with Sean Hopper (Huey Lewis) on the B-3 organ.

Where did I go wrong
Why am I this way
Love is what I want
It's so hard for me to say
You showed me how to live
That there's another way
I'm asking you to help me
Teach me how to stay

Bruton co-produced Spirit World while handling lead vocal and guitar duties, but recruited an array of other musicians to assist. Yoggie Musgrove played bass and Brannen Temple manned the drum kit. Randy Jacobs, formerly of the Boneshakers and Malford Milligan (ex-Storyville) teamed with Kris McKay to sing background on the chorus of the funky "Longshot, Longshadow." "Just try to get the highest price / If it's your soul you're selling." Others making appearances include Red Young (Kinky Friedman, Dan Hicks), co-producer Mark Goldenberg, Debra Dobkin (Jackson Browne, Karla Bonoff), with the prolific west-coast recording engineer, Greg Ladanyi, working on the mix.

A fan that measured low on the ol' sane-o-meter provided the fodder for "Acre of Snakes." He met her at a house where if the walls "could talk, they'd slur." As she rambled on her voice, eyes, and disconnected thoughts led Bruton to a conclusion.

The more she rambled, the less I knew
I finally had to stop her
I had to ask the question
Is it crowded in here or just you?

Acre of snakes, acre of snakes
Baby, you're as crazy as an acre of snakes
Acre of snakes, acre of snakes
One look in your eyes, I see an acre of snakes

A common thread that runs through the disc is taking stock of life at its midpoint. Bruton reflects on lessons learned and ponders how they can be applied to make the world a better place. The title track suggests that little things can change the world for the better. Whether this is a smile or by approaching life with more childlike innocence and wonder, he says, "the longest journey / begins with just a single stride." Bruton paints life as a dream in "Book of Dreams." In "Just a Dream" this metaphor is expanded, not just looking backward ("Visions from this life of mine / I left some loved ones crying I fear / I closed my eyes and I woke up here / It was just a dream / Just a dream I had") but to also be forward looking, recounting world improvements prompted by one man saying, "I have a dream."

The bells were tolling
You could hear the freedom ring
A vision for all had been seen by a king
It was just a dream he had
A dream for me and you

While Bruton's picture of life is mostly positive, in "Liar Out of You" he recognizes that sometimes the bad things you least expect will happen. "One thing's for certain on which you can bet / This fact of life is strange but true / Life will make a liar out of you." The disc ends with one of life's setbacks, but looking to the future in the bittersweet sounding, though ultimately positive, "The Best is Yet to Come."

Seems like I'm starting over
The same old race I've always run
But this time feels so different
It's like I've just begun
I've always held the answer
For the man that I'd become
Now I believe the best is yet to come

Fans of Delbert McClinton and Bonnie Raitt are likely to find that Spirit World conforms to their tastes. It is a disc that we middle-aged gray-hairs can relate to, but at the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, you youngsters could learn a thing or two from it too.

*Visit www.stephenbruton.com if you want additional information. You might also try www.newwestrecords.com where you'll find still more.

Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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