Perhaps when Jack White has lived a bit more, he might dig deeper into his blues roots, he might learn the “why” of what he does, and perhaps then he’ll finally begin channeling his experience into something that’s relevant and telling, something that resonates longer than it takes to scroll to the next download. Perhaps his voice will darken. Perhaps then he’ll sound like Big Shanty.
Big Shanty’s 2007 disc Ride With The Wind seemingly fell out of the blues blue, gaining street cred when Real Blues magazine named the release its “#1 Blues Album of the Year.” Not bad for a veteran record-promoter-turned-label-chief-turned-guitarist. Big Shanty began his storied career as Dick Wooley, a music promotions guy, helping to establish southern rock with Atlantic and Capricorn by touting Molly Hatchet, Wet Willie and the Allman Brothers, among others. Now a condo builder on Tybee Island, Georgia, he runs his own King Mojo Records, specializing in updating the blues for modern audiences.
Sold Out… isn’t nearly as overtly beat-infected as Ride with the Wind, some of which came off as distracting. The new disc is all old-school blues attitude, with vocals sung through a mike filter that turns every line into a snarl, and with a guitar neck greased up from the get-go. The guitar lines grind against bass and drum, like the teeth of rusty gears in some ornery machine. It’s new, but it’s old, too.
There’s primal power in “Big Shanty, From L.A. To Hollywood”, “Love Train”, and “Kiss The Eight Ball”, as Big Shanty establishes his no-holds-barred techniques. “Stop Pushing Me” changes things up, with Rick Phillips’ Hammond B3 providing a lifeline in the swells of Chris Blackwell’s furious guitar solos. Labelmate Liz Melendez takes the solo on the disc closer, “Uncle Sam Go To Rehab”, an audacious declaration of independence. This is the disc to put on at one in the morning, the one that chases away the lightweights so you can find out who you wanted to hang with after all.
