DON MORRELL
After All These Years (Gadfly)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes

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Ex-New York, ex-Nashville, and current Anchorage guy Morrell proves that it's not where you are, it's where you're at that counts. This disk is chock-full of twangy soulful takes that benefit from Morrell's versatile guitar playing and the earnest work of many collaborators, most notably wife Linda. Her pitch-perfect harmony vocals and shared verse offerings lend spark without losing the down home feel that makes this so attractive.

Morrell's voice has been compared to Parker and Springsteen, but I hear more Steve Earle than anything else; that essence of worn leather that ages but doesn't temper the voice. Perhaps "I Have Friends (Who Are Never Coming Back)" displays this best, as both the melodic structure and the subject matter (loss) are right up Steve's alley. But great songs abound here (you'd expect no less from a man who partnered with Otis Blackwell) - "Who Says, Who Cares", "A Small Part", "Start All Over Again" and especially the leadoff track "It Ain't Paradise" are first rate songs that are catchy as hell and deserve wide acclaim.

Stu Schulman plays the jack-of-all-trades, adding guitar, keyboards and slide to spice up the goings on; his slide work on "Learning To Live Without You" sounds like David Lindley and Stevie Ray Vaughan were blended into one pair of hands. Kudos also to Joe Warner's organ on the title track and George Bradfute's organ playing on the bluesy "I Turned My Back". Besides Linda and Kim Richey, other guests include the great Billy Bremner, who co-wrote three of the tracks (and plays on one). Gadfly strikes again - seek this one out! www.gadflyrecords.com

© 2000 - Bill Holmes