James Hunter

01.08.2007 -- Review by: Shaun Harvey

First up, we look back at an album that was released in February of 2006 from a quartet called Marley�s Ghost and their eighth album Spooked (Sage Arts Records). To try and come up with a fitting description for the sounds contained within the record�s thirteen tracks is a difficult task. Let�s just say it�s an adventurous journey through the landscape of American music. From gospel to country and sea shanties to Bob Dylan, Marley�s Ghost does their very best to touch all the bases. I like to think of it as a happy marriage of styles that falls somewhere between the Bad Livers and the Dry Branch Fire Squad. The foursome consisting of Ed Littlefield, Jr. on fiddle, Mike Phelan on guitar, Dan Wheetman on banjo, and Jon Wilcox on bouzouki and mandolin, not only shine with their musical talents but their vocal abilities are top notch as well. (I just happened to notice that the band publishes its music under the name Haunting Melodies Music�that adequately sums up it up).

The real gems of Spooked are found in its first eight cuts as Marley�s Ghost comes up with fresh takes on gospel (�Palms of Victory�), old-time (�Sail Away Ladies�), Dylan (�Wicked Messenger�), and country (a cover of Paul Kennerly�s �High Walls�). Whatever your musical tastes there really is something for everyone including a little humor, as evident in the re-working of the gospel number �Old Time Religion�. I can�t be sure on this but I don�t think they ever sang this version in one of those quaint, little hillside churches on Sunday morning: �Let us worship Aphrodite / She�s naughty and she�s flighty / And she doesn�t wear a nightie / And that�s good enough for me�. Can I get an Amen?

Spooked may have slipped under the radar in 2006 but it really is worth checking out. Marley�s Ghost has assembled a collection of well-crafted, charming, and offbeat songs that may end up haunting your CD player time and time again. (And as an added visual bonus the album�s cover art was supplied by the cult cartoonist R. Crumb, who most famously supplied the album art for Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company�s 1968 release Cheap Thrills. It adds just another layer of spooky cool.)

For our second album let�s rewind back to the first week of March where we find what may be one of my favorite albums of the year, the retro-soul of James Hunter�s People Gonna Talk (GO/Rounder). I didn�t include this record on my End of the Year list for best in Americana because I didn�t really feel like it should be considered an Americana album but after hearing the Boss go �folkie� and the �King of Soul� Solomon Burke go country, I felt I couldn�t end 2006 without giving People Gonna Talk its proper due.

People Gonna Talk is a sexy record. It�s classy and cool and sounds like it was released from a vault that was sealed some forty or fifty years ago. James Hunter has captured the jazzy, soulful, rhythm and blues that is reminiscent of a young Ray Charles or Booker T. and the MG�s, and wraps it all around a voice that at times sounds as smooth and rich as that of the great Sam Cooke. Artists just don�t make records like this anymore and those that do rarely achieve the heights captured by Hunter on this, his third full length album.

Backed by a band that includes Damian Hand and Lee Badau on tenor and baritone sax respectively, Jason Wilson on bass, and Jonathan Lee on percussion, Hunter presents fourteen original songs that are so well written and so tightly performed that even the most discernable listener might guess they were recorded in the years just after 1955 and not in 2005 as is the case.

On songs like �No Smoke Without Fire� and �Kick It Around� Hunter gets a chance to show off his considerable guitar skills while in both cases the saxophones and pounding rhythm section send out the call for hips everywhere to get in there shake and swing. You can almost hear a little bit of the late James Brown coming through the speakers as Hunter and his band roll through these funky, upbeat numbers. On the other end of the spectrum, when Hunter decides to slow things down the results are equally rewarding as his soulful vocals take center stage on cuts like �Molena� and �All Through Cryin�.

As a whole, People Gonna Talk succeeds on every level. Musically, vocally, stylistically�.it all works to perfection. James Hunter has masterfully created a record that is both a party starter and a jaw dropper. People are gonna talk indeed�and when it comes down to talking about one of the best albums of 2006�I�ll be talking about James Hunter.

I can�t wait to hear what 2007 has in store!