Famed Grammy award winning producer, guitarist, mandolinist and vocalist for Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, Hot Tuna, Mavis Staples and Paul Simon, Larry Campbell is a man of numerous skills and an exceptionally good one at that.
Come from the shadows could be a term some people may be tempted to use, but this would be untrue due to the fact Campbell and Williams weren’t tucked back behind those noted above, but more often than not up front playing crucial roles.
Campbell says of his time with Helm being the most pure musical experience he’s ever had, ‘it gave me the template for how to make music for the rest of my life; no egos, no agenda, no pretty stuff. I got inspired to write more songs for Teresa and me to sing.
Placing the record on my player I didn’t have any idea what road their music was going to take, and was to a degree taken by surprise. While I feel occasionally there is a need for them to follow the adage of less can mean more Larry Campbell is a master on getting beneath the veneer in creating something lasting, and that is what this record is. Something you will inevitable turn to in days down the line, and be amazed at the things you discover; and wonder how it took so long to register.
Loaded in energy, the music of Campbell and Williams is finely primed fare, and with vocalist Williams a huge influence on the direct and feel of their work the envelope is prised, emotions twisted as new lines were crafted into the fabric of Americana. To go with eight songs either written by Campbell or co-writes (with Julie Miller, Louie Ortega) you have scintillating covers of The Louvin Brothers favourite “You’re Running Wild” (Donny Winters, Ray Edenton), on which you have Levon Helm captured one of the last times on drums. Plus they do an inspired version of gospel perennial “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning”, and with only Larry’s guitar and voice of Amy Helm accompany them Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s “Attics Of My Life” gives the record something different again as they round off what will be the first of many albums in accomplished fashion.
“Everybody Love You” is a beautiful mixture of ragtime jazz sounds like it came from the 1930s-1940s; so natural the sound, vocal performance and playing. If not the best song on the album it qualifies for the short-list, and with Williams showing great style as she leads off (as Campbell plays guitar, mandolin, fiddle and organ) and beautifully so on tender, heart wrenching love ballad “Did You Ever Love Me At All”. Campbell meanwhile slots in admirably on giving support. Ever prising the envelope their next song is the fiery “Ain’t Nobody For Me”, and bustling affair it crashes through doors without knocking first, certainly more robust than “Midnight Highway”, for here is one of the most tender, soulful ballads you are ever likely to come across as the couple duet in old-time fashion. Such is the arrangement featuring Campbell’s tasteful work on mandolin and their vocals harmonies is could be from way back as hints of the sound of the rolling prairie and music of the great Stephen Foster comes to mind. Other players on the record include Byron Isaacs (bass), Justin Guip (drums) and Bill Payne (piano).
Maurice Hope