Severin Browne - "LUCKY MAN - A Songwriter's Notebook" - CD Review

At the end of every calendar year, there is always a rush by artists to get their new CDs released in time for holiday gift-giving and, this year, among my most-anticipated releases was the new Severin Browne CD, which we had purchased as a pre-order. With it now in hand and having listened to it numerous times, I notice a very apparent error!  No, the songs are all great and there are no bad notes here; my problem is with the title. While "Lucky Man" is a VERY appropriate title, being the name of the killer opening track, my beef is with the subtitle, "A Songwriter's Notebook". To me the concept of a "notebook" gives connotations of unfinishedness, a work-in-progress glimpse at the artist at work, and that certainly is not a very good description of this CD. With the well-honed perfection of these songs and the wide array of styles  and feelings they incorporate, "A Songwriter's TEXTBOOK" would have been a MUCH more apt description!!!

So, now that my ridiculously cute opening paragraph has hopefully grabbed your attention, let me tell you a bit about this wonderful collection of songs by one of the best songwriters around. For those unfamiliar with Severin and his work, he has spent the better part of four decades as a professional songwriter and was a staff writer for Motown  many years ago. The discipline he learned back in those days has given him  a real depth of musical experience to draw from in creating and arranging this remarkable bunch of tunes. The first thing that will grab you about these songs are the amazing variety of styles and feels these songs encompass. From tender ballads to uptempo rockers, from cosmic folk tunes to bouncy calypso, from Cajun raveup to bluesy soul vamps, Severin is able to find just the right voice to tell the story at hand in the most effective manner.  What always strikes me about his music, whether enjoyed live in concert or recorded on CD, is how the performances are always about the SONG, not the singer or the instrumentals. Severin's singing can be deceptive in its strength. He will never wow you with vocal fireworks, like hitting big huge notes or soaring to incredible high notes or the like. Instead the "everyman" warmth in his voice helps lend these songs a universality that would be less effective delivered in a bigger voice. But please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I have NEVER heard the man sing a bad note in countless performances both live and recorded over many years. He has a GREAT voice that I know is capable of much more than we ever hear, but he uses restraint to serve the purpose of the tune with no distractions. Similarly, while Sev is one of the best guitarists you'll ever hear, he is content to let his incredible side musicians play the solos and provide the background coloration, while he concentrates on the message in the song.

Now that we have established that Sev is all about the songs, lets examine these great tunes a bit. I could write on and on about each and every song here, but I know I tend to get too wordy when I'm this enthused about music. I will only describe a few of my personal favorites so I won't bore any of you, but each and every song on this CD is praise-worthy in its own way and deserves your careful attention. The CD starts with the title song, "Lucky Man", a jazzy musical morality play which features Gary Popenoe's plaintive harmonica work underscoring the twists of the ironic story of the lyrics. Its a perfect opening tune to draw the audience into Severin's view of the world. The song "Calypso Rose" lets us know that we will travel the world appreciating his songs, a full-blown Calypso rocker complete with steel drums and infectious rhythms that make you want to get up and do the limbo all by yourself!!!  Some songs are more about FUN than anything else, which makes a terrific release from the "seriousness" of some of the other tunes.

"To The Light" is a song Severin penned along with Freebo, James Lee Stanley and David Roth. We have also heard Freebo and James perform this tune both live and on record, but I think Severin's version is the best of all! His breezy delivery of this "cosmic"  new-age sounding song keeps the message grounded in every-day realities, steering the song from over-blown philosophy into the realm of a much more personal universe, without sacrificing the "cosmic" feel. This a superbly crafted song that features a chord progression that is at once unusual and totally logical, which again, perfectly underscores the lyrical content.

One of the most personal songs on the CD, "I Am Not Cactus", takes a metaphor and runs free with it, comparing the walls with which we protect ourselves emotionally to the protection that the spines give a cactus. The simple melody and chord progression, the spare production and Severin's warm vocal delivery are one of the most starkly beautiful expressions of vulnerability you will ever hear!

Do you know what is the most recognizable song in the English language? "Happy Birthday To You" has generated a huge amount of royalties over the years and is maybe the song most firmly entrenched in our Western culture. So who would be able to replace this song for us?  Sometimes the most simple, straight-forward sentiments are the hardest to express. No worries, Severin Browne is on the job and more than up to the task! "Britta's Birthday Song" is a brave attempt to come up with an a grown up song to celebrate our personal milestones in song and it succeeds on every level:

"The longer it steeps, the better the tea, the more time that the sauce can slowly simmer naturally, Today we celebrate another year, Happy birthday!"

Wow! This is simply ASTOUNDING songwriting! I hope that this eloquent expression of the upside of aging and the celebration of the lives of our loved ones will replace the old standard at future parties in my circle of family and friends!

The next highlight is a stop at the back alleys of New Orleans for a Cajun rocker, "Cat Woman", with its tales of love and fast food and felines, this song has been a crowd-pleasing staple  of Sev's live act for years. Its another tune that is just a lot of fun, from a serious songwriter who never takes himself all that seriously. On songs like this or "Calypso Rose" you can hear Sev's years of experience as a bandleader and these songs have a "live" feel and immediacy to their groove that only hundreds of live gigs can impart to a tune. I need to stop and mention the great musicians and background vocalists that Severin has assembled to add some serious polish to some already gleaming songs. There are too many different players here for me to mention them all, but the list of names resembles a Who's-Who in SoCal music circles and includes some players that are particularly favorite to me. In a business climate that lends itself to down-sizing and do-it-yourself technologies, it is a singularly refreshing and wise decision that Severin made in bringing in all these pros and it has a wonderful effect on every moment on this CD.

The next song on the CD, "Dear Ruthie", could very well be my favorite Severin Browne song and maybe just one of my favorite songs by anyone! Another seemingly simple tune that is utterly perfect in its construction and starkly beautiful in its execution, and whose emotional  "pay-off" at the end avoids over-the-top sentimentality mainly by virtue of Severin's perfect vocal delivery and the inevitabilities built into the structure of the song. The same tune written by less of a craftsman would never work, but this gem never fails to bring a tear to this jaded, cynical reviewer's eye! I am being purposely vague on the "story" of this song, since it is best experienced for the first time without knowing where the story is headed. I remember Sev saying once in a live show that that night was the first time in years that he had performed it, and it still blows me away that a songwriter could discard a tune of this magnitude! In a review of that live show, I wrote that, to me, that was "like Michelangelo leaving the Sistine Chapel out of his portfolio"!

Well, hitting just these seven "highlights" has left me neglecting some really great songs, because this CD has no filler at all. The remaining six songs, stated as succinctly as I can, include the nostalgic drinking song "Enough For Us", the blue-eyed soul of "Is It Really True" seems to hearken back to Sev's Motown days, "Don't Give Up On Me Virginia" with its bluesy boozy vibe, "The Other Man" a beautifully dark, minor key ballad with its wonderful "pirate" metaphors, "When It's Right It's Right", another gorgeous simple melody with wonderfully optimistic lyrics and finally "Lessons" a heart-felt finale of a tune with its child-like questioning and questing.

So there you have it, thirteen exquisitely crafted tunes that embrace  an amazing breadth of styles and feels and are recorded with all the love and care they deserve by some of the greatest musicians around! Like I said originally, a veritable "Songwriter's Textbook"  delivered by the old master himself, Severin Browne!  There is a lot to be learned here, please get yourself a "textbook" and see what lessons YOU can learn!

Here is a link to Severin Browne's website where you can learn more and purchase the CD directly from the artist!

http://www.severinbrowne.com/

And here is a link to a video I shot of Severin accompanied by Ed Tree  doing "Lucky Man" at Russ and Julie's House Concerts on 11/11/11


http://youtu.be/N_QnB0TEbZw

The Koles and John Batdorf In Concert at the Simi Vallety Cultural Arts Center Saturday, February 18, 2012

So, normally this blog is about reviewing shows after they happen or CDs after they are released, maybe a music festival overview, that sort of thing. But sometimes events and circumstances are more important than formats! Besides, my readers are few enough that there will hardly be a public outcry that I'm  stepping over lines, and I write what I want here anyways. So today I am taking the time to help promote a show, (and hopefully a whole concert series!) that is VERY dear to my heart. On February 18th, 2012 at 7:00 pm there will be a concert at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center featuring The Koles with special guest, John Batdorf.

With all the great music we are blessed with the opportunity to see in person here in SoCal, its hard to single out individual shows as extra-special. But the combination of a super-strong co-billing and some special considerations has prompted me to support this show with all the gusto I can muster and with whatever meager influence I might be able to generate.

If you have read the reviews I have posted on this blog, you will notice that the name John Batdorf shows up more than any other name. I have been a fan of John's since the Batdorf and Rodney days in the early 70's, when they were thought of in same light as the earliest releases of folks like The Eagles, America and Jackson Browne. To give you an idea, yesterday an old friend back on the east coast, who I recently became Facebook friends with, saw a post I put up on Facebook about John Batdorf. Her comment was    "as in Batdorf and Rodney? I loved those guys. May be worth a trip to the west coast!" After 4 decades without hearing any of John's new music, she is ready to fly cross country for a chance to hear him now!!!!  I would find that astounding if I didn't relate to it so much!  For me, finding John out here in California and becoming acquainted with his new music has reignited my passions for live music and spurred me to become more involved the SoCal music scene.  Talking about music being "life-changing" may sound a bit over the top to some, but John's music is THAT good. And he is only one half of this co-billing!

Knowing how much I esteem John Batdorf as a musician, you might imagine how I felt a couple of years ago when he told me about this new act he had heard, a singer/songwriter named Arlene Kole who performed with her husband and daughter. He told me that their CD was the BEST new album he had heard in years and that it not only had some great songs but it also just SOUNDED great! Well, if you have heard me describe John's talents as a masterful producer, arranger and engineer of his own albums in addition to his singing,songwriting and guitar-playing, you would understand what this endorsement meant to me! And when I jumped at my earliest opportunity to go see The Koles live and buy their CD, I totally understood John's enthusiasm!

Unfortunately, due mainly to my neglect at times of this blog, I have yet to review The Koles in concert, so I'd like to give you taste of what the experience of seeing them live is like. The first thing that will strike you are the voices!! All five members of the band have amazing voices and four of them take turns at singing lead, though the bulk of the repertoire is fronted by either Arlene or her daughter Skyeler. Their harmonies are amazingly beautiful adornment to some really transcendent soaring lead vocals. Then you will notice the virtuosity on their instruments, not to mention that they swap around instruments on almost every song (they each play more than one instrument with lots of skill). This ability to swap instruments makes an infinite variety of musical coloration possible, providing each song with just the right sound to make it fully effective. The key to the sound of The Koles is husband and father Bill Kole, another wizard of the recording studio and a guy who I swear has never met a musical instrument he couldn't master. In the course of an evening with The Koles, you will hear Bill play guitar, bass, keyboards, mandolin, banjo, drums and Lord knows what else, and he plays all these expertly and with taste. With the recent addition of young virtuoso Wyatt Stone, a child prodigy we heard years ago playing with Rickie Lee Jones and now grown up, the band has even more instrumental variation. Wyatt is a KILLER on guitars, fiddle and keyboards, pedal steel and any other instrument he lays his hands on and he is contributing some surprisingly mature songwriting. And with the always tasteful "Uncle" Jim Rolfe playing spot-on-perfect guitar flavors, as well as taking turns at bass or mandolin, the depth of varied musical sound this band is capable of is virtually limitless. Then, most importantly, there are the songs! With at least four incredibly talented songwriters in the group, the songs also vary greatly stylistically, from angelic ballads to stinging blues wails, from bluegrass rave-ups to indie rockers with stops at all points in between! And I must particularly note how much I love the songs penned by daughter Skyeler Kole, her songs have a unique quirky indie feel that make me think this is where the band might really take off with commercial success!  This "share the spotlight" ethic is a key ingredient in experiencing The Koles live and also, from what I'm told, on the new CD!

Hopefully my words have at least begun to convey how excited I am at the prospect of seeing two of my most favorite acts appearing together and hopefully, maybe, I have transferred a little bit of that excitement to you. But there is another important reason this show is so important to me and again, maybe I can convince you of its importance to YOU.  Arlene Kole is promoting this show herself, in the beautful, intimate and comfortable confines of the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. For us, this is quite a different setting than we are used to frequenting to hear live indie acoustic music! Usually these sorts of shows happen in someone's living room as a houseconcert or in the basement of church on folding chairs, or out in a field at a festival, or, even worse, in a noisy nightclub where most of the folks ignore the music as they get obnoxiously inebriated. It is quite rare to get to hear this music in a real theatre setting, with comfortable seats, great sightlines, pro sound and lights and a real stage!!! Arlene is trying to show the powers that be in Simi Valley that this music will draw people and she hopes to promote lots more shows of this nature with other indie talent. If this show does well, it can lead to all sorts of other shows in this great venue or others like it!!! So I have given Arlene my FULL support on this, as I think it to be of MAJOR importance to the SoCal music scene. I am BEGGING all my friends, acquaintances and readers to buy tickets NOW and support this show!!  I would also encourage any performers who are without gigs that evening to buy tickets and show up also, you folks have a vested interest in this show's success!!!!

I sincerely hope to see you all there that night!!!!!!!

Here is a link to John Batdorf's website

http://www.johnbatdorfmusic.com/index.html

and to The Koles' website

http://www.arlenekole.com/home.html

and to the event Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/events/312116545499771/

and for the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center to buy tickets and get directions

http://www.simi-arts.org/

"One Last Wish" by John Batdorf

"The new phone books are here!". I have always remembered this innocent expression of exuberance by Steve Martin's character in "The Jerk" and that's exactly my feeling with the arrival of the latest CD by John Batdorf, "One Last Wish". It reminds me of my youth, being maybe 12 or so, and oh so anxiously awaiting the latest release by The Beatles or the The Stones. The anticipation was heightened by my unshakable conviction that, not only would these albums not possibly disappoint, but that they'd be different than anything I've heard before and somehow IMPORTANT. That importance, seemingly laughable to my folks at the time, has certainly been proven with time and what once seemed like an oxymoron, "important pop music", is now a very meaningful expression. "One Last Wish" is John Batdorf's latest offering of important pop music!!

Okay, now I know at least a few of you are thinking, "Come on, Peter, I know you're enthusiastic about music, and this Batdorf guy's name is vaguely familiar, but to mention this guy in the same breath as The Beatles????" A logical response and I'm the first to admit there will NEVER again be acts like those legends, mainly due to changes in the times and in the music business. That being said, I have been a fan of John's since his days in Batdorf and Rodney, fully four decades ago, and he has been writing and recording "important pop music" ever since, with a decade or so break when he was employed writing and scoring some very successful TV series. A great deal of his work has already stood up to the test of time and, in my view, his work just keeps getting better.

But my purpose here is not a testimonial, but instead a brief overview of a wonderful new CD. It is late enough in the year to state definitively, "One Last Wish" by John Batdorf is the "Album of the Year" in independent music for 2011, a year that has seen some great new releases! It's a collection of twelve meticulously crafted songs that run the gamut of happy and sad, uptempo and reflective and all points in between. Many of the songs in some manner cover some new ground for John, in ways I will attempt to describe. But if John, along with his long-time co writer Michael McLean, had one stand-out feature to his writing (he actually has many!) it would be his remarkable ear for melody and his extraordinary gift for devising melodies that are at once totally unique, but with a feeling of timeless familiarity. All of these songs are testament to that melodic talent. As for stylistic departures, I have come to believe these are due to a couple of changes in the way John wrote many of these tunes, as opposed to his previous work. Some of the differences could come from a forced hiatus from performing due to vocal issues (since rectified, I'm glad to say!) that let John write many of these songs in a more condensed time frame than usual. Its difficult to assess how that effected these songs, but the other difference in how many of these songs were written I think is more telling. Last year John got a new Martin Baritone acoustic guitar (I want one!) which is pitched substantially lower than a standard guitar. Many of these songs were first conceived and written on that instrument, and I'm certain that it has brought out new melodies and harmonies, just as a function of how the notes are laid out on that new instrument.

"One Last Wish" as a whole, is John's most consistent album start to finish. While there have been no "bad" or "throwaway" songs on John's previous CDs, there have always been a song or two or three per album that have stood out greatly as the cream of the album. After listening to this group of songs dozens of times, my favorites change day to day. Every song stands out in some way, there is absolutely no "filler" material there. And as considerable as John's talents are as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist, one of his greatest skills has become his mastery of the recording process. The production on this CD is note perfect, down to the last handclap and tambourine shake. With the revolution in digital recording, EVERYONE records themselves and self-produces these days, but almost none of them will sound as good as this. Trust me, I have personally spent a ton of money on guitars, only to ultimately learn it's not the tool, it's the hands of the artist using it that creates great art. John has also hired some of the best professional musicians and vocalists around to help him on the CD, cutting no corners on the road to artistic triumph.

I could go on and on in detail about each song on the album, but I realize that becomes "look how smart I am" and I'd rather not go there. But I can't resist at least brief reflection on each song.

"Don't Give Up On Dreams" is in many ways a quintessential John Batdorf song, full of contradictions musically and lyrically, but ultimately totally logical in both regards. This a perfect example of music and lyrics working in tandem and reinforcing each other, a seemingly simple tune that reveals more and more depth the more it is examined, a finely crafted device that does its job with beauty and grace.

"Real Life" follows in a long tradition of pop music and film being tied together. The lyrics are a poignant reminder that reality rarely gives us the "happy endings" that films seem to promise us,

"I can't control in real life the way the story goes, Cause in real life sometimes the girl says no"

A wonderful lyric in one of the best AND most hooky choruses John has ever written, this sounds ready for a mainstream radio breakthrough!

"Mama's Comin' Home Tonight" is somewhat of a change for John, an uptempo bluegrass-gospel rave-up that makes you want to stomp your feet and features great background vocals by Dan Navarro, a singer/songwriter legend here in SoCal.

"Heaven Help Me" this time a major departure, a full-blown gospel hymn that almost has you waiting for the choir, but background vocals again by Dan Navarro along with Bill Batstone, fill the bill nicely! This one I know we owe to that new baritone guitar that it was written on. It is the first John Batdorf song I have heard that sounded like it might have been written by someone else, and to me, its an adventurous step that only adds to John's songwriting chops.

"Life Is Good" Wow, I could go on and on about this one, a small musical miracle of a tune! Funny thing is, on first listening I thought "nice little song, but incessantly cheery and sing-songy, I will tire of it quickly!" I couldn't have been more wrong! The melody went around my head for days after one listening! This is one of those songs that sounds like you've heard it a thousand times and also sounds different from anything you've EVER heard and if I could figure out how John did that, well I wouldn't be here talking, I'd be out writing my own miraculous songs. Wonderfully playful lyrics delivered with some really clever rhyme schemes just make this song Fun with a capital F. And how great is a "serious" songwriter who doesn't take himself TOO seriously?? Somebody in the TV world should scoop up this song as a perfect theme song for a sit-com! I have drunk the kool-aid and I will NEVER tire of this song because, you know what? Life IS good!

"I Feel Loved" This one is pure John Batdorf! A hauntingly beautiful love ballad with angelic background vocals by Arlene and Bill Kole, this is another one ready for some mainstream airplay.

"Can You Hear Me" Another stunner that's a real different song for John, this is nothing if not a power ballad that could have been written by the aforementioned Dan Navarro, who has penned several major hits for others. This sounds to me like a potential Top 40 type hit!

"Forgotten" Every album needs a change-of-pace song and the quiet, reflective and spare arrangement of this little,wistful, tender teardrop of a song fills the bill in lovely fashion.

"If You Could See Me Now" Many of John's songs are stories, written in character. I don't know for sure, but this one sure feels like John singing from his heart, a personal inquiry into what one's life has meant and how it would be viewed by those who meant the most to us. If I'm wrong then he sure sells the idea with his heart-felt vocal melodies.

"You Just Left Me" A song that could only come from John Batdorf and his songwriting partner Michael McLean. It has all the earmarks, the rhythmic acoustic guitar underpinning implying the melody of John's soaring vocals, and an ironic lyrical twist at the end. On a lesser album, this would be the highlight song, here its just another killer tune.

"One Last Wish" There's a reason this is the CDs title track, for sure, but again its a very different sound for John. This one has to be the most straight-forward rock song John has ever made, with a driving ride-out ending. Its also one in a long line of "home" songs that John has written, that theme not surprising from a guy who left his midwest roots for fame and fortune in the music biz in California as a teenager. This is another song that could play on mainstream radio. It also has the feel of closing off the album, that "taking it home" feeling only making the next astounding song stick out even more.

"Revolution" Okay, I dare to say it! This is an "Important" song. It was written as a response to the Arab Spring uprising and has achieved new resonance with the Occupy movement around the world. But this is no call to arms, much to the contrary, it's a prayer for peaceful change.

Revolution by John Batdorf/Michael McLean

Heard the news ...yesterday... Revolution is on it's way
There's a nation that's stirred..... millions of voices are finally heard
Will it go where it's meant to go?
Will it be what it's meant to be?
Will that great uprisin' on the far horizon
Do it peacefully? All the world will see

Let it rain, let it shine......do those voices echo mine
Where they stand... is where they'll fall
And they are willing to risk it all
May they change what they need to change
May they say what they have to say
At that great uprisin' on the far horizon
Going on today... May the world pray
May they find their way
To that brave new day

What an inspired masterpiece of songwriting and recording this song is, serene yet passionate, drifting yet insistent, spare yet detailed. This is a song like John Batdorf himself, a timeless classic that will be around inspiring people for a very long time! There is a wonderful video for this song, put together by a talented videographer named Ron Sarfaty, and I will include a link to it below, please watch it and listen to this amazing song, because the words elude me to describe it adequately!

I often get excited about new music and I'm known to go on and on about just about anything, but with this new John Batdorf CD "One Last Wish", its a whole different case. This incredible collection of humble pop songs has fully risen to and even exceeded my admittedly high expectations, has made me fondly remember my younger days and has me upbeat and optimistic about the future! That's a lot to get from a dozen songs, a sure sign of Important music and a sure sign that, as John sings in "Life Is Good", "Today life got a little better"!

Here's a link to John Batdorf's website:

http://johnbatdorfmusic.com/index.html

and a link to the "Revolution" video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFQKE370XPI&feature=share