| Product Summary | | Label: Mc Records | | UPC: 00607735005227 | | Release Date: 6/1/2004 | | Buy.com Sku: 61004557 | | Item#: MLTM7L | Format:  CD |
|
|
|
|
| Song Listing |  |
|
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Gary "U.S." Bonds (vocals); Southside Johnny (vocals, harmonica); Phoebe Snow (vocals); Dickey Betts, Mark Leimbach, Bruce Springsteen (guitar); Dan Cipriano (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jim Wacker (keyboards); Zerrick Foster (bass instrument); Lance Hyland Stark (drums). | | Back in 20, the title of Gary "U.S." Bonds' sixth studio album of new material in 43 years, is easily explained: 20 years have elapsed since his fifth LP, Standing in the Line of Fire, was released in 1984. Bonds has a habit of turning up in record stores every two decades or so. As a 21-year-old in 1960, he scored the first of six Top 40 hits with "New Orleans," leading to the release of his first two albums, Dance 'Til Quarter to Three and Twist Up Calypso. In 1981, at age 41, he returned under the auspices of Bruce Springsteen, who wrote, produced, and played on his comeback hit "This Little Girl" and participated in his albums Dedication and On the Line. Except for the title track, contributed by Springsteen cohort Miami Steve Van Zandt, Standing in the Line of Fire was largely the product of Bonds (whose real name is Gary Anderson) and his wife Laurie Anderson (not to be confused with the performance artist). In that sense, Back in 20 is a belated follow-up to that album, since it was largely written, produced, and even engineered by the Andersons and performed by Bonds' regular backup band, the Road House Rockers. There are some guest musicians, it is true. Springsteen contributes guitar (reminiscent of his "Darlington County") and background vocals to the lead-off song, "Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks," alongside Southside Johnny, who plays harmonica. Southside also plays harmonica on "Take Me Back," and he duets with Bonds on "Fannie Mae." Dickey Betts plays guitar on "She Just Wants to Dance" and "Bitch/Dumb Ass," the latter a duet between Bonds and Phoebe Snow. But listing all these names gives a false impression. Back in 20 is an album of barroom blues-rock by a band that clearly plays the same kind of music several times a week. Most of the songs were written by some combination of Bonds, Anderson, and guitarist Mark Leimbach, and they are all examples of traditional rock, blues-rock, and R&B styles. The listener may not have heard these particular compositions before, but the styles in which they were written and in which they are performed have been familiar for nearly 50 years. Bonds, in his mid-'60s, has the same gruff, exciting voice he always did, and he stands at the center of the band, playing off the saxophones, guitars, and drums. There are no great classics here to make this a required purchase, but these are songs that no doubt sound fine interspersed with "Quarter to Three" and "This Little Girl" in Bonds' club dates. ~ William Ruhlmann | | Gary U.S. Bonds is the kind of singer who seemingly just can't resist making a comeback every 20 years or so. He first came to fame in the early '60s with the rock & roll hit "Quarter to Three," but fell off the radar until admirer Bruce Springsteen masterminded his 1981 return, DEDICATION. After a couple more releases, Bonds spent another two decades away from the studio before unleashing the wryly titled BACK IN 20. With so much water under the bridge, there was no reason to expect the Southern soul man to recapture his former glory, but against all odds, he does just that. Sure, there are the prerequisite guest appearances (from the Boss, Southside Johnny, Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts, and Phoebe Snow), but this is no desperate, mix-and-match, hit-hopeful duets album. Bonds's buddies stick to second-fiddle status, ceding the spotlight to his soulful, seemingly ageless voice as he gamely charges through a dozen tracks of rollicking juke-joint/bar-band R&B of the sort very rarely played by first-generation practitioners in the 21st century. |
Producer: Gary U.S. Bonds; Laurie Anderson |
Engineer: Glen Robinson |
Musical Guests | | Bruce Springsteen | | Phoebe Snow | | Southside Johnny | | Dickey Betts |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 08/02/2005 | | Original Release Date : 2004 | | Catalog ID : 52 | | Label : M.C. Records | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00607735005227 |
|
| | Professional Reviews | | Down Beat (p.77)
- 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - "This self-produced album has plenty of bluesy crests that storm like whitecaps..."Dirty Linen (p.65)
- "The sound is a hybrid of 70s arena rock, a roadhouse blues band, and early-60s pop pastiche....Bonds' voice remains relatively strong and distinctive." Living Blues (p.63)
- "BACK IN 20 is a solid, thoroughly professional affair with not one throw-away track - a welcome comeback by an extremely talented artist." |
|
| |
|
|
