| BIG SHANTY
Ride With the Wind
CD Review by Pat Benny
The cover of the CD is black. “Big Shanty” is written
in bones. There is a silver chopper, ridden by a grinning man
wearing a top hat and carrying the flag of the Jolly Roger.
Naturally, there is a woman riding on the back.
This ain’t no candy ass music. This is hard driving,
blues influenced Southern Rock and Roll. This CD wasn't made
for sissies.
The songs are credited to a D. Wooley, with some collaboration
on a few. We can assume they belong to Big Shanty. The lyrics
are angry, written by one who is sick and tired of the injustice,
the deception, the greed and corruption of today’s society.
Big Shanty is outraged, and he wants to tell you all about it.
That isn’t to say that there are no love songs on “Ride
With The Wind.” The title track is a good example. This
is a love song, biker style. Big Shanty paints a landscape that
is tattooed on the soul of every true biker worth his salt.
The voice is similar to Lonnie Brooks. There is a throaty texture,
enhanced by a considerable amount of slapback and a touch of
echo to Big Shanty’s vocals. Shanty sings without trepidation;
a voice as hard driven and purposeful as the heavy drums and
percussion of Scott Robertson. Robertson’s drums require
very few rolls. This music requires a lot of backbone, and Robertson
delivers.
Big Shanty plays a smooth slide, leaving the lead solos to
Liz Melendez, for the most part, and other guitarists. As with
the vocal slapback, Melendez doesn’t spare the tube screamer
to achieve the hard driving tone for this recording.
“King Bee” is far and away the most whimsical track,
rife with boasting and some hilarious banter between Big Shanty
and Melendez.
If you like your music rock solid, if you want it given it
to you straight, you can find Big Shanty on King Mojo Records
at: http://www.kingmojo.com
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