The Derek Trucks Band - Already Free
Artist.....: The Derek Trucks Band
Title......: Already Free
Label......: Victor Records / Sony Music
Store Date.: Jan-13-2009
Genre......: Blues
Encoder....: Lame 3.97 / -V2 --vbr-new
Size.......: 17,3 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Ballad Of The Chicken Robber 01:57
02 - Swamp Raga 06:34
03 - Long Time Man 05:25
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13:56 min
Release Notes:
www.derektrucks.com/news/derek-trucks-band-release-already-free
For a little extra music, and a few extra bucks in your wallet,
head to your local Best Buy to purchase Already Free with three
exclusive bonus tracks Ballad of the Chicken Robber,Swamp Raga,
and Long Time Man each recorded in the Already Free sessions and
never released to those of us on this side of Dereks home studio
walls.
For 12 years, the Derek Trucks Band have been issuing records
(live and studio) that are long on fire, improvisation, and
inspiration. Trucks' own skillful leadership has seamlessly melded
rock, blues, jazz, and Eastern Indian modal music in a brew that
is uniquely his own. Perhaps this is what makes Already Free both
an anomaly and a natural extension of the DTB; if anything, it
resembles Delaney & Bonnie's records of the late '60s and early
'70s -- Home, To Bonnie from Delaney -- or the self-titled debuts
of Bobby Whitlock and Eric Clapton. There is a homegrown organic
looseness to these proceedings that sets the album apart from all
of Trucks' previous offerings. Perhaps that's because it was
recorded at home -- literally in a home studio with the DTB and/or
their guests playing live from the floor much of the time. Trucks
is still accompanied by his longtime mates: Kofi Burbridge, Todd
Smallie, Yonrico Scott, Count Mbutu, and vocalist Mike Mattison.
But there are some close friends and family as guests, including
-- but not limited to -- Trucks' wife Susan Tedeschi, Doyle
Bramhall II, and a horn section and various rhythm players.
The material is stellar. The covers include an opening reading of
Bob Dylan's "Down in the Flood," with the horn section getting
down deep into the grittier and bluesier aspects of the tune. It
features some brilliant work by Burbridge on the clavinet,
Wurlitzer piano, and B-3; Trucks handles monster acoustic and
electric slide work and Mattison's vocal is stellar. It all comes
off soulfully, authentically, and utterly real. Next is a deeply
funky cover of the late Paul Pena's "Something to Make You Happy."
Another standout is a gospel-blues reading of the Spooner Oldham-
Dan Penn classic "Sweet Inspiration," with an intro that sounds
like it came straight from Memphis. Mattison and Tedeschi's vocals
don't sound like Delaney & Bonnie's, but they feel like them. The
hand percussion laid on top of the rhythm section with Trucks'
melodic slide break becomes a third voice as it digs directly into
the B-3.
That all said, the originals are solid to boot. Check out the
funky Allen Toussaint-esque rhythm backdrop on "Maybe This Time,"
with a brilliant vocal performance by Bramhall; the savage,
gritty, and greasy slide blues of "Don't Miss Me," with its twin
guitar interplay; and the raucous house-rocking groove of "Get
What You Deserve." Tedeschi takes a lead vocal turn on the deeply
moving ballad "Back Where I Started," near the album's end. It was
co-written by Trucks with Warren Haynes; only her husband backs
her on acoustic guitar and dobro, with a rhythm section. The
droning Indian instrument ushers in "I Know," an old R&B shouter
associated with Big Maybelle. But Trucks' electric slide, the B-3,
the horns, and Mattison's gravelly soul vocal add to its dimension
quickly and convincingly. In sum, this is another side of the DTB,
but one that feels like a natural extension of the group's live
persona. Its careful attention to feel creates a vibe that is
altogether missing from the vast majority of recordings made in
the last 30 years, yet it sounds timeless -- not retro -- because
of the expert, tasteful nature of the playing and recording.
Already Free is not only an excellent entry in the Trucks catalog;
it's a stone killer that should be filed with the aforementioned
titles, the first two Black Crowes records, the Faces' A Nod Is as
Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse, and Rod Stewart's Mercury
material.