DANNY
BROOKS
"NO EASY WAY
OUT"
ROCKIN' CAMEL
MUSIC
BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN"
LAURO © NOVEMBER 2007
Although this is his
first release for Rockin' Camel Music, "NO EASY WAY OUT" by DANNY
BROOKS, is the third disc of his to be reviewed here at Mary4Music.com.
Congratulations Danny, on being the first musician to
"three-peat" with us.
As usual, when DANNY
goes to work recording, he likes to bring his friends - lots of them.
While employing nearly as many people as a General Motors Plant on each of his
discs, he simultaneously creates havoc for writers like myself - those of
us who feel that if a person was responsible for any kind of noise coming
off the disc, they should be credited for that noise. Having said that,
let me now introduce you to DANNY'S musical assembly line. Joining DANNY,
who sings all of the vocals, plays acoustic guitar, slide dobro, harp, and
who wrote most of the discs tracks are: BILL STEWART & ROGER HAWKINS on
drums; DAVID HOOD on bass; KELVIN HOLLY on electric, acoustic, baritone
and lap steel guitars and electric sitar; KEVIN MCKENDREE
& SPOONER OLDHAM on piano and Hammond B3 organ; N. C. THURMAN on piano;
CHARLES ROSE on trombone; HARVEY THOMPSON on tenor and baritone sax; VINCE
CIELESKI & KEN WATERS on trumpet; JAMES PENNEBAKER on acoustic and steel
guitar; JOHNNIE SANDLIN on trombone, percussion, tambourine, and hand claps;
SCOTT BOYER on electric guitar and background vocals; BONNIE BRAMLETT, CARLA
RUSSELL, TINA SWINDELL & JAY WILSON on background vocals; ANN SANDLIN
& JEFF COPPAGE on hand claps.
"AIN'T THAT THE
TRUTH" is DANNY'S response to his own statement of "it just don't get
much better than that". These are a few of the phrases DANNY uses as he
testifies about several influential blues concerts he's attended, the first
being at the age of fifteen. It seems that bearing witness to Muddy
Waters, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Jessie Edward Davis, Ry Cooder, the Five
Blind Boys of Alabama and Susan Tedeschi was an awakening of sorts for
young DANNY - apparently, his blues torch was lit. "Ain't
that the truth" could very well be my response to this being the runaway track
on the disc. On top of DANNY tearing it up on the vocals, this one's also
highlighted by his harp, the smokin' horn section and KEVIN rippin' away
on the piano. "Song of the Year" are words that should be
used in conjunction with this track title.
"NO EASY WAY
OUT" is another of DANNY'S tracks - and I'm sure there will be others -
that, once again, "Ain't that the truth" can be said to. As DANNY points
out with these very truthful lyrics. "there are many easy ways down, but there
are no easy ways out". Amen! The outstanding and realistic vocals
are so perfectly sung by DANNY and BONNIE with great support from CARLA and
SCOTT. Great rhythm's provided by BILL and DAVID on this one.
Fans of Gospel,
Soul, Country and Blues are all going to notice their genre represented on
"KEYS TO MY HEART". This soulful ballad is - as all tracks are -
highlighted by more amazing vocals by DANNY and smooth steel guitar by
JAMES.
"MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE"
is a smoker that has CHARLES, HARVEY and VINNIE in full throttle on their horns,
the rhythm section doing double time, and rest of the band in an all out
jam. Everyone's working it out on this hot one.
Other tracks on
"NO EASY WAY OUT" are: "ALL GOD'S CHILDREN", "BAMA BOUND",
"MIRACLES FOR BREAKFAST", "LONESOME ROAD", "WHERE SINNERS AND SAINTS COLLIDE",
"I BELIEVE IN LOVE" and "CARRY ME JESUS".
In a recent
correspondence from Danny complimenting me on a review of mine that he had just
read, he states that "If I ever run for an office, I'll be calling
you to write my speeches". To that I say "DANNY, if you are even
remotely the kind of person your music suggests you are - and I believe you
are, the world would be a better place with a person like you in office.
Keep up the good work my friend.
Check DANNY BROOKS
out at www.dannybrooksmusic.com.
While you're there, tell him Pete the Blewzzman sent ya and I recommended you
buy all three of his last releases.
This review has been complimentary written
for your newsletter by Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro, a contributing writer for
BLUESWAX and the Blues Editor at www.Mary4Music.com where you can read many
more CD and live show reviews, view lots of blues photographs and find an
abundance of blues material. I can be reached at
Blewzzman@aol.com 