CD Review
Texas Red
Nothin' Can Save Me Now
(Cold Wind Records CWR0306-2)
by Gordon Baxter
Review date: April 2004
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award"
Achievement for Blues on the Internet
Presented by The Blues Foundation
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Texas native, but now a Twin Cities resident, Texas Red (Paul Halperin) has
been playing the blues for more than 30 years. This dedication has not
translated into recordings, however, and "Nothin' Can Save Me Now" is only
his second album (the other was 1997's "What Kind Of Woman Is That?"). Even
his latest album was recorded mostly in 2001, but it has definitely been
worth the wait.
The album opens in style with "Money Comes Easy," which features some
excellent muddy harp from Curtis Blake. A shuffle that sets the table for
what is to follow. The overarching style is a quite sophisticated mixture
of bits of Texas and Chicago, with everything nicely understated. The next
couple of tracks ("I Don't Like That Life" and the title track) truck along
nicely before the band tackle their first cover, a fine rendition of Jimmy
Reed's "Found Love." Like the rest of the covers here (SBWII's "Fattening
Frogs For Snakes," and Muddy Waters' "Howling Wolf" and "Going Down To Main
Street") it remains pretty faithful to the original.
The band really come into their own on the 10 songs that were written by
Red himself. The steady rolling groove of "I'm Tryin'" is a joy to behold,
for example, and songs like "Nothin' But A Shuffle" and the swinging "Life
In Texas" sound like real floor fillers. Red also has a keen eye for
detail, which comes through in the lyrics to "Car Trouble" and "Would She
Love Me."
"Nothin' Can Save Me Now" is a fine album, that will appeal to those who
prefer a subtle edge to their blues. There are no overblown guitar or harp
solos here, just quality blues all the way, as you would expect from a band
comprising some of the cream of the Twin Cities blues musicians (Dan
Schwalbe, Curtis Blake, Jack Taylor and Greg Shuck). Whilst Twin Cities
blues fans will be delighted that there is another Texas Red album on the
shelves, "Nothin' Can Save Me Now" is one that should appeal to blues
lovers way beyond the boundaries of the Twin Cities.
www.coldwind.com
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