In Brief:
Recorded live in the living room of Jones' tiny Newport, RI home, Salvation Street features Jones' touring band Rite Tite (Kurt Meyer; bass, Dave Lang; drums, Mike Barrette; electric guitar and Matt Neibels; percussion) and special guest appearances by Les Sampou, Barb Schloff-Arietta, Vinnie Pasternak and Mike Fishman. A folk/rock recording that doesn't forget to rock, the disc is savagely introspective at the core examining the artist's relationship with Daemon and purpose.
Quote:
"When all is said and done, there are maybe a score of songwriters today who combine deep insight into the human psyche with a broad grasp of history, religion, literature, American mythology & landscape - plus a real genius for writing both words and melodies. Only a score are ambitious in the sense that they constantly challenge themselves and their audiences, rejecting the chance to make a facile point or tug the sentimental heartstring. These are our poets, voices raw from prophecy and the rigors of love. I think JP Jones ought to be counted among them. "Long Blue Train" is a folk classic." --Hugh Blumenfeld, Sing Out!
Reviews:
On his seventh CD, JP Jones wages a 70 minute battle with his inner Bob, emerging proud, if not victorious. He titles a song "You Belong To Me," tells us "everyday I write a little more of my masterpiece," uses the phrase "Blowin' in the wind," and name checks Dylan.
Picking like Mississippi John Hurt, Jones confesses, in "Po Man," to having stolen his riffs from "the records in the radio" and his style "from the guy who stole the show." But as the song good naturedly notes, all of us "go around in a sack of borrowed bones." Everything is stolen from somewhere. Here, Jones faces the difficulties he's had with the music business and produces-largely from sweat equity--a poetic, honest, and spiritual record that rocks.
Completed last August--but including material from 1975 to the present-and recorded largely at home, Jones' faces his adversary with familiar weapons: gruff voice; half spoken delivery; dense, literate lyrics; insistent rhymes. He also plays harp, guitar, keyboard, and a variety of percussion backed by an excellent band.
"Salvation Street," somewhere on the upbeat side of Desolation Row, finds speaker and companion among those "transfixed and amazed" at a glimpse of salvation. The truth they learn "is... gentle and raw. / Everybody still tries. / Everybody still dies. / That ain't the rules it's the law." The hum-able melody is driven by Lloyd Salisbury's dramatic piano, a memorable musical hook supplied by Michael Barrette's electric guitar arpeggios, and swelling voices that join in the run up to the refrain.
"Long Blue Train," an eight minute epic, returns to its title with ever increasing ferocity and Les Sampou's electronically enhanced vocals. "That's Right" shows a softer side in a light hearted shuffle. Vinnie Pasternak's soaring viola in "Ordinary Day" recalls It's a Beautiful Day.
"Almost Satisfied" is an eight minute autobiography ala "My Back Pages." "Back It Up" is a real rocker with a terrific chorus, a wall of voices, and great organ sounds. "Now It's Up to You" dreams of an in-person meeting with Dylan after which Jones declares, "I used to be a poet, now I just say what I mean."
In the final cut, "What Called Me To This" Jones asks why he has endured the struggle for so long. The answer is Salvation Street, one brave and excellent album.
© David Kleiner, www.minor7th.com
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