The Plain Hard Truth Band is led by larger-than-life vocalist/guitarist                                                                                       Martin Roberts and he has assembled a veteran cast of old friends and collaborators, all hardcore musicians who’ve managed to transfer their love of old-time recordings into the domain of virtuoso musicians (although I’m sure they’d humbly decline the label of virtuosos!)  As I’ve mentioned many times before, we get hundreds of CDs containing reworkings of classic Blues standards and/or ‘Hits’ and sadly 85-95% of these discs don’t get reviewed or even a second listen due to the stale nature of the Blues classics don’t even attempt to compete with the original version unless of course you happen to be someone like Eddie Kirkland, Leon Blue, The Carter Brothers or Dr. John.  Instead, if you can redo a number so that it contains your own indelible style/sound and a heck of a lot of verve, then you may give the people something enjoyable and help your own profile.  And, it’s obvious that Martin Roberts seems to know this already and employs the formula to perfection on this live album, plus they serve up a sound that has an identity of its own.  Think part String Band but with a rhythm section and a mix of acoustic and electric instruments giving the proceedings a very ‘full’ sound and loads of spirit.  For all those Blues fans who’re lamenting the lack of fresh Blues ideas, this will be a hugely rewarding CD.  The musical members of Plain Hard Truth are Dan Witte (bass, guitar and organ), Bill Maresh (guitar, pedal steel, dobro and backup vocals), Jane Allingham (guitar, lead and backup vocals) and Frank Cotinola (drums) as well as the afore-mentioned Martin Roberts.  One thing that you will experience whilst listening to this CD is the realization that this group of recordings gets better and better… with each passing second until you’re suddenly aware of the magnitude of the sheer excellence and the term refreshing is an understatement for sure, but Plain Hard Truth can now claim to own this description.  Martin Roberts is also a totally unique and extroverted presence when it comes to vocals—no one could ever accuse Roberts of being laid back or introverted.  His exuberance and complete investment will have you won over and smiling (and often laughing!).  Too many of us go through life playing it safe and never really living) then there’s Martin Roberts who squeezes every ounce out of each verse like a man possessed (think Barrence Whitfield, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Wayne Cochrane).  There are 16 tracks here, each of them pretty famous numbers, but you can forget all about the originals.  Roberts starts with Bobby Bland’s “I Don’t Want No Woman” and gives it a dose of El Paso Redneck flavoring (the whole album could pass as a Texas good ‘ol boy creation but I mean that as a compliment!) despite the band’s Laguna Beach residency.

There are 16 tracks here, each of them pretty famous numbers, but you can forget all about the originals.  Roberts starts with Bobby Bland’s “I Don’t Want No Woman” and gives it a dose of El Paso Redneck flavoring (the whole album could pass as a Texas good ‘ol boy creation but I mean that as a compliment!) despite the band’s Laguna Beach residency. “Back Door” starts off with several seconds of the original Chicago 78 by Washboard Sam before morphing into the modern String Band version.  Roberts gets more and more exuberant as the song grabs his soul and he gets possessed and shoots out hilarious ad-libs.  “Born Under A Bad Sign” will surprise many with its dirge-like identity that still grabs your feet and hips.  Yes, you can dance up a storm to virtually every one of the 16 tracks. Wonderful dobro playing by Maresh, and Roberts again gets so into the song’s lyrics that he could become the Poster Boy for “White Men CAN Sing The Blues”.  Wolf’s (Leaving You Baby) “Commit A Crime” is a friggin’ masterpiece and if I was the owner of one of the Top three Blues labels in North America, I’d rush out to sign Plain Hard Truth after hearing this tune. “Bad Case Of Déjà Vu”, Robert’s lone original composition, is a killer tune about the Evil Woman we’ve all run into (the one that turns your hair White and causes appendages to shrink to microscopic proportions!) and proof that Roberts can churn out his own 100% Pure Blues numbers.  “Love My Baby” the old Tommy McClennan (John Lee Hooker’s favorite mentor) classic is given a stompin’ reworking and many will be stunned but happily so when they hear Guitar Slim’s “The Things I Used To Do” with a churchy organ to the forefront.  Drummer Cotinola deserves praise for this old school marching band drumming on most of the tunes.  “Prisoner Of Love” is an ethereal 4 minutes of Wonderland. Martin Roberts deserves to be on the same pedestal/musical plateau as Chuck E. Weiss, for his extraordinary creative juices.  And, Chuck E. Weiss ain’t no slouch!  “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” will baffle you at first, I was saying to myself “Hey, I know this song!” and then I realized it was a Hootenanny Gospel version of the old Etta James classic. What a transformation!  And, that goes for virtually every track.  The closing track, “Emmitt Lee”, the old Carol Fran Swamp Blues hit, is tackled by vocalist Jane Allingham with Martin singing backup and it’s just wonderful.  What we have here folks is one of the finest collections of American Roots Music since Ernie Payne’s “Coercion Street” and one can easily envision Plain Hard Truth knocking audiences off their feet the World over.  5 Big Bottles of Hadacol for this mega-dose of Soul-Fixin’ Music.  God knows we all need it right now.
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