Joe Flood
Cripplin' Crutch
Diesel Only DO7002

by Al Kunz

I've always been a bit of a music geek. You know the type, the kind of person who actually reads (and sometimes even remembers) the credits on every record -- who played what -- who produced what -- who wrote what -- that kind of stuff. When a new batch of discs to review came in the mail last week, I put one in the player and started perusing the credits on the others.

Before cracking open the jewel case, I noticed the disc was produced by former Joan Jett guitarist and ex-Del Lord Eric "Roscoe" Ambel. I knew he was now recording solo and as part of the roots-rock supergroup, The Yayhoos. I also knew that he was in high demand as a producer and had previously worked with alt-country, Americana, and roots-rock bands such as Bottle Rockets, Blood Oranges, and Blue Mountain (and that's just the B's). I'd heard a rumor that he was so busy with his solo career and touring as Steve Earle's guitarist that he wouldn't be interested in producing anything but quality projects. This was looking promising.

Opening the case, I scanned the list of musicians. Eric Ambel plays guitar on most of the tracks and ex-DB's Will Rigby (Ambel's Steve Earle & the Dukes bandmate) drums throughout. I quickly scanned the list of artists, friends, and influences that Joe Flood was dedicating the disc to; these included the Bottle Rockets, The Band (who played Americana before we called it that), and Greg Trooper (who I'm sure I've mentioned is my favorite Americana artist). This looked too good to hold off any longer. I moved this one to the top of the stack. It was time to stop reading and start listening.

Great expectations can sometimes lead to great disappointment. Not this time. What I found was just what I'd anticipated -- a remarkable collection of twanging roots-rock with smart lyrics that say things worth saying.

The "Cripplin' Crutch" of alcohol is attacked in the title track. "Cripplin' crutches crumble underneath you / Cripplin' crutch gets you down with a glass / Cripplin' crutch they might as well beat you / and take off with all of your cash."

Of the eleven tracks on the album, six were recorded and mixed live to 2-track tape, including the title track and "A Little Bird Told Me." When I was younger my mother used this expression to avoid revealing a source (usually when I'd ask, "who ratted me out"). Flood uses it the same way, but in a more positive situation.

So how do I know you're thinking of me
How do I know that you're feeling blue
How do I know you'd love to love me
Just the same way I would love to love you

Didn't hear it on the radio
Didn't see it on a TV show
No no no no no
A little bird told me
A little bird told me
A little bird told me
Just what I wanted to hear
And now I've got to hear it from you

Flood was one of the co-writers (along with Levon Helm) of "Move to Japan" on The Band's 1993 reunion album Jericho. Nowhere is the influence of The Band more apparent than on "Niagara," co-written with Artie Traum and Jim Weider, two upstate New Yorkers who played and also wrote songs on Jericho. When his lady friend Niagara started to cry, the singer ran away. Now he's holed-up in the "honeymoon suite of a cheap motel" that overlooks the waterfalls with the same name. As the water flows over the falls, he remembers Niagara's tears -- wanting to patch things up, but afraid of losing face by phoning her. Featuring piano and Flood playing the mandolin, this song is steeped in the classic Americana of The Band.

Well the bar's full of border guards having a ball
Newlyweds next door, knocking down the wall
These border towns, water towns, always make me think of you
Well if you would come and meet me in this tourist town
I'd love you like that waterfall, crashin' down
Pull yourself together girl and let me get a message through

Oh Niagara
Well please don't make me call
My feet start flying when you start crying
And that water start to flow
I lose my mind every time
I see that water fall
Oh Niagara, can't you hear me call

Suppose Duane Jarvis could channel Sir Doug Sahm. You'd end up with something that sounds like "All the Same to You." Any effect associating with Greg Trooper has had on Flood's songwriting shows in the lyrics of this look at how changes in the world, ranging from tearing down the Berlin Wall to pollution, impact us all.

I'd like to buy the world an aspirin
And slip it in their Coke
If it would do any good
I'd try to tell the world a joke

But if it's true what they say
That someone must pay
I'll bear my share of pain
But I won't take all the blame
If it's all the same to you

I could go on and on about every song on this disc. I could tell you all about the double-entendre blues of "High Maintenance Woman" or about the hypnotic "Deep Sleep Blue." I might even tell you all about the full-lifecycle-of-love story in "So the Story Goes." But rather than ruin the mystery of every song, I'll finish with a possible approach to straighten out your lover from "I Don't Want to Tell You Again."

Whats wrong with me
Well what is the matter with you
Now can't you see
I need you to do, what to do
The little things, that make sense of the hurt and pain
The little things, that drive me this side of insane

So fill my lovin' cup, girl
Don't you stop until I say when
Now, I've told you once
Don't wanta have to tell you again

My recommendation is simple. Get out your credit card and click the cover of Cripplin' Crutch at the top of this page. This is one you should have.

*Still not convinced? Visit www.dieselonly.com to sample selected songs. Then get out your credit card. Now I don't wanta have to tell you again.



Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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