Mike Barfield
Living Stereo
Tater Tot Records
By William Michael Smith
 It's probably no coincidence
that Mike Barfield's new album begins with a song that mentions
"The Twist." Living Stereo is filled with vintage
sounds and retro stylistic jags that range from the big city
electrified Chicago blues of Howlin' Wolf and Junior Wells to
Stax soul. Barfield even reaches back for a great take on "You've
Got What It Takes" by the criminally under-covered soul
giant Joe Tex. I suspect the whole affair reflects Barfield's
formative listening habits in the days before we had digital
recording and CD players.
With journeyman Austin guitarists Chris Miller and Dave Biller
providing plenty of funk and authenticity and Tiffany and the
Gospel Motions supplying authentic soul-sister shout backup vocal
lines, Barfield croons his way through spot-on covers like "Ask
My Baby" and James Brown's "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered."
He tones his mellow Johnny Cash baritone way down for two cool-breeze
antique bluesy ballads, and his rootsy "Look at Me,"
with its quiet desperation ("And your first mistake/Making
plans to be late/This is your last brand new start"), and
the countrified "Confession Time" are as tasty a set
of lyrics as Barfield has ever written.
Maybe I'll meet you at the end of the hall
That is the only place we come face to face at all
Barfield has always had a penchant for odd lyrics, and this
time out he selects "She's a Yum Yum," a tune by that
king of oddities, Dallas Frazier, one of the original whacko
country soul man. They just don't write lyrics like these anymore.
Everybody asks me where do she come from
That little girl of mine, she's a yum yum
There is no irony here, no hokum. The musicians play it straight,
Barfield sings it sincere, and the overall effect is laid back
and reverent. The result: jukejoint goodtime music of the first
order. Barfield may have moved on artistically from the rootsy
alt.country of Houston's premier twang band of the '90s, The
Hollisters, but the more one listens to Living Stereo
the less the distance between the old Barfield and the new seems.
Along the way, he proves there was always less distance between
Soul Train and the honkytonks than the record companies
wanted us to believe.
*www.hollisters.com
Contact William Michael Smith at wms-at-rockzilla.net
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