オルタナ・カントリーの女王、サザン・ソウルを歌う!
第1弾トム・ペティカヴァーに続くカヴァー集第2弾。今回はルシンダのルーツであるサザン・ソウルがテーマ。アン・ピーブルス(3)、ドロシー・ムーア(5)、ウィリアム・ベル(7)、ブルック・ベントン(9)、アル・グリーン(10)などロックファンにもなじみの深い名曲群に加え、オルタナ・カントリーの先達的ボビー・ジェントリー(3)など名曲の数々を、ツインギター+リズム隊のシンプルな編成でプレイ。ホーン隊がない分、ダーティでルースなエレキ2本の絡みが演奏を牽引、ルシンダがドスの効いたハスキーヴォイスで引きずるように歌うブルージーでスワンプーな味わいはストーンズ的で最高!
(C)新宿店:村越 辰哉

タワーレコード （2021/08/20）

The second in a series of albums drawn from livestream concerts Lucinda Williams presented to benefit independent music venues hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lus Jukebox, Vol. 2: Southern Soul -- From Memphis to Muscle Shoals is the sort of album so well-suited to her gifts that one wonders why she didnt do this sooner. As a performer, Williams has never shied away from showing off the influence of vintage blues and R&B, and for this LP, she covers nine classic soul tunes from the 1960s and early 70s, with two ringers added for seasoning: a lean and swampy take on Bobbie Gentrys Ode to Billy Joe and a slow, sensuous reimagining of her own Still I Long for Your Kiss. This material was cut live in the studio with Williams road band, and they approach this music as true fans who happen to have some ideas of their own. Their love and appreciation for the original recordings is clear, but they bend the songs to suit both Williams voice and the groups musical personality. The result is a set of performances that pay homage while staking out their own sonic territory. The rough-edged but expressive guitar work from Stuart Mathis and Joshua Grange carries these songs the way keyboards or horns often gave the original recordings their foundation, and bassist Steve Mackey and drummer Fred Eltringham provide a richly beating heart for this music, simply but surely moving the band forward. Williams delivers just like a great soul vocalist while also sounding exactly like herself. Shes powerful and passionate without overplaying, shes emotionally eloquent in honest, thoughtful ways, and she often sounds like shes still finding new angles in these songs while she sings, filling her vocals with a sense of adventure and exploration that adds to their power. Recording songs that already exist in definitive performances by the likes of Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Ann Peebles, or Al Green is either a brave or a foolish move for most musicians, but Lucinda Williams is smart enough and soulful enough to cut these tunes without embarrassing herself, and Southern Soul -- From Memphis to Muscle Shoals demonstrates she can honor the great artists who introduced these tunes while making them her own. ~ Mark Deming

Rovi