From thatdevilmusic.com on Big Fun Trio:

Venerable roots ‘n’ blues legend Elvin Bishop has long since passed the point where he could comfortably rest on his laurels and play out the string, wherever it leads. As shown by Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio, the follow-up to the singer, songwriter, and guitarist’s Grammy™-nominated 2014 album Can’t Even Do Wrong Right, there’s still a lot of joy in the music for Bishop, and he continues to look at fashionable new ways to dress up his tried-and-true signature sound.

Fear not, true believers, Mr. Bishop isn’t trying to reinvent the blues in, say, the same manner that Run the Jewels has challenged hip-hop traditions. Nor is he trying to appeal to younger listeners by radically changing his sound, attitude, or appearance…he’s still the same fun lovin’, happy-go-lucky Elvin that hundreds of thousands of fans around the world have come to love and respect as a sincere, talented Americana traditionalist.

Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio

No, what Bishop has done with Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio is to alter the angle at which he approaches these songs. As he says in the album’s liner notes, he and a couple of buddies began jamming in the studio and it sounded so good and they were having such a good time that the ‘Big Fun Trio’ was formed with guitarist Bishop, singer and percussionist Willy Jordan, and pianist and guitarist Bob Welsh. The proof is in the grooves, as they say, and the album-opening “Keep On Rollin’” is a great example. A rollicking, humorous, mostly-spoken piece with Elvin and Willy trading verbal jabs, Welsh’s New Orleans-flavored piano runs are paired with a funky, foot-shuffling rhythm and Bishop’s jagged fretwork.

The fun continues with the scorching “Honey Babe,” a rockabilly-tinged romp that offers up some of Bishop’s finest guitar pickin’ and great tone. A solid reinvention of a song that originally appeared on Bishop’s 1974 album Let It Flow, it’s a fine showcase for the guitarist’s often-underrated talents. Jordan takes the microphone for the Chicago blues-styled rave-up “It’s You Baby,” his soulful vocals riding high atop Welsh’s juke-joint piano-pounding and guest Kim Wilson’s raging harp play. Bishop fills in with some red-hot licks, Jordan’s vox reaching Little Richard level intensity in a great performance that is certain to stomp listeners into submission in a club setting.

Bishop brings in another friend, harp wizard and Chicago blues legend Rick Estrin to blow some notes on the rockin’ “Delta Lowdown,” a spry instrumental that showcases Estrin’s immense skills and Welsh’s keyboard mastery. A cover of the Bobby Womack gem “It’s All Over Now” offers up Jordan’s lively vocals and a raucous, rhythmic arrangement that showcases Bishop’s stinging six-string  solos while Bishop’s rootsy sense of humor shines on the hilarious story-song “That’s What I’m Talkin’ About” as he and Jordan swap culinary-obsessed verses over a Southern-fried soundtrack. Friend and compatriot Charlie Musselwhite joins in on the biographical “100 Years of Blues,” a rowdy, low-slung history of the music that name-checks legends like Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters while Charlie blasts some mean harp and Bishop lays out some choice git licks above the shufflin’ rhythm.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Working in a stripped-down trio format, the song shorn of everything but the essence of the performance, what’s left is pure salt-of-the-earth roots ‘n’ blues. Bishop always sounds like he’s having fun in the studio, but with Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio, the three musicians play with reckless abandon, reveling in the sheer joy of making music. Bishop could have begun phoning it in years ago and fans would still enjoy his immense talents and charisma; that he is still looking for new ways to excite himself and his bandmates musically is both the key to Bishop’s longevity and a testament to the heart and soul that he brings to every performance. Grade: B+ (Alligator Records, released February 10, 2017)

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From getreadytorock.me.uk on All Because Of You:

It may come as a surprise that the hard-hitting Free/Bad Company tub thumper has a softer underbelly.  Simon Kirke has dipped into solo work but on a fairly low key scale.  In fact he joked that he would even buy those purchasers of his homespun release (‘Seven Rays Of Hope’) dinner by way of a thank you – presumably on the basis that he wouldn’t be adding too much to the restaurant’s profits.

Following Bad Company’s successful touring in 2016, Kirke now unleashes his third solo album.  The only clue to his illustrious past is a cover of ‘Feel Like Making Love’ and only on ‘Troubled Road’ does he break any sweat.

‘All Because Of You’ is a pleasant song-driven album and should be assessed on its own merits, rather than with deferment to his essentially hard rock heritage.  The truth is, Kirke co-wrote many songs with Free and then Bad Company.  He slipped off the radar only when Bad Company folded in the late 1990s and having successfully fought alcoholism and drug abuse surfaced sporadically with the Ringo Starr All-Starr Band and then Bad Company when that band reformed.

The material here is mature, somewhat introspective, and fairly consistent.  It’s the proverbial easy listen, driven by Kirke’s vocal and acoustic guitar rather than his drum kit.  Arguably, it belongs to a different age when albums clocked in at sub-40 minutes and we had half-decent daytime radio.  In spirit the album is closest to the likes of Harry Chapin and Gordon Lightfoot which places the album’s feel firmly in the seventies.

Consistency is always an issue with solo albums as it is very easy for artists to seize the opportunity to display a variety of styles and influences.  To his credit, Simon has kept things on an even keel.

There’s a McCartney-esque ‘Blackbird’ influence on ‘Maria’ (with attractive string orchestration) whilst ‘Into The Light’ features a gospel choir.  However, I can’t help thinking what an album this would be if all the tracks matched the killer class of ‘Melting On Madison’.  Cue for a widescreen song placement?

The inclusion of ‘Friends In The Woods’ may seem somewhat trite and disposable, it was written for Kirke’s first child some years ago.  It merely contributes to the feeling that Kirke is wearing his heart on his sleeve throughout this album.  I mean does he have to pander to expectation or modern taste and preference?

It’s about time that we all sat up and took notice of Simon Kirke away from the drum stool.  After a couple of tentative solo efforts, ‘All Because Of You’ will help wider recognition of a talented performer with a gold-plated past who for a time looked into an abyss of despair and who ultimately emerged  with  a clearer and re-vitalised vision.

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From ultimate-guitar.com on This House Is Not For Sale:

Sound: It’s important to understand the past few decades of the Bon Jovi discography while heading into the band’s thirteenth studio album “This House Is Not for Sale.” Those fans who last met the group during their “Slippery When Wet” and “New Jersey” years will frankly get lost among the one-dimensional mainstream sounds found throughout this new release, however the new generation of Bon Jovi followers who caught on with “It’s My Life” and put regular spins on 2013’s “What About Now” will likely walk away content with this release. It’s the first Bon Jovi album to date that doesn’t feature songwriting contributions from estranged guitarist and co-founder Richie Sambora, whose exit from the band a few years back shocked longtime fans and the circumstances for the departure remain unclear. In his place is guitarist Phil X, who surprisingly didn’t play a role in the songwriting and doesn’t even appear on many of the album’s songs; that role goes to producer John Shanks, who is perhaps just as responsible as the rest of the band for the monotone presentation on “This House Is Not for Sale.”

Both from a production and songwriting perspective, this is a very safe and restrained sounding record which sounds custom tailored to try and keep Bon Jovi on the commercial airwaves, but fails to provide anything fresh of substance here. The opening title track “This House Is Not for Sale” demonstrates much of the same formula that we find throughout the remainder of the record: the arm waving choruses, the simple “Wooaah wooaah wooaah” melodies, and plenty of country influence. Seemingly an attempt to follow up on the success of the No. 1 hit “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” the band joins up with famed country songwriter Brett James for “Scars on My Guitar,” a love song dedicated to Jon’s guitar that continuously trips over some really mediocre lyrics (“She’s the one I hold when I hold/ When there’s no one to hold onto”). “Knockout” is a painful listen on the part of the lyrics as well; hardly a minute into the song, and it comes across as a Katy Perry knockoff (“Get ready for the boo-boo-oom”) before opening up into the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus formula found on nearly every song on this album. When you are setting twelve songs of nearly identical commercial structure and sound, at the same level as the past several years of Bon Jovi records, much of any appeal on “This House Is Not for Sale” just doesn’t result in a rewarding listen.

Lyrics: Jon Bon Jovi appears to be embracing his age with this album release; at 54 his range hasn’t been as sharp as it was on “Living on a Prayer” those several decades ago, and Jon has even stopped dying his hair in favor of a silver fox look that we find on the handful of new Bon Jovi music videos. Jon plays to his remaining strengths and does well vocally throughout “This House Is Not for Sale,” however the real weaknesses here are the album’s lyrical content and songwriting style. He’s sounding nearly identical as he did on “Undivided” and “I Want to Be Loved” well over a decade ago, so it seems as though the absence of Sambora is what really damages the Bon Jovi sound with this release; even on recent records like “The Circle,” there were still some memorable tracks and equally impressive six stringed moments which are noticeably absent here.

Overall Impression: Bon Jovi delivers a safe sounding album with “This House Is Not for Sale,” a mainstream pop rock presentation for easy listening which doesn’t captivate as much as it does conjure up more of the same from 2013’s “What About Now,” minus the creative input of Richie Sambora. With all these outside songwriters entering the fold for this release, maybe allowing Phil X to act as not only full time guitarist on the album but also letting him play a role in the album’s songwriting would have allowed for a more substantive listen. Or perhaps the absence of Sambora is something the other members of this band have yet to get over. Whatever the reason, the album falls flat early on and does little to recover.

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From washingtonpost.com on Lighthouse:

The eternally troubled Crosby, Stills and Nash relationship has finally crashed and burned with all three saying it’s unlikely there will be a reunion. And looking at their elevated ages (all are in their 70s, Crosby the oldest at 75), time would seem to not be on their side even if they felt the urge. So, it’s back to solo land as David Crosby follows his now ex-band mates who have both released albums in the past year (Stills with his blues band the Rides).

This nine song, all acoustic set could be perceived as back to the roots closure for Crosby, since it whittles his typically idiosyncratic song structures down to their core elements. Imagine his Byrds rarity “Triad” expanded to a full album and you’re close to the approach. Credit needs to be shared with Michael League; the Snarky Puppy member not only produces, but contributes subtle guitar, bass and singing accompaniment (the vocal layers he creates, especially on “The City,” are so clearly inspired by CSN that the song seems like it was written with that outfit in mind right down to one of this disc’s few electric guitar solos) and also co-writes a handful of selections.

These songs take a while to unspool (only one is under four minutes, the closing “By the Light of Common Day” clocks in at over six), letting Crosby create music with unusual tunings. The occasionally unsettling pieces that result generally don’t follow traditional arrangements. It won’t take long to get into the flow;opener “Things We Do For Love” (not even close to the 10cc hit) starts with a “Guinnevere”-like lilt, combining soft finger picking with gauzy strumming, as Crosby sings in a soft, warm, cushy, laid back yet engaging voice that belies his mid-70s age. His lyrics sometime paint pictures, particularly in the self-descriptive “Paint You a Picture” and, extrapolating that to this set, Crosby often fashions watercolors for the ears. Melodies wind and weave with few obvious hooks or choruses, not surprising for a guy who always prided himself on writing “weird songs.”

The stripped down, acoustic guitar based, percussion free sound is enhanced by extremely relaxed organ, bass and extra guitars. That forms a soft bed for Crosby’s low key voice and perceptions that are often difficult to grab  onto such as “What Makes it So?” that might refer to both political and personal concepts. The Latin tinged “Look in their Eyes,” (“you’ll never really see her/until you look in her eyes”) another tune that, with its sumptuous harmonies feels like it was written for CSN, casts a mysterious haze over its diaphanous vibe. The mood goes dark on “Somebody Other than You” (“I can’t feel the way you do/ I’m through watching you go fat exactly how your father did before”), which might apply to a personal or professional relationship and features Crosby’s most acid-tongued singing.

This is Crosby in full blown, offbeat singer-songwriter guise, perhaps the style he was always most comfortable with. The songs aren’t easily digestible but, as he winds into the final stages of his life, they are honest, intricate, personal and above all, uniquely the work of David Crosby; a songwriter whose finest music has always been just a bit off-center in the best ways.

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From getreadytorock.me.uk on Ring Of Changes:

Best known for his hit single ‘Dreamweaver’ in 1976, and his time in Spooky Tooth, Gary Wright’s ‘Ring Of Changes’ was made in 1972 but, in spite of a single release (included as a bonus track), the album was shelved by A&M.

After leaving Spooky Tooth for the first time, Wright played with George Harrison on his ‘All Things Must Pass’ album and the Quiet One returned the favour on Wright’s second solo album ‘Footprint’ and here on the song ‘Goodbye Sunday’.  The album also features future Foreigner titan  Mick Jones who co-wrote most of the material.

In overall feel this album looks across the Atlantic and aligns to the likes of Leon Russell  and Little Feat with a mix of harder (note the excellent ‘Lovetaker’)  and softer rock, sometimes with a late-sixties Procol  Harum-ish vibe.  There is read across to what Eric Clapton was doing in the early 1970s including his work with Delaney & Bonnie.

I can understand why Wright’s albums were popular on FM radio in the States and it seems criminal that this album has remained in the vaults for over forty years.  Wright’s organ interjections are a joy throughout and the album merits further attention than merely its Foreigner/Beatle associations.

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