Red Stick Ramblers – Right Key, Wrong Keyhole

Description

Release Date:  2005

Label:  Memphis International

 

Track List

1 That’s What I Like About The South 3:26
2 It Ain’t Right 4:41
3 La Valse De Chaoui 2:29
4 It’s Too Late 5:14
5 It’s Hard To Love Someone 4:47
6 Sweet & Slow 5:23
7 My Ramblin’ Heart 3:18
8 Sentimental 3:54
9 You’ve Got The Right Key, But The Wrong Keyhole 3:47
10 Closing Time Blues 3:26
11 Grand Texas 3:42
12 The Devil With The Devil 3:25

 

Personnel

• Chas Justus – guitar, vocals
• Kevin Wimmer – fiddle, vocals
• Linzay Young – fiddle, vocals
• Glenn Fields – drums, vocals
• Eric Frey – bass, vocals
• Terry Huvall – pedal steel guitar
• Wilson Savoy – piano

 

Notes

The third CD from this Baton Rouge-based quintet ably stretches their fiddle-led gypsy jazz over a variety of styles. Linzay Young’s old-timey blues-jazz vocals are a fine fit for Louisiana rhythms, country weepers, Western Swing, and vocal standards, and the band’s originals mingle effortlessly among the well-selected covers. Fellow-travelers like Hot Club of Cowtown cook with similar ingredients, but the Ramblers’ five-piece line-up provides a meatier sound, and their Louisiana stock adds a zest above and beyond the elemental ingredients.

Bob Wills’ “That’s What I Like About the South” is given a jump-blues edge and Clifton Chenier’s “It’s Hard to Love Someone” is sung with the jazzy inflections of Mose Allison’s early work. The ’30s jazz tune “It Ain’t Right” is given to swinging fiddle and hot-picked guitar, and the band’s originals include both country and Cajun waltzes and a tearful, close-harmony prison tune. Elegant taste, masterful playing, and a rambler’s wanderlust make this disc a winner.