By Terry Roland

John Fogerty and his new take-no-prisoners album, Wrote a Song for Everyone, has done the nearly impossible task of taking familiar classic songs and infusing them with fresh energy and inspiration, so much so that it seems as though these songs, culled from Creedence Clearwater Revival hits and his solo albums, are brand new. His voice carries the same soul and rock ‘n’ roll passion that gave his band such distinction over 40 years ago.

It is the kind of comeback that Fogerty has managed to pull off at various  turns in his long career, sometimes waiting a decade between releases. The arrangements here are crisp and dynamic. These re-creations give the songs a new sense of authority and power.  

 By Ken Paulson

There’s a moment on the Chet Atkins and Les Paul album Guitar Monsters (Real Gone Music) where the two playfully compare notes on CB radio and Dolly Parton’s attributes. It’s an exchange that simultaneously signals just how long ago Atkins and Paul recorded the LP, and how much fun they had doing it.

This 1978 album, their second together, showcases the two virtuoso guitarists in a playful and informal setting. Paul came from pop and jazz and Atkins from country, but they admired each other and their talents were truly complementary on this release.

“Over the Rainbow,” “I Want to be Happy” and “Give My Love to Nell” are musical highlights, and you’ll enjoy the pair’s spirited banter on “I’m Your Greatest Fan.”

Alive on Arrival/Jackrabbit Slim –Steve Forbert

Blue Corn Music has released Steve Forbert’s first two albums in a deluxe package that includes 12 bonus songs. It’s a reminder of just how rare it is for a singer-songwriter to release two consistently excellent albums at the outset of a career.

Neil Young did it. So did Jackson Browne and James Taylor. But Elton John didn’t (Empty Sky was no Elton John.)  Carole King didn’t, although Tapestry was a heck of a second album.

Forbert’s Alive on Arrival was a vibrant debut, sporting enduring songs like “Goin’ Down to Laurel” and “You Cannot Win if You Do Not Play.” For an encore, Forbert delivered the ambitious Jackrabbit Slim, kicking off the LP with “Romeo’s Tune,” an idiosyncratic hit record that he’s played for more than three decades.

Forbert is an amazingly consistent artist and every album offers up new treasures. You can have that kind of career when you build on a foundation of quality, as evidenced by this new collection.

Complete Original #1 Hits – Eddy Arnold

Album titles don’t come any more straightforward than this one. This Real Gone Music release includes the 28 Eddy Arnold songs that rose to #1 on the Billboard country chart, beginning with “What is Life Without Love” in 1946 and concluding with “The You Can Tell Me Goodbye” in 1968.

It’s a rich anthology that tracks both Arnold’s early career and the evolution of country music. Arnold’s use of strings and lush arrangements broadened his appeal well beyond country music audiences. Highly recommended.

By Paul T. Mueller

— Gurf Morlix Finds the Present Tense is “the feel-good album of the year.” That’s how the Austin-based singer-songwriter described his latest CD during a recent in-store performance in Houston. He was kidding, of course. A better description of his outlook can be found in “Lookin’ for You,” the second track: “You know I like it/Dark and hot/Torn and twisted/Tied in a knot.” Such are the conditions many of Morlix’s characters seem to find themselves in.

“My Life’s Been Taken” is the lament of a man paying a high price for a bad decision, while “Series of Closin’ Doors” could well describe the process that leads to such a decision. The foreboding organ that dominates another track, “Present Tense,” is echoed by the lyrics – “I’m feeling heavy vibrations/Find the present tense.”

Morlix deals mostly with personal matters, but political commentary makes an appearance in “Bang Bang Bang,” an indictment of America’s gun culture that includes a reference to his old friend Blaze Foley, an underrated singer-songwriter who was shot to death during an argument in 1989. The song’s bouncy tone can’t disguise Morlix’s pain over Foley’s death – “Shot down, gone away/Gone forever, miss him every day” – or his outrage at the violence that led to it. “Guns in backpacks, guns in schools/We’re a bunch of gun-carryin’ fools,” he concludes.

It’s back to the darkly personal in the CD’s final three songs. Morlix’s raspy voice and a twangy country arrangement are perfectly suited to the raw pain of “You Walk Away,” in which he asks, “All these years, don’t they count for nothin’?/Don’t you remember our last kiss?” “These Are My Blues” finds the narrator a little farther down the road, still hurting and not in any big hurry to feel better. The CD wraps up with “Empty Cup,” a plea for the love that proves so elusive. “I’m a simple man, I can’t decipher your clues,” Morlix sings. “All I know is, I can’t live without you.”

Morlix’s songs are well served by his understated production, and by the strong contributions of backing musicians including drummer Rick Richards, keyboardist Ian McLagan, violinist Gene Elders, and singer Eliza Gilkyson, among others.

Having worked with Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen and many others over the years, Morlix is probably better known as a sideman and producer than as a solo artist. But he’s got his own story to tell, and he does a pretty good job of it on this collection. It’s not a very uplifting message, but it’s worth a listen.

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