// music maker relief fund //
But first a commercial break ::
I have evidently lived a sheltered life. I've heard the name Ironing Board Sam here and there, but somehow I'd never actually heard him. Bruce Watson's Big Legal Mess Records is changing all that with a new release called Super Spirit, produced by Bruce Watson and the Rev. Sir Dr. Jimbo Mathus.
Do you remember how much you liked those old Fat Possum releases by Super Chikan, Asie Payton, Charles Caldwell, or that kind of weird for Fat Possum Solomon Burke album? Ironing Board Sam's Super Spirit is like those. It's just a treat to listen to.
There's so much going on in each song, from the proto-African underpinnings of Baby You Got It, to the pleading, slow-burn soul of I Still Love You (which reminds me of something off that Solomon Burke album,) the Velvets/Stones-as-soul-rock of I Can't Take It, the garage gospel raver I Want To Be There, or the slow Chicago blues heartache of I'm Looking For A Woman, it's really a classic album in the good ol' Fat Possum Records vein.
It's well-worn and silk shirted southern soul without a whiff of the stink of retro, it's super rock without losing its groove, it's funky and adventurous in silk socks and muddy alligator shoes. But best of all it's the blues, baby. Sweet Bobby Bland/ZZ Hill-grooved blues...of today!
All y'all need this. Get you some Super Spirit!
Here's a brand new track from an album on where else but Big Legal Mess ::
Ironing Board Sam's Return (short documentary) from Tom Ciaburri on Vimeo.
