G.G. Shinn
You Can Never Keep A Good Man Down
(Sound Of New Orleans)
Burton Gaar
Mighty Long Road
(Louisiana Red Hot Records)
Where have all the good songwriters gone? Former Boogie Kings leader G.G. Shinn is a natural, likeable supper-club blues talent with a unique voice and good interpretive skills. So why is he working on the umpteenth version of “Two Steps From The Blues,” “Leave My Kitten Alone,” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” and with a torpid, cookie-cutter production that sounds as flat as a dollar beer?
It’s not that he doesn’t have a great band behind him. Allen Poche steps up to the massive task of reproducing those legendary “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” fills like a man, and the Canal Boulevard Horns flow like Tupelo honey all over these 14 tracks, testifying to Shinn’s emotions like a fat and happy gospel choir. G.G. is in great form as well, his airy, backhome tenor exploding in righteous fury on “Kitten” and bitter regret on “You Hurt Me.” The most agonizing thing about You Can Never Keep A Good Man Down is how Shinn is obviously working in conditions below his level of expertise: not just a good man is being kept down here. Still, for pure swamp-pop jollies, you won’t find a more honest album this year.
Which is more than can be said for former Boogie Kings bassist Burton Gaar, who doesn’t even approach those heights on his third album, Mighty Long Road; this is shuffle-and-stomp of the most ordinary variety. Even the occasional slight surprises, like the full-soul chorus peeking its brilliantined head into the dirty back room of “Homewrecker” or that fat guitar crunching into the opening of “Somebody Broke My Lock,” aren’t enough: they quickly evaporate once the mediocrity walks back in. Oh, they wail, especially Tim Gonzalez’ harp on the title track, but all in all, this is nothing you couldn’t hear in your local bar on a weekday night. Burton, who wrote all 13 tracks, simply has nothing to say, and unlike G.G., doesn’t even sound all that interesting saying it. Maybe we need yet another Boogie Kings reunion?
