Album Club 03.01.2012 : Calvin Russell - A Crack In Time

[Bazil]

I had never heard of this guy until his death was flagged up on a forum last year, accompanied by this video http://youtu.be/5yngIMszdK8 (not on this album). I was immediately hooked by his vocal and inquired which album to buy first.



Crack in Time (1990)- Russell's debut at the age of 41.
http://open.spotify.com/album/7pJIl29QrKNxGDhVYqxnYT


Not well known in his native USA, Calvin Russell made a career touring the continent and releasing albums on a French label.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_...%28musician%29
"My Way" track 6 (not the Sinatra song) has become my favorite "last one before bed" a real winding down over a malt song.



Calvin Russell 1948-2011

[Tim]

I'm quite enjoying this, never heard of him before. Not sure I would buy it at the moment, but I will certainly give it a second listen and vote after that - bit of ZZ Top in there too

[The Grand Wazoo]

I've played this a couple of times today (amongst a whole lot of other albums) and my initial impression is that I quite like it. I spotted the ZZ Top analogy of Tim's straight away on track 2. But the rest of it mostly reminded me of Grant Lee Phillips / Grant Lee Buffalo, who I like a lot, so this album had a fairly easy ride.

Not so dark sounding as Grant Lee, but a similar sort of style. I'm not convinced I'll be buying it yet, but a few more plays may change that.
Is this his best album then Barry?

[Bazil]

Not so dark sounding as Grant Lee, but a similar sort of style. I'm not convinced I'll be buying it yet, but a few more plays may change that.
Is this his best album then Barry?

That was the question I asked and was told his debut album was excellent and its always best to start at the beginning. I've since bought the 2nd which has the excellent "Crossroads" (see you tube vid in OP) on it but IMO its not as good as Crack in Time.
I have vinyl copies which are extremely hard to come by, both s/h and from Germany.

[Bazil]

Been surfing to get a bit more info, it seems his 1st (Crack) is highly regarded and the track Crossroads as I've mentioned gets a lot of praise. Being very much a performer his 3 live albums are all relatively big sellers.

[Alex_UK]

I'd never heard of him, to be honest... I played it yesterday, and after track 2 especially, had to play Eliminator straight after! . I'll give it another spin today before giving it marks out of 10, but I quite like it.

[MartinT]

I'm liking this a lot, the feel and atmosphere as well as his singing are quality. The ZZ Top connection in track 2 is clear, but there is more to it than that, with depth and some great slow numbers.

[MartinT]

A firm 8/10 from me and I've ordered a copy

[Bazil]

A firm 8/10 from me and I've ordered a copy

Nice one Martin, what do you think of "My Way"?

[MartinT]

Nice one Martin, what do you think of "My Way"?

It's one of those great slow burners, isn't it? I also like Big Brother. It's a consistently good album.

Just listening on Spotify, I can tell that this is a good dynamic recording. Can't wait to get the CD but wish I could have found an LP.