Wicked Cool 2024
A Beatle’s lieutenant locates timelessness in a sonic settlement of his own singles.
My Town
Upon discovering that this artist is 69 years old, one may wonder where Brian Ray hangs his Dorian Blond portrait, yet upon listening to his solo platter number three, nobody will have any mystery to solve, as the veteran musician sounds just as youthful as he looks, rendering it all a mere state of mind and soul. There’s no surprise, then, in Ray’s harnessing of heartfelt psychedelia here, something which made him a perfect cohort for Paul McCartney – the position Brian’s been holding for more than two decades now – and Etta James’ musical director earlier, the stints not leaving the veteran a lot of time for a solo career, so his choice to launch a series of vinyl 45s in 2019 eventually proved wise. Collected in a single place and augmented with fresh cuts, most of those sides form a riveting album where their writer’s many talents shine ever so brightly as to stun the listener by a kaleidoscope of melodies and performances.
“My Town” is not the kind of place for protracted guitar passages to dwell, although there’s quite a few riffs and figures to charm the audience, like on “Pirate Radio” that adds brass to Brian’s licks; instead, this platter is a playground for arresting arrangements, occasionally hinting at raga. If infectious opener “When The Earth Was Round” keeps it half-hidden in the swirl of verses, refrains and Morse code, the record’s finale “All The While” takes the lysergic angle to the fore and offers an adventurous mini-epic that reveals a wider panorama of Ray’s skills as multi-instrumentalist equally adept at playing guitar, bass and various ivories and, of course, at singing and penning alluring, jest-infested lyrics. Namechecking movie villains – Freddy Krueger, Tony Montana et al – in a Little Steven co-write “Bad 4U” would be enough for lesser mortals, but the album’s mayor went beyond the obvious and invited Marquis Des Barres, who played the “MacGyver” evildoer, to work together and lend his voice to the molasses-esque “Spell Breaker” which rolls another list of screen heroes to follow the only cover on display, “I Ain’t Superstitious” which carries Gia Ciambotti raspy vocals to catharsis and also shows her host’s blues expertise.
With a mighty rumble giving “Here For You” a garage edge and allowing Ray to announce “A brand new adventure begins today” and engage in frantic rapture, and with celestial harmonies floating “Got A New Thing” which Abe Laboriel Jr’s drums drive to delirium, a desire to catch one’s breath amidst these groovy classic-rock pieces is really optional. It’s possible on the exhilarating “On My Way To You” that’s generously sprinkled with Brian’s piano ripples and on the invigorating “Hold Me Close” that flaunts a sweet chorus Ray’s primary employer will approve of, yet it’s best to savor the aural delicacies without thinking of such trivialities as breathing. The microcosm of “My Town” has a special, life-affirming atmosphere, after all.
*****
