All rise again (Blackberry Smoke) (LP 770)

Blackberry Smoke  You Hear Georgia (Vinyl, 3 Legged Records, 2021) *** 

Genre: Southern rock 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi (Palmerston North)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: All Over The Road

Gear costume: Live It Down

Active compensatory factors: The boys do another good job on this their seventh album. I have the other six on CD and so it's nice to finally get one on vinyl.

The songs aim for a lot more variety this time around - Ain't The Same leans towards country-rock, Lonesome For A Living embraces country and Hey Delilah owes a debt to Little Feat and clearly Oh Atlanta was the blueprint. These guys aren't Little Feat though so it doesn't quite work for me.

The familiar southern rock style of Blackberry Smoke is also present and correct (Live It Down).

Where do they all belong? That's it for Blackberry Smoke. Will I buy any more of their albums? I'm not sure, to tell the truth. I feel they are moving slowly towards all round entertainer status or Zac Brown country style pop/rock  but if they do another song like Let It Burn, then you betcha - I'll get back onboard.

Living in the song (Blackberry Smoke) (LP 661 - 664)

Blackberry Smoke  The Whippoorwill (CD, Earache Records, 2013) ****

Blackberry Smoke  Leave A Scar Live - North Carolina (CD, Earache Records, 2014) ****

Blackberry Smoke  Holding All The Roses (CD, Earache Records, 2015) ****

Blackberry Smoke  Find A Light (CD, Earache Records, 2018) ****

Genre: Southern Rock

Places I remember: HMV (Oxford St., East Croyden)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: One Horse Town

Gear costume: Holding All The Roses, Pretty Little Lie, I'll Keep Ramblin'

Active compensatory factors: I've decided to hoover up all the remaining* albums on CD by these southern boys (from Atlanta) as they pretty much cover the same ground - good ole southern rock'n'countryroll.

That's possibly the only quibble I've got. Charlie Starr is the band's songwriter/vocalist and if anything, the band needs a different look at times.

That's only a minor quibble though - Charlie is the real deal; he writes brilliant songs and his singing is great.

The highlights are liberally sprinkled through the studio albums (the band's third, fourth, and sixth) and Leave A Scar Live - North Carolina is a live double album and DVD package that sums up the band's early years well.

Where do they all belong? *I've already written about their 2016 album Like An Arrow - another 4 starr effort - the bar is consistently set high, and their latest studio album (number 7) is coming to Goo Goo when I get to the vinyl collection again.

Best seat in the house (Blackberry Smoke) (LP 537)

Blackberry Smoke The Southern Ground Sessions  (Vinyl, 3 Legged Records/ Earache Records, 2018) ***

Genre: American pop/rock

Places I remember: Fopp (Covent Garden)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Run Away From It All

Gear costume: You Got Lucky, Let Me Down Easy 

Active compensatory factors: It's hard to tell whether this three song a side record is an EP, a mini album or an album. There are no clues on the cover. I'm calling it an album. So there!

The songs are obviously from a batch of acoustic songs that don't quite fit on yer usual electric Blackberry Smoke albums so it makes sense to release them on this stand alone album.

There is a pleasant relaxed looseness on show here with studio patter included before these obviously successful takes. 

Two of the six songs feature Amanda Shires' vocals and fiddle playing. She's great too!

Where do they all belong? Much more to come from Blackberry Smoke on CD.

Let it burn (Blackberry Smoke) (LP 262)

Blackberry Smoke Like An Arrow (CD - 3 Legged Records, 2016) ****

Genre: American pop/rock 

Places I remember: HMV East Croydon 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Waiting For The Thunder  (lead track and first single off the album)




Gear costume: Let It Burn

Active compensatory factors: My first taste of Blackberry Smoke was Later...with Jools Holland and the song Let It Burn. 

Being a sucker for down home southern flavoured rock, I was captivated from the off. 

There are hints of The Allman Brothers, Zac Brown Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd along the way but only that - hints. There are enough distinctive edges to make Blackberry Smoke stand alone (love the name too - very evocative and rootsy).

Bottom line: Charlie Starr has one of rock's great voices and he gets mean support from his bros.

Where do they all belong? This was also my first purchase from HMV, well - this, and three other Blackberry Smoke albums. For some reason none of them are available in NZ, so I splurged!