Albert Castiglia – Righteous Souls
Gulf Coast Records – 2024
11 tracks; 57 minutes
After two albums in partnership with Mike Zito and the Blood Brothers band, Albert Castiglia returns with one of his strongest releases yet. Recorded at Kid Andersen’s studio, the core band is made up of Greaseland regulars: Jim Pugh on keys, Jerry Jemmott on bass, Derrick ‘D’Mar’ Martin on drums, Jon Otis on percussion, Jack Sanford on baritone sax, Eddie Tarczy on harpsichord, Lisa Andersen on backing vocals and husband Kid on guitars, bass, keys and engineering/production duties. On top of that already formidable line-up there are a host of guest appearances, including seven additional guitarists! Albert wrote four originals and covers two of his former mentor Junior Wells’ tunes, as well as a good range of other sources. The music ranges from the strong blues-rock that we associate with Albert to straight blues and soul, several songs containing an emotional ‘hit’, all contributing to a fine release.
The originals start with a bang as Albert and Popa Chubby exchange riffs on the hard rocking original “Centerline”, a song that gives the album its title: “The path to righteousness ain’t so damned easy, in this world you do the best you can. Helping out my sister and brother, time to find that centerline, that peace of mind, on the centerline”. Kevin Burt and Jerry Jemmott contributed to the anthemic “Mama I Love You”, Kevin also sharing the vocals with Albert; look out for Jim Pugh’s superb piano and Albert’s soaring solo feature. Ally Venable plays wah-wah guitar on the fast-paced “Till They Take It Away”, a song that references concerns about the threats to the climate; “A quick race to the bottom, coming for me, coming for you, what gave them the right? You don’t miss it till they take it away”. “No Tears Left To Cry” is a stripped-back number with acoustic guitar and slide, Gary Hoey the invited axeman here.
Albert pays tribute to his former employer, Junior Wells, with Rick Estrin on harp on both cuts: “Come On In This House” is the better known tune, Albert delivering the familiar lyrics convincingly. This is the longest track on the album and again features Jim Pugh’s piano and Rick taking his time on harp, Albert getting in on the act with a stinging solo. The less well-known “What My Momma Told Me” closes the album in rousing style as Monster Mike Welch shares guitar duties with Albert as Rick lays down harp lines very much in Junior’s style. Alabama Mike shares the vocals on Luther ‘Snake Boy’ Johnson’s upbeat shuffle “Down To The Nitty Gritty” and Josh Smith joins in on a guitar-heavy cover of Buddy Guy’s “The Dollar Done Fell”.
There are many covers of Willie Dixon’s “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” and this is certainly a good one, Albert sharing the vocals with his daughter, Rayne Glaze, with Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram adding some attractive guitar flourishes and the pair duelling well on the outro. Albert takes us into soul territory with ZZ Hill’s “You Were Wrong”, the tune expertly driven by D’Mar’s drumming, Jimmy Carpenter adding rocking sax and Albert a fine solo. Perhaps the best surprise of all here is the song furthest from straight blues, a simply magnificent reading of Rick Danko and Eric Clapton’s “All Our Past Times”, a song that appeared on Clapton’s 1976 album No Reason To Cry. This is a stunning version, all the band on great form, Albert sharing guitar duties with Joe Bonamassa and delivering an excellent vocal in partnership with Danielle Nicole.
As a self-confessed fan of Albert Castiglia, I have to say that this is one of his best releases yet, not a weak track anywhere, fine performances from band and guests and a great selection of covers alongside the originals.
