Beyond 1969 – Back To The Blues
Self-Release – 2025
10 tracks; 43 minutes
Beyond 1969 is a four piece band featuring Tom ‘The Suit’ Forst on guitar and vocals, Tony Delisio on bass and vocals, Jeff Bousfield on keys and Bryan Caudle on drums. Although the band started out doing covers of ‘Hippie era’ music (“Get ready for a far out experience”), this latest album is all-original, Tom the main writer, Tony chipping in with two songs.
Tom and Tony are both credited with lead vocals, so it is not possible to say who is singing which song. Opener “I’m Never Gonna Leave You” is quite a heavy track, mainly from the core riff and plenty of hefty soloing from Tom, placing the track firmly in the Blues-Rock category; an uncredited sax player adds a solo towards the end. Issues around relationships feature heavily in the lyrics, that opener being about a controlling man, “Feels So Good To Feel So Bad” also being about relationships that are really not good but we hold on despite that. This tune is more of a rock ballad and the keys shine through, the vocalist delivers the lyrics convincingly. More problematic relationships in “Consolation Man”, the guy still ready to carry on, despite being abused by the woman, rather the reverse of many such songs, Tom’s guitar work standing out.
The title cut “Coming Back To The Blues” has a bouncy rhythm and is certainly closer to the blues than the preceding three cuts, though the guitar tricks were not to this reviewer’s taste. The stripped-back “I’m Not Over You Yet” has despairing lyrics about a failed relationship, the echoey vocals over a repeating riff an interesting contrast to most of the album’s heavier sound. “Darkest Before The Dawn” is a co-write between Tom and Tony with a stop-start rhythm. When you see the title “Goin’ Down” you inevitably think of Don Nix’s tune made famous by Freddie King, but this is Tom’s song, a semi-acoustic tune with mysterious lyrics, something of a meeting with the Devil at the crossroads moment.
The last three tracks are all full band performances. The mystery sax player is back on “If I Stay With You Tonight”, the catchy tune driven by the swirling organ and an infectious rhythm while “It’s My Own Damn Fault” finds the guy having an affair with a married woman, lyrically a little reminiscent of Robert Cray’s “Right Next Door”, a slow tune with the organ featuring strongly and Tom adding some quirky guitar. The final track was written by Tony, “When It All Falls Down” being a solid rocker with lyrics about the need to keep a balanced view of the world.
There is little or no actual traditional blues here, but if you enjoy original blues-rock there should be something of interest to you on this album.
