Dudley Taft – Summer Rain | Album Review

Dudley Taft – Summer Rain

www.dudleytaft.com

American Blues Artists Group Label

11 songs time-52:31

Think Deep Purple without the organ pyrotechnics, Blackmore’s Rainbow, Golden Earring, a touch of Robin Trower or any of the 70’s hard rock guitar centered bands. Then have I got a guy for you. Dudley Taft is the name and crazy raging guitars is his game. Heavy killer chords, distortion, wah-wah, fuzz pedals…Pick your poison. His youthful sounding rock and roll hero voice doesn’t jive with his outlaw-hillbilly look. You get meaningful lyrics and sometimes it’s “lyrics smirics”. His rhythm sections supplies the necessary muscle to power this hard rockin’ beast. Reese Wynans of Stevie Ray Vaughn fame provides organ.

Spacey guitar kicks off “Fly On Love”. I have no idea what “Dark Blue Star” is all about, but it doesn’t really matter here in guitar-land. Trade mark Robin Trower “floaty” guitar permeates “Live Or Die” along with some heavy beat you over the head drums. “Edge Of Insane” comes off sounding like Deep Purple with the emphasis on guitar over organ. Acoustic guitar fights it out with an electric on the dreamy “Moonbeam”. It also features a bit of some nicely textured slide guitar.

If you are a card carrying air guitar geek just drop your ears anywhere on this disc and you’ll find yourself in the mist of guitar nirvana. The guitars are heavier than Popa Chubby on “Come With Me” as opposed to the slow, pensive and deliberate guitar on “I Lost My Way”. “Find My Way Home” crunches along with acoustic guitar mingling with electric. It probably has one of the better set of lyrics. The title track “Summer Rain” features melodic string bending in a lovely stylized rock setting.

If you miss the guitar glory of the seventies you can bask in this album and bring back memories of Uriah Heap and such cosmic guitar-drenched rock gods. Dudley does do right on the guitar(pun intended). Thundering drums and bass propel this powerful music. Ok the words can tend to dwell a tad on the rock and roll cliché side, but it’s all in the spirit of good rockin’ fun. Ok sports fans, break out those air guitars and knock yourselves out.

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