Fred Hostetler – Blues Back Pages
Mukthiland Records
11 Tracks – 46 minutes
Fred’s career started in the 60’s. In 1974, he did backing vocals for Johnny Winter on his Jonathon Dawson Winters album. In 1977, he provided percussion for Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic. In that same year, Fred refused to sign a contract with Max’s Kansas City Records. He continued session work as a backing vocalist for many artists including The Knack and for Graham Parker on his debut album Another Grey Area where Eric Troyer also performed with him on backing vocals. In addition, he wrote songs for Billy Squier (“Who Knows What Love Can Do?”), Jeff Beck (“Back on the Street”) and others.
In the early 2000’s, Fred moved to India where he joined an ashram and provided voluntary services. He returned to the US and his musical career in 2017 and now has released eight consecutive years of releases. he felt that some of his earlier work, particularly his blues songs, had been lost. Those songs became the framework for this album. Fred performs all lead vocals on the album with his friend Eric Troyer providing keyboards and vocals on five tracks and Robbie Cribbs doing the same on the remaining tracks.
He opens with “Hey Corporate Vandals” asking companies to “give a working man some room to breathe” and asks, “why do you have to have it all”. A cover of Mose Allison’s 1967 “Your Mind is on Vacation” also identifies “your mouth is working overtime”. “Taming the Wolf” is an autobiographical tale featuring the sound of Howlin’ Wolf echoing in his background. He cites “he grew up in a small town in Indiana…listening to the blues” “I played the blues in an all-white town. The elders spoke out. Son, you let us down. I said wait a minute now, don’t go so fast. You folks is living somewhere in the past. Can’t you see I’m taming the wolf inside of me and I am that I am and on my way to blues heaven.”
Fred’s slide guitar leads on the next three songs. He declares that he has “been drinking the water from a “Deep Deep Well” and notes he is walkin’ down the road “destination unknown”. Next, he sings about a personal loss. “At 3 AM in the morning I sat straight up in bed. I heard the telephone ringing, ringing in my head. When the phone rings after midnight, you know the news ain’t good. Well, something happening somewhere you better knock-on wood.” “I picked up the phone and a voice told me your mother has passed on.” I got the “Orphan Blues”. He seeks “Shelter from the Storm” and cites “I hear the wind howlin’ whispering through the trees…I’m lucky I ain’t dead”.
A cover of Bill Wither’s 1971 “Ain’t No Sunshine” is next. He states, “I just can’t stop worrying about “What’s Ahead and What’s Behind”. ” I got troubles up and down my mind. Karen Lawrence who has been a collaborator with Fred over the years wrote “Rain on My Window Pane” which cites “the sky is so dark it looks like Judgment Day”, but “when my love comes back, the sun is going to shine”. “New Man” comes out rocking with electric guitar and horns, a stark change in the musical voyage to this point as he notes “I came back and picked up my good old Stratocaster” and “there is so much more to life”. He closes the album with a declaration that “You Found Me” “when I was lost in the world around me”.
Fred’s vocals are comfortable but somewhat weathered. His instrumentals are constantly intriguing. Both making for a very worthwhile listen.
