Kevin Burt & Big Medicine – Thank You Brother Bill: A Tribute to Bill Withers
https://www.gulfcoastrecords.net/
13 songs – 53 minutes
Kevin Burt has been thrilling audiences from his home base in Iowa for better than 25 years with a soulful delivery that’s beyond compare, and he hits the high notes with the stellar CD, which should finally give him the international acclaim he deserves. It’s a deep dive into the catalog of soul-blues master Bill Withers, one of his primary influences.
Possessing a powerfully warm, smooth and relaxed mid-range voice that’s perfectly suited for the material, Kevin puts new life into a dozen of the songwriting legend’s tunes – many of which have worked their way into the American songbook – and adds a loving tribute to his idol, too.
As he explains in the liner notes: “Listening to Bill Withers…sing a song instantly attaches itself to my soul. His story relates to my story. His songs relate to different points in time in my life like no other as an artist. I hope to someday have an impact on someone else’s world the way Mr. Withers has had an impact on mine.”
A self-taught musician, actor and road dog who’s an inductee of the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame, Burt plays more than 300 dates a year. He captured this set at the Sound Box Recording Studio in Cedar Rapids. He accompanies himself on guitar and harp here with backing from his regular band, Big Medicine, which is composed of Ken Valdez on lead and rhythm six-string, Scot Sutherland on bass and Eric Douglas on percussion. And they cook steadily in support throughout while giving Kevin plenty of space to shine.
The depth of Burt’s affection for the material is evident from the opening notes of “Who Is He (and What Is He to You?,” a number that first appeared on the “Still Bill” album in 1972, was featured in the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown and has remained in regular circulation on the airwaves ever since. It features a deep, funky beat and a biting mid-tune guitar solo. A solitary drumbeat and brief harp run open “Kissing My Love,” which appeared as the first cut on the B-side of the LP, and professes eternal affection for a lady. And Kevin works out on the reeds mid-tune, too.
The sound level drops but the intensity remains the same for “World Keeps Going Round and Round,” a slow-paced number that stresses no matter how many roadblocks or successes you’ve enjoyed, the globe keeps spinning and more are on the horizon. The Withers-penned “Just the Two of Us” – which was a monster hit for Grover Washington Jr. – follows before Kevin delivers the bittersweet ballad, “I’m Her Daddy,” in which a man discovers six years later that he’s a father and peppers the mother about the child.
You’ll love Burt’s version of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” the 1971 song produced by Booker T. Jones that hit the No. 3 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart and launched Withers into the stratosphere, and “Lean on Me,” which follows and ranks No. 208 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all-time. The light-and-airy “Let Us Love” features more reed work throughout and yields to the cautionary “Another Day to Run,” which advises taking a good look and correct yourself or else you’ll be repeating the same mistakes for all time.
Three more Withers standards — “Grandma’s Hands,” “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh,” and “Hope She’ll Be Happier” – follow before the album closes with the original, “Thank You Brother Bill,” which states: “There would be so many holes in the souls if your music wasn’t here to fill.” Kevin cleverly incorporates many of the titles of the songs that preceded this one in his works of gratitude.
Run, don’t walk to acquire this one. It’s a winner on all counts!
