Mick Simpson – Changing Times
Mad Ears Productions
10 tracks/47 minutes
Mick Simpson is a great UK session guitarist and musician who went out on his own a decade and a half ago. This is his fifth studio album. Seven original songs and three unique covers are featured here on this CD.
Simpson handles guitar and lead vocals and Andy Littlewood adds backing vocals and plays keyboards. Vic Martin also plays keys and Pete Nelson handles drums and percussion.
The opening song is the great Randy Newman song “Louisiana 1927,” a song many of us remember from Marcia Ball after Hirrican Katrina. Here Simpson turns it into a big guitar cut with stinging guitar and passionate vocals. Great job! “Deeper Than The Blues” follows, a big blues rock guitar cut with big guitar and soulful vocals.
Another original follows, “Fall Back Down,” which again features some big electric guitar licks. We get some dobro and electric guitar from Mick on “Changing Time” with some distortion on the vocals and stomping and clapping to help drive the cut. It’s all about stamping out the hate in our society, another great piece.
“All Our Tomorrow’s” has an intro to this big instrumental that hearkens to George Harrison’s :While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Big, solid guitar that rings brightly and forthrightly. Rock blues lovers of electric guitar will eat this up. More big guitar is featured on “Now That The Magic Has Gone,” a Joe Cocker tune that Simpson turns into his brand of rock blues.
“Feel Like Going Home” is an old Charlie Rich tune that Simpson turns into a blues rock anthem. Big organ and bigger guitar ring true. The original “These Three Words” is another blues rocker with big guitar anthem like licks and stratospheric sound. “Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” features acoustic guitar and is a rock blues ballad that Simpson sings with emotion. He adds electric slide to good effect, too. The last cut is “Love Walks Away,” again featuring bug guitar and lots of effects. The organ behind the guitar adds to the guitar anthem theme; it’s an instrumental that will have the rock blues lovers on the edge of their seats.
This album features lots and lots of guitar licks. Simpson plays with feeling and lays it all out there. It is certainly big time rock blues and gear head guitar lovers will go wild for it. Mick is a great guitarist, an excellent singer and I think all rock blues lovers will find this to their liking!
