Randy Lee Riviere – Concrete Blues
Wilderness Records
12 Tracks – 48 minutes
Randy Lee Riviere is a wildlife biologist involved in large-scale efforts working to protect and restore important elements of the Native American landscape. He has been involved in a leadership role in protecting over 40,000 acres of wildlife habitat with permanent conservation easements. The title of this album refers to the impacts of dams on watersheds in Western America. He cites an example of over 1300 dams in California blocking river flow for the usage in Metropolitan areas.
Music has been an equal part of Randy’s life. He splits his time between a home in Montana and one outside of Nashville. His songs reflect his love of the natural landscapes, but also focus on the human condition today. Randy says he is a country boy at heart, but he gravitates to the 60’s and 70’s rock bands, particularly ZZ Tops “Tres Hombres” album. The album was produced by Tom Hambridge, who also plays drums, percussion and adds backing vocals for the album. Randy plays guitar and provides the lead vocals. The remainder of the band is Kenny Greenberg and Bob Britt sharing duty on guitar, Stephen Mackey and Robert Kearns sharing on bass, and Mike Rojas on keyboards.
The album opens with “Mania” with a certain discordant sound reflecting a rise in his behavior as he asks, “Do you want my mania?” “The Wayside” moves to a more conventional sound as Randy’s gruff vocals discusses a man “who nearly died, don’t talk much about politics”. “No one gave him nothing, got no family tie.” “Change is Strange” offers the advice that we must “move on”. The guitars shine here, and Mike’s keyboards are featured, but lyrically it offers mostly a single repetitive statement.
He is “just living out here alone and “Just Trying To get Back Home” in a light-weight boogie. “Magic Bullet” lets the guitars cut loose and the music gets an up-tempo rhythm that would fit ZZ Top. The song seeks a magic bullet that would correct the world’s problems. He declares he has a “Stranger in My Head” as he slows things down with a touch of country and cites “I spend all day drinking and smoking”.
On “Thanksgiving”, he repetitively cries “Liar, if it’s Thanksgiving you want” in an intense rocking song. “Moccasin Lake” offers a step “down to the swamp” and presents a haunting story of an implied murder. As cited earlier, “Concrete Blues” is an environmental song about the impacts of dams on nature with a burning slide guitar and Mike’s piano offering an interlude.
“Sail On Big John” is a tribute to an unidentified person named “Big John” who “can make America strong, say what they want you to say”. Tom Toms give the feel of an Indian chant against the piano and driving guitars. “It’ll Be Alright” slows things down again with a quiet piano backing a vocal from Randy that shifts from the whiskey-voiced that is present through the earlier songs into a deep, but here is smooth and even captivating as he gives reassurances. The final track, “Drive”, features Mike on the B3 and piano with Randy layering in the guitar.
As noted throughout, Randy’s voice is very rough sounding and only on the last two tracks is much range or variation offered. Similarly, again with exception of a couple tracks, the lyrics are simple and mostly repetitive sometimes escaping a clarity of what was intended to be represented. The strength of the album lies in the band’s instrumental work. The guitars and Mike’s keyboard work stands out with a solid backing from Tom’s drums and the bass player’s efforts. The album probably falls somewhere in between blues rock and Americana with some songs being just conventional rock.
