REVIEWS
OF 'Rebel Radio' (2001- 2002)
We
have several French reviews of Calvin's last CD, 'Rebel
Radio',
released in 2001-2002. Thanks to Kelley Smoot for providing
these French
articles.
REBEL
RADIO REVIEWS: PAGE ONE
REBEL
RADIO REVIEWS: PAGE TWO
REVIEWS
OF 'In Spite of it All' (2005) CD:
From
MailOrder News, Blue
Rose Records:
CALVIN
RUSSELL is a musical storyteller who turns sounds into pictures
and lyrics
into emotions. His blues-soaked tracks describe the adventures
of the
free life, document his yearning for independence and symbolise
the vulnerability
that a sensitive spirit like his inevitably suffers from. Yet
his new
album, 'In Spite Of It All', sounds clearly
more optimistic
than his 2001 offering, 'Rebel Radio'. “If you
always choose the same path the wolf is going to get you sooner
or later,”
is his philosophy on the subject of diversity.
Russell has a penchant not only for melancholy blues tunes, but
also for
rock music, particularly of the sort that the Rolling Stones
specialised
in during the early Seventies. Every rock music buff’s heart
beats
faster when Calvin Russell goes into ‘Voodoo River’ or ‘Just
Like L.A.’ with their clattering drums, raw riffs and
mercilessly
roaring rock guitars. These two songs in particular express his
fascination
for the Wild West the way he encountered it during his repeated
travels
through the desert between Texas and California. Russell’s
modesty
when he documents his own humble needs in ‘All I Need’ also
stems from these experiences. “I’m a lazy dog,” he says,
explaining his attitude of taking life in his stride.
'In Spite Of It All' shows Calvin Russell as
one of America’s
authentic songwriters who carries his heart on his tongue and
reveals
every corner of his big soul to his fans. Marked by life in the
exciting
Sixties and colourful Seventies, his unconditional pragmatism is
omnipresent.
“I just wanna live till I die,” he sings (‘Live Till
I Die’), looks back on his eventful life (‘In Spite Of It
All’) and closes the album with ‘Cans’, a heart-rending,
melancholy slow blues number: “Homeless, helpless, hopeless, I
guess
IŽd be penniless unless I found beer cans, coke cans, all
kinds”,
he laments, summing up the part of his earthly existence that he
spent
in poverty and inner conflict.
|
REVIEWS
OF 'In Spite of it All' (2005) CD:
From
Michael Mee, NetRhythms.co.uk:
If
you like
your music slick, nicely packaged and sterile then you'll be
mighty disappointed
by Calvin Russell's 'In Spite Of It All'
because this
is music of the the real life, untamed rock 'n' roller.
Born in 1948 he picked up a guitar at aged 12, a year later he
was playing
in a band fittingly called The Cavemen.
He spent the 80s living the life of a vagabond, including a
spell in a
Mexican jail. On his release he 'upgraded' to the dirt space
underneath
a house in Old Clarkesville as he attempted to launch his
musical career.
In many ways Calvin Russell is a musician out of his time. Not
only has
he lived the life of a character from a Hemingway novel or a
Woody Guthrie
song, he clings tenaciously to the belief that music needs guts
more than
it needs soul.
This uncompromising approach is as much a product of his Texan
environment
as a career choice. A child who lives by the sea learns to swim,
a boy
who loves music and is from Texas plays wild country blues.
Russell walks
a parallel path to Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark etc., musically
they differ,
spiritually they are hewn from the same granite.
Even in his late 50s the rebellious streak is strong in Calvin
Russell,
like Iggy Pop there is no allowance for age, no dimming of the
raging
fire that fuels his music. And, like Pop, when you play as well
and as
committed as Russell does then age truly is just a number.
'In Spite Of It All' is full of hard-driving
riffs, it's
rock foundations are solid and immovable. Songs like Live Till I
Die are
rooted in Russell's life and experience. It mirrors and reflects
his apparent
obsession with being open to, and absorbing, every musical and
life influence.
It makes for music without fear and, when he sings' he's the
President
and I don't care' it's not just a line from a song it's a
statement of
intent.
While the spirit of Calvin Russell remains defiantly unbroken
and 'In
Spite Of It All' is mainly a glorious white knuckle
ride, Over
and Over reveals the man behind it all. ' It takes a lot to get
excited
these days and all of my fun habits got too big in price to pay'
are the
bitingly honest words of a man who has taken stock of a life
lived well
if not always wisely, a colourful past comes with a price tag.
Calvin Russell is one of those rare musical treasures, a
musician willing
to reveal what lies beneath the skin and the rough-edged,
roughouse 'In
Spite Of It All' leaves no stone unturned.
From
Pete Smith, TEXAS
TWISTER RADIO & RECORDS:
Calvin Russell describes himself as “An outlaw rock and roll
soldier
fighting sorrow in modern times”. That is an apt description for
a singer / writer who has more than paid his dues. The sixth of
nine children
born to a short order cook and a waitress, Calvin knew at first
hand what
hard times and poverty were. After learning guitar at the age of
twelve
he played rhythm with the Cavemen a year later. A spell in
juvenile correction
was followed by goal then a spell of wandering across Texas
writing about
the world as he saw it. More prison, then sleeping underneath a
house
in Old Clarkesville after he had finished his evenings hanging
out in
the drinks and drug dens inhabited by fellow struggling writers.
Today,
after several albums, Calvin is basically the same guy. He still
writes
urban poetry putting his own inimitable slant on his raw,
laconic views
of life.
The new album “In Spite Of It All” (SPV)
is hard hitting country boogie with Russell expressing his no
holds barred
opinions on the President (“Oval Room”), how to live life
(“Live Till I Die”) and what hell is really like (“Just
Like L.A.”). The last track, “Cans”, runs for almost
eight minutes but is really two tracks in one. The song,
featuring some
really awesome guitar work, is following by a short break then
an equally
short instrumental then after another break Russell’s unique
take
on the Frankie Laine classic “Rawhide”. Not an album for the
dyed-in-the-wool but if you are into Texas singer / writers they
don’t
come better than Calvin Russell.
|
