Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Roy Rogers – Into the Wild Blue

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This CD review was originally published in the June 11, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Roy Rogers – Into the Wild Blue | Album Review

Self Release through Chops not Chaps Records

www.roy-rogers.com

11 tracks / 42:09

Grammy Award-winner Roy Rogers has worked hard on his way to the top to become the premier slide guitarist in blues music today. He has a history that most other guitarists can only dream of, having played with luminaries of the industry such as John Lee Hooker, Steve Miller, B.B. King, and the Doors’ Ray Manzarek. But his fretboard talents are not his only skill, as he is also a master songwriter, which can be heard in his 12th solo release, Into the Wild Blue.

Fans have been waiting five years for a new Roy Rogers solo disc, and Into the Wild Blue does not disappoint. He spent the last year writing the music, and most of the eleven tracks were laid down in just four days. This self-produced album includes a cast of awesome musicians that teamed up with him. On this effort, Rogers took care of the guitars and vocals, and he was joined by Steve Ehrmann on bass, Kevin Hayes behind the drum kit, and Jim Pugh on the keys.

Things get started on a fun note with “Last Go-Around,” a peppy tune with jangly slide playing galore. It is a lot more amicable than most songs about break-ups, and is well arranged with a full sound and a danceable beat. This is followed up by “Don’t You Let Them Win” which brings a world beat with some nice stringed-harp from guest artist Carlos Reyes, who brings his expertise to a half dozen tracks on this release. There is also a tasteful bit of Hammond B3 courtesy of Pugh, and a funky drum break from Hayes.

“Got to Believe” is the best vocal track on Into the Wild Blue, with Rogers’ inimitable voice, and lovely backing vocals from Omega Rae. Reyes brings his violin into the mix, giving the song a spooky aura over its Afro-Cuban beat. This is one of the tracks that highlight what a fine job they did in the studio and behind the mixing board. All of the parts are perfectly balanced and to the listener it clicks just perfectly. This is rare for self-produced albums, and the attention to detail is much appreciated.

This set also includes a handful of instrumentals, and they are just killer in every respect. They mostly defy efforts to shoehorn them into any one category as they have elements of blues, rock, jazz, and country. But the unifying theme is they are all truly original and played with consummate skill. “Dackin’” and “High Steppin’” are both righteous jams with stout backlines, plenty of organ and incredible guitar lines from Rogers. And then there is the title track, which is extremely ambitious. “Into the Wild Blue” has a foundation of piano and fat bass, and an intricate interplay between Reyes’ harp and Roy’s six-string. This is definitely one of the standout tracks on the album, even though it almost falls into the jazz/easy listening camp. The band should be proud of the work they put in here!

The album ends with a one last instrumental, “Song for Robert (A Brother’s Lament),” which is a tribute to Roy’s younger brother who passed away last year. But rather than being a sad song, this beautiful coda is melodic and intricate, yet still joyful. Reyes’ stringed harp is an appropriate counterpoint to Roy’s heartfelt slide work. You can truly feel the love here, and it is a wonderful testimony to the brothers’ relationship.

Into the Wild Blue was well worth the wait, and it is great to hear that Roy Rogers is still at the top of his game. This well-produced album is a collection of different genres that are thoughtfully sequenced into a cohesive whole, so it would be a disservice to just cherry-pick a few tracks off of iTunes. It is a must-have for fans of guitar music, and if you are anywhere near the Bay Area it will be well worth your time to head over to his web site to peruse his gig schedule so you can check him out in person. You will not be disappointed!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Ray Mazarek and Roy Rogers – Twisted Tales

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This CD review was originally published in the October 24, 2013 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Ray Mazarek & Roy Rogers – Twisted Tales

Self Release

www.manzarek-rogersband.com

10 tracks / 44:42

Every now and then I run into an album that is way out there, and I have to listen to it repeatedly to figure out how I feel about it. Twisted Tales by Ray Manzarek and Roy Rogers is certainly one of these, and in the end it turned out that I really liked what they put together.

You are certainly familiar with Ray Manzarek, the UCLA film student who became the founding father and keyboardist for The Doors. After that band disintegrated in the early 1970s, Ray performed periodically with bandmate Robby Krieger as well as actively participating in other music endeavors, including producing albums for other artists. He was a well-rounded character, also working in film and writing fiction and non-fiction books. Sadly, he passed on in May at the age of 74, just a month before Twisted Tales was to be released.

Roy Rogers is probably not the one you are thinking of, but this slide guitarist was indeed named after the famed western singer. Roy’s career is impressive, and he has been successful as a performer, writer and producer. He played with John Lee Hooker back in the 1980s, and produced four of Hooker’s albums. He has also collaborated with other top-name artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Steve Miller, Carlos Santana and Linda Ronstadt.

Twisted Tales is not the first Manzarek / Rogers collaboration, as they started working together in 2008, releasing two very good albums before this one. On this project Ray took some of the vocals, played the keyboards (obviously), and took a turn on the flute. Roy handled the rest of the vocals and the guitar work. Also in the studio were Steve Evans on bass, Kevin Hayes on drums, and George Brooks on sax. This is a tight album, and if you check out this CD you will hear Manzarek and Rogers at the top of their games -- their chops are amazing!

Rogers has a rock-solid blues background, and while there is plenty of rock and blues to be found here, this is not a conventional blues album, and you can get a clue of the content from the title. Their previous albums were composed of ballads (Ballads Before the Rain) and blues (Translucent Blues). So, not surprisingly, Twisted Tales is all about the stories that are told within. With their limited vocal ranges, at times this music leans towards a spoken word project, and it commands the listeners’ attention throughout. This is not easy listening by any stretch of the imagination.

This disc includes ten original tracks, with all of the music written by Manzarek and/or Rogers, and the lyrics coming from a few different sources. The words for four of the songs were penned by the late Jim Carroll, the poet/musician who wrote The Basketball Diaries. His lyrics are not complicated or even particularly slick, but they evoke strong images that help the listener visualize the stories that he laid out. I found “Cops Talk” to be tedious and cliché-ridden, but “Street of Crocodiles” and “American Woman” are truly poetic, and turn out to be great reads even without the musical score.

Beat poet Michael McClure contributed the lyrics for three of the tracks, and his writing style is less direct than Carroll’s, so instead of painting harsh pictures he uses similes to tell his stories. One of these, “Black Wine/Spank Me with a Rose,” is a Doors-style roadhouse blues tune, and it is fun to hear Manzarek hitting the 2nd beat on the piano and organ just like he did nearly 50 years ago.

But do not forget Rogers’ contributions here. Besides throwing down serious guitar work throughout (tasteful layering and smoking slide playing), he also wrote the lyrics for two of the tracks, “The Will to Survive” and “State of the World.” These have the most conventional lyrics of any of the songs found on the album, which is a neat contrast with the material that others wrote.

Twisted Tales is a complex piece of work, and both Ray Mazarek and Roy Rogers proved that they were masters of their craft on this disc. It is fitting that Manzarek could end his career on this high note and I certainly look forward to what Rogers has up his sleeve for the next chapter of his career.

Mahalo!