Review: Rick Vito ‘Cadillac Man’
By Jim Hynes
One of the best yet underappreciated traditional blues guitarists Rick Vito returns with Cadillac Man after a five-year hiatus. Renowned not only for his own material as leader, but Vito has also been the ‘secret weapon’ guitarist for the likes of Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall, Albert Collins, John Prine, and many more. You’ve heard Vito more than you can possibly imagine. His slide guitar solo on the Seger Chevrolet commercial “Like a Rock” played endlessly from 1991 – 2004.
Anyone who has ever attended a live performance from reigning blues queen Shemekia Copeland instantly recognizes her encore song from her first Alligator record, “It’s 2 A.M.” That tune was penned by Vito and one he cuts here on this vibrant album that features new and old tunes alike with just one cover.
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Vito convenes mostly with a core of Nashville-based musicians while playing electric bass and percussion in addition to his guitars. Jim Hoke blows his saxophone on four tracks. Drum duties are shared by Lynn Williams (4 tracks), Rick Reed (2 tracks), and Charles “Mojo” Johnson (6 tracks). Kevin McKendree commands the B3 on four, with Steve Mariner blowing harp on “Little Sheba” and Charlie Harrison playing bass on “Sliding Into Blue.”
Vito opens with the infectious shuffle “Love Crazy Baby” letting his guitar do the talking for the first few choruses before singing about his gal, accentuating each verse with stinging guitar before launching a killer solo, setting the stage for many more to follow. Vito’s playing is clean, tasty, and impactful.
Following the familiar “Two A.M.” Vito hails the automobile on the rocking, chugging title track, laying down a sturdy bassline to underpin his electric axe. The tone shifts somewhat for “Little Sheba” as Vito paints a portrait of a woman that embodies temptation, layering his vocals on the choruses and delivering sweeping, haunting slide guitar lines, reinforced by Mariner’s equally eerie harp.
The automobile motif rears up again in “Gone Like a Cool Breeze,” with Hoke’s sax prominent in the intro, as Vito spins his heartbreak tale with plenty of gusto and some fiery licks – “We were out in my Ford just cruisin’ by/When a guy in a Cadillac winked his eye/And she was gone.”
“Cadillac Man”
Slow burning blues arrive on the love lost ballad “Crying at Midnight,” with the guitar crushing saddened emotion. Vito’s vocals are plainspoken, well-articulated, but lack the emotive qualities that define many blues vocalists. His guitar usually compensates in spades. He revs it up for the highly danceable stomper “Barbeque n’ Baby,” lyrically mixing some cuisine references in with love making while ripping slide leads. The sonics grow atmospheric for “River’s Calling” with Vito tracking vocals such that he’s conversing with himself in a series of bleak, dejected moments – “I heard the river calling/He said the world don’t need you no more,” all punctuated by expressive slide.
Then in the spirit of a true blues axe man, he goes chops up with visceral solos on “You Can’t Stop A Guitar (From Playing the Blues), a precursor to the closing instrumental “Sliding Into the Blues” where his slide gets even a sweatier workout in raw, back porch style.
Vito is a Grammy-nominated artist who is one of the best guitarists in the genre, and a premiere slide guitarist with few peers. His songwriting may be a little predictable but proves to be solid vehicles for his instrumental prowess and occasionally produces gems and surprises too.
Pre-order Cadillac Man HERE
Rick Vito website
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