Review: Curtis Salgado 'Fine By Me'

Review: Curtis Salgado ‘Fine By Me’

By Jim Hynes

If one were to view the credits on Fine By Me, the latest from blues-soul singer-songwriter and harmonicist Curtis Salgado, aside from the album itself, the notion might be a list that runs through a career discography or a ‘greatest hits’ album. Consider these guitarists, all of whom are present on the record: Robert Cray, Snuffy Walden, Billy Watts, Anson Funderburgh, George Marinelli, Ben Rice, and Kid Andersen to cite the ‘name’ axe men. Add to that the blues talents of bassist Jerry Jemmott, Tony Braunagel, Derrick D’Mar Martin, Jimi Bott, Jim Pugh, Jeff Paris, Teresa James, Terry Wilson, and more.

In his vaunted career Salgado has played with a core band, even duos, but as producer here, he calls in many favors to say the least. There is certainly a ‘compilation’ aspect to the record as one might expect with such a large cast involved. Salgado recorded at eight different studios, four in his hometown of Portland, OR, and four in California, including, as the label would suggest, seven at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland USA. If you’re thinking the math doesn’t quite add up, that’s because layers for some tracks were recorded in more than one studio. It certainly appears he was given a ‘blank check’ to render this album as he saw fit.

Salgado penned or co-wrote nine of these dozen tunes that range from deep blues, soul, R&B, rock n’ roll, even tinges of jazz. As he states in the liners, “…so it’s American music. Gospel is the mothership and the rest of it follows.” Blues fans are aware of Salgado’s long list of BMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, his beginnings with the Robert Cray, and his role as frontman for Roomful of Blues. He’s toured with Santana and Steve Miller and played a critical role in shaping John Belushi’s character as Joliet Jake of The Blues Brothers. We need to pause here. In our review of J.P. Soars, due the same date on June 28, we made mention of Little Village’s recent bent of expanding beyond the relatively obscure to more highly recognized blues talent such as Salgado.

The configurations differ on every track but two so if we were to list all these musicians track by track, your eyes would soon glaze over. The first paragraph is enough, right? The album kicks off with the tightest configuration, a simple quartet with sizzling acoustic slide guitar from Salgado’s longtime collaborator Alan Hager on “My Girl’s a Nut.” The lyrical gem “Better Things to Lie About’ features a three-piece horn section in a “Roomful”-like sound with Kid Andersen on guitar and keys as Salgado blows a mean harp. Salgado and Robert Cray hark back to 1980 with a soul rave up cover version of O.V. Wright’s “I’m Gonna Forget About You.” Cray recorded the song on his first album with Salgado on supporting vocals. This time Salgado is on lead vocal with Cray harmonizing in the higher register and adding his trademark guitar. Wright is important to both artists. Before every Robert Cray show, there is an O.V. Wright song on the sound system as he takes the stage and typically, he’ll include a Wright cover in his set.

The title track stems from a dream about having lunch with Jackie Onassis in a NYC café which then leads to namedropping Muhammad Ali, Iggy Pop, and Malcolm X. This is rollicking rock n’ roll with a huge assist in songwriting and guitar by Bonnie Raitt’s longtime collaborator, George Marinelli. Arguably Salgado’s strongest vocal is on the deep gospel tune “Hear the Lonely Hearts,” backed by The Sons of the Soul Revivers (brothers James, Walter, and Dwayne Morgan) who have graced many of the label’s albums and had a full issue of their own. This is bittersweet as Walter Morgan passed away shortly after the session.

Other highlights include Terry Wilson’s shuffle “The Big Chagrin” with a full arsenal of horns, the legendary Snuffy Walden on guitar and Wilson’s usual crew of Teresa James, Watts, Braunagel, and terrific barroom piano from Jeff Paris along with Salgado’s blaring blues harp. The two tracks that close the album feature guitar great Anson Funderburgh, and are the only two with the same personnel, a three-piece horn section included. The better of the two in terms of Salgado’s passionate vocal in the slow blues on “You Give the Blues a Bad Name.” but the up tempo “Under New Management” closes the album in rousing style.

With total freedom to explore grooves and different styles, this is a tour-de-force for Salgado, one of the most powerful vocalists to ever grace the soul-blues scene. This certainly indicates he’s got plenty of vitality to spare, and then some.

“You Give Blues A Bad Name”