Review: Tony Holiday ‘Keep Your Head Up’

Review: Tony Holiday ‘Keep Your Head Up’

By Hal Horowitz

It never hurts to kick-start a soul/blues album with a certified classic. That’s how Tony Holiday’s ‘Keep Your Head Up’ begins.

Composed by roots songwriting legend Jerry Ragovoy, “I’m a Burglar” was a minor hit for singer Howard Tate and another for guitarist Freddie King. Add Eddie 9V as a six string guest to this version and you’re on the way to a tough, tight, Memphis-infused set that, at just eight songs, maintains its greasy energy for 30 too short minutes.

When Holiday whips out the lyrics “She’s a burglar she took everything she could find/She done took my eyes, remove them from the sockets” before Eddie kicks in with a solo that reflects the heart of Memphis soul, you realize you’re in for a thrilling ride.

Rather than write originals (Holiday only pens one track, producer/Forty Below label owner Eric Corne gets two others), the singer/harp player excavates rugged, generally obscure older tunes, attacking them with fresh arrangements and a blistering batch of players.

Corne’s “Walk On the Water” splashes into the Southern swamp, tapping a “Mustang Sally”-styled repeated lick, as Holiday grinds out the lyrics “This is where I make my stand/To be chosen or be damned,” Guitarist Jad Tariq shoots shards of reverbed notes like John Fogerty in his Creedence prime.

That vibe also informs “Twist My Fate” as Holiday invites singer Kevin Burt to trade verses over a snarky backbeat sizzling like a lit fuse. Holiday pulls out his harmonica, blowing Butterfield-inflected runs as the band churns through their paces. The duet with Burt is so electric, you’ll want an entire album featuring those two voices spurring each other on.

Corne brings in horns for a reworking of “Woman Named Trouble,” an old Stax label hit initially performed by Little Sonny (Bernard Allison also did a version, as did Holiday on a previous disc). It’s another slice of red clay soul, this one featuring trumpeter Mark Pender with a jazzy solo igniting more excitement. It features a gripping musical hook and an even better lyrical twist in the final verse where Holiday sings “I said ‘before I go sheriff, tell me what did I do’/He said that you have that woman named trouble and she’s my woman too.”

An ancient hit from The Clovers, “Drive It Home,” finds Albert Castiglia as guest guitarist for a smoldering piece of New Orleans R&B. Holiday and Corne grind out the early 60s chestnut, breathing renewed life into this dusty, long forgotten oldie making a triumphant return.

AJ Fullerton is credited with writing “Shoulda Known Better.” Here Laura Chavez punches a wired solo into the creeping mid-tempo groove where the horns punctuate another tight-fisted groove.

The water theme reappears as Holiday sings “I can feel the water but I cannot see the rain” on the closing churchy “I Can Not Feel the Rain.” It’s the only Holiday original and, as the last selection, brings the set to a fitting end with a dunk into the gospel ambiance that informs much of the sound for these eight offerings.

At just a half hour, ‘Keep Your Head Up’ delivers on Tony Holiday’s blue-eyed soul yet also leaves you wanting more.

“She’s A Burglar”