MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: VINCE GILL & PAUL FRANKLIN - BAKERSFIELD

Unfortunately I missed Vince Gill on a recent trip to my locale (lousy kids and their lousy needs to be driven to the lousy beach on the lousy ocean in the beautiful, lousy summer).  However, I can soak up the sounds on this new collection, certainly one of the most enjoyable of his long career.  Here Gill teams up with one of the best pedal steel players of all time, multi-award winner Paul Franklin, who has played on tons of country releases, as well as cuts for Mark Knopfler, Sting and, ah, Megadeth.  This set is special, a tribute to the two towers of the Bakersfield sound, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens.

Gill believes these cuts come from country's most important era, and while there's some argument to be made for earlier songs, certainly nothing better has come along since.  Hag and Owens were both tremendous writers and singers, and were able to conjure stories of intense, personal issues.  Owens' Together Again turned the trick of heartache on its tale; the couple is back together, but the lyrics and sad notes tell us about the hell he just went through, separated from the one he needs most.  Haggard's The Bottle Let Me Down is the ultimate country drinking song, where the booze is poured to forget a lover, until the night comes when not even that can keep her memory away.  Another Haggard gem, Holding Things Together, is a weeper on another whole scale, our singer trying to keep the family home going with his wife gone, the reason unstated.  Just try not to get choked up when she misses her daughter's birthday, but the situation is saved because the father mailed a package days before with the mother's signature faked on it.

Gill and Franklin stretch that number out to six minutes, with room for a long, sad guitar solo from Vince.  The vocals were only one side of the excitement he felt for the project, as he also got to exercise his superb lead guitar skills on everything.  The Bakersfield sound has become pretty much as important as the Nashville style of the same time, its fiddle and steel, plus twangy guitar heard later in Outlaw country, and from acolytes Dwight Yoakam and half of Austin.  Gill and Franklin don't try to update it or add their own touches; it's pretty much perfect as is.  They both can play the heck out of it, and Gill doesn't oversing either, which is important.  His voice is so naturally fine, he could sweeten it too much, but instead he channels the Okie in him, which works just fine, if you know your California history.  Yup, this is the stuff.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JOHN MAYER - PARADISE VALLEY

Mr. Mayer returns quite quickly after last year's Born And Raised album, and throat surgery too.  Sounds like it all worked out well for the pipes, and this is more good-humoured mellow stuff.  It may be his most lighthearted work in fact, breezy and cool.  Even his rumoured payback song to ex Taylor Swift, the single Paper Doll, is a gentle number with at best, gentle swipes, chiding her only for being a clothes-horse, more fashion than soul.  His collaboration with his current (at least I think they are still current, who knows with him) squeeze, Katy Perry on Who Do You Love, is a semi-funky but soft ballad, with tender, Clapton-esque touches.

More and more, Mayer seems to have adopted the Clapton path, occasionally breaking out the blues stuff with his trio, but saving the solo albums for radio fans.  The guitar licks here are all tasteful, and he's even covered E.C.'s favourite, J.J. Cale, on a version of Call Me The Breeze.  It's about the most upbeat thing here, still only a shuffle.  Do we really need a younger Clapton?  Well, why not I suppose, there's no denying these are catchy little numbers.  It leaves one wondering where the big songs are though, with everything ear-pleasing but hardly epic.

He has a shot at country (You're No One 'Til Someone Let's You Down), a couple of acoustic folk numbers, and two different songs called Wildfire, one a hand-clap summer party number, the other a quiet, short ballad sung by buddy Frank Ocean.  The first version, which opens the album, is the best thing here, with an infectious beat and sweet guitar, and will certainly have the amphitheaters groovin', but still in a restrained way.  It seems Paradise Valley is a quiet spot, filled with nature.  I think he needs to drive into the city a bit more.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MAYER HAWTHORNE - WHERE DOES THIS DOOR GO

Hawthorne continues his exploration of vintage soul, but this time he's moved ahead in time, from the late 60's - early 70's to the late part of the decade, and into the 80's and beyond.  The beats picked up, thanks to disco, and so did the sex talk.  Hawthorne follows suit, and this one's all about seduction and such, like he was hanging with the early Prince, cruising the Purple Rain dance clubs.

Previously a champion of his Michigan home sound of Motown on his stunning first two albums, now Hawthorne feels free to go further, and follow soul to its next editions.  If that includes melding it with rap (Crime), he's up for that, and ready to drop some cut-up atmosphere along the way too.  But as experimental as he feels, it never gets too far from the pop charts, and if you hear hints of Steely Dan on The Stars Are Ours, you'll get that the guy is a lover of high-quality hooks.

No matter how far he goes into the funky sex machine, it his voice that captivates.  Hawthorne's a great soul singer, and it's a joy to hear him through each change of pace here.  Far more than a retro stylist, this is intricately crafted, insanely catchy and definitely feel-good.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: LEEROY STAGGER - TRUTH BE SOLD

Surprisingly this is album number eight from the B.C. roots-rocker, who always feels like he's brand new and exciting.  Maybe that's because he doesn't get out East much, but it does surprise me he continues to fly a under the radar.  The guy has the writing chops for sure, has been more consistent then, say, Sam Roberts, and easily sits comfortably on a CD shelve between Steve Earle and Ryan Adams.

Teaming up with Los Lobos keysman Steve Berlin as producer, this album is perhaps a bit more polished, pro and tight than others in the catalogue, and really, there's nothing wrong with that in Stagger's case.  After all, it's not like they've trip-hop or anything, it's just got bigger and clearer.  A song like Have A Heart has a strong edge, and Berlin has brought that out with distortion and guitar effects, and a gutsier production.  The beaten-down everyman of Mister is certainly an anti-hero of Americana proportions, and that's the appropriate sound that tune is given.

It's one of those discs that wears really well too, each tune sinking in better with each listen, so you greet them with warm thoughts.  From the nasty punch of Cities On Fire to tender Break My Heart, Stagger shows he has several different sides and styles, all of them strong.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: LYNN MILES - DOWNPOUR

The string of excellent Lynn Miles albums continues, like a pitcher who never loses a game.  A classic, grade-A songwriter, there's an emotional punch in every song, at least one line to send you spinning.  Lead track More is loaded with killer couplets:  "I want the whole bottle/not just a shot/don't want a little/want a lot".  You just wait for the next line that floors you, and she never fails to come up with one.

Sliding between folk, country, bluegrass and a little bit of electric, the delicate backing is perfect to point your attention to her voice and lyrics.  I'll take that combo of mandolin, twangy guitar, aching vocals and lots of harmony any time.  Moving easily from style to style keeps our interest from flagging, and again, lets the stories and lyrics shine.  How To Be Alone is classic country, with verses that would do Haggard or Jones proud:  "Nobody ever calls, nobody's dropping by/they were all your friends, so they don't even try."  My Road is one of the best descriptions of the touring musician's life you'll find:  "Wallflowers and pool halls, hard truths and drunken phone calls, old regrets and platitudes, gravel driveways and hometown news."

I find Miles helps us see the balance in life, that the moments to treasure can make up for the lows and sorrows.  As she sings in Million Brilliant, "It's alright we're in it for the long haul/It's alright we can see the beautiful sadness of it all."

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DAUGHN GIBSON - ME MOAN

At first I assumed by the different spelling of the name Daughn, this would be by a woman.  But seconds into the first track, and the unveiling of the sub-Nick Cave croon, Daughn's a dude.  Anybody who sings in a deep baritone is probably headed down to the wrong side of the tracks, looking to reflect the nasty, seamy bits of life, with a literary bent and occasional romantic view, and that's Gibson's gig for the most part.  But there's also a lot more happening on the music side than the usual bleak rock you'll find.  He ain't no updated Velvet Underground then.

The Pennsylvanian has a varied background, and his debut from last year was built on samples, but this time the programming is augmented by lots of live instruments, including plenty of guitar.  And while the low tones of the singer are the dominate feature, the wide range of music is quite a surprise.  There is dramatic stuff, starting with lead track The Sound Of Law, which begins "My daddy was a beast", drums at machine-gun time and everything fed through the echo-mystery setting.  The finger-snap beat of Phantom Rider accompanies a chapter in the life of two ne'er-do-well's, no doubt up to no good, traveling with a very bad spirit ready to do very bad things.  That number, and follower Mad Ocean recall darker 80's synth days of OMD and such, although I can't recall anybody sampling bagpipes then.  Through everything, there's a country spokesman dying to get out, the American flavour to all of this.  Towards the end, a couple of quite lovely ballads wrap things up, when you realize that Gibson actually has quite a lovely voice when the softer sounds let him emote.  What could be just a modern take on murder ballads ends up a surprisingly creative and musical set.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE ALLMAN BROTHERS - BROTHERS AND SISTERS DELUXE EDITION

Nothing like a well-done deluxe edition, and this one uncovers a full second disc of previously-unreleased material.  Good stuff, too.  That right there tells you it's worth the upgrade.  And the better bonus is that this is an album you may not have checked out in awhile, and it holds up very well.

Brothers And Sisters came out when the band were still reeling from the loss of their founder and leader Duane Allman.  They had cobbled together the Eat A Peach set from various live and studio sources, but this was going to be the first one completely done with Duane involvement.  Their second tragedy struck when bass player Berry Oakley was killed the same way, in the same area, after a motorcycle crash.  Just a couple of cuts had been recorded, so once again they had to regroup, bringing in Lamar Williams.  But the major music change had happened when Allman had been replaced not with another guitar player, but rather with a piano guy, Chuck Leavell.  It was a much different sound for the group, with piano leads and fills, if anything a tighter sound than the Duane years, more song-oriented.

Dickie Betts stepped up to the plate to contribute four of the seven songs here, including the group's biggest-ever hit, Ramblin' Man.  His instrumental Jessica was another show-stopper, as he proved his worth as the new lead guitar player.  Gregg Allman was delivering as well, his Wasted Words a rough-edged blues that showed the group hadn't lost their bite.  Allman's growling vocals and organ were another unique feature of the group, strengths they could turn to after losing so much.  They were rewarded with a number one album.

The second disc is a bit different than most bonus bonanzas, being made up mostly of studio rehearsal cuts, some with Oakley and some with Williams.  Some of these were meant to warm up the cuts they'd be recording, others were rehearsals for stuff they'd take on the road, and a couple were jams for fun.  So we get an early, no-vocals version of album standout Southbound, but with Oakley on it, done just before his death, the song later fully recorded with Williams.  A couple of old live favourites are run through for the benefit of Leavell, who would soon have to do them on the road.  There's also a true out-take from the album, an Allman number called Early Morning Blues, dropped at the last minute from the album proper.  I hadn't heard this set in at least 20 years, so this was a grand way to get back into it, a better album than I remembered.  A four-CD box is also available, featuring a full two-disc concert from 1973.