Southside Guitar

"Give me some words I can dance to
And a melody that rhymes." - Steve Goodman

Instrumental albums are sometimes not for every taste. But when done right, they are like a gourmet meal. In this album you have not one but three cooks stirring the broth at times, and it damn well works. The melodies do indeed rhyme.

South Side Guitars by John X Reed and Jesse "Guitar" Taylor makes you wish you had a ragtop, so you could drop the top, don the "catch me, f**k me" hat and cheap sunglasses, crank up the volume, and cruise away. And when they throw Nokie Edwards into the mix, just push in a little more volume and bass so you can hear those Fender strings sing. (For those who remember The Ventures, Edwards was their lead, so adjust your bifocals and read on).

John X Reed and Jesse Taylor prove there are good folks from Lubbock who ain't quite dead yet. In their careers, they have stood behind legends like Doug Sahm, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Reed is pretty firmly rooted in Austin, where you can often see him playing with Mary Welch and the Mood Swingers. Jesse "Guitar" Taylor was a mainstay of the Joe Ely Band for some time, and in the last fourteen months, has become an integral part of Billy Joe Shaver's music, just finishing an Australian tour with Billy Joe and Kinky Friedman.

On this disc you will find thirteen instrumentals that keep you going. Some are originals (the opening "Don't Give Up" by Taylor, producer Brad Brobisky's "Johanna Street", "War Baby" by Reed and bassist Glen Fukanaga). They mix in a little Freddie King, "Cannonball" Adderly", and Chuck Berry (filtered through Lonnie Mack). All the songs sound like musicians with nothing left to prove. They know how damn good they are, and they just want to have fun.

My favorites are the more traditional songs. The dual and dueling acoustics on Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Black Snake Moan" will make you smile and bounce. Same with the boys workout on "Cajun Fiddle", a tune that was a staple of the Buckaroos, one of the most under-rated backing bands of all time.

The album ends with two even more "traditional" songs. Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" sounds darn nice without a piano in sight. The closer is a beautiful flowing acoustic rendition of "On the Banks of the Ponchatrain" by Hank Williams, Sr.

Just hit repeat or shuffle on the CD player, keep the ragtop down, and drive right on.

www.southcongressrecords.com
www.jesseguitartaylor.com

Written by James Odom, April, 2002

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