The previous collaboration of blues guitarist
Roy Rogers and
Doors keyboardist
Ray Manzarek on 2008's acoustic and instrumental Ballads Before the Rain now seems like a dress rehearsal for this full-blown, plugged-in band set with vocals and elaborate lyrics. Despite being released on the Blind Pig label and including the word "blues" in its title, this is a rootsy rock album with a strong emphasis on poetry but less so on blues, which remains an undercurrent snaking through the material. Lyrics are contributed by the late
Jim Carroll (his "Hurricane" connects Katrina's effect on New Orleans with biblical references), beat-era wordsmith
Michael McClure (who has worked with
Manzarek before), and Michael C. Ford (a poet friend of
Jim Morrison) among others. Not surprisingly there is plenty of classic
Doors' sound as
Manzarek's instantly recognizable keyboards jump out of the mix on songs such as "Game of Skill," a distant musical cousin to "Love Her Madly." Between the presence of the poets as songwriting foils and
Rogers' swampy slide lines (similar to those of
Robby Krieger), it's hard not to think this is an effort to continue the
Doors' legacy. There's nothing wrong with that, especially when songs as powerful as the easygoing boogie of "Fives and Ones" (perhaps a reference to
the Doors' "Five to One") and the jazzy, sax-enhanced shuffle of "Greenhouse Blues" are the results. Neither
Manzarek nor
Rogers are particularly compelling singers, but they are convincing, even when navigating the choppy waters of some tricky, occasionally clunky wordplay. Much of this sounds like a better follow-up to
the Doors' post-
Morrison legacy than either the well meaning yet disappointing
Other Voices or
Full Circle from the early '70s. Production duties are handled by both headliners, and while the sound is clean and sharp, it's a bit too glossy for music that would have been harder hitting if presented with a rougher edge. Two instrumentals close the disc with
Rogers' sweet, noir-ish ballad "As You Leave" -- seeming like something made for a '60s film soundtrack -- and the straight-ahead blues/jazz shuffle of
Manzarek's "An Organ, A Guitar and a Chicken Wing," somewhat of a tribute to the
Jimmy Smith/
Booker T. & the MG's style of playing. ~ Hal Horowitz