I need to find a good blues bar around here – my wife and I would love to get out and see local talent more often, and a couple pints would go down so smooth with someone wailing her twelve-bar sorrows on the stage. The more often we'd go, the better our chances of discovering some real talent, someone or some band that rises above the average of most artists in the area. Back in the early to mid-nineties, Boston's blues scene was blessed to witness the rise of a superbly gifted singer, Susan Tedeschi.
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Legendary Ladies – Past and Present…what about the Future?

Tedeschi's strong, throaty alto voice draws inevitable comparisons with two blues/rock legends - the late Janis Joplin, and Bonnie Raitt. The voices of these three are all quite similar in tone - a bold, brassy sound with a raw edge, a jagged rasp that adds authentic blues flavor to everything they sing. Joplin may have opted for a big sound more often than not, while Raitt usually favored a more subtle approach, but Tedeschi manages to combine a bit of both into her sound. Like Raitt, Tedeschi also plays guitar, even indulging herself in some slide styling from time to time.

Joplin's status as a musical legend is assured, and Raitt certainly deserves consideration as a true icon of music for her tremendous body of work – does the future hold the same for Susan Tedeschi?
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Better Days

Time will only tell if better days lay ahead for Susan Tedeschi, but she is certainly on the right track at the moment, having garnered critical accolades since the release of her first major recording Just Won't Burn in 1998. She earned her first national exposure on Conan O'Brien's and David Letterman's late night shows, and appeared on the acclaimed PBS show Austin City Limits - this performance was also released as a live album. Tedeschi has earned three Grammy nominations, was featured on two tracks of Double Trouble's Been A Long Time, and has toured with the Allman Brothers Band, B.B. King, John Mellencamp, and the Rollling Stones. Tedeschi has had three recordings released nationwide - Just Won't Burn, Out and About, and her most recent album Wait for Me.

But before fame found Susan Tedeschi, she found herself a rising star in the Boston music scene even as she attended the Berklee School of Music. Constant touring in the region made her a popular artist, and in 1995, Tedeschi self-produced her first album Better Days.
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The Susan Tedeschi Band

I put emphasis on the fact that her first album was a homegrown affair because this is an important factor to consider when weighing the relative merits of this recording. I managed to find what I believe to be a CD from the original self-publication (Better Days was re-released in 1998 by Oarfin Records after Just Won't Burn sold well), and the quality of this CD is definitely lacking. However, the quality of the performance fares better, once you get around the shortcomings of the production itself.

The quality of the overall production varies from track to track – microphone placement and settings are inconsistent, most notably with Susan's vocal mic, and there are places where the digital audio captures the limitations of the instrument's amps and mics, cracking and hissing slightly when driven past their limits. The production can sometimes sound like it's recorded from a distance, or sometimes up front and in your face – if these were deliberate choices, I would call them into question as they can be distractingly noticeable.

Also lacking is the level of talent shown by the musicians – while the band members are certainly competent at playing the blues, they are nothing special – Susan's guitar playing is definitely of a lower caliber than what she displays now. Altogether, the Susan Tedeschi Band sounds like a decent house band for a local club – I'm sure that when heard live in a bar, they would fare much better, but the studio, even one so primitive as that used for recording Better Days, reveals much that a live venue can hide.
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Ain't Nobody's Business

What ultimately saves the day in this recording, and brings the promise of better days to come, is the absolutely fantastic voice of Susan Tedeschi. From the very start, Tedeschi's voice rises far above the mediocrity supporting her, and she manages to soar even when questionable notes are played, or when a microphone fails to pick her up as well as it should.

Take a listen to the sole instrumental You're On My Hair (I LOVE that title), and you'll understand what I mean about the lack of talent shown by the band – then consider what you've heard as a whole when Tedeschi's marvelous voice is heard. It's hard to reconcile the two sounds as the same band – she is just_that_good.

The twelve-bar blues arrangements never show any cutting-edge originality, but Susan's voice makes the mediocre sound inspired. Focusing solely on the instruments in tracks like I Don't Want Nobody or Ain't Nobody's Business, I can't get over how bland the music is, but if I let Susan's voice take over, these shortcomings simply don't matter to me anymore.
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It's Up to You

Has Susan Tedeschi seen Better Days than these? Yes, and deservedly so. I do think that owning this piece of Tedeschi's history will help any fan to appreciate her current place in music even more – a place that seems more and more likely to approach the legends of those who have gone before her.


The Susan Tedeschi Band - Better Days
Self-published CD released in 1995 by The Susan Tedeschi Band.
Biographical information on Susan Tedeschi can be found on her official website (listed below)
(Official biography Copyright © 2000, Tone-Cool Records)

Track Listing
It's Up To You / Gonna Write Him A Letter / Love Never Treats Me Right / It Hurts Me Too / Locomotive / You're On My Hair (Instrumental) / Better Days / Hound Dog / I Don't Want Nobody / Ain't Nobody's Business

Related Links
You can purchase Better Days at the original Susan Tedeschi Band website (I think it's run by her dad, if I read it correctly). Find it here:

www.pipeline.com/~stb

Susan's official website is now hosted by her current label, Tone-Cool Records – find it here:

www.susantedeschi.com

Recommended: Yes