Pros: Seasoned Blues veteran with chops galore. Great versatility!
Cons: Could always use a few MORE tracks.
The Bottom Line: Outstanding sophomore effort by one of the finest practitioners in the Church Of Modern Blues. Displays a wide range of styles and colors outside the standard 12 Bar Blues Box.
kcfoxy's Full Review: Ya Think I'd Know Better by Coco Montoya
Sweet, hot and soulful blues are a joy to behold. Lovers of the sort of blistering and chill guitar styles of Freddie King, Albert King and Albert Collins, need to know about one of my favorite native Californian ax men, Coco Montoya.
Pedigree
Although Montoya won the (W.C.) Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist, in 1996, the truth is that he's been performing in a variety of bands since the mid 1970's. Like Bonnie Raitt before him, Coco's paid his dues in a number of band line-ups over the years, and there's a degree of irony, that a wider listening audience has finally "discovered" his body of work in the past 5 years, when he had been a guitarists' guitarist and cult favorite for more than 15 years.
In the beginning, Montoya was playing drums in a Los Angeles basin bar band. Rock n' roll was the stuff he cut his teeth on, and his first love. Besides Eric Clapton, his mentors encompass the Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall, and the first family of Modern Electric Blues Royalty, the 3 Kings: B.B., Freddie and Albert.
Folks trying for success in the performing end of the music business would do well to take a page from Coco's book. It pays to be nice, and to network, as the sax player in a former Top 40's cover band turned Montoya onto the Iceman, himself, the venerable Master of the Telecaster, Albert Collins. Offered a dream gig by The King Of Razor-Edged Sting, the 21 year old drummer next embarked on a brief tour, and would play, on and off with the Collins over a period of the next 6 years.
Collins took it upon himself to teach this very willing and apt pupil the finer points of blues guitar. Stop for a second and imagine that opportunity! Collins, who started on Hammond B3 himself, and later adopted guitar, at the urging of his cousin, fellow Houston ax-man Lightning Hopkins, must be blessed for steering the 20-something musician to blues guitar, and for sharing so much of his immense talent. This careful tutelage clearly shows in live upside-down virtuoso strat performances, at least one recording made with Collins, (Collins Mix), and 3 albums with a new, revitalized John Mayall line-up.
Return Of The Bluesbreakers
These are the things that dreams are made of: the legend, John Mayall slumming on his birthday in a Southern California small club venue; the astute Montoya spotting him and launching into a scorching ad lib Mayall cover; the obliging sound man get's the idea to record this take, and one highly impressed John Mayall is later gifted with a copy of said soundboard recording, the latter reportedly done without Montoya's knowledge. The year was 1984, and Coco gigged, jammed and drank on weekends, while supporting himself with his daytime bartending job.
Next, came the sound of opportunity knocking yet again, as the graying British icon, Mayall, made a decision to come out of a 5 year retirement, and resurrect The Bluesbreakers, following a 15 year hiatus. Of course, Mayall got Montoya's phone number through helpful friends in the music community, and admits he hung-up the phone the first time he was called...assuming this was a prank!
Although not too happy sharing lead guitar duties, Coco Montoya decided he would give full time performing another change. Mayall was a savvy networker, and highly organized. Financially, this was the most stable things had ever been, and there was a decade of almost constant touring; plenty of time for gaining experience and chops.
Imagine how he felt filling the rarified and legendary slot that once played host to Peter Green, Mick Taylor, and his idol, Eric Clapton himself. In recent magazine interviews, Montoya has alluded to feeling the pressure of these ghosts; of having to always measure up. 3 albums with Mayall seasoned Coco to perfection, and brought him to the point of a embarking on a solo 90's career, through the urging of Collins, his second Dad, then dying of liver cancer, (1993). It was a logical, if scary step, and Mayall guested on his debut album in 1995.
Ya Think I'd Know Better: The Songs
First off, I'm giving this album 4 1/2 stars. The Epinions can only show whole star icon increments, but just so you know, this is pretty close to perfect stuff. Just how good is it, you ask? Outstanding enough, that I am ordering Montoya's entire catalog, my friends, on the basis of this lone CD. Perhaps that will speak for itself.
The best cuts on this 11 track outpouring of ebullient showmanship, follow no particular pattern. There's no sophomore slump within, as Montoya loosens up from the standard 12 bar blues format. What's pleasing is the variety of tempos and styles of blues, blues-rock, country blues and even a funk tinged R&B winner.
One of the standout tracks is Hiding Place, perhaps the best showcase for Montoya's still developing vocal stylings. Here he adds a gritty and muscular tenor alley cat growl that perfectly suits the Freddie King-style rave-up. While the Rock Me Baby rhythm section lays down a dirty bump and grind, the blistering lead provides plenty of heat to this Warren Haynes' composition.
Tumbleweed, is a David McKnight ditty, which provides superb vocals, outstanding bar room piano, and gets that finishing touch from the assistance of popular country singer, Lee Roy Parnell, on the close harmonies. The catchy-clever ending refrain, which also features backing vocals by Earl and Ernie Cate and regular bassist, Steve Erhmann:
Talk to your Mama,
Your Mama tell you true,
She knows better
What's good for you.
Another excellent selection, Too Much Of A Good Thing, is my personal pick next to Hideaway, and and therefore1 of the 2 cuts best sampled at the various on-line music stores. I honestly can't imagine too much love, but can vividly recall the disorienting sensation of total emotional thrall.
With a slinky Ain't Superstitious lead-in hook, fanned chord punctuation, and serpentine rhythm riffs courtesy of Michael Toles, you've got an out-and-out crowd pleasing wang dang doodle of a dance track, with Coco begging his audience to:
Have mercy on me,
I can feel the sting.
Have mercy on me,
I'm like a puppet on a string.
Have mercy on me,
It don't mean a thing.
Too much of a good thing.
I couldn't find mention of it on the so-so liner notes or sidemen listing, but there is a horn chart effect in there, a fore-shadowing of this actual brass addition to his next CD. See if his ax doesn't just sound morph into the sweetness and soul of a Steve Cropper Memphis groove.
For a slow, stately love letter, (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), this "new" guitar legend in the making pulls out the stops with a classic Collins' call-and-response blues catharsis called Dyin' Flu. If you've ever been in love so bad, so deep, so over-your-head-out-of-control that you thought you would die when the thrill was gone, then this sweet lament is just for you.
Montoya coaxes a number of voices from his guitar here. It sounds like a dialogue between a man and a woman and, and the trademark sustain is as biting as slivers of glass spiking into your heart. The longest track, at 6:06 minutes, it is a fitting close to an excellent CD, and ends with these haunting words:
Lord, I hate to leave this world,
'Cause I don't know what
The next one is all about.*
Yes, Montoya's got it bad, a very good thing for fans of modern electric blues guitar. While not yet favorites, a couple of the other cuts include a cover of Ike Turner'sA Fool In Love, which comes off like a rockabilly cross between Carl Perkins and The Blasters, with an old Shake, Rattle and Roll riff, and a novelty tune, Big Boy Pete, strikes me as a Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Stagger Lee hybrid.The latter features harmonies somewhere between The Righteous Brothers and The Coasters, and you do get the feeling the band had a lot of fun with this particular number.
The true genius of Montoya is the fact that while many of these tunes, contain common, even hoary blues roots, they manage to come off sounding totally fresh though his impassioned approach. Each selection serves as a framework for Coco's incendiary blues licks and personal style. He's got tremendous energy, versatility and breadth, and you'll find comparisons to Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughn and one of Coco's biggest fans, Ronnie Earl.
Many have labeled The Blues, and its cousin, Country, as grim, depressing relationship music, and all of one piece. Montoya injects a healthy dose of humor into this album along with the requisite pathos. The mid-tempo send-up, Can't Get My A$$ In Gear would sound right at home on the Wurlitzer in a Texas honky tonk, and shows a relaxed side, where this gifted guitarist hints at a growing comfort with his material, and the rollicking vocals suit just fine:
I can't get my a$$ in gear.
I can't get it nowhere near.
Too much Jack Daniels and
A whole lotta beer;
I can't get my a$$ in gear.
Thankfully, the confidence doesn't give in to a mundane read, though Monkey See, Monkey Do does not seem up to the otherwise high standards set here, at least in terms of innovative arrangement. Still, and all, the guitar work is exemplary, and this might be a stand-out cut on Anybody Else's Album. Jim Gaines' mixing and production values are nothing short of masterful!
The title track, You'd Think I'd Know Better By Now, a leisurely stroll is the only Montoya composition, pointing up both the solid delivery of sidemen Benny Yee on keyboards, Marty Binder, drums, and background vocalist Earl Cates on rhythm guitar. Erhmann is a fixture on non-intrusive bass, (a plus, and sign of good bottom man), but the biggest kick comes compliments of Parnell's letter perfect slide guitar!
Coco Montoya: Remember This Name!
Montoya's debut, (the one that earned him the Handy award), Gotta Mind To Travel, was released in 1995. This featured CD came out in the following year, and the third
album, the also highly recommended Just Let Go, in 1997. Despite the impressive creative output of 3 releases in the same number of years, it's important to know
none of it seems rushed, and clues us in that Montoya is a musical presence to be reckoned with into the foreseeable future. A final CD, Suspicion, made its appearance last year.
Do yourself a big favor, and check out Coco Montoya's major talent. Catch the buzz. Perhaps you'll be lucky enough to catch him live, and of course you can take a free listen at a variety of other on-line locations, provided through Epinions' Buy It Now feature link. This is the Real Stuff, both frosty and electrifying. All meat, no filler.
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*I'm dedicating this Music Review to a dear friend, Roadiem, who also loved the Blues. I don't know if they have music systems up there in Heaven, but he could be jamming with Stevie Ray, Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix. This is for you, Michael! We miss your Light & Spirit.
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