From "The Groove" - April 2007
Sugarcane Collins
"Way Down The River" (Andy Collins, 2006)
Picture courtesy of Sugarcane Collins
Sugarcane Collins says of his new CD “Way Down the
River”, “I dived into the blues 30 years ago and went down as deep as I could go.
The songs on this album are some of the stories I came back up with”. This is a
collection about the life, times, travels and troubles of legendary blues
musicians who migrated up the Mississippi River to spread the blues around the
US. And it’s full of stories about the tribulations of African Americans in the
1920s and 1930s.
This is blues story telling at its best. This
reminds me of a quote I saw recently from blues pianist Earl Gilliam “It’s
something that, you know, has been in your life, something that happened to you
– telling a story about it”*. Andy Sugarcane Collins is a master story teller able
to distill into a coherent collection of musical tales the things that
happened all those years ago to countless blues people.
Despite its deep roots in the past of the blues the
album features some very up-to-date interpretations of early blues music from
Sugarcane – spot on vocals and crisp acoustic guitar with exquisite backing
from Sugarcane’s collaborating musicians. Every song on this album is an
original from Sugarcane. The production by Sugarcane and engineering, mixing
and recording by Nigel Pegrum at Pegasus Cairns and the engineering by Tony
Byrne at Grevillea Studios in Brisbane are superb.
Take the opening track “Like A Midnight Shower of
Rain”. This is a superb harmonica solo by Andy Vogel and is some of the nicest harp
I’ve heard in a long time – it’s only 53 seconds and is instrumental only but
that’s long enough, big enough and ethereal enough to set the tone for this
fine album. It moves straight into “Got a Mind to Ramble” in which Sugarcane
eulogizes the rambling men and women of the blues. “If I make Chicago I’m Gonna
Change My Name” really says something doesn’t it. This features some minimalist
drums from Ben Hakalitz and some laid back electric guitar from Paul Green that
has you rolling across the endless countryside looking for a place to play.
Then meet “One Wing Frank” who was down on the
river in the state penitentiary cutting cane. Frank was beaten and mistreated
and threatened with sexual abuse as a “gal boy”. He ran away with bloodhounds
on his tail. He succeeded in escaping, and had some adventures with a lady in
town, but she turned him in. Back in the can he was whipped – he made up his
mind never to take this again. He killed a man, and earned his name – well you’ll
have to work it out for yourself. This song features some ethereal backing
vocals from Sugarcane.
“Folks of the Road” – this one’s a happier,
traveling, gambling song. The Jack of Diamonds is a card with a history. “In
the timber camps and levees where I’ve been, the Jack of Diamonds is my only friend”.
This is the story of a gambler who wins and loses, travels on and “When the
cotton’s in I’m heading down South again”. Fantastic imagery.
I’ll leave it to you to discover the other musical
stories on this album. Suffice it to say that the song “Leadbelly” is a
historical record in song of the life of Huddie William Ledbetter. “All the Way
to St. Louis” is a wistful instrumental tribute to jug bands everywhere.
“Follow Me” is a fine electric exposition with some
great rhythms from percussion and congas. The title track “Way Down the River” finishes
the album in twelve bar style – “Way down the river – where the blues began -
so much beauty came from a hostile brutal land”. And “Make new music with
whatever comes to comes to hand”. That says it all.
Sugarcane Collins is joined on this album by a
great set of musicians – Pete Burgess on washboard, Chris Doyle on bass, Paul
Just let me finish by saying that this is one
of the best and most coherent collections of traditionally based blues songs
that I’ve heard from Queensland. You are much nearer the Mississippi Delta than
Sugarcane’s nearby Barron Delta in this CD. It has a feeling that evokes the
roots of the blues and explores the breadth of the genre. It deserves your
support and you deserve to hear it!
Sugarcane Collins has a website - http://www.andycollins.com/. Visit him and buy his CD through the site. Or it can be ordered at all good record stores through Only Blues Music Distribution. Feast your eyes on the Mississippi photos on the CD by Kerry Trapnell and the artwork by Steve Lane. Sugarcane is a BASEQ member and hails from Cairns.
Mike Freeman
(* Earl Gilliam quote from the photographic
exposition of blues musicians “The Blues Is a Feeling” by James Fraher from
Face to Face Books. Available through Amazon).