CD REVIEWS

Cross Canadian Ragweed, will.i.am, Toni Price, Merle Haggard

Ragweed singer's next mission should seek stronger songwriting

Friday, October 05, 2007

Cross Canadian Ragweed - 'Mission California'

(Universal South)

The fifth studio album by this New Braunfels-based Oklahoma band opens with "Record Exec," a forceful dismissal of a big-time Nashville producer's attempt to make Ragweed more palatable to country radio. By standing up to the bigwig, singer/guitarist Cody Canada reportedly earned respect for his honesty. "Nobody has told me 'no' in 30 years," the record exec said.

Well, as long as we're telling the truth, let's say that Canada, an engaging frontman, adventurous guitarist and smooth, powerful country rock singer, has a ways to go as a songwriter. He doesn't make it halfway through the first song before resorting to the lazy "change/ rearrange" rhyme. On such tunes as "Dead Man," with its clichéd "I won't be your steppin' stone" and the pedestrian "Walls To Climb," Canada's writing process seems to go like this: 1) Get ticked off by words, situations. 2) Lock self in room to write angry song to feel better. 3) Excitedly play it for the band before the lyrics are really done. Too much of "Mission California" sounds motivated more by exasperation than inspiration, which is unfortunate because it's the band's most vibrant-sounding album yet.

The album's best songs — and there are more good ones than lames ones — are collaborations, such as the delightfully original pop number "NYCG" with producer Mike McClure, "In Oklahoma," valuable riff courtesy of Stoney LaRue, and the revisited oldie "Jenny," which Canada wrote with a friend a decade ago. Other highlights are written by others, including Chris Knight's "Cry Lonely" and "Soul Agent" by Scott Evans, sang convincingly here by Ragweed (sorry, still can't call them CCR) bassist Jeremy Plato.

Canada comes closest to epiphany with "Lawrence," a sweet and sad song about a down-on-their-luck family singing for tips on a street corner on a cold December day. "Christmas/ Looks like it's gonna miss us," Canada sings from the point of view of the ragged infant in a stroller. Bravo!

Truth is, Canada should've been sent back to his room until he came back with a couple more tunes like "Lawrence." This is a hard-touring band, a celebrated quartet of wallshakers apparently coddled by the first five rows of their live shows into thinking such songs as the plodding "Deal" and rapid-fire vapidity of "Smoke Another" belong on an album. There are definite signs of growth beyond the Lynyrd Tucker Band formula, but if you're going to put 14 songs on a CD, you'd better make them all count.

Recommended tracks:"Lawrence," "NYCG"

— Michael Corcoran

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will.i.am - 'Songs About Girls'

(Interscope)

Over the past few years, will.i.am has maintained a difficult balance — churning out some of the crassest, lowest-common-denominator hits in pop music while maintaining some semblance of artistic credibility. The front man and producer of the Black Eyed Peas, he bears responsibility for "My Humps," "Fergalicious" and "Let's Get Retarded," yet he was shouted out on the new Kanye West record and has produced songs for Nas, the Game and Sergio Mendes. This creative flexibility is on full display on his solo album "Songs About Girls."

The inane-sounding title belies a surprisingly coherent concept album. It follows the painful dissolution of a long-term relationship — from denial ("She's A Star") to pleading ("One More Chance") to anger ("Fantastic") and finally acceptance. That's not to say there isn't some Black Eyed Peas-style inanity, with one song comparing a girl's posterior to a "Donque."

Free from the compromise inherent in the group dynamic, "Songs About Girls" is will.i.am unleashing his creative id. Handling the bulk of the production duties, he merges hip-hop, house, techno and R&B for a distinct sound that somehow feels both futuristic and nostalgic. Conventional song structure is almost completely abandoned — raps merge abruptly into melodies, choruses flow on endlessly and beats meander for minutes on end.

But his decision to forgo lyrical structure might have been unavoidable. While he remains nominally a rapper, without the rest of the Peas, his lyrical ability is often so deficient it's distracting. The first single, "I Got It From My Mama," a rather shameless homage to "My Humps," features gems like "If the girl real pretty, nine times out of 10, she pretty like her mama / And if her mama real ugly, I guarantee ya she goin be ugly like her mama."

At his best he makes irresistibly catchy music, like "Heartbreaker," the album's high point. He's talented enough that when the Peas were a socially conscious, break-dancing alt-rap group, they were initially signed by Eazy E of NWA fame. After all, any producer who can make Fergie a superstar is not someone to be taken lightly.

Recommended tracks: "Heartbreaker" and "Invisible"

— Jonathan Tjarks

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Toni Price - 'Talk Memphis'

(Antone's)

Toni Price moved west to San Diego this summer — even as the soul compass of her latest album points east, to Tennessee. "Y'all come along with me," the long-reigning queen of Austin's Hippie Hour calls back to us, within the lines of these rambunctious new hip-shaking songs. "Let's talk Memphis."

By all means. Price raises the happy volume to high on "Talk Memphis," as Austin's torchy heroine immerses herself in the revved-up, R&B and soul sound that made Memphis famous in the 1960s. Price's longtime fans might be shocked to know that there's not a single fiddle note (and virtually no acoustic guitar) on this album. Instead: There is Memphis-style electric piano, lots of harmony vocals, an emphasis on rhythm and a three-piece horn section led by Austin saxophonist John Mills.

David Grissom — who hadn't played on a Price album in 12 years — is the featured lead guitarist on "Talk Memphis." His presence is a beautiful surprise, especially for longtime Price fans who remember Grissom's bold, soaring fills on the first two songs she ever recorded in Austin — "Richest One" and "Twelve Bar Blues."

Price's talent for draping her voice around beautiful melodies in the most sensual and soulful way shines as strongly as ever on "Talk Memphis." She stretches out on tunes from Isaac Hayes and Jesse Winchester, as well as four songs by longtime collaborator Gwil Owen (especially the radio-friendly "Sunflower.") A surprise highlight is "Right Where I Belong," by Austin's Wendy Colonna, on which Price channels Ray Charles. "Talk Memphis" might not be the best of Price's six studio albums, but it wins my vote as the most fun.

Recommended tracks: "Sunflower," "Right Where I Belong."

— Brad Buchholz

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Merle Haggard - 'The Bluegrass Sessions'

(McCoury Music)

Well, not really. The Hag has futzed around with bluegrass idioms before (see also "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde"). But this isn't really a bluegrass album. There's bluegrass instrumentation (Marty Stuart on mandolin, Alison Krauss singing on the tear-jerking "Mama's Hungry Eyes"), but this is essentially an acoustic country album. Haggard is smart enough not to try a high-lonesome style, but his singing is pleasantly low key and everyman-stylish. "Jimmie Rogers Blues" pays a 12-bar tribute to the country legend (with rich, lovely fiddle from Aubrey Hayes). "Big City" gets a rootsy reboot, while the new songs reflect his good old-fashioned old-fashioned-ness.

"Pray" urges you to do the same (though "get your mind off yourself/ think of somebody else" is good advice for atheists and agnostics as well). "What Happened?" is yet another chapter in the story of the Okie from Muskogee; "Used to be Andy and Barney Fife," Haggard sings. "Now it's Howard Stern and 'The Brothel Life.'" Things get interesting later on: "I remember the day the towers fell/ I went back to bed and dreamed on Hell." So, wait, the towers fall because we are a decadent nation? Did the terrorists watch the "The Brothel Life"? Would they have attacked if "Andy Griffith" was still in reruns? How about "Matlock"?

Recommended tracks:"Mama's Hungry Eyes"

— Joe Gross