Tinsley Ellis
(Alligator)
If the music and radio business today was the way it was in the early 1970's, Tinsley Ellis would be one of the biggest rock acts in the world. He is a guitar slinger/hero firmly rooted in the blues/rock tradition of Clapton, Duane Allman and Billy Gibbons. From Atlanta, he is also firmly entrenched in the southern rock tradition and one of his earlier albums was produced by the legendary Tom Dowd. Speak No Evil is his 12th album and it might just be the best of his career. It includes all original songs that display his most mature fretwork and songwriting to date.
The cover of the CD shows a close up picture of Ellis' left hand bending the strings on his guitar neck. What you see is what you get. This is a collection of up-tempo guitar-driven hard-rocking blues. The first track on the album is "Sunshine of Love." While the title might evoke the Cream song with a similar name, the wailing guitar puts Ellis firmly in Hendrix country. Ellis uses six different guitar tunings on this album. Another standout track, "Amanda," displays a late ‘60's psychedelic feel with its use of the wa-wa pedal. The title track, "Speak No Evil," is one of the slowest and most bluesy songs on the album. It shows the influence of the late great Chicago bluesman, Luther Allison, who was a master at making his guitar sing the song along with him, as well as Buddy Guy.
Ellis is assisted here by his long time rhythm section/touring band of The Evil One on bass and Jeff Burch on percussion, along with two guest keyboard men, Kevin McKendree and Pete Orenstein. And on songs like "Left Of Your Mind" and "Grow a Pair" you can hear the band work their way into a hard driving ZZ Top style deep groove.
But Speak No Evil displays not only Ellis' musicianship but also his songwriting ability Ellis knows how to tell a story. The standout track here is "The Other Side." Ellis has spent 30 years on the road and still does 150 gigs a year. This song is an intense look at drug addiction, highlighted by Ellis's gruff but soulful voice. He sings, "Walk right like a zombie/ Nothing behind those eyes/ Can't you see the tombstones?/ You're not just getting high /I can see what you're trying to hide/ Since you won't be around much longer/ Let's just plan to meet on the other side."
The album closes with the brilliant "Rockslide," a perfectly named instrumental that pays tribute to the real electric slide blues master, Elmore James. Clapton and Allman and all great guitar slingers were students of Elmore. And "Rockslide" is something that could have come right off the master's Fire sessions.
Speak No Evil is the work of a journeyman guitarist at his best. It should appeal to anybody who loves blues/rock guitar. Tinsley Ellis is keeping that tradition alive and the result here is a hell of a lot of fun.
Standout Tracks: "The Other Side" "Amanda" "Rockslide" TOM CALLAHAN
