We the People
"I've been to hell and back, I'm still looking good / I've found the fountain of youth, I've got the blues in my blood," sings Guitar Shorty on "Blues in My Blood"--one of the more autobiographical tracks, albeit one he didn't write, on his second Alligator album in three years. After working for decades with little to show for it, Shorty makes up for lost time, charging through unapologetically tough blues rockers such as "Sonic Boom," "Can't Get Enough" (not the Bad Company tune), and "What Good Is Life?" with the rough-and-tumble enthusiasm of someone half his 67 years. There are few surprises here--Shorty's throaty voice pummels through these tunes, pausing only long enough to make room for his fat, fluid leads to slice into the powerhouse rhythm section. Subtlety is not Shorty's strong point, and even when he accompanies himself on "Cost of Livin'" with just guitar and a tapping foot, it sounds like he's a caged tiger before feeding time. The title track concerns the average laborer's tough life, but this is primarily a blues album tied to the usual subjects of nefarious women doing Shorty wrong. In fact, his ex's phone prefix in "I Got Your Number" is 666. But nobody need look for profound lyrical insights when Shorty slings his molten guitar, pouring his psychedelicized solos like lava over anything in his path. Just push play and get out of the way.--Hal Horowitz