Artist: Marcia Ball
Title: Roadside Attractions
Label: Alligator
Release Date: 2011
Format: MP3 320 K
Recorded at Fearless Recording, Nashville, Tennessee
Review:
Marcia Ball, born on the Texas/Louisiana border, has long been a superb performer, delivering her swampy blend of zydeco, blues and gritty R&B with all the force of a Saturday night locomotive, and through twelve albums, she has never let that energy go. Roadside Attractions, her fifth release for Alligator Records, is no exception-it cooks and rattles and rocks by with Ball's typical joyous energy and powerful piano. None of her many fans will be disappointed by this outing, but it is a little different for Ball in one respect--for the first time on one of her albums she has either written or co-written every song on it, and all of them draw on her thousands of hours on the road bringing her infectious brand of swampy boogie to the world. Song after song here roars by in a lightning-soaked tumble of piano-driven words until it feels like her own personal diary of America tumbling past the tour bus window-and it isn't all barbecues, picnics, and big concert stages, either.
Love is found, lost, and found again out on the road, and Ball captures the kinetic feel of all of that here, and she's arguably never sang better, her voice full of the smoke of life on the road. You can tell she loves singing these songs. The opening track, "That's How It Goes," stomps with joy right out of the gate, and song after song builds things forward, with Ball's singing and lyrics on cuts like "Between Here and Kingdom Come" and "Believing in Love" in constant motion. The whole album is full of motion and life, and it's easily Ball's best and most personal statement to date. But don't worry-she still knows that all paths lead to the dance floor, and once there, as she sings on the album closing "The Party's Still Going On," you better be ready to dance. This wonderful album will insist on it. ~Steve Leggett
Track List:
01. That's How It Goes
02. Roadside Attractions
03. Between Here and Kingdom Come
04. We Fell Hard
05. Look Before You Leap
06. I Heard It All
07. Believing In Love
08. This Used To Be Paradise
09. Everybody's Looking for the Same Thing
10. Sugar Boogie
11. Mule Headed Man
12. The Party's Still Going On
Personnel:
Marcia Ball - Piano, Vocals
Don Bennett,Steve Mackey - Bass
Steve Butts - Trumpet
Joel Guzman - Accordion
Colin Linden - Guitar, Mandolin
Damien Llanes,Lynn Williams - Drums
Mingo Fishtrap - Horns
Wendy Moten - Vocals (Background)
Mike Schermer - Guitar
Thad Scott,Greg Wilson,Jim Hoke,Dan Bechdolt - Saxophone
Reese Wynans - Hammond B3
