In order to not prejudice myself one way or another in reviewing an album, I tend not to read the musicians playing or liner notes before listening; I want to take the songs in on their own merits.
So, I put on this swampy blues album by Kevin Burt and think to myself, “This guy really sounds like Bill Withers! Then I listen to a few tunes, and I realize, “ Hey, he’s doing songs by Withers!” What a concept.
Playing harmonica, guitar and singing with a voice imbibed from drinking the waters of you-know-who, Burt teams up with Ken Valdez/g and Eric Douglas/dr-perc for a rollicking tribute to the Bill Withers songbook, with the songs sounding more the way the composer would have liked them himself, rural and with dirt under the nails. He pleads on “Ain’t N o Sunshine” with some long shadows in support, is avuncular on “Lean On Me” and gives a warm but juke joint take of “Just The Two Of Us” with a dash of acoustic folk. He’s in a red clay tone on a back porch version of “Grandma’s Hands”
He also takes on some of the more obscure pieces, playing a mean harp on “Would Keeps Going Round and Round” and rocking hard on “Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)”, with some searing guitar work on “I’m Her Daddy.” His own “Thank You Brother Bill” fits right into the mood, with the whole album making you accept it on its own terms and make you want to go back and hear the originals at the same time. When’s he hitting California?