Colin Linden & Luther Dickinson with the Tennessee Valentines – Amour
Stony Plain – 8 February 2019
Respectively members of Blackie and The Rodeo Kings and the North Mississippi Allstars, this is the first collaboration between the two guitarists Colin Linden & Luther Dickinson, both of whom also have several solo albums to their credit, on which they’re accompanied by Dominic Davis on bass, drummer Brian Owings, Fats Kaplin on violin and accordion, and Kevin McEndree on keyboards as well as assorted guest vocalists.
A covers collection, Linden on dobro, it opens with an instrumental showcase of the duo’s electric guitar work and their interplay, a reverb resonating arrangement of the traditional Careless Love that heads into Hawaiian hula territory. Jesse Stone’s Don’t Let Go turns up the blues boogie knobs with Linden on vocals and Rachael Davis and Ruby Amanfo on gospel-coloured backing.
Davis remains at the mic for both an echoey vocals slow lope through Jimmy Reed’s Honest I Do and a smokily sung revisiting of Careless Love, albeit with a decidedly different slow waltzing arrangement. Then, it’s Sam Palladio’s turn in the vocal spotlight for a near six-minute honky tonk waltz through another country classic, Crazy Arms, the Ralph Mooney/Charles Seals composition that proved Ray Price’s breakthrough hit in 1956.
Much covered, Kris Kristofferson’s For The Good Times stretches out past the seven-minute mark as, with a steady, blues drum backbone and early hours mood, a breathily-voiced Amanfu brings a sultry ambience to its resignation of a relationship’s end. Himself formerly a member of Kristoffer’s touring band, the, as the credits put it, with harmonies from Davis, legendary Billy Swann does the vocal honours for his own Lover Please, originally on his self-titled 1976 album, the arrangement hewing closely to the original’s western swing roots.
Although covered by dozens of artists, among them Percy Sledge, Conway Twitty, Ernest Tubb, the Everleys and The Band, originally a 1958 R&B hit for Chuck Price, What Am I Living For is probably the least familiar inclusion, though backed by the duo’s electric guitars and McKendree’s soulful organ, Amanfu’s version easily stands comparison with the best.
From the same year, Linden returns to vocals and dobro for a scratchily resonating take on Bo Diddley’s Dearest Darling, stripped of the original piano and more rock n roll feel, the album culminating in an otherworldly cosmic ambience with, as it notes, Colin and Luther on ‘outer space’ and Jonathan Jackson’s echoey vocals conjuring a ghostly Elvis for Charlie Feathers’ hit I Forgot To Remember To Forget.
As per the title, this is very much a labour of love, and, if you’re looking for a bittersweet Americana musical valentine, this definitely comes up smelling of roses.