Opening with a vocal rendition of the title song, Sound of the Blues seeks to express the beauty and appeal of Chicago Country Blues, as the music is compared to the sound of a "night train passing through." Like the sound of the night train, the music is both solitary and wondrous in its emotional power.
With succinct lyrics, the song's theme is further expressed through the melody of the guitar -- in a complementary way that lyrics alone, or guitar alone, could never express. The first passage of the lead guitar is an elegant and engaging solo in itself, yet it builds toward the melodies that follow it. Continuing in the center passage, the poignant sounds of the bending strings foreshadow the final passage, in which the lead guitar evokes a mood of bittersweet epiphany. These passages contain melodic phrases that capture the depth of the song's sentiment -- the desires, both the accomplished and the elusive, that can characterize the loves of a lifetime. The lyrical expression of Sound of the Blues, combined with this instrumental of sheer, dramatic power, leaves each listener with a uniquely personal experience of the song.
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Following the introduction, the vocal tells the story of a love that is slowly, but irreversibly, slipping away. Accentuated by a brief but moving solo, the singing resumes at the bridge of the song, approaching the album's theme with the lyric, "I'm not sorry that I loved you, just sorry for what might have been." After a reaffirmation of the song's chorus, the music begins to pause, but the acoustic guitar continues forward -- and the drums ensue, as the song moves into an emotional, upper-register guitar solo. And a memorable solo it is -- like the solo in the title song, the lead guitar in Bend is an extension of the lyrical story, expanding upon it in a way that words alone could never have.
A Fortune In Blues kicks off with a guitar boogie -- bright and upbeat, this rhythm figure is played low, near the open strings of the guitar. And then with a sprightly 'crash' of the drummer's cymbal, the song's vocal launches into the light-hearted but earnest story of an untrue love that is indeed a bounty -- albeit, a bounty in heartaches.
Lyrically ironic, the song just keeps getting better as the story moves along to the instrumental break, which begins with an alternate phrasing of the guitar boogie -- and this then gives way to an expansive, steel guitar sounding solo. Still not ready to call it quits, a subsequent guitar passage fulfills the character of the song -- the song is like rockabilly revisited in the style of Chicago Country Blues. This subsequent guitar solo is a strumming, melodic pattern of chord voicings that have a rhythmic, 1950's quality to them. It brings together an instrumental break of unique proportions, as each passage sounds like a different player. Of course, all were accomplished by the same musician, merely using the different tone colors present as the player's hand moves up to different places on the guitar neck. With the drive and ease that seasoned musicians are capable of, Fortune takes varied stylistic elements and puts them together in a recording that sounds like a newly-discovered classic.
Speaking of "classics," No Place To Call Home is performed a lot like classic honky-tonk, imbued with one of the most subtly insistent rhythms in memory. Upon repeated listening, it seems that no single musician is to credit for the rhythmic pulse of the song -- indeed, it seems that it was no one and everyone -- just a great ensemble sound created by all four musicians. And this rhythmic pulse drives some wonderful lyrics forward -- words which aptly describe the difference between a house and a home, as the lyric finds the singer elaborating, "I listened for your footsteps, momentarily -- alone in vain I listened, solitarily." And shortly there-after, the guitar solo kicks off with a punchy 'triple-triplet,' accompanied by the drummer's cymbal crashing enthusiastically. Lo and behold, this very electric-sounding solo is played like the flat-picking of a flat-top guitar -- it is sheer old-time, but with the power of honky-tonk. And then when it seems that the solo is about to take the song home, the solo changes directions on the turn-around and establishes its own melodic 'call and response.' It calls out from smooth and understated low notes, and then advances shimmering high notes in return. No Place To Call Home may be a song about an empty home -- but it is also a real marriage of classic songwriting and dynamic playing.
Closing the album is a beautiful electric guitar instrumental of the title song, this time called Sound of the Blues Reprise. And what an instrumental -- at times it is cleverly interpretive of the vocal melody, while for the most part it is completely its own musical expression.
Reprise opens with skillful and sentimental finger-picking of emotionally evocative ninth and minor-seventh note-chords. They are variously nostalgic and bluesy -- and they progress toward a vibrato-laden, wonderful turn-around which is deftly played, and is reminiscent of the most expressive of mandolin figures. Patiently and elegantly stated, Reprise is approached in a way that is consistent with the guitar playing throughout the album -- drawing upon just the right amount of time and space to set the stage.
As the finger-picking of Reprise fades out, and is then muted by the player's hands, the flat-pick is poised and strikes the first ringing note of an equally powerful second-half of the song. The first passage here plays off of the vocal melody in a complementary fashion, dynamically adding embellishments, and also taking full advantage of the one-octave step up from the vocal melody. Then in contrast, but with a seamless transition, the next passage introduces cascading note-chords that possess the fluidity and phrasing of a steel guitar. The melodic finale of Reprise returns closer to the vocal melody, but it does so by way of alternate-picking -- and it is wonderfully reminiscent of the cross-picking of a mandolin, while also adding the ringing overtones and singing sustain of the electric guitar. Utilizing emotive variations in chord voicings, the finale brings Reprise to a touching conclusion that captures the expressive theme of the entire album.
Lyrically, vocally, and melodically a beautiful album, the entire Sound of the Blues album demonstrates the power of the musical instruments in expressing and expanding upon that which even the finest of lyrics could never say alone.
