Tom Doughty – Running Free (Corker Music).
Englishman Tom Doughty’s early influences include John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy and Big Bill Broonzy so you can imagine that his own playing has come out as a cross of folk and country blues. Running Free is Tom’s second album and he opens with Your Picture Has Faded, a gentle blues with Western style influences. He has a unique slide guitar style brought about by being made disabled through an accident in 1974. You cannot detect his disability through his music and that is the way it should be. Randy Newman’s Real Emotional Girl is perfect for Tom’s gentle, unassuming style and he shows his diversity by tackling Robert Petway’s Catfish Blues. His guitar style and prowess is coming more to the fore and he turns in a strong performance here. The traditional Darlin’ Cora is another Western influenced trundler but I didn’t really know what to expect when I saw Eleanor Rigby on the track listing. What we get is a virtuoso performance on slide guitar and certainly a very different way to listen to this standard. He follows this up with another; Cole Porter’s Every Time We Say Goodbye and turns in another very acceptable piece.
Koa River is a slow instrumental that just washes your senses and the Charlie Patten song, Some These Days is, as you would expect, a solid country blues. My only criticism is that sometimes Tom’s voice is just a little clinical for my liking. Songs from the greats just keep on coming and Furry Lewis is next. Tom’s rendition of Brownsville Blues is certainly well played but it just lacks the spark of the original. He does have some of his own songs peppered throughout the album and the title track is one of those. This folksy offering is enhanced by the harp in the background. He’s on a roll now and it’s two self-penned tracks in a row. Something Ain’t Right is blues influenced but leans toward the folk side again. The Reverend Gary Davis’ classic Tears Come Rollin’ Down is often covered and Tom’s version is, like the rest of the album, laid back. Perhaps he should inject a little more passion into his voice because this song certainly needs it. Having said that, this is one of the highlights of the album. He finishes with another arrangement of someone else’s material. Black Orpheus is an instrumental, slightly jazz influenced and a perfect showcase for his slide guitar. However, it may not have been the best way to finish an album which is a good introduction to Tom Doughty’s work.
http://www.tomdoughty.com/
David Blue.
Englishman Tom Doughty’s early influences include John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy and Big Bill Broonzy so you can imagine that his own playing has come out as a cross of folk and country blues. Running Free is Tom’s second album and he opens with Your Picture Has Faded, a gentle blues with Western style influences. He has a unique slide guitar style brought about by being made disabled through an accident in 1974. You cannot detect his disability through his music and that is the way it should be. Randy Newman’s Real Emotional Girl is perfect for Tom’s gentle, unassuming style and he shows his diversity by tackling Robert Petway’s Catfish Blues. His guitar style and prowess is coming more to the fore and he turns in a strong performance here. The traditional Darlin’ Cora is another Western influenced trundler but I didn’t really know what to expect when I saw Eleanor Rigby on the track listing. What we get is a virtuoso performance on slide guitar and certainly a very different way to listen to this standard. He follows this up with another; Cole Porter’s Every Time We Say Goodbye and turns in another very acceptable piece.
Koa River is a slow instrumental that just washes your senses and the Charlie Patten song, Some These Days is, as you would expect, a solid country blues. My only criticism is that sometimes Tom’s voice is just a little clinical for my liking. Songs from the greats just keep on coming and Furry Lewis is next. Tom’s rendition of Brownsville Blues is certainly well played but it just lacks the spark of the original. He does have some of his own songs peppered throughout the album and the title track is one of those. This folksy offering is enhanced by the harp in the background. He’s on a roll now and it’s two self-penned tracks in a row. Something Ain’t Right is blues influenced but leans toward the folk side again. The Reverend Gary Davis’ classic Tears Come Rollin’ Down is often covered and Tom’s version is, like the rest of the album, laid back. Perhaps he should inject a little more passion into his voice because this song certainly needs it. Having said that, this is one of the highlights of the album. He finishes with another arrangement of someone else’s material. Black Orpheus is an instrumental, slightly jazz influenced and a perfect showcase for his slide guitar. However, it may not have been the best way to finish an album which is a good introduction to Tom Doughty’s work.
http://www.tomdoughty.com/
David Blue.
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