Alvin Youngblood Hart Albums (5)
'Motivational Speaker'
Release Date 6/7/2005
Tracks 13
Label Tone Cool
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart's Motivational Speaker is his first outing since Down in the Alley, his stellar, acoustic collection of covers from 2002. Cut in Memphis with a very electric trio that includes Gary Rasmussen (former Rationals and Sonic's Rendezvous bassist) and drummer Ed Michaels, the album is a hard-edged, wooly, dirt-under-the-nails affair. Hart produced the set himself and brought in a number of guests including Jim and Luther Dickinson, Audley Freed, Richard Ford, Susan Marshall, Richard Rosenblatt, and Jim Spake. The album kicks off with a nasty redo of Hart's signature tune "Big Mama's Door," with slide guitars wrangling and popping before exploding into the title cut, another original that notches the volume level up two and pushes the raw, funky quotient through the roof. Hart's cover of "In My Time of Dying" is another traditional tune, reclaimed from Led Zeppelin (the first was "Gallow's Pole" on his debut). The sonics here are reminiscent of Neil Young & Crazy Horse until Hart begins to sing: his blues wail is emotionally taut, open, low and primal. Likewise, his own cover of Otis Redding's "Nobody's Fault but Mine" (Zep did it on Presence) features a raunchy horn section and scorches with its loose, almost unglued manner adding a whole new dimension. However, rather than merely being heard as a way to set the record straight, it is just as valid to listen to these tunes as a tribute to Led Zep. Despite his instinct for great covers -- including Paul Rodgers' "The Worm" and "How Long Before I Change My Clothes," or the reverent honky tonk read of Johnny Paycheck's "The Meanest Jukebox in Town," it's Hart's originals and the over-the-red-line attack this band plays them with that are the album's true standouts -- check the guitar freak-out on "Shoot Me a Grin" and the stomping, riff-heavy blues-rock of "Necessary Roughness." Motivational Speaker is a solid, rootsy raucous chapter in the unfolding saga of the era's most diverse bluesman. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Down in the Alley'
Release Date 7/9/2002
Tracks 12
Label Memphis International
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Hart does a 180 after the husky, power trio/space/R&B/rock of 2000's Start With the Soul by spinning out a dozen blues covers in a solo acoustic setting. On his fourth album (for his fourth label), the contemporary bluesman sounds inspired and refreshed as he accompanies himself on acoustic six-string guitar, banjo, and mandolin. The production is from Memphis cult hero Jim Dickinson, who doesn't have a chance to do much other than provide inspiration in this sparse setting. Hart runs down fairly obscure tunes from Son House, Charley Patton, Leadbelly, Skip James, and Sleepy John Estes, infusing them with a jolt of energy while staying true to their original versions and invigorating them with inspired interpretations. Hart's voice is magnificent throughout -- yowling, moaning, doleful, yet proud as he pays tribute to the Delta and country blues masters. Even the well-worn traditional "Motherless Child" sounds fresh in this context. Eschewing the diverse -- some claim overly diverse -- approach of his previous few releases, Hart sticks to basics here. He keeps the tone spare, naked, and dry, which best fits the somber mood, especially on his high-lonesome banjo interpretation of Odetta's "Chilly Winds." Recorded in just three days, this return to the artist's country blues roots is at turns harrowing, haunting, and uplifting, just like the originals. Those who found the Thin Lizzy-edged rock attack of his last release too far removed from Hart's earlier rootsy approach will rejoice in this unvarnished, stripped-down, deep blues release. ~ Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide
'Start With the Soul'
Release Date 4/25/2000
Tracks 13
Label Rykodisc
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart dedicates his third release Start With the Soul to, among others, the late Thin Lizzy leader Phil Lynott. This isn't just lip service, as you can immediately hear when the opening roar of "Fightin' Hard" comes blaring through. Hart doesn't go out of his way to appeal only to blues followers. He has the natural ability to fuse twangy country, Hendrix, funk, and reggae into his Delta blues style without regard to genres. Start With the Soul is unlike other releases from artists who at the beginning of their career display an acoustic Delta approach only to end up incorporating a very commercial soul sound for the sake of reaching a wider audience or receiving minuscule radio airplay. The choice of cover versions is revealing; Chuck Berry's "Back to Memphis," Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose's 1971 hit "Treat Her Like a Lady," and the Sonics' mid-'60s garage rocker "The Hustler" lose none of the vigor of the originals. Credit should be given to the legendary Memphis producer Jim Dickinson for capturing the gritty sound critical to this kind of undertaking. It will be interesting to see where Hart goes with future releases. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Hart is so determined to display his stylistic dexterity that he winds up wandering all over the map: country swing, blues, reggae, gutbucket rock. Each selection is worthy, although a more consistent thematic thread would make the album more listenable. ~ Tim Sheridan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The debut recording of 33-year-old Hart is extraordinarily simple and simply extraordinary. Except for three cuts on which he's joined by Taj Mahal, Big Mama's Door is just Hart on acoustic guitar and vocals, and he's not doing anything fancy -- just playing prewar-style blues, mostly in a percussive Delta manner, recorded live to two-track. Yet he succeeds so well in blending technique and feeling, structure and spontaneity, tradition and freshness that he produces a minor gem of a blues record, evocative of the blues masters of the 1920s and '30s. He covers Leadbelly, Blind Willie McTell, Charley Patton, and the Mississippi Sheiks and does originals that replicate older blues idioms, not just in the notes but in the nuances, and in the personal commitment he brings to the material. ~ Steve Hoffman, All Music Guide
