\u201cThe blues is a leaving, breathing art form,\u201d explains Robben Ford, who has been playing them for most of his adult life. \u201cThey have always been sociopolitical.\u201d<\/p>\n
The veteran musician, who has received four Grammy nominations, a nod by Musician magazine as one of the \u201c100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century\u201d and has played with the likes of Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Miles Davis, Greg Allman, Phil Lesh and Larry Carlton, puts that observation into practice on his third and latest Concord Music Group album, Truth.<\/p>\n
While recognized by his peers and critics as a superlative instrumentalist and technician, Ford insists writing songs has kept his career on an upward trajectory. Truth features superb playing, but more importantly, it tells a story.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOn this album, I am speaking out about the things I believe in, using the language of the blues, but updating it in a modern, evolutionary context,\u201d he explains, with new songs like the first single, \u201cLateral Climb,\u201d and \u201cPeace on My Mind,\u201d dealing with such issues as the faltering economy and the war in Iraq with a fresh, personal approach.<\/p>\n
Ford employs an all-star cast which includes guest vocalists Susan Tedeschi (on Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cOne Man\u2019s Ceiling is Another Man\u2019s Floor\u201d) and Siedah Garrett (backgrounds on \u201cYou\u2019re Gonna Need a Friend\u201d and \u201cRiver of Soul\u201d), keyboardist Larry Goldings, bassist Chris Chaney, drummer Gary Novak along with keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and drummer\/bassist Charley Drayton, both from Keith Richards\u2019 Expensive Winos. The album also includes songwriting collaborations with Keb Mo (\u201cRiley B. King\u201d), Nashville tunesmiths Gary Nicholson (\u201cHow Deep in the Blues [Do You Want to Go]\u201d) and Danny Flowers (\u201cRiver of Soul\u201d), his wife Anne Kerry Ford (\u201cYou\u2019re Gonna Need a Friend\u201d) and his nephew Gabriel Ford (\u201cToo Much\u201d). <\/p>\n
\u201cThe songs I wrote for this record were naturally inspired by the times,\u201d says Ford. \u201cI once covered one of Willie Dixon\u2019s songs, \u2018It Don\u2019t Make Sense, You Can\u2019t Make Peace,\u2019 which he wrote at the time of the Vietnam War. But it\u2019s obviously applicable today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLateral Climb\u201d is typical of Ford\u2019s approach, a personal song set against a churning blues backdrop; it deals with such modern-day problems as credit card debt and the treadmill of the 9-to-5 rat race. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s about something from my own life,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI make a lot more money then I used to, and I got rid of all my credit cards, but it doesn\u2019t seem to make any difference. That\u2019s the blues today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ominous, post-9\/11 \u201cPeace on My Mind\u201d is as up-to-date as today\u2019s headlines, with lines like \u201cWho can make sense\/Of problems in a distant land\u201d and \u201cWhen fire meets fire\/You burn away the common ground,\u201d Ford creates his own version of a protest song for the times.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an anti-war song without being too preachy,\u201d Ford explains. \u201cIf you\u2019re pointing a finger, no one wants to hear it. It\u2019s a portrait rather than a sermon. The truths I describe are self-evident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford also tries to subvert and bring new meaning to blues clich\u00e9s like the evil woman who bedevils her victim in songs like \u201cYou\u2019re Gonna Need a Friend\u201d (ironically, co-written with his wife, singer Anne Kerry Ford and \u201cThere\u2019ll Never Be Another You,\u201d which expresses that uneasiness with a 7\/4 tempo that segues into 6\/4 for the guitar solo over lyrics like \u201cWill she poison my coffee\/Sweeten my tea?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of repetition in the blues, so just a subtle shift can make all the difference,\u201d he says. \u201cThat small change takes you to a different place.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Ford pays tribute to one of his primary influences in \u201cRiley B. King,\u201d an homage to B.B., whom he first saw at the old Fillmore in San Francisco opening for another of his favorite guitarists, Mike Bloomfield\u2019s Electric Flag. He wrote the song in Sedona, AZ, responding to the city\u2019s spiritual energy, then gave it to Keb Mo, who recorded a version of it with Ford and Robert Cray for his album, and made some suggestions to help freshen the chorus.<\/p>\n
Two covers help define Ford\u2019s love of southern R&B. His faithful version of Otis Redding\u2019s \u201cNobody\u2019s Fault But Mine,\u201d a B-side to an early single which spotlights the punchy horn section of sax player Dave \u201cWoody\u201d Woodford and Dan Fornero on trumpet, while his funky take on Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cOne Man\u2019s Ceiling is Another Man\u2019s Floor,\u201d featuring a duet with Susan Tedeschi, recalls the original\u2019s use of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I could do a good job with it,\u201d says Ford of the Simon song. \u201cSusan really sings her ass off. Because I didn\u2019t write it, that made it easier for both of us to do our own thing with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford maintains the raw, live sound he prefers on the grinding \u201cToo Much,\u201d featuring Larry Goldings\u2019 distinctive Hammond B3 organ, though he also shifts stylistic direction for the deliberate \u201cRiver of Soul\u201d and \u201cMoonchild Blues,\u201d a song inspired by a line from a Howlin\u2019 Wolf song. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe blues is where all my songs come from,\u201d Ford admits. \u201cIt just feels good to work with a classic musical art form and keep it alive. I feel part of a tradition, as opposed to being out there all alone trying to create songs out of thin air. It\u2019s unfortunate that people would think of the blues as something that\u2019s ancient. The blues is pretty universal, but there\u2019s a boldness to this record, a language I\u2019ve used to make it new.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want my music to be about something,\u201d concludes Ford. \u201cI have come up with new contexts for my playing\u2026 that\u2019s what gives it a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford speaks the Truth\u2026 not just with the sound of his guitar, but the vision behind his music.<\/p>\n
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