Tab Benoit – Medicine CD Review
Medicine is Tab Benoit’s seventh solo release for Telarc International and features several songs co-written with one of the Crescent City’s finest musical imports, Anders Osborne. The two men spent time in the Louisiana swamps, strumming guitars and bouncing musical ideas off the alligators and the result is a simmering, zesty crawfish boil of an album. Speaking about the experience, Tab recently noted “Anders and I have been friends for years, and we have a very comfortable relationship. Songwriting needs to feel natural. It needs to flow easily. When he and I went out on the bayou, we came back with seven songs! Anders also played most of the rhythm parts on the album. He does a good job of not stepping on what I’m doing and making it fit the song.” Anders indeed plays on the album, reportedly using B.B. King’s famous guitar – “Lucille.”
Medicine was recorded at Dockside Studio located on the banks of the Vermilion Bayou on 12 acres in the heart of Cajun country. The record was engineered by David Z who has worked with Buddy Guy, Gov’t Mule and many others. David Z produced Benoit’s previous three records and Medicine was co-produced by Tab Benoit and Anders Osborne. The sound is stripped down, layered, and has a fresh, live feeling. Even though there are several musicians involved in the project – a veritable Louisiana Allstars line-up featuring Ivan Neville on keyboards, Michael Doucet from Beausoleil on fiddle, Shreveport native son Brady Blade on percussion, Tab’s touring bassist Corey Duplechin, and the aforementioned Anders Osborne on rhythm guitar – they do not overplay and the performances complement the songs instead of competing with them. When discussing the studio experience Tab said, “Magic happens when you least expect it. Most of the stuff here was played live – these are mostly first takes. When it came down to playing, we weren’t trying to structure things. We were open to the moment.”
It starts off, appropriately enough, with Benoit’s guitar picking out some lonesome licks that rise slowly like the sun over Lake Ponchartrain until the heat is blazing over a stomping beat. It was reportedly written as a joke when the pair realized they went out on the lake to write without Anders’ actual medicine. The song is no joke however and for many it will be the highlight of the album. The vocals are desperate, the guitars are razor sharp, and the drums are relentless. It could be a sick man on a dying bed, or a junkie, dope-sick in the alley; the feeling is the same and medicine or death offer the only hope of escape. The song feels cathartic and successfully kicks off an eclectic record full of sparse arrangements, searing electric guitars, and lonesome fiddles.
“Come And Get It” is upbeat in a Memphis soul style, driven by a thumping bass with an infectious groove but Tab’s slashing guitar and the drawl in his voice give a distinct Louisiana Delta twist. “Broke and Lonely” borrows a few notes from “Good Morning Little School Girl” and there is enough difference to keep it interesting and fun, but the latter title keeps creeping to mind and is a bit distracting.
“Whole Lotta Soul” is a song based on a theme that is near and dear to Benoit’s heart – conservation. Preservation of the endangered delta wetlands has become his personal crusade and he serves as president of Voice of the Wetlands which he co-founded in 2003. He was prominently featured in the 2006 documentary Hurricane on the Bayou, that chronicles life in Louisiana after Katrina. In 2010, Tab Benoit was chosen by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation to receive the Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year for 2009. His passion comes through loud and clear and the song serves as a call to arms, not just to fellow conservationists, but anyone interested in preserving the natural beauty of our country.
Benoit’s passion is conveyed vocally on many tracks and there is plenty of crooning on the album. In a way, Benoit’s voice is as much a star on Medicine as his guitar. “Long Lonely Bayou” features Michael Doucet on fiddle and Tab on acoustic guitar and vocals. You can feel the sadness in the air like the oppressive humidity of the delta swampland and the fiddle brings the tears like rain. Later in the album Tab serves up some Otis Redding style singing on “Nothing Takes The Place Of You.” Neville’s B3 organ provides a simmering undercurrent as Benoit sings the blues, punctuating the poetry of the lyrics with sharp, succinct guitar lines.
Medicine ends with a Cajun rave-up called “Mudboat Melissa.” Its ebullient joy closes the album in high spirits, and like the indomitable people of Louisiana who have seen natural disasters one after another and a massive oil spill last year that added immensely to the widespread damage in the Wetlands, it shows that we can persevere and overcome loss and desperation through action, music, and camaraderie.
To hear tracks from Medicine and for more information about Tab Benoit click this link.
