 Johnny A. For a guy who is supposedly trying to find his sound, Johnny A. sure has a lot to choose from. On his solo debut, Johnny lays down the gamut from dripping, soulful blues to crisp, tasty pop lines. The title track is a slinky sambad number timed by Craig McIntyre's brisk percussives. Johnny's cover of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" draws its own long sad line that runs through the heartland and tugs on the way out. "Two Wheel Horse"opens with a Beatles riff (a la "Gotta Get You Into My Life") then opens into a western two-tone that neither Johnson nor ZZ could top. Giving in completely to his Beatle inclinations, Johnny asks himself if it is appropriate to take on the mastery of Lennon and McCartney and answers himself "Yes It Is." The cover keeps the melody, but smooths it into the doo-wop '50s mode The Quarrymen originally went for. "Up In The Attic" is a jazzy pumper that zips around between a set of riffs like a young child playing "dress up" in a trunk full of old clothes. Johnny tiptoes south of the border for The Ventures' "Walk Don't Run" and stays there for the scuttling crawler "Tex Critter." After a familial tribute through the bassy "Lullabye for Nicole" (made all the more dreamy with the smooth sleepwalking fingers of five-stringed bassist Ed Spargo), Johnny picks up the pace one more time for a Latinate late night excursion "Walkin' West Ave.," a song that would make for a great TV cop show theme if it weren't so good. With homemade energy and extremely professional production, Johnny has done it right the first time. If you buy this album on a Monday (though it doesn't matter when, as long as you do!), you may not be done with it until long after the title has become inconsequential. |
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