2014 – Blind Pig Records
By Phillip Smith;
July 12, 2014
Deanna
Bogart keeps getting better and better. Her latest release, Just a Wish Away is an instant classic featuring outstanding
songwriting and superb performances. Capturing the creativity of Carole King,
the spunk of Bonnie Raitt, and the vocal style of Christine McVie,
Bogart seizes the listener’s attention quickly. Enlisting bassist Charlie
Wooton, and New Orleans’s favorite horn section Bonerama, makes the
album even more alluring.
I absolutely love “Back and Forth Kid”. Beautifully played, this heartfelt song about
growing up under lousy conditions sports an instant familiarity, as if it were
a song heard a million times before. “What
is Love Supposed To Do” a pretty song of longing and dusting off old memories, also
has a certain familiarity to it. Marty
Rifkin on steel guitar brings a nice little smidge of country to the song.
Bogart breaks
loose on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Tightrope”, hitting the ivories with full
force to give the song new life as a piano-centric tune. Without SRV’s signature guitar present,
my brain took a little time to absorb what the song actually was the first time
I heard it. Going deep, Bogart teams
up with Chris Jacobs, taking on JD Souther’s “If You Have Crying
Eyes”, from his Black Rose album. Jacobs
plays guitar and covers the other half of the vocals in this duet. The two have great chemistry together, and sound
as if they have been performing together for years.
Sure to be a live staple, Deanna takes a turn to the
funky side with Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime”. Wooton’s
bass breaks loose on this track and Bonerama tops it off with their cool
blasts of brass.
Deanna Bogart’s talents are many, and this new album
is very enjoyable. Take the plunge and
give Just a Wish Away… a listen.
