#398 : Big Jack Reynolds - That's a Good Way to Get to Heaven

2019 – Third Street Cigar Records

By Phillip Smith; June 29, 2019

Third Street Cigar Records has recently released a terrific twenty-track CD compiling the best of Ohio bluesman Marshall “Big Jack” Reynolds.  This deluxe package also includes a feature-length documentary on DVD containing eighty minutes of rare footage, and interviews which has gone unseen since the late Eighties.  Although this was my first exposure to Big Jack Reynolds, I found the documentary to be very engrossing.   

Reynolds’ earlier recordings were made during the Sixties in Detroit on the Fortune and MAH labels.  After moving on to Toledo around 1970, Reynolds set up his home-base and continued performing for another twenty years, recording his last songs in 1990, three years before he passed away.  According to Third Street president John Henry, “Big Jack wasn’t nationally famous, but he was our guy and now we get to bring him to the world…  Every local player wanted to perform with Jack.  He was a ‘real-deal’ bluesman from somewhere down south, though it was never clear where”.  With Reynolds on vocals and harmonica, the majority of the cuts on this fascinating compilation feature Larry Gold on guitar, Johnny “Hifi” Newmark on bass, Slim Tim Gahagan on drums, and Chad Smith on piano.

The album opens with a sweet previously unreleased cover of Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do”.  Reynolds also lays down a very nice cover of Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back” as well.  I love Gold’s ripping guitar performance on “You Better Leave That Woman Alone”.  Coupled with a cracker-jack rhythm section and Reynold’s slightly raspy vocals, this original sounds great.  “Mean Old People” is about as real as it gets.  Here we get to hear Big Jack alone with his guitar.  It is unadulterated raw blues at its purist.   

The infectious and inescapable surf beat on his 1962 single “Made It Up in Your Mind” is a wonderful backdrop for Big Jack and his harp.  It’s dripping with cool.  My favorite, an original called “Hot Potato” has a stellar groove.  Big Jack breaks out his guitar on this jamming instrumental which concludes with him exclaiming “That’s a good way to get to heaven!”.  This gravitative track is such a great listen. 

This is one great retrospective collection which I will enjoy for a long time.   

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For more information about the artist, visit this website.. www.thirdstreetcigarrecords.com

The Shopkeeper – Film Review

Directed by Rain Perry

Release Date : Aug 21, 2017 – Shopkeeper, LLC

By Phillip Smith; July 2, 2017

The Shopkeeper, a warm and thoughtful documentary from folk rock singer/songwriter Rain Perry, sheds an eye-opening light on the current state of the music industry.  With a focal point of Mark Hallman’s Congress House Studio in Austin, Texas, the film takes a close look at the what it has taken over the past few decades to stay in the music game.

Delving into Hallman’s career as a musician, which spans nearly forty years, we get a glimpse of his earlier years as a member of the band Navarro, which happened to lead to simultaneously backing two legendary greats, Carole King and Dan Fogelberg. In the Eighties, after relocating to Texas, Hallman rented a house on two acres of land south of Austin to use for a pre-production studio, and he just never abandoned it. Over the years, The Congress House has become a haven for musicians from both near and far away.  Perry brilliantly relays the tale of the ever evolving business of music through the stories of Hallman and those who have worked with him, like Ani DiFranco, Tom Russell, Charlie Faye, Betty Soo, and Colin Gilmore.

In 1974, the music industry boasted $10.5 billion in sales, which grew to $19 billion in 1994.  With the introduction of the MP3 and file-sharing services of Napster, Pandora, and Spotify, record sales have plummeted. This not only affects the artists, it affects the studios as well.  Without the promise of record sales, the artists embrace newer technology which gives them the ability to inexpensively record at home, on devices which may be nothing more than an iPhone.  There is a price to pay for this.  The music itself takes a huge hit in quality, as it bypasses the step where those with extremely trained ears can take a really good song, and make it a great song.  Hallman, who is one of those extremely trained and talented figures, is noticing the changing trends every day.

I love the stories Perry draws from the musicians who all share a love for this sacred space and who might consider the studio a second home. The comradery surrounding those tales of overcoming whatever obstacles they had to overcome are truly the heart and soul of the film.   

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For more information regarding this film, visit these websites...
rainperry.com and shopkeepermovie.com