#506 : Reverend Freakchild - Supramundane Blues

 

2021 – Treated & Released Records

By Phillip Smith; July 3, 2021

 

Supramundane Blues is the latest recording from the good Reverend Freakchild and this time around, he’s taking on classic spirituals, down home gospel, and contemporary songs grounded in that arena.  His flavor of blues and roots-based jams bring the songs to a whole new level.   With Freakchild, is guitarist Mark Karan (Rat Dog), keyboardist Steve Sirockin, bassist Malcolm Oliver, drummer Chris Parker (Aretha Franklin, Donald Fagan, Quincy Jones), Jason Hamm (String Cheese Incident), and multi-instrumentalist Hugh Pool.  Grammy-nominated vocalist and harmonica player the Reverend Shawn Amos also makes a guest appearance.        

Freakchild takes Albert King’s “Everybody Want to go to Heaven” and gives it a whole different sound, cloaking the song in a spirted cosmic energy.  I love the upbeat version of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”.  Freakchild sings this with serious conviction as buckets of grease are dumped on his fabulous slide guitar performance.  A list of contemporary bluesy songs about Jesus would not be complete without Z.Z. Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago”.  This one beautifully plays out on acoustic guitar and harmonica.  Freakchild breaks out his magical special sauce on “Working on a Building”, a gospel standard which absolutely jams.  It’s impossible to sit still while its playing.  “Keep on Praying”, a song by Jake La Botz keeps the revival tent all fired up, with Shawn Amos stepping in with vocals and harp.  My favorite track is Freakchild’s cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”.  I’ll probably always favor the original version, but this one really won me over, more-so than the Johnny Cash version.  Freakchild douses this one with really swampy slide, a driving rhythm and juicy blues harp.  I absolutely adore it. 

The album ends on a sixteen-plus minute track called “Seven Billion Light Years Old”, which packs a multitude of sound-bites into an audio montage.  It features various pieces of spoken word, and slivers of music inspired by artists such as The Who, Eddie Mars, John Mellencamp, Tracy Chapman, and David Bowie.  It truly is an enlightening journey.

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I’ve reviewed these other albums by Reverend Freakchild :

 

Dial It In : PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: #328 : Reverend Freakchild -Dial It In (phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com)

 

Illogical Optimism : PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Reverend Freakchild - Illogical Optimism (phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com)

 

  

For more information about the artist, visit this website : www.www-reverendfreakchild.org

#328 : Reverend Freakchild -Dial It In

2018 – Treated and Released Records

By Phillip Smith; April 7, 2018

Dial It In, the third album from the good Reverend Freakchild is absolutely fabulous.  Most often with a National steel guitar in hand, his brand of blues and blues-rock is incredibly unique, outstanding, and at times a bit psychedelic.  For this album, Freakchild enlists drummer Chris Parker (Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, Paul Butterfield) and guitarist Hugh Pool who also recorded and mixed the album.

The record softly cracks open with a mostly instrumental, backwoods, swampy blues track “Opus Earth”.  Accented with backwards guitar, a hypnotic beat, and spiritual chants, this amazing track lets the listener know they are in for a unique listening experience.  Freakchild delectably covers Depeche Mode with a nice and greasy blues-soaked arrangement of “Personal Jesus (on the Mainline)”. With Pool blowing harp, and Freakchild providing the suave velvety vocals and twang, this version totally demolishes the original.  Guitarist Mark Karan and bassist Robin Sylvester, both from Ratdog guest on “Hippie Bluesman Blues”. They instill a delightful deadhead vibe into this country-blues original.

The soulful rhythm in “Dial It In” coupled with Freakchild’s fast-paced prose draws me in with a firm grasp.  Spirited backing vocals from the lovely Hazel Miller join with Garrett Dutton’s (G Love and Special Sauce) for a rejoicing funky good time.  With Jay Collins boldly belting it out on saxophone, Freakchild fearlessly takes on Dylan’s “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” in a marvelous no-holds barred performance. A wonderful tribute to Blind Willie Johnson is exhibited in a “Soul of Man”, before the good Rev takes us home with the cosmic closer “Opus Space” for a grand finale.  And to this, I say “Amen Brother, Amen!”.            

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Click below to read the PhillyCheeze review of  : Reverend Freakchild - Illogical Optimism

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2016/06/reverend-freakchild-illogical-optimism.html

      

Reverend Freakchild - Illogical Optimism

2016 – Treated and Released Records

By Phillip Smith; June 4, 2016

For those looking for a new spiritual leader, I’d like to recommend the good Reverend Freakchild.  His latest album, Illogical Optimism is three discs of musical fun.  The first disc is Odds, Ends and Other Amazingness.  It features fifteen blues and boogie-laced tracks that make me grin from ear to ear.  The second disc, Everything is New, contains a dozen stand-out remixes of Freakchild’s own “Everything is New”.  Lastly, the third disc is called Kairos, and contains acoustic gospel blues songs from a former Florida preacher who goes by the name of Ramblin’ Jennings. 

The Rev interestingly gives John Lennon’s “Imagine” the Lou Reed treatment.  This is one cool track indeed.  The good times roll as he takes on the Meters’ bayou-boogie classic ”Hey Pocky A-Way”.  I love Freakchild’s rendition of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s look at mortality, “See That My Grave is Kept Clean”.  This one stellar blues song. Freakchild brings the first disc to a close with a splash of weirdness and creativity in the gonzo inspired “Plastic Jesus Working On a Building”, which uses the traditional songs “Plastic Jesus” and “Working On a Building” as bookends to contain a myriad of random sounds and song-bits.   

On disc number two, in which all the tracks are variants of the same song, Freakchild is careful to give each track a unique and distinct sound.   Drummer Chris Parker lays down a trippy beat for Freakchild to break the funk out ala George Clinton style in my favorite track, “Once Upon a Time Called Right Now”.  I also really like the hillbilly version “Alla Gotta Na’” too.  Co-producer Sal Paradise lends his breath and harmonica as the Rev breaks out the banjo.  For the multi-linguist, Freakchild also includes both French and German versions.   

The third and final disc features eight tracks from a different reverend.  Armed with just a guitar and harmonica, Ramblin’ Jennings shares the gospel by playing the blues, and he does it with a lot of heart, soul, and authenticity.  Stand-out songs include”Safe in the Storm”, “I Saw A Wheel”, and “Silver Sandals”.

Give the Reverend Freakchild a listen. You will not be disappointed.