Buffalo Creek
the sky was as black as the water
and you could choke on the breeze
and the coal miner's daughters
they were shouting from the trees
"come on come on
and stop staring like a dead man
come on come on
baby take my hand"
no goodbyes, no sympathy
one by one they were gone
lord I ain't never felt so weak
since the day the damn broke
down at buffalo creek
By Mike Johnston
When listening to the self-titled debut CD from the band American Minor, think "Allman Brothers" or early "Lynard Skynard" and you have the basic feel for the music. Born and bred in Huntington, West Virginia, the band has the raw, bluesy, working man sort of sound that is such a crucial part of classic American rock-n-roll. After listening to this CD for the better part of a week, I still like every song on it.
If I had to pick a few favorite songs I would have to go with Buffalo Creek (the video playing here) and Walk On (audio feed available here). Buffalo Creek is based on an actual event where a dam broke due to careless strip mining. All the songs have something to say and the band has an original sound born from the fact that the members have known each other for a very long time and essentially learned to play music together.
Two other songs that I really liked were Mr. Queen, which tells the story of a suicidal man, and One Last Supper, which looks at the fate of a man of color ,who is wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit and faces the finality of his own execution. In that song, they ponder the wisdom of a "Cowboy in Texas" having the power of life and death. It makes you think.
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