Forty years ago, teenage evangelists were known to spread their gospel on walls and bridges throughout Great Britain: Clapton is God.
Great British players like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page followed. Beck may be the most admired, Page the most imitated, but Clapton was the first man to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: once with The Yardbirds, once with Cream, and one as a solo artist. He wasn't just great. He was deified — and with good reason — but he may have just been keeping the throne warm for Davy Knowles. Elevating Knowles to godlike might have a few of you ready to crown me the High Priest of Hyperbole, but Coming Up For Air is a musical baptism with rare power.
Much has changed since Back Door Slam (the name taken from a Robert Cray song) released their 2007 debut record Roll Away. Adam Jones and Ross Doyle left the band and were replaced in the studio by Kevin McCormick and Fritz Lewak. Joining them was R&R Hall of Famer Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), who played Hammond organ on several of the album's 11 tracks. Knowles enlisted Peter Frampton to produce the album and veteran soundsmith Bob Clearmountain (Springsteen, The Who, McCartney) stepped to the console to mix the record.
What hasn't changed is Davy Knowles' role as the sun in the musical universe of Back Door Slam. His guitar and voice are the gravitational force around which everything on this record orbits. This 22-year old phenom scorches and blinds with the heat of a nova.
The album doesn't open with a blistering assault of guitar, instead giving off just a few rays in the opening notes of the title track. "Coming Up For Air" focuses on Knowles' voice. Plenty of young artists have tried to look and sound older than they are, but are ultimately betrayed by their youth. Knowles doesn't sound like he's trying to sound older, he just sounds older. The song centers on the struggle to do one's best in uncertain circumstances. Tench's gospel-flavored organ work provides additional spiritual depth to the weighty theme, and then it happens; Knowles' guitar explodes with the color and intensity of fire. The build, restraint, and ultimate release of give the album forward momentum while making listeners want to start the album again only one song in.
The graveyard of the blues and blues-rock is overflowing with songs about trains and tracks, but "Riverbed" isn't one more blues cliche. Knowles tells the tale of a tragic train crash near Mobile, Alabama, having seen a documentary on it on television from a hotel on the road. The storytelling is good, the guitar work is great.
Article comments
1 - MC6Strings
I bought this album at Davy's concert s the first time I heard many of the songs they were live. I have to admit the album seems restrained compared to the load aggresive live performance, granted I could not make out words with the guitar dominated performance. My opinion may also be jaded by the fact that the basist and drummer are not the same as the studio musicains. In short, his hands literaly blurred at times while I watched in awe as every song seemed more alive and balanced live.
2 - El Bicho
I agree with MC6. I was much more impressed with some of these songs in a live setting.
3 - 1trueSox
I have to say this album sucks compared to the first one, whilst they were still called 'Back Door Slam'. All I can say is I hope this is a transitional album otherwise Knowles is on a slippery slope IMO