Savoy Brown
The Devil To Pay
(Ruf Records)
Not dedicated to George Osborne, it turns out. Kim Simmonds & Savoy Brown back in the studio to deliver another set of Kim originals. The band’s last show in London at the Borderline was stunning, all over the place on styles and eras and all the better for it. Dynamic drummer Garnet Grimm and supple bassist Pat DeSalvo do everything one could ask to make these tunes rock and burn and Simmonds has lost none of his fire on the six string and harp. Recorded in his (now) home territory of Syracuse, the studio sound is very American.
Kim’s notes mention various blues formats – rock, swing, jazz, traditional. It was recorded quickly, I suspect because the trio is a live unit, are pretty hot and more and more intuitive.
Best moments for this fan – the surefire tread of ‘Bad Weather Brewing’, all steady bass and rolling snare with fluid guitar and adept phrasing and emphatic vocal, the well-paced harp runs on ‘Oh Rosa’. Plus the jagged tempo of the title track, again with assured and inventive guitar spinning through the tune. ‘Tell Mama’ was a classic Savoy hit and ‘I’ve Been Drinking’ hits a similar groove, with the best vocal of the record, too. But best of all is the closer ‘Evil Eye’, with its sinister riff and growly singing – classic Simmonds and I imagine a show favourite to be.
Overall this record stays a little too often in the trad blues format for me and some adventurous compositions might have stretched the band..HOWEVER few outfits deliver this edgy blues rock material with such authenticity. Still!
Pete Sargeant
Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown’s new album ‘The Devil To Pay’ is out now on Ruf Records. For more information visit: http://www.savoybrown.com/
