I’ve always admired Jeff Bridges, a fine actor and person of
\ngenuine character who works hard to see that people don’t go hungry
\nin America. He always seemed to eschew that Hollywood glitter and
\nreveled in the dust with the rest of us. So with my respect for Mr.
\nBridges ranking high on the gauge, I was a little trepiditious upon
\nhearing about his latest venture: a new album of music performed by
\nthe Starman himself!<\/p>\n
We’ve all seen it before. A film or TV star gets this crazy idea
\nlodged in his head that he can take on the music world and sell
\nrecords with his good looks alone. The result is usually an album
\nof forced singing and overblown production with an accompanying
\nvideo full of over gesticulations and facial contortions. So my
\nheart sunk as I had visions of Jeff Bridges taking this same
\ndevilish stage which had formerly hosted Don Johnson, Bruce Willis
\nand Eddie Murphy.<\/p>\n
My initial eyeballing of the cd was promising. Jeff didn’t even
\nhave his face on the cover! Upon inspection of the liner notes I
\ndiscovered Michael McDonald in the producer’s seat and a guest
\nappearance by David Crosby, luminaries not likely to lend their
\ntalents to a flash in the pan musician.<\/p>\n
So with my fear abated and my interest piqued I put the disc on.
\nAh, that Jeff Bridges! If he says he’s a musician and can put out
\nan album well he’ll back it up with a product to prove it!<\/p>\n
Though not ground breaking,
\nBe Here Soon<\/i> emanates with a warmth and a personable quality
\nthat grows stronger with each listen. With production low key and
\ntight, you get the impression that Bridges cut the album while he
\nwas hanging out with a few cronies in the family den. Bridges’s
\nvocal performance is impressive: a little Dave Edmunds\/John Hiatt
\nvocal styling hybrid. He delivers the lyrics with aplomb. And
\nMcDonald’s soulful pipes are always a welcome embellishment.<\/p>\n
Bridges wrote six of the nine tunes which represent the
\nstrongest tracks on the record. The songs run the gamut from
\nreggae, folk, blues and country. Songs such as “Mask” and “Choke”
\nreveal Bridges’s humble streak. In the finely penned “Mask” he
\nsings “The way I attach and detach\/The way I do my linkin’\/The way
\nI seem to fall short\/And hit the mark every now and then\/…All
\nthese things I find I do\/Don’t give me or you a clue\/What I am or
\nwhat I’m for”.<\/p>\n
“Picture Frame” and the anthem “Circle Dance” are nice songs
\nabout controlling one’s own destiny and not being swept off course
\nby external influences. You get the idea that Bridges values
\nintrospection and strives for personal integrity. He gets this
\nacross without an ounce of preachiness. The John Goodwin songs are
\nnot bad (“She Lay Her Whip Down” being a highlight). It’s just that
\nsome of the lyrics are a bit esoteric.<\/p>\n
\nBe Here Now<\/i> may not be pushing the boundaries in the rock
\nrevolution but it certainly is a solid effort in musicianship and a
\nrefreshing change from the usual “Actor cum Musician” club. It’s an
\nalbum from the heart and isn’t that where true music really
\nbegins?<\/p>\n
Please visit
\nJeff<\/a>‘s web
\nsite. You’ll get info on where to buy the album and some important
\ninformation on the state of hunger in the US. A percentage of the
\nproceeds from the sale of this CD go to the
\nEnd Hunger
\nNetwork<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":25303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6269],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-36509","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jeff-bridges","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36509"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36509"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}