You could throw a lot of adjectives at Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 and have them stick: easygoing, charismatic, clever, craftsmanlike and more. Just don\u2019t forget \u201cdependable.\u201d Fifteen albums into a career that\u2019s included forays into children\u2019s music, covers, a collaboration with Taj Mahal, and a pair of live releases, there are certain things we\u2019ve come to expect and even anticipate from a new set of Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 songs\u2014heartfelt ballads, clever story songs, timely lyrics, interesting collaborations, and a broad range of sounds rooted in and derived from traditional blues.<\/p>\n
A new Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 album is like getting reacquainted with an old friend; certain rhythms and attitudes and ideas are so familiar that you just slip right into them, and that easy familiarity is comforting and also kind of fun. Album number 16 Good To Be\u2026<\/i> delivers all of these familiar elements in dependably appealing and entertaining fashion.<\/p>\n
The opening title track \u201cGood To Be\u201d finds Mo\u2019 emerging from lockdown to revisit the Compton neighborhood where he grew up, subject matter that could have been fraught for any number of reasons, but which Mo\u2019s perpetually positive attitude turns into something beautiful. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be here \/ It\u2019s good to be anywhere \/ It\u2019s good to be back \/ It\u2019s good to be home again,\u201d he sings over a gentle blues shuffle augmented by guests Paul Franklin (pedal steel) and Vince Gill (harmony vocals).<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Easy\u201d and \u201cSunny And Warm\u201d follow in suit, songs whose substance is exactly what their titles imply\u2014a strutting, finger-snapping celebration of love with nice horn accents, and a song about a crush that\u2019s warm and sunny enough to inspire visions of Jimmy Buffett reincarnated as a Delta bluesman. \u201cGood Strong Woman\u201d is again just what the title implies, a song of praise for powerful women, on which Mo\u2019 duets amiably with guest Darius Rucker.<\/p>\n
Mo\u2019 gets topical in a big way with \u201cThe Medicine Man,\u201d an earthy, rollicking pandemic anthem. If that sounds like a contradiction, wait \u2019til you hear Mo\u2019 and special guests Old Crow Medicine Show (because: of course<\/i>) singing \u201cEverybody\u2019s doin\u2019 the best they can \/ We\u2019re all just waitin\u2019 on the Medicine Man.\u201d It\u2019s very much on the nose and yet it works, managing to be celebratory and serious all at once.<\/p>\n
Mo\u2019s determined optimism comes to the fore again on \u201cMarvelous To Me,\u201d a steady-building ballad featuring piano, guitar, and a full string section behind this virtual topic sentence for Mo\u2019s catalogue: \u201cIt\u2019s a crazy world, a crazy time \/ Maybe this is the way it was meant to be \/ I got a hopeful heart, got my head up high\u2026 I\u2019ve been knocked to the ground \/ But I\u2019m still standin\u2019.\u201d Following in perfect form, the only surprising thing about a Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 cover of Bill Withers\u2019 classic \u201cLean On Me\u201d is that he hasn\u2019t done it before; it\u2019s a song that encapsulates his entire musical ethos.<\/p>\n
The second half of Good To Be\u2026<\/i> is somewhat less memorable, though it has its moments. \u201c\u201962 Chevy\u201d is an easygoing number about riding along in your favorite car that couldn\u2019t be simpler or warmer or more effortlessly charming. \u201cLouder\u201d is a gentle yet fervent tribute to a new generation of political activists. And closer \u201cQuiet Moments\u201d brings in Kristin Chenoweth to add luminous harmony vocals to a tender acoustic ballad again featuring strings and piano.<\/p>\n
Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 is a gifted bluesman with strong roots in the tradition whose attitude and musical personality today are closer to James Taylor than John Lee Hooker. That doesn\u2019t make him any less genuine or authentic; it just makes him different. The word I would use to describe Good To Be\u2026<\/i> is comfortable. If comfortable isn\u2019t what you\u2019re looking for, it can feel a little basic, but for those times when it fits your mood, a comfortable album like this is a wonderful friend to have along for the ride, wherever the road may take you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7091],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-46365","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-keb-mo","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46365","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46365"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46365"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}