Reviews

Music Spectrum
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Blues Rock: David Gogo's Skeleton Key

David Gogo's Skeleton Key A skeleton key is one that can unlock any door. David Gogo's newest release, Skeleton Key, shows that his blues abilities can unlock any of the many blues subgenre sounds.

Album opener "Jesse James" is a Tommy Castro-like electrified, big stage blues, a hot rod blues with flames on the side, that comes with some boogie woogie piano from Brendan Hedley. Next comes "I Can Still Hear You Crying" with its Eric Clapton/Robert Cray R&B wailing blues.

The third track is the dirty, harmonica, rockin' blues of "Stay Away from My Home," akin to the more popularly known Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Four deep into the album is the title track which comes on like Bonnie Raitt pop blues soul with Van Morrison horns.

Those are four of the six originals on Gogo's album. Elsewhere, he's covering a diverse background as well. Albert Collins' "Backstroke" instrumental embodies Collins or B.B. King with Gogo being the center stage bluesman, whooping up the St. Louis blues, letting the band vamp at times, and I'm just waiting to hear the M.C. shout, "Da-vid Go-go! Da-vid Go-go!" The Ottis Spann-penned "Walkin'" is a swing blues fueled by Billy Hicks' drums.

Such a skeleton key to blues styles could come across as a sampler, like a resume showing what David Gogo could bring to any blues lineup. However, the album's variety shows that Gogo is not locked into any one mini-genre of the blues. Where other blues albums sound tired after four or five tracks because they get into an aural rut, Gogo develops a rich, wide, enthralling blues sound that climbs into new windows with each successive song.

Then Gogo also shows that he can lend those blues to songs whose original obscured the blues potential. Gogo approaches Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" from a bluesman's perspective, digging out a bluesy, dark, bass stomp from what was the keyboard/drum machine vamp. While Gogo's guitar certainly ignites this tune, Gerry Barnum's harmonica truly takes it down to the swamp.