Otis Taylor - Otis Taylors Contraband '2012

Tracks list

Tracklist:

[3:58] 01. Otis Taylor - The Devils Gonna Lie
[3:32] 02. Otis Taylor - Yell Your Name
[4:42] 03. Otis Taylor - Look To The Side
[4:12] 04. Otis Taylor - Romans Had Their Way
[3:34] 05. Otis Taylor - Blind Piano Teacher
[4:34] 06. Otis Taylor - Banjo Boogie Blues
[3:41] 07. Otis Taylor - 2 Or 3 Times
[4:30] 08. Otis Taylor - Contraband Blues
[2:34] 09. Otis Taylor - Lay On My Delta Bed
[3:56] 10. Otis Taylor - Your 10 Dollar Bill
[6:30] 11. Otis Taylor - Open These Bars
[4:02] 12. Otis Taylor - Yellow Car, Yellow Dog
[3:48] 13. Otis Taylor - Never Been To Africa
[4:48] 14. Otis Taylor - I Can See Youre Lying

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AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
Over a decade, folk-blues songwriter Otis Taylor has come up with compelling,
often puzzling album titles; Clovis People, Vol. 3 is no exception. For
starters, there aren’t any previous volumes. Also, the Clovis People he
refers to don’t exist. Their name was chosen by archaeologists near
Taylor’s own home in Pueblo, Colorado, who discovered the tools and
pottery of a culture that had died out over 13,000 years ago.

Taylor’s approach is quite spare and atmospheric, though his ensemble is
sometimes exotic: some of his guests include jazz trumpeter Ron Miles, electric
guitar slinger Gary Moore, Fara Tolno on djembe, pedal steel guitarist Chuck
Campbell, and his regulars, daughter Cassie on bass and theremin, and Larry
Thompson on drums, along with assorted guests. Taylor’s trademark vocals
and guitar are ever-present. These blues are moody, sometimes menacing:
“Little Willie” is a narrative account of a young boy shot dead on a
school playground. A biting lead guitar line is answered by Taylor’s
stuttering rhythmic one. Campbell’s pedal steel weaves between the two as
Cassie’s bass rumbles, and the skeletal, pulsing crackle of
Thompson’s kit heats up Taylors moan toward a biting crescendo. On
“Rain So Hard,” Miles trumpet paints Taylor’s National steel
with ethereal single notes and short runs, as a theremin, pedal steel, and a
cello fill out the bottom. It’s a slow, hypnotic John Lee Hooker-esque
shuffle about lost love. “Lee and Arnez” is a folk song textured by
Moore’s trademark guitar snarl, a violin, and an organ. Its fragmented
narrative is about race and changing times. Taylor’s reclaiming the
ghosts of people he knew and staking a claim to what was always true, even if
America didn’t know it at the time (and may still not):
“There’s no color/there’s no difference.”
“Ain’t No Cowgirl” features Moores electric guitar against
Tolnos djemebe. They snake and pulse under a sparse lyric about a truly
dangerous woman. “Think I Won’t” returns us to the school
yard. Fiddle, pedal steel, bass, guitars, and drums create the musical backbone
that allows a mother to confront a drug dealer. How it ends Taylor
doesn’t say, but the music offers enough pent-up rage and righteous anger
that we can guess. Clovis People, Vol. 3 adds significantly to Taylor’s
increasingly ambitious body of work. He mines new territory from an
ancient--perhaps prehistoric--blues with grit, humanity, and an elliptical
musical personality.

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