Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Livin' In the Jungle |
| 2. I'm Gonna Leave You |
| 3. Booty City |
| 4. Black Snake |
| 5. She's So Scandalous |
| 6. Messin' |
| 7. Mustang Ranch |
| 8. You Been Lyin' |
| 9. Ballad Of Jimmy Tanks |
| 10. Since I Met You Baby |
| 11. Jesus Took My Hand |
Product Description
Review
Texas-based Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears broke through in 2009 with their stunningly immediate debut Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is, which teetered on the tightrope between pastiche and homage perfectly. Full of white-hot blues, funk, Stax-influenced horns and urgent, itchy vocals, it was one of that year’s nicest surprises. Above all, it was great fun.
So, how do you repeat this high concept? Reconvene the band, get the same producer (Jim Eno from Spoon) and do it all again, only this time, more so. Of course Scandalous is Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is part two, but that is no bad thing. Again, in little over 30 minutes in total, there is little room to breathe. After the briefest of fade-ins, Livin’ in the Jungle is an affectionate high-speed nod to Guns N’ Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle, with everything sounding very much business as usual. Horns blazing? Check. Impassioned, raging vocal? Check. Chiming rhythm guitar, check. Gang backing vocals? Yes, indeed. Booty City, with its breakdowns and party noises, is the album’s up-tempo killer blow. Similarly successful is You Been Lyin’, which strays into heavier territory and arrives complemented by The Relatives’ searing gospel-influenced vocal support.
Scandalous is best, though, on its slower material. I’m Gonna Leave You is a fabulously repetitive blues with horns that build to a crescendo. Messin’ sounds like an amalgamation of all the low-key acoustic numbers by The Rolling Stones on Exile on Main St. The understated menace of the title-track is especially effective. Bill Stevenson’s bass stalks Lewis’ vocal with great brass and frantic rhythm and lead guitars, while Eno’s dubby effects on the drums add additional mystery and depth. Lewis brings a ragged charm to the album’s solitary non-original, Ivory Joe Hunter’s Since I Met You Baby. It’s a cross between two of the well-covered track’s best versions, those by Jerry Lee Lewis and Solomon Burke.
If Scandalous is not as good as its predecessor, it is simply because the surprise element of Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is has gone. Glastonbury-goers: note that Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears are playing this year. They’re the sort of band one stumbles across and then leaves 40 minutes later, nodding sagely, pretending they’ve known about them all along.
--Daryl Easlea
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
1-Livin' In The Jungle 2-I'm Gonna Leave You 3-Booty City 4-Black Snake 5-She's So Scandalous 6-Messin' 7-Mustang Ranch 8-You Been Lyin' (feat. The Relatives) 9-Ballad Of Jimmy Tanks 10-Since I Met You Baby 11-Jesus Took My Hand (2011 'Lost Highway')(38:47/11) Großartig! Blues, und Funk mit einem satten Schuss Soul und etwas, was sie selbst 'Punkitude' nennen. Diese texanische Band ist fantastisch, verknüpfen verschiedene Elemente zu etwas Neuem, einer extrem kraftvollen M Bass und die treibende Rhythmusgitarre den Groove bestimmen, den die drei Bläser perfekt akzentuieren. Die Rhythmen klingen wie ein Mix aus Little Junior Parker, Magic Sam, Bo Diddley und Junior Kimbrough. Soul, Rock und funky Blues mit der Energie des Punk und der Perfektion einer Stax-Rhythmsection. Einzigartig! /' A slab of rock & roll, blues and funk, laced with a double shot of 100-proof punkitude... The songs are about hard times and one-night stands, lying and cheating, redemption and revenge. Gritty, raunchy and real, his music is not for the squeamish, but experiencing it fully can be genuinely cathartic.' (info from their website). Fantastic Texas band with powerful, endlessly grooving rhythms, great songs, great vocals. One of the finest productions in recent times. Highly recommended. JOE LEWIS - gtr/voc, ZACH ERNST - rhythm gtr, BILL STEVENSON - bass/kbds, MATTHEW STRMISKA - drums, plus horns.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If ever an album cover wore its heart on its sleeve, it's surely the cover of Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears' second album "Scandalous". The cover looks like pure sleaze and the music within is pretty much sleazy bar music, the kind of thing you really wish was the soundtrack if you ever found yourself washing your sorrows away with bourbon in a dark, backwater bar somewhere in the South Central United States. And so while I've hopefully got your imagination started, imagine a character rolled in to the said sleazy bar, who was as equally inebriated as you, sat down next to you and started to tell stories of his life. You can barely make out the words, in fact you can only make out some of the words but you find yourself glued to the stories anyway. Well, that pretty much describes my listening experience of this album but believe me, in case you were wondering, this is a good thing. A very good thing. This album is quite possibly the coolest thing on no legs.
So let's start with a hangover (already). The opening track "Livin' In The Jungle" is a feel good stomper that would launch your hungover ass straight out of bed and back in the real world. It kind of defines the influences the band bring to the table, too - a heady mix of funk, garage rock, soul, blues, whatever. A gumbo that worked so well on their first album and is further built on here. It ranges from straight-up blues on "Messin", to the funkier "Booty City" with a very infectious chanted chorus and a nice appropriation of Edwin Starr's "25 Miles". This album twists and turns like a Texas Twister (a good opportunity to mention the Honeybears are from Austin, Texas by the way).
Then there's "Mustang Ranch", this is definitely one of those tracks where you strain to work out exactly what Joe is saying, (because you'll want to know!) and while I haven't got it all worked out yet, I am sure having fun trying, so no spoilers here. In fact it's likely you will discover a new moment every time you listen to this album. The Honeybears are a band that know how to lay it down thick and have a lot of fun whilst doing it. It's like sampling a 50 year cross-section of Americana in one condensed and very intoxicating drink ...and well worth the hangover.
So let's start with a hangover (already). The opening track "Livin' In The Jungle" is a feel good stomper that would launch your hungover ass straight out of bed and back in the real world. It kind of defines the influences the band bring to the table, too - a heady mix of funk, garage rock, soul, blues, whatever. A gumbo that worked so well on their first album and is further built on here. It ranges from straight-up blues on "Messin", to the funkier "Booty City" with a very infectious chanted chorus and a nice appropriation of Edwin Starr's "25 Miles". This album twists and turns like a Texas Twister (a good opportunity to mention the Honeybears are from Austin, Texas by the way).
Then there's "Mustang Ranch", this is definitely one of those tracks where you strain to work out exactly what Joe is saying, (because you'll want to know!) and while I haven't got it all worked out yet, I am sure having fun trying, so no spoilers here. In fact it's likely you will discover a new moment every time you listen to this album. The Honeybears are a band that know how to lay it down thick and have a lot of fun whilst doing it. It's like sampling a 50 year cross-section of Americana in one condensed and very intoxicating drink ...and well worth the hangover.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Those wanting to check out the funktacular collective Black Joe Lewis & the honeybears from the great music town of Austin, Texas should head straight for their performance of "Sugarfoot" on Jools Holland where you will see the the tightest rock n soul band since J Geils used to bring atomic energy to their live performances. "Scandalous" is an album destined to soundtrack your next barbecue should the sun ever come out or provide non dancers with that irresistible urge to shake their stuff and let the bump begin. There is truly so much dirty ass guitar and horns on this albums that it should come with a parental classification and the picture of a young lady on the album cover is certainly not drawn from this weeks copy of "The Convent Times".
What's is interesting about this great album is that you sense it might be the type of record that the Black Keys have been trying to make over recent years. It clearly draws on Junior Kimbrough, but also Wilson Pickett, Howlin Wolf, Sam and Dave, James Brown and a range of Delta bluesmen. Check out the incredibly funky "Ballad of Jimmy Tanks" with a brilliant vocal from Lewis and a wicked swirling guitar playing an evil riff as huge horns punctuate the track. Alternatively "I'm gonna leave you" is more straightforward blues which will give Dan Auerbach sleepless nights. Throughout the album you are swept up in its sheer exuberance and joy de vivre. The broad title track "She's so scandalous" in particular is one of the best "revivalist" funk songs penned since James Brown departed the planet, where Lewis sings like a man possessed of the ghost of the hardest working man in showbusiness on a song which you never really want to end. Granted "Since I met you baby" is little bit to close to an old Ray Charles song for comfort but it is infused with a wonderful trumpet and guitar solo and the chant along "Booty city" makes up for its lack of political correctness with a anthem destined to be an encore at the bands hi energy concerts. Finally "Mustang Ranch" is plain daft and yet will leave imprinted on your face a smile as broad as Rio Grande as it it pounds you to death. a final bit of advice since for the effort of a couple mouse clicks you can pop over to the website of one David Letterman to witness the presenter almost speechless following the band playing a scintillating live version of "Livin in the jungle" which is so hot you should wear a hat.
All in all "Scandalous" is a album to filed under the label of timeless and epic fun. It is rocking, funky and soulful and guaranteed to brighten the dark corners. As a live act you suspect that this band would be of hurricane intensity and it must have been an act of peerless bravery for both Spoon and Okkervil River to provide them support slots on US tours in recent years since they could literally blow most bands off stage. "Scandalous" then is a record you're going to want to check out, although make sure you nail down the dance floor first.
What's is interesting about this great album is that you sense it might be the type of record that the Black Keys have been trying to make over recent years. It clearly draws on Junior Kimbrough, but also Wilson Pickett, Howlin Wolf, Sam and Dave, James Brown and a range of Delta bluesmen. Check out the incredibly funky "Ballad of Jimmy Tanks" with a brilliant vocal from Lewis and a wicked swirling guitar playing an evil riff as huge horns punctuate the track. Alternatively "I'm gonna leave you" is more straightforward blues which will give Dan Auerbach sleepless nights. Throughout the album you are swept up in its sheer exuberance and joy de vivre. The broad title track "She's so scandalous" in particular is one of the best "revivalist" funk songs penned since James Brown departed the planet, where Lewis sings like a man possessed of the ghost of the hardest working man in showbusiness on a song which you never really want to end. Granted "Since I met you baby" is little bit to close to an old Ray Charles song for comfort but it is infused with a wonderful trumpet and guitar solo and the chant along "Booty city" makes up for its lack of political correctness with a anthem destined to be an encore at the bands hi energy concerts. Finally "Mustang Ranch" is plain daft and yet will leave imprinted on your face a smile as broad as Rio Grande as it it pounds you to death. a final bit of advice since for the effort of a couple mouse clicks you can pop over to the website of one David Letterman to witness the presenter almost speechless following the band playing a scintillating live version of "Livin in the jungle" which is so hot you should wear a hat.
All in all "Scandalous" is a album to filed under the label of timeless and epic fun. It is rocking, funky and soulful and guaranteed to brighten the dark corners. As a live act you suspect that this band would be of hurricane intensity and it must have been an act of peerless bravery for both Spoon and Okkervil River to provide them support slots on US tours in recent years since they could literally blow most bands off stage. "Scandalous" then is a record you're going to want to check out, although make sure you nail down the dance floor first.
Format:Vinyl
Bluesy, Funky, sleazy and menacing in all the right ways
- this is not just an album guaranteed to get right to your soul, the LP also includes a second one with blazing versions of older Blues numbers and a CD of the Scandalous album itself. Clever stuff, because it really cries out to be played at live-gig sound levels and even the best turntable cannot manage the 'inbetween' track bits without background noise....
If your Hi-Fi is up to it, try She's So Scandalous at an insanely high volume (...Livin' In The Jungle, Mustang Ranch...) your doors, windows, teeth and brain will rattle but it don't matter, this is sublime stuff. My timid little God fearing Granny died in the 80's but I swear she came back and boogied round the room with me while I just played this.
A shame that for once I couldn't get a ticket for Glastonbury and see them.
Contents:
Double Gatefold with all details, lyrics etc
Transparent vinyl LP - main album
Black vinyl LP - Blues covers
CD in paper case - main album
Oh, and bye the way, great cover art, some hilarious stuff on the back
This band are at the top of their game and deserve huge acclaim. I also love "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is" but for me "Scandalous" is the better album. If you enjoy hard rock, blues, R&B with an live'n'dirty groove, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Better stop now, got wrist ache....
- this is not just an album guaranteed to get right to your soul, the LP also includes a second one with blazing versions of older Blues numbers and a CD of the Scandalous album itself. Clever stuff, because it really cries out to be played at live-gig sound levels and even the best turntable cannot manage the 'inbetween' track bits without background noise....
If your Hi-Fi is up to it, try She's So Scandalous at an insanely high volume (...Livin' In The Jungle, Mustang Ranch...) your doors, windows, teeth and brain will rattle but it don't matter, this is sublime stuff. My timid little God fearing Granny died in the 80's but I swear she came back and boogied round the room with me while I just played this.
A shame that for once I couldn't get a ticket for Glastonbury and see them.
Contents:
Double Gatefold with all details, lyrics etc
Transparent vinyl LP - main album
Black vinyl LP - Blues covers
CD in paper case - main album
Oh, and bye the way, great cover art, some hilarious stuff on the back
This band are at the top of their game and deserve huge acclaim. I also love "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is" but for me "Scandalous" is the better album. If you enjoy hard rock, blues, R&B with an live'n'dirty groove, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Better stop now, got wrist ache....
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
