Joe Goldmark Blue Steel

Joe Goldmark
Blue Steel
Lo-Vall Records

Goldmark is a new name to these ears but is a pedal steel guitarist from the San Francisco Bay area who got the bug to play the pedal steel from seeing Jerry Garcia play with the New Riders of the Purple Sage decades ago. He continued to play pedal steel even after getting married and having a pizza business and then became a partner at Amoeba Music, but all this time continued to play. There is a variety of supporting musicians with drummer Paul Rivelli being the most familiar to me. There are seven vocals here split between ex-Hoodoo Rhythm Devils lead singer Glenn Walters and chanteuse Dallis Craft, while long-time Goldmark compadre, Jim Campilongo, who guests on electric guitar.

Despite the mix of roots country, blues and soul, Goldmark's playing sounds rooted mostly in the country tradition, as compared to the more vocalized steel guitar stylings of Sacred Steel players and Bay area bluesman Freddie Roulette. This is evident listening to the opening "Night Flight," where he displays his clear delivery (and Gary Fullerton's twangy tremolo guitar. After the easy to listen to the opening track, things heat up with Walters blue-eyed soulful vocal on a rendition of Rufus Thomas' "All Night Worker," as Jeff Ervin's baritone sax helps add to the bottom while Goldmark takes a crisp solo. Walters also is heard on a heated cover of Jimmy McCracklin's "The Wobble" with some sizzling steel guitar and also B.B. King's "Beautician Blues," with some more astonishing steel guitar to go with Walters' forceful singing

The four vocals feating Dallis Craft are in the vein of old-school country (think the Bakersfield School), starting with Jeffrey Lynne's honky-tonk ballad, "I Want To Be With You Forever"; Graham Parker's "Howlin' Wind," which incorporates a reggae groove; Lefty Frizell's honky-tonk classic "Look What Will Thoughts Will Do"; and her lament "True Love Travels On a Gravel Road," that closes this recording. Among the other instrumentals, there is the lovely "Warm Rain," a calypso-infused arrangement of Bob Marley's "Natty Dread," and Jim Campilongo's country waltz, "I Want To Be With You Forever."

Never less than easy to listen too, this is a most appealing genre-crossing release that likely will have its greatest appeal to fans of old-school country and Americana, but entertaining to anyone who might sample this tasty recording

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the May-June 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 378). Here from "Blue Steel" is "I Want to Be with You Forever."

Freddie Roulette is the forgotten blues steel guitar legend

Long before Chris Strachwitz issued his first collection of Sacred Steel recordings on Arhoolie, guitarist Freddie Roulette had recorded on lap steel on a variety of recordings including Earl Hooker’s classic Arhoolie album, Two Bugs and a Roach, Big Moose Walker’s great 45, Ramblin’ Woman b/w Puppy Howl Blues, and the Chicago Blues Stars. What stood out was the vocalized quality of his playing and how his playing evoked trains, howling dogs and other sounds in a fashion that the sacred steel players and few other guitarists do today (Derek Trucks being a notable one).

Roulette has lived in the San Francisco area over three and a half decades. Back in 1997, he had a terrific album on Hi Horse, Back in Chicago, where he was backed by the late Willie Kent and his excellent band. Now guitarist Henry Kaiser has produced a new release by Roulette, Man of Steel, on the German Tradition & Moderne label. Certainly it provides enough space for Roulette to display his considerable talents, but the presence of several other guitarists, some of whom also play slide provide for what may be overall a less satisfying recording. It opens with Roulette reviving the Johnny Taylor/Albert King classic Breaking Up Somebody’s Home, with some startling playing but a lesser vocal, followed by Washington Phillips’ Tattler on which David Lindley takes the vocal lead and adds slide. Once one gets past the limited vocal by Roulette on the simple lyrics of You Got To Funkifize, one hears nice playing from Roulette but there is perhaps too much from Kaiser for these ears. With Ken Emerson providing a foundation on his lap steel, Roulette imaginatively takes lead on a refreshing reworking of Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder, before either Kaiser or Phil Emerson takes a nice solo. Roulette’s vocal comes off better on Willie Nelson’s Nightlife with his lap steel embellishments behind his vocal being a nice touch. A Hawaiian instrumental How Do Ya Do? provides nice lap steel playing from Roulette and Ken Emerson, and is followed down by a slowed down, stop-time rendition of Arthur Crudup’s That’s Allright Mama, with a nice vocal by Ken Emerson and more nice mood-enhancing playing from Roulette. Surfin’ is a nice instrumental set to a reggae groove, followed by a decent vocal on In the Heat of the Night. It is a wide-ranging set with some typically fine work by Roulette covering a variety of musical styles with some fine ensemble playing. Still this does not quite place Roulette’s electrifying guitar to the fore as the Hi Horse disc did.

Sacred Steel's First Exposure

Its just been over ten years since Arhoolie Records issued its first anthology of the sacred steel music tradition. In the intervening decade some performers in the tradition such as Aubrey Ghent, the Lee Brothers and the Campbell Brothers have become well known outside this music's religious origins and Robert Randolph has become a star on the pop circuit. Here is my 1997 review from the Jazz & Blues Report of the CD that initiated the interest in this music. Kudos to Chris Strachwitz for generating interest in this genre like he did in cajun and zydeco, norteno and so much more roots music.

Arhoolie Records has issued a most intriguing collection titled Sacred Steel. Comprised of various field recordings, some from concerts and some from religious services, its subtitle of Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida should give a sense of its contents. Producer Robert Stone provides a lengthy discussion of the music and the performers here. As his accompanying booklet notes, steel guitar (both lap steel and pedal steel) is an integral part of the worship in the House of God, and the five performers featured here are among its greatest proponents. Certainly there are moments where the music will be very much like blues, but with a different message. Steel guitar lends itself to vocalized playing that has always been a part of African-American music and this is illustrated in Sonny Treadway’s instrumentals of classic hymns as well as by Willie Eason, a pioneer of this music who recorded in the forties and fifties, and reprises his Franklin D. Roosevelt, A Poor Man’s Friend that he originally recorded after FDR’s death. The music from the religious services, where the steel playing gets entangled in the frenzied celebrations, is mesmerizing, as the music hits a fever pitch that would make a hot John Lee Hooker boogie sound like a bedtime lullaby in comparison. This collection serves didactic and entertainment functions equally well with many inspired performances.