Rock and Roll Station
Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan
Schoolhouse Records
2000
12 tracks
Up front: if you like so-called roots-rock, then you'll like the music of Joe D'Urso; if you're a fan of Bruce Springsteen, then you'll love Joe D'Urso's sound. This is some of the best rock and roll being made in North America today. What makes this release even more fun is that D'Urso has built the set around the idea that the tracks are played on radio at all hours of the day all weekend long, with real rock and roll DJ's introducing the songs.
In his liner notes, D'Urso pays tribute to "...DJ's who loved music and had no programming restrictions placed on them. Fans of music who thought playing their own tastes on the air somehow made radio listening better and perhaps made life a little brighter."
D'Urso says, "This record was inspired by nights I spent lying in bed as a kid, and turning the dial to find songs that I loved or songs that drew me in. Along the way I heard DJ voices that I will never forget. The record was also inspired by the numerous late night drives after shows when out in the middle of the nowhere, we'd pick up long distance radio stations. Gospel preachers, revivals, low-wattage stations playing songs that will never make it into the mainstream. And, oh yeah, baseball games from all over. Major and minor league games."
These reminiscences echo my own and, I'm sure will resonate in the memories of many who have grown up in North America between the birth of radio and now. D'Urso's artful use of live radio clips between songs [of 25 tracks, 12 are rock jock rap and radio tuner slippage] brings back a sense of the times he describes. I'm not sure it works totally, but it's an interesting concept for an album.
I met Joe D'Urso once when he played a small room in an Irish pub in my town backed by a pick-up band of local musicians. He's a personable young man with a very down to earth approach to his music and to his audience. Talking to him in breaks and after the show, I was impressed with his substantial knowledge of music, not just rock and roll but popular music spanning the Twentieth Century. This is no shallow pop star but a journeyman working musician immersed in his craft.
If this music has the simple appeal of good rock and roll, it is not simplistic music. D'Urso cites such influences as poet Leonard Cohen and storyteller Harry Chapin. His lyrics have the depth and integrity that might be expected to come from such influences. Without knowing anything else of D'Urso's background, just hearing his music makes it clear that Bruce Springsteen is a major influence. At other times, D'Urso's songs remind me of Jim Steinman's songs written for Meatloaf and of some Joe South songs. Like these artists, D'Urso melds ideas with a hard-rocking groove and makes rock and roll a poetic art.
I've never been quite sure what that catch-phrase "roots-rock" is supposed to mean, something to do with being in touch with the people and the land, I suppose -- being connected with what is real. It seems to me that, at root, that's what folk music is about. Certainly, the term does apply to a distinctive, recognizeable style of music. It seems to pick up where first country-based rockabilly and then urban folk-rock left off. D'Urso's music is a lot like that. It has the simple, driving rhythms and guitar licks of rockabilly; the literate, intelligent lyrics of latter day folk music; and the jingle jangle feel of Seventies folk-rock. Top all that off with D'Urso's raw vocals and you've got something pretty special.
There's not one bad song on this release. It's all hot, up-tempo music with a groove that will stir the dancing instinct in the stodgiest listener. And, another hallmark of all great rock and roll, this music is at its best when the volume is cranked as high as it can go. Interestingly, of all these songs, my two favourites are one that D'Urso didn't write and one that isn't listed on the cover.
The requisite "hidden track" and the title song are the same. "Rock and Roll Station" is a solid rocker that should be on the Top 40 somewhere but probably never was nor will be. This is music that will stand up to the best of a Bob Seger or Bruce Springsteen, but it's about a quarter-century past its time. That's a shame.
Probably the most powerful song on this release was written by Canadian folk-rocker Neil Young. D'Urso's version of "Powderfinger" is the best I've heard since the original release by Young. Indeed - dare I say it? - I do believe this hard-driving version is even better than that great recording from Young's Rust Never Sleeps album.
Would I recommend getting Rock and Roll Station for your own collection? Absolutely! But don't get it to add to your collection. Get it to play real loud while you're working or just for fun. That's what rock and roll like this is really all about.
If you want to know more about Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan, visit jdcaravan.com. To read an earlier review of Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan, check out this review of 1998's Glow.
|
Since about February 14, 2004 |
While you're here, please take the time to check out our sponsors below and on other pages.
Got a new or recent release you would like reviewed?
Click here 
for more information.
|
on Sound Bytes' Free-For-All Links page... Click Here.
Designed by The Communication Centre (R. D. MacKenzie Associates,
Kingston, Ontario K7K 6T9)
This web site, all pages, original content & images copyright © 1997-2002 R. D. MacKenzie.
Some web site functions developed and provided by Bravenet Web Services.
Review written: February 14, 2003
Page modified: February 14, 2004
Proudly Canadian
Send mail to the Sound Bytes Webmaster
if you have questions or comments about this web site.