TIM WILLIAMS
Passed Through Here: Selected
Cayuse/ Festival
· Ron Casat, Johnny V, Mike Clark and Big Dave McLean appear on this collection of some of Tim Williams’s finest tunes.
It’s a shame that Tim Williams doesn’t own the rights to the two country folk albums he recorded in the ’70s or to the blues material he recorded in the late ’60s when he was just 20 years old. It’s a shame because while the 14 songs on Passed Through absolutely satisfy the appetite for gourmet songs, the listener is teased by the idea of the road less listened to. Anything this good breeds a desire for more.
There are 11 songs written by Williams and three arrangements of traditional tunes with a range of styles from full-blown pop production to stripped-down guitar and harmonica. Longtime fans will recognize the material as having already appeared on Williams’s albums from the ’90s onward, including those with Triple Threat and Big Dave McLean, but there is something to be said for collecting a master’s best into one punchy package. One thing that is striking about this offering is not that there is the flawless, emotive guitar playing and singing that we have come to expect from the man, but the fact that the songs are as catchy and cool as they are, belying songwriting to equal the musicianship. Listeners are guaranteed to find their experiences and emotions reflected back at them.
Friends, fans and acquaintances of the man who is now the godfather of the local music scene will get a chuckle out of the black-and-white cover photo of a 20-year-old Williams with his guitar case and cigarette on the train tracks, more attitude than age. Luckily for us, Williams grew into that attitude and turned it into some of the finest music to ever hit a CD player.
|
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.