Terry Garland
The One To Blame
Planetary Records

The opening licks on this album remind me of Preacher Boy. Then he started to sing. Terry's voice reminded me of a rough John Mooney for some reason. And I'm not even sure that I know what John Mooney really sounds like. At any rate, it wasn't the voice I expected to hear come out of the clean-shaven, soft-looking face on the cover.

The first song has an odd quality. The harmonica is right out in front, with the guitar, and the harpist is making grunting noises (while circularly breathing?) through most of the track. He sounds like a bass drum.

Most of the rest of the album is pretty standard blues. I wasn't impressed with the Stagger Lee cover, but the rest of the songs are good enough to make you tap your feet. Garland only wrote 3 of the 11 songs. That isn't a bad thing, it's just true.

What I'd like to hear is more songs like the first one. Check this record out if you like stripped-down blues and slide guitar.

-Harold

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