Blue Mother Tupelo
Heaven & Earth
By Al Kaufman
Ricky and Micol Davis are so happy and in love that you just want to smack them upside the head. He sings to her, "I like it when you smile," and she returns to him, "You make my life worth while," on the track "Tupelo." Their liner notes include, "Nothing compares to the love we have for our families, except the love we have for each other." They end their CD with a song about how much they love their dog, Gustard Bellue, and have the dog bark throughout the song. It's really all quite sickening.
But despite their utter love, faith, and happiness, it is next to impossible to not like this Nashville duo that makes up Blue Mother Tupelo. Their opening track, "Always Lookin'," with their back-and-forth vocals, is the best blues romp that Bonnie Raitt and Greg Allman never recorded. They can both belt out a tune. Other tracks, such as "Goin' Down Midnight," and the traditional foot-stompin' gospel tune, "Wish I was in Heaven Sitting Down," approach the opening track for energy. Unfortunately, nothing else comes close.
This is a happy album, of that there is no doubt. Even on ballads such as "The War," the man comes home from battle unscathed. Micol's rich and beautiful vocals make up for the string-saturated overproduction of the song.
Overproduction (Ricky produced, mixed, and engineered the CD) mars other cuts on the album. "Ramblin' Train" had potential to become a great dark, bluesy number, but is undercut by loops and masking.
This is good "sitting on the porch with a beer and the one you love" music. It will make you smile, it will make you tap – and occasionally stomp – your feet, and it will make you look lose yourself in your loved one's eyes. Just make sure to have some insulin nearby.
