Jubal John: Mr Right Now
Details
Genre: Alternative, Blues rock, RockPros:
John composes smart songs with singer-songwriter frame of mind and classic '60's appealCons:
A few production qualms and the far-flung closing track ("Churches") bring down the mood on this adventureInside Jubal John’s British Invasion-meets-Bama debut
Inside Jubal John’s British Invasion-meets-Bama debut
Better late than never they say. Texas-born singer /songwriter Jubal John, a forty-something year old vinyl aficionado and multi-instrumentalist, finally stepped into the recording booth to put together his own album. The end result, Mr Right Now, is a labor of love fully produced, written and financed by John (born Jubal Dalzell) with sprinkles of appreciation from crowdsourcing. Inside the music there’s a flurry of mid-20th century vibes, a celebration of baroque pop and British Invasion rock a la The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits, with casual dashes into the singer/songwriter terrain. It kicks off just right with the charming “Cupid’s Pink Slip,” a fun, goodbye letter serenaded by hand claps, “A Hard Day’s Night” blurs and genuine rock ‘n roll rhythms. The title track, where he’s tired of being second best, leans on easy and breezy Peter , Paul & Mary balladry. The two tracks are clearly the album’s chief magnets, thanks to solid song craftsmanship and smart sing-a-long choruses, but the rest of the disc is packed with easy-listening magic: “Time Keeps Marching On” and the Del Shannon/”Runaway”-leaning “Savannah” gives us a few more hop-tailored dance numbers, while “Be Careful” transports us back to sultry Righteous Brothers sounds; “Uh Huh,” co-penned by Gerry Wood, flirts with Hall & Oates pre-RCA soul while “Holding On” winks at dreamy ’70’s singer/songwriter AM radio gold.The surprise sleeper of Mr Right Now is “Never Had a Love,” the longest offering on the album capping at five minutes. It plays like a trippy Allman Brothers trot and finds a hippy climax halfway into it with John’s memorable fuzzy guitar solo and violin exercises from Bethany Borg. “Women and Cars” also stands tall for its melancholic-to-humorous lyrics inside its bluesy arrangement, but grips tightly to proverbial bait: “The meaning of life is the meaning you bring/The song of your soul is the one you sing.”
With hardly a dry cut in ear shot, Mr Right Now shines as an excellent companion piece, or an extension, to golden jukebox melodies. Production values, exaggerated vocal extortion on the psychedelic pill of “Churches” and the double-tracking on some of John’s vocals tend to bring down the grandeur of the experience, but these are relatively small quips when considering the weight of the honestly good material. This disc has been baked with lots of heart and validates John’s musical prowess as a song maker and instrumentalist.
