By The Con Curmudgeon
Ride Back In Time (Random Factors 1011) You can have a pretty loud and heated
argument over who is - or who deserves
to be - Arizona's official balladeer.
"Ride Back in Time" is exactly what
the title makes it out to be. Bethancourt
visits 15 of his favorite old-timey songs,
and mixes in some round-the-campfire tall
tales that make for a great listen.
Bethancourt starts things off with a
rousing chorus of "Buffalo Gals, " in
which he mixes some Native American
drums to give the song a different little
twist.
Joe does that a lot here. He knows the
songs are well-worn; some come ready packed
with the label "chestnut" on them.
But he makes them sound wholly new
with some very original instrumentation.
His version of "Rye Whiskey" is a good
example. Rather than play it on the guitar
or banjo for the millionth time, he sings
over a mouthbow accompaniment, laid
over some rather space-y sound effects.
The playing, as always, is as damn
near perfect as you would expect from
Bethancourt; I particularly liked his
version of "Attitudinal Cat Rag," a fine
guitar piece that Joe plays like he wrote it.
In short, this is another fine CD from
the only balladeer in Arizona who really
matters. And you should pick it up.
Joe Bethancourt
Regardless of who the state recognizes as
its official songster these days, their guy
doesn't hold a candle to Joe Bethancourt.
And Joe's latest CD is proof.
- Tom Tuerff
