Friday, June 15, 2007

ROBERT LIGHTHOUSE"Deep Down in the Mud"Right on Rhythm

MUSTERING MORE THAN a hint of Dylanesque scorn, circa the early '60s, bluesman Robert Lighthouse turns social commentator on "Deep Down in the Mud," bashing the Bush administration, among other powers that be, for the feeble response to Hurricane Katrina. Laments Lighthouse: "And then we have the President of the United States / Who was on vacation and could not be disturbed / And to him I guess that makes sense . . . no matter what the expense."

Mostly, though, Lighthouse's new CD picks up where his last one left off, saluting the likes of Robert Johnson, Dr. Ross, Elmore James, R.L. Burnside, Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, George Clinton and Jimi Hendrix. That's a tall order, to be sure, but Lighthouse gets the job done. He's smart enough to toss in some seldom-covered tunes, as illustrated by the back-to-back renderings of Dr. Ross's "Cat Squirrel Blues" and "Turkey Leg Woman," and he moves easily between the acoustic and electric settings, with some help from bassist Tom Kirk and drummer Mike Sedgely.

Like John Hammond, Lighthouse gets a lot of mileage out of his voice, guitar and harmonica, especially when he's celebrating country blues traditions with a percussive attack or putting his own world-weary stamp on Waters's "Champagne and Reefer." At times, though, Lighthouse's influences are a little too apparent. His vocal on Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic" at the album's close borders on mimicry before feedback-flirting guitar work generates its own rough-and-tumble momentum.

-- Mike Joyce

Appearing Saturday at Chick Hall's Surf Club and Wednesdays at Chief Ike's Mambo Room.

Listen to an audio clip of Robert Lighthouse