Review: Seth James 'Lessons'

Review: Seth James ‘Lessons’

By Hal Horowitz

Seth James loves him some Delbert McClinton.

Since singer/songwriter/guitarist James hails from McClinton’s home state of Texas where the veteran roots artist is held in iconic esteem, that isn’t front-page news. Nevertheless, James is such a huge fan that he credits McClinton’s eclectic output as a major inspiration in him pursuing a career in music.

So, after a trio of albums primarily filled with McClinton-influenced originals, and a few of his covers, James now goes all-in; recreating, if not reimagining, eleven Delbert penned gems and obscurities in a joyous, often exuberant tribute to his musical mentor.

McClinton followers know his songs emerge from a fertile 20-plus album career starting with 1972s pairing with fellow Texan Glen Clark. That yielded “B Movie Boxcar Blues,” later made famous by the Blues Brothers and which, not surprisingly, appears here. There are plenty of other terrific Delbert compositions covered from artists as influential and high profile as Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt (an early supporter), Etta James and too many more to mention.

Still, no one has recorded a full album of McClinton tunes…until now.

Tributes like these are fraught with potential problems. Either deviating drastically from the artist’s initial vision (“what were they thinking?”), or hewing too closely to it (“I’ll just stick with the original”) risks the wrath of adverse criticism.

Both extremes are generally avoided here.

It helps that, except for a handful of instances, James steers clear of McClinton’s hits; only three of these selections appear on 1999s Ultimate Collection 18 track McClinton retrospective. Working again with longtime Delbert producer/multi-instrumentalist Kevin McKendree (as on James’ previous two releases) and his rhythm section checks the credibility box, ensuring these recordings don’t stray too far from what the four-time Grammy winner intended.

After a brief spoken word introduction James, who puts down his guitar to concentrate on vocals, kicks off with “Honky Tonkin’ (I Guess I Done Me Some),” a song whose title and lyrics (“I’ve been around a little bit and I’ve got me some stories I can tell”) capsulizes both artist’s lives. It coalesces around a funky roots backbeat, a sizzling slide solo and R&B horns.

The frisky “Victim of Life’s Consequences” gallops along with two backing vocalists, gaining in soul what it loses in the pedal steel enhanced country McClinton veered towards. The humorous “Real Good Itch” wades into the bluesy twang that hovers around much of McClinton’s material. “Maybe Someday Baby” swings with rollicking big band brass for the set’s most jazzy offering. And the oozing vibe of “The Rub,” a cool obscurity, wades through the story-telling swamp that made McClinton’s approach so distinctive in its sultry and impossible to pigeonhole combination of rock, country, folk, and blues. The riveting closing “Take It Easy” ballad spotlights a churchy, gospel-like angle.

With just eleven tracks though, James, whose voice is similar to that of McClinton’s, barely scratches the depths of Delbert’s thick and influential catalog. Regardless, Lessons gushes with the energy and gritty enthusiasm of music that remains largely underappreciated outside of McClinton’s dedicated yet still cult-sized fan base.

Listen to “B Movie Boxcar Blues”