Big Dave McLean,
Pocket Full Of Nothin'
(Black Hen Music)
★★★

IN THE past, veteran Canadian musician Dave McLean has always seemed most comfortable delivering a distinctively rough-hewn version of the blues that he loves and his previous well-received albums have been dominated by covers of songs penned by his musical heroes such as Robert Johnson and Elmore James.

But Pocket Full Of Nothin’ signals something of a diversion from this well-trodden musical path. McLean has decided to showcase his own songwriting talents for the first time on a record, alongside some typically gritty revamps of Gregg Allman’s Midnight Rider and JB Lenoir’s Voodoo Music.

The results should be required listening for roots-music devotees everywhere, providing a near-perfect introduction to the sound of a man whose gloriously lived-in vocals were once fairly accurately likened to “an ice truck with a busted axle.”

Soundtrack to Country Music: A Film
(Legacy Recordings)
★★★★

EMMY award-winning film-maker Ken Burns has earned a whole host of plaudits from the critical fraternity over the years as he’s masterminded a series of distinctive documentaries examining such quintessentially American subjects as jazz, baseball and what must arguably be his finest achievement, 1990’s The Civil War.

Burns’s latest masterwork ranges far and wide in its choice of subject matter as it chronicles the history of country music via the usual sublime blend of interviews and fascinating archival footage and the soundtrack album which accompanies this richly rewarding film boasts contributions from many of the leading lights of the genre, including Nashville luminaries such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

The breadth and diversity of this often unfairly maligned musical genre is revealed in all its homespun glory in the process.

Poco
The Epic Years 1972-1976
Cherry Red
★★★

THIS fine outfit was originally the brainchild of former Buffalo Springfield stalwarts Richie Furay and Jim Messina, who joined by  late-comer pedal-steel ace Rusty Young pooled their resources in the aftermath of their former outfit’s sadly all too inevitable demise in 1968.

Cherry Red’s latest attractively presented archive anthology focuses attention on the band’s tuneful contribution to the West Coast’s then burgeoning country-rock genre of the early 1970s.

Creative mainstay Furay had left the fold to join forces with the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band by the time that the last three albums in this package were captured for posterity.

But they’re well worth investigating, particularly their impressive 1974 live set, capturing the band in their natural element as they regale their audience with euphoric back-catalogue gems such as Ride the Country and the infectious A Good Feelin’ To Know.THIS fine outfit was originally the brainchild of former Buffalo Springfield stalwarts Richie Furay and Jim Messina, who joined by  late-comer pedal-steel ace Rusty Young pooled their resources in the aftermath of their former outfit’s sadly all too inevitable demise in 1968.

Cherry Red’s latest attractively presented archive anthology focuses attention on the band’s tuneful contribution to the West Coast’s then burgeoning country-rock genre of the early 1970s.

Creative mainstay Furay had left the fold to join forces with the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band by the time that the last three albums in this package were captured for posterity.

But they’re well worth investigating, particularly their impressive 1974 live set, capturing the band in their natural element as they regale their audience with euphoric back-catalogue gems such as Ride the Country and the infectious A Good Feelin’ To Know.