'Rebel' Rod's Reviews - Damon Fowler's "Devil Got His Way" out today on Blind Pig Records

By ‘Rebel’ Rod Ames

Every now and then, and of late, quite frequently, a record comes out; a record of which I just cannot get enough. 

The latest in the seemingly endless supply of CD’s and MP3’s I receive is Damon Fowler’s new one, “Devil Got His Way”, as he, the Devil, so often does.  

When I think “Devil”, I think “Hot”. This record is hotter than hell. So hot it may even be too hot for Satan himself. 

The record starts out with a bang on the very first track “We’ve Got A Good Thing”. Of course, it features Mr. Fowler on his smoldering guitar leading the way into the song. He soon breaks his equally blazing voice. The listener is soon left with the idea that “their good thing” may  not have been such a good thing after all. After all, the title of the record is “Devil Got His Way”. This would be an event that would rarely, if ever, be considered a “good thing”. The song is absolutely guaranteed to get you on your feet and “burning” up the dance floor.

The very next track is the title cut, “Devil Got His Way”. This tune features Mr. Fowler on slide guitar and is nothing short of amazing. However, strangely enough, my favorite track on the record of the twelve that reside on it is Leon Russell’s  “Tight Rope” from one of my favorites from Mr. Russell, “Carney”. Where originally we would have heard Mr. Russell banging on his ivories; we here Mr. Fowler, instead, plucking away it his strings. It is a very cool version of a very cool song from the past. He stays very true to the tune Mr. Russell wrote, while making the song his here.

Every track on this record is expertly performed. Mr. Fowler is backed up by Chuck Riley on bass, James McKnight on drums, Tim Herding on organ (“After the Rain”), and Rob Stoney on organ (“Don’t Call Me & “Your Go Your Way”).

However, the trio of Fowler, Riley, and McKnight performs most of the record, and it works perfectly. After each tune on the record ends, the listener anxiously awaits the next tune. The production values are discriminating to say the least so kudos to Scott Cable  on his relentlessness to making sure the final product became what it is here;  a blazing success.

Damon Fowler’s  “Devil Got His Way” comes out January 14, 2011. So far, in a very young 2011, this one is at the top of my list.