Name: Old Souls & Wolf Tickets
Brand: Slow River Records
SKU: 612674
Availability: OutOfStock

Performer Notes

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel includes: Chuck E. Weiss (vocals); Willie Dixon (vocals, bass); Zeke Zirngiebel (acoustic guitar); Buster Benton, Tony Gilkyson (guitar); Bill Churchzille (trumpet); Sunnyland Slim, Mike Murphy (piano); John Herron (Keyboaords); Steve Nelson, Will McGregor (bass); Tony Braunagel, Jim Christie (drums, percussion); Eleni Mandell, Spyder Mittelman, The G-d Damn Liars (background vocals).
Producers: Chuck E. Weiss, Tony Gilkyson, John Herron, Brent Carpenter, Rick Marada.
Recorded at Rekordio USA and Stanley Recording, Los Angeles, California and Banana Land, Boulder Colorado.
Personnel: Chuck E. Weiss (vocals, drums, percussion); Willie Dixon (vocals); Tony Gilkyson (guitar, mandolin, ukulele); Buster Benton (guitar); Zeke Zirngiebel (acoustic guitar); Billy Watts (electric guitar); Carey Bell (harmonica); John Herron (trumpet, piano, organ, keyboards); Mike Murphy, Sunnyland Slim (piano); Don Heffington, Jim Christie (drums, percussion); Tony Braunagel (drums); Eleni Mandell (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: John Would; Matthew Quave; Paul DuGre.
Recording information: Banana Land, Boulder, CO (1970-2001); Rekordio USA (1970-2001); Stanley Recording, Los Angeles, CA (1970-2001); Viper Room (1970-2001).
Director: Brent Carpenter.
Editor: Brent Carpenter.
Photographer: Sophie Olmsted.
Weiss, a crony of Tom Waits since the early '70s, has probably heard more than enough comparisons between his and Waits' music. It's nonetheless hard to avoid when describing Old Souls & Wolf Tickets, which has much in common with Waits' own fusions of hipster growl, blues, smoky after-hours jazz, and weird Americana. Just because it sound at times like a poor man's Waits, however, doesn't mean it isn't likable enough on its own terms. Weiss is considerably more steeped in Louisiana-styled R&B, backwoods blues, and Cajun music than Waits is, so what you get here sometimes sounds like an unholy cross between Waits and Dr. John. The New Orleans influence is no secret from the mere title of the opening track, "Congo Square at Midnight." Weiss' wizened, sly vocals are a good match for the off-kilter material, which stews together goofy, onomatopoeic wordplay with the kind of bemused boho world-weariness you would expect from his persona. Sometimes the goofiness crosses over to silliness, as in his deliberately high, squeaky minstrel vocals on "Piggly Wiggly." When he gets close to straight blues, the results get more pedestrian. A duet that he recorded with Willie Dixon in 1970, "Down the Road Apiece," might excite extreme completist blues collectors, but sounds out of place on a CD where everything else was recorded 30 years later. But if you're looking for more modern equivalents to the kinds of idiosyncratic music Dr. John made in his voodoo rock days, this isn't a bad disc to check out. ~ Richie Unterberger

Professional Reviews

Q (2/02, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...An excellent atmospheric outing..."

Mojo (Publisher) (2/02, p.96) - "...A fine train-wreck of roots American styles..."

Album: Old Souls & Wolf Tickets
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Congo Square at Midnight
2)	Tony Did the Boogie Woogie
3)	It Don't Happen Overnight
4)	Sweetie-O
5)	Piggle Wiggly
6)	Two-Tone Car (An Auto-Body Experience)
7)	Anthem for Old Souls
8)	Sneaky Jesus
9)	Down the Road a Piece
10)	No Hep Cats
11)	Jolie's Nightmare (Mr. House Dick)
12)	Blood Alley
13)	G-D Damn Liars
14)	Dixieland Funeral

Album: Old Souls & Wolf Tickets
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Congo Square at Midnight
2)	Tony Did the Boogie Woogie
3)	It Don't Happen Overnight
4)	Sweetie-O
5)	Piggle Wiggly
6)	Two-Tone Car (An Auto-Body Experience)
7)	Anthem for Old Souls
8)	Sneaky Jesus
9)	Down the Road a Piece
10)	No Hep Cats
11)	Jolie's Nightmare (Mr. House Dick)
12)	Blood Alley
13)	G-D Damn Liars
14)	Dixieland Funeral