Tales From the Fence Line
Manatee
Talk about a well-kept secret: Brown has gone from recording a fluke single for Checker Records to fronting Doug Brown & the Omens (who counted Bob Seger among their ranks) to engineering the Righteous Brothers to producing Del Shannon to being a member of country-rock outfit Southwind (along with Moon Martin and which almost had an Apple Records deal) to fronting Fast Fontaine to chillin’ for about 20 years in Laguna Beach just writing songs.
And those songs were recorded by Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Dave Edmunds, Emmylou Harris, John Mayall, Coco Montoya, Percy Sledge and Joe Louis Walker, among others. With 200 compositions under his belt, Douglas Fontaine Brown hooked up with old friend Dan Bourgoise (retired head of publishing firm Bug Music) and producer/musician Don Dixon (R.E.M., Smithereens). Joining Dixon to form the backing band for “Tales” are Jim Brock, Mitch Easter and Peter Holsapple.
The opening “Ain’t No Brakeman” (previously covered nicely by John Mayall on his album of the same name) sets the mood. Then the title song immediately takes it up a notch, with its stringwork channeling Ry Cooder, Neil Young and John Cippolina, embellished by Brown’s blues harp. But it’s Holsapple’s mandolin that steals the show.
“Detroit Saturday” is a get-down, get-funky, blues-rap number whose melody sounds like KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” in slo-mo. Brown calls it a sermonette for his old stomping grounds, and says “it’s like a little message from me to Bob Seger.”
“Southside Story” is another song that’s been covered by Mayall and an excellent distillation of the Chicago blues sound. On the other hand, “Closer to the Flame” is a heart-wrenching composition made famous by Dave Edmunds, easily making a case for Brown’s diverse songwriting abilities.
To further drive home this diversity, Brown shows he can do really out-there stuff (“Pool of Light,” aided by Easter’s electric sitar) just as well as pure, jangly power pop (“Wreck at the Crossroads”) or classic-FM fare (“Just Out of Reach”).
The album bows out with another spoken-vocal cut and a roadhouse rocker. “Got to Git” boogies with that cool “words through a megaphone” sound as well as some greasy electric slide and a tasty harmonica refrain, while “Endless Road” rolls on down the highway on a bed of barrelhouse piano.
Tracks
1. Ain’t No Brakeman
2. Fence Line
3. Detroit Saturday
4. Closer To The Flame
5. Love Come Rescue Me
6. Southside Story
7. Lost In The Sensation
8. Wreck At The Crossroads
9. Just Out Of Reach
10. Pool Of Light
11. Got To Git
12. Endless Road
Total time: 48:01
External links
artist’s website
amazon.com
iTunes Store
