Respect the Dead
| Respect the Dead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2002 | |||
| Studio | Stepbridge | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Label | NorthernBlues Music | |||
| Producer | Kenny Passarelli | |||
| Otis Taylor chronology | ||||
| ||||
Respect the Dead is an album by the American musician Otis Taylor, released in 2002.[1][2] Taylor supported the album with North American tour.[3] Respect the Dead was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award for best contemporary blues album.[4]
Production[edit]
Recorded at Stepbridge Studios, in Santa Fe, the album was produced by Kenny Passarelli, who also played bass.[5][6] Eddie Turner played lead guitar.[7] Taylor's daughter, Cassie, contributed backing vocals to many of the songs.[8] All of the songs were written by Taylor.[9] Taylor was chiefly influenced by John Lee Hooker.[10] "32nd Time" traces the history of the civil rights movement in the latter half of the 20th century.[11] "Ten Million Slaves" is about the slave trade, told from the perspective of someone trapped in a fallout shelter.[12] "Three Stripes on a Cadillac" was inspired by a story of a drag race in Mexico that ended in death.[13]
Critical reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| Robert Christgau |  [15] |
| The Gazette |  [12] |
| Ottawa Citizen | [16] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [17] |
| The Province | [18] |
| Regina Leader-Post | [11] |
The Ottawa Citizen wrote that "Taylor's both a history addict and social observer and he's way more interested in relating the stories of a people than he is in bad men- bad women tunes."[16] The Globe and Mail determined that, "while the hard-strummed minimalist brilliance of African is reprised here, Taylor, by giving more manoeuvre to his band, adds backing depth to a musical stream of historical consciousness."[19] Billboard called "Black Witch" "one of the most haunting (and haunted) blues songs tracked by anyone in recent memory."[20]
The Regina Leader-Post said that the songs "are built on driving repetition, one chord over and over towards some sinister end."[11] The Commercial Appeal stated that Respect the Dead "increases the jam-band quotient in Taylor's rootsy blend of Richie Havens folk, Dock Boggs old-time and John Lee Hooker blues."[21] The Province concluded that Taylor's "singing is fierce and his electric banjo work is the twanging-est ever."[18] The Washington Post wrote that Taylor connects "the droning, acoustic sounds of pre-World War II blues to the trance-like, amplified sounds of today's dance music."[22]
AllMusic noted that "Taylor doesn't work within standard blues structures, and his lyrics stray far from the standard blues lines to encompass history and mythology."[14]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ten Million Slaves" | |
| 2. | "Hands on Your Stomach" | |
| 3. | "Changing Rules" | |
| 4. | "32nd Time" | |
| 5. | "Baby So" | |
| 6. | "Shaker Woman" | |
| 7. | "Black Witch" | |
| 8. | "Seven Hours of Light" | |
| 9. | "I Like You, But I Don't Love You" | |
| 10. | "Jump Jelly Belly" | |
| 11. | "Three Stripes on a Cadillac" | |
| 12. | "Just Live Your Life" |
References[edit]
- ^ "Otis Taylor Respect the Dead". Life. Times & Transcript. 27 Feb 2002.
- ^ Bonnell, Scott (9 Mar 2002). "Otis Taylor: Respect the Dead". Harbour City Star. p. B2.
- ^ Reed, Bill (12 July 2002). "Summertime blues". The Gazette. Colorado Springs. p. GO12.
- ^ Wolf, Mark (27 Sep 2003). "Boulder's Otis Taylor Colors Blues with Folk". Rocky Mountain News. p. 5D.
- ^ Terrell, Steve (14 June 2002). "More bitchen blues". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. P48.
- ^ Shaw, Ted (4 Apr 2002). "Acclaim catching up with blues storyteller". The Windsor Star. p. C8.
- ^ Lozaw, Tristram (28 Feb 2003). "Otis Taylor Respect the Dead". The Boston Globe. p. C11.
- ^ Lundstrom, Jim (30 Jan 2003). "Otis Taylor's music gets back to the essence of the blues". The Post-Crescent. p. A4.
- ^ Van Vleck, Philip (May 2002). "Otis Taylor Respect the Dead". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 101. p. 58.
- ^ Cristiano, Nick (12 Apr 2002). "From folk and jazz grew a bluesman". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. W19.
- ^ a b c Matheson, Emmet (20 Apr 2002). "Respect the Dead Otis Taylor". Regina Leader-Post. p. A11.
- ^ a b Regenstreif, Mike (23 May 2002). "Blues". The Gazette. p. C4.
- ^ Beck, John (2 Feb 2003). "Last of the Blues Renaissance Men". The Press Democrat. p. Q9.
- ^ a b "Respect the Dead Review by Chris Nickson". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Otis Taylor". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ a b Provencher, Norman (2 Mar 2002). "Otis Taylor's hard poetry is more demanding than pretty". Ottawa Citizen. p. I4.
- ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. 2006. p. 634.
- ^ a b Derdeyn, Stuart (2 July 2002). "Blues". The Province. p. B13.
- ^ Wheeler, Brad (4 Apr 2002). "Blues". The Globe and Mail. p. R4.
- ^ "Blues". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 16. Apr 20, 2002. p. 25.
- ^ Ellis, Bill (23 May 2002). "Restarting the Heart of Blues". The Commercial Appeal. p. E1.
- ^ Hime, Geoffrey (10 Jan 2003). "Otis Taylor 'Respect the Dead'". The Washington Post. p. WW7.