This is a review I wrote for my friend, Amanda Jo Williams. I'm her biggest fan, and was a fan before I became a friend. So, yeah, she's my friend, of course I'll write a good review. But I would have written the same kind of review if I hadn't ever met her. I really love this album.
Piney woods Georgia to Woodstock to Harlem to L.A., with a stopover in Nowheresville, PA, Amanda Jo Williams has been there, done that. A shy country girl at first glance, she morphs seamlessly into an ethereal being at will. This sylph in the pearl snap shirt and Tony Llamas, nursing a longneck Bud, talks horses and crawdads, shamans and Jung, the astral plane and Granny’s deviled eggs all in one breath, explains universes, conjures dream lovers, raises babies, and writes the most amazing songs you’ve ever heard.
Amanda Jo’s 2006 debut album, Yes I Will, Mr. Man, has been re-released by the Los Angeles label White Noise (March, 2010). It’s not new to me, I’ve been listening to it for the last few years. This album is the rarest of beasts: I bought it as soon as I heard a couple of the songs. It’s that strong. Time passed. It still knocks me over. If I had to name my ten all-time favorite albums, I’d have to think about the other nine. Well, OK, It’s A Shame About Ray would be in there, too. And Beggar’s Banquet. Get the picture?
Having read all of the press about this release, past and present, I’d have to say, they’re all, ahem, pardon me, missing the point. The point is, this album ROCKS. This is a Rock Album! Everybody’s saying “country.” Everybody’s saying Tammy and Minnie and squeaky cartoon voice. Yeah, well, there’s some of that. There’s fiddle. Amanda Jo sings in her natural, rural Southern voice. But listen--There’s no pedal steel. There’s no neat verse-chorus-verse, no campfire harmonies, no predictable rhyme, no ho-hum key change. There isn’t an acoustic guitar in sight. If she sings about love and heartbreak, or even “Country Boys,” it’s the voice of a poet we hear, not a truck stop waitress. It’s a wild banshee, a whirling dervish, not a Nashville lounge crooner or an alt-country princess. And certainly not Minnie, Pearl or Mouse.
Even if you don’t know what she’s saying some of the time, you sure as hell feel it. Amanda Jo sings one word, three syllables, Oh-Hiiiii-Ohhhhhhhh! and it’s like the sound of Gabriel’s trumpet, an ancient pagan festival dance. It’s downright primordial. When she launches into a rapid-fire narrative, as in the bold, bittersweet coming-of-age sermon from the trenches, I Walked Away, your head spins, you run out of breath just listening. This is no freak show. This is a unique and gifted artist at the height of her powers. Amanda Jo Williams may be something of a briar patch Patti Smith, but don’t ever confuse her with Gretchen. And let’s face it, Country Hit Radio will never play Mr. Man. It just rocks too much for that. It just thinks too much, says too much.
Almost equaling Amanda Jo’s commanding presence on Yes I Will, Mr. Man is Matthew O’Neill’s hooky, innovative guitar leads. His snaky, searing runs and dead-on accents are about as country as Kurt Cobain, not that he sounds at all like Kurt did. I have no idea who he might sound like. What I know is, guitar players paying attention to his riffs, particularly on the title track, will say, how did he think of that? Definitely the right man for the job.
So, yeah, this is a good album. I think you’ll like it.
http://www.playwhitenoise.com/1538/releases/amanda-jo-williams-yes-i-will-mr-man/
http://www.myspace.com/amandajowilliamsmusic
