The Mercy Brothers - Strange Adventure (2006)

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, The Mercy Brothers are vocalist extraordinaire Barrence Whitfield and guitarist/producer/songwriter Michael Dinallo.Barrence Whitfield, the soul man/blues shouter/country singer well known from Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, has been called, “…the owner of one incredible pair of lungs and limitless energy and enthusiasm for his music” by John Dougan, in the All Music Guide. Besides touring the world over with the Savages, Barrence has made two critically acclaimed records with Tom Russell, worked with Jim Dickinson, and has a track on the Warner Brothers album from Where I Stand: the Black Experience in Country Music released in 1998. Barrence’s track on the set is a cover of Merle Haggard's Irma Jackson.Michael Dinallo, the former bandleader/guitarist for the Radio Kings, is one Boston’s most sought after producer and guitar players. Michael has become known as the man behind the artist: “Dinallo is that rare self-effacing guitarist who eschews the spotlight” said Bill Dahl in Living Blues and “Thanks to Michael Dinallo’s dynamic production…the sound [Alastair Moock’s ‘Let it Go’ album] is shot through with rugged clarity” wrote Dan Gewertz in the Boston Herald. Two of his more notable and recent records include William Hut’s Days To Remember and Alastair Moock’s Let It Go, both released on CoraZong Records. Michael has also worked with Mark Erelli, Dave Howard, Tim Gearan, Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, Little Milton, and Jerry Portnoy amongst others.The collaboration that led to the formation of The Mercy Brothers has its roots in a 1995 New Years' Eve show at the now defunct House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages were co-headlining a show with The Radio Kings. Barrence and Michael shared a drink backstage, which was the start of a friendship that lasts to this day. Several years later the Savages needed a guitar player and Michael seemed the perfect choice for that job. As the band continued to play shows throughout the USA and Europe, they started to experiment with a more acoustic, country-blues oriented sound cantered around Dinallo’s acoustic guitar and Whitfield’s soulful voice. This was the seed that sprout into The Mercy Brothers. Barrence and Michael initially used the name Hillbilly Voodoo, a reference to Whitfield’s first album with Tom Russell, but to establish their own identity, free of past associations, that soon became The Mercy Brothers. Whilst Barrence Whitfield’s charisma and unique voice unquestionably serve as the band’s centrepiece, the musical brain behind the operation is songwriter, guitarist and producer Michael Dinallo. The Mercy Brothers added a secret weapon to their already substantial musical armoury with Vidar Busk. They brought Busk on board for a well-received European tour and quickly learned the extent of his European fame. The chemistry with Busk felt so right that Whitfield and Dinallo imported him to the U.S. for the recording of Strange Adventure.Produced by Michael Dinallo and Sean Carberry, Strange Adventure draws together a wide range of musical influences. It is a collection of roots songs based in the tradition of acoustic blues and mountain music with a nod to the past but firmly in the present. Travel and change are a constant theme running through the songs on Strange Adventure written primarily by Michael Dinallo. The influences are many but in the words of Bill Dahl(Living Blues) … (Dinallo writes) twangy songs that are intriguing amalgams of blues, rock, and country, stubbornly defying convenient idiomatic labelling. There’s a nod to Reverend Gary Davis’s gospel-inspired blues with Down That Road and a continuation of the Carter Family or Woody Guthrie tradition of travel/work songs in I Believe I’ll Make a Change and Working On the Line. Also included are two traditional songs; the blues Broke Down Engine and chain gang song Another Man Done Gone. The lone cover tune, Night Train to Memphis, is a song that country music pioneer Roy Acuff first recorded in 1942. The ballad The New Year Blues was co-written with Boston musician Tim Gearan. The swampy Stay Away From My Door recalls the Excello Records sound. The runaway rumbling of Misery Train and the mountain-blues Mr. Johnson round out the album.At their best on muted blues originals like "Mr. Johnson" and "'The New Year Blues," Massachusetts’ The Mercy Brothers exhibit a freshness and rural verve that's quite exhilarating. Wide-open vocalist Barrence Whitfield powerfully plunges into songs such as Blind Willie McTell's "Broke Down Engine" and an animated "Night Train to Memphis" with an agility and exuberance matched only by the band's visceral support. Recommended. [Gary von Tersch, Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine]The CoraZong version of Strange Adventure includes seven never before released tracks. Six recorded live at Muddy Waters in Oslo, Norway and one studio demo –By cdBaby

1. Another Man Done Gone 3:30
2. Stay Away From My Door 3:14
3. Down That Road 3:36
4. I Believe I´ll Make A Change 2:50
5. The New Year Blues 3:35
6. broke down engine 4:32
7. Working On The Line 3:28
8. Night Train To Memphis 5:13
9. Misery Train 4:05
10. Mr. Johnson 5:36
11. Long Black Train 3:39 (Live Bonus Track)
12. California Stars 4:45 (Live Bonus Track)
13. The New Year Blues 3:57 (Live Bonus Track)
14. Down That Road 3:51 (Live Bonus Track)
15. Misery Train 3:41 (Live Bonus Track)
16. Pallet On The Floor 6:32 (Live Bonus Track)
17. Tennessee Blues 3:12 (Studio Bonus Track)