Like such artists as Merle Haggard, Mark Muleman Massey honed his musical skills in prison. He grew up in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and at age 19, landed in the state’s infamous Parchman Farm penitentiary, where Delta blues performer Bukka White and folk and blues singer Lead Belly also spent time. In a video on his website, Massey offers a laundry list of some of what preceded his incarceration: “got hit by a train…in a shootout, been shot, shot somebody, child support, drug charges, aggravated assault, attempted murder.”
In prison at age 20, he eyed a guitar and bought it. The seller said he didn’t understand why Massey wanted the instrument since he didn’t know how to play it. “No,” Massey replied, “but I got plenty of damn time to learn, don’t I?”
Learn, he did, with the assistance of fellow inmate David Kimbrough, son of blues great Junior Kimbrough. And after he got out of prison, Massey began pursuing a career as a blues singer and guitarist with additional encouragement and instruction from two other bluesmen, Big Jack Johnson and Blind Mississippi Morris. Over the past few decades, he has gone from playing “every dive and juke joint” to sharing stages or recording with many well-known blues artists.
Massey’s new album, Been a Long, Long Time, is named for its lead-off cut. However, the title could also reflect the fact that this sophomore release comes a full 12 years after his debut CD, One Step Ahead of the Blues.
Let’s hope we don’t have to wait as long for a third album because the new release is excellent. Massey, who wrote or co-wrote eight of the 11 tracks (many with his producer, guitarist Billy Lawson), is a fine guitarist and songwriter and an even better singer. His gravelly vocals, which recall Otis Redding as well as Delbert McClinton and Eddie Hinton, are a good fit for such blues rockers as the title cut and the seemingly autobiographical “Can’t Tell Me Nothing about the Blues,” in which he namechecks himself. But Massey shines brightest on ballads, such as the exquisite “Baby’s Gone” and Bobby Womack’s melancholy “I’m Sorry about That.”
The album’s other two covers, Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis” and Hank Williams’s “Hey, Good Lookin’,” also rank among the release’s highlights. Both of those numbers, of course, come from the country field. It’s a mark of Massey’s talent that he makes them sound as if they were written as blues tunes.
Also Noteworthy
Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, Closer to the Bone. Singer and guitarist Tommy Castro, whose influences include such rockers as Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, and Mike Bloomfield, has previously flirted with rock, funk, R&B, and soul. However, blues-based acts, like B.B. King and Muddy Waters also rank among his idols. As such, this 19th release, which is being touted as his “first 100 percent blues album,” comes as no surprise.
Recorded mostly live in the home studio of his producer, the increasingly ubiquitous Kid Andersen, the set features three numbers penned or co-written by Castro and 11 covers, including some excellent obscurities. Among those are Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “She Moves Me,” Magic Slim’s “Hole in the Wall”(by Brownie McGhee), Wynonie Harris’s “Bloodshot Eyes,” and Ray Charles’s “A Fool for You.”
Castro, a San Jose, California native, serves up gritty, emotion-packed vocals and consummate guitar work throughout the set, which features Painkillers bassist Randy McDonald, keyboardist Mike Emerson, and drummer Bowen Brown. Augmenting their muscular sound are a variety of luminous guests, including harmonica player Rick Estrin and keyboardist Jim Pugh. In addition, Andersen plays multiple instruments, and Chris Cain, whose “Woke Up and Smelled the Coffee” is a highlight of the CD, puts down his guitar to add piano.
Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains five decades’ worth of music reviews, interviews, and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.
