A singer/guitar player based out of Collingswood, N.J., in the Philadelphia suburbs, John Brennan grew up influenced by a cross-section of talents across the American music spectrum – everyone from Muddy Waters and B.B. King to Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and Creedence Clearwater, too. But he’s all blue in this set, mixing Windy City, West Coast and more here into an azure stew.
Brennan performs regularly across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware as both a solo artist or the leader of his group, John Brennan Blues. He’s truly a one-man band here, however, handling all slide and acoustic guitar duties along with bass and drums, too.
This effort is only the second multi-tune release in John’s recording career. It kicks off with the original, “Nothing to Lose,” a medium-tempo blues that opens with driving, repetitive six-string hook before Brennan launches into lyrics that recount being abandoned by his lady. It leaves him wondering what to do before the realization “when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.”
His slide playing is rhythmic with accents that accentuate his misery before a tasty break mid-number. His timing is solid, something he also exhibits in his rhythm playing, which is rock-steady but unremarkable. The mood changes immediately for an uptempo take on Elmore James’ familiar “Shake Your Money Maker.” While it’s delivered with a standard arrangement, John’s highly capable attack would have made the creator smile, and his drumbeat powers throughout.
It gives way to the somewhat inconsistent original, “One Way Ride.” Once again, Brennan finds himself driving alone after another breakup. It’s delivered at a super-speedy pace. And unlike the previous songs, there’s a little disconnect between vocals and instrumentation that dissipates as the number progresses.
Delivered as a lump-de-lump blues, the Robert Johnson warhorse, “Ramblin’ on My Mind,” follows. John holds his own on lead. But it’s a song done so many times by so many people that it’s almost impossible to add anything fresh. The rhythm lacks punch, and the vocals are sanitized to the point that they lack emotion.
Fortunately, that’s forgotten from the opening measure of the uptempo rocker, “Where’s You Stay Last Night?” A two-four pleaser driven with a heavy beat and guitar line to match, it deals with the same relationship troubles that have plagued Brennan throughout the set.
Last year I released my first E.P. which is more blues influenced and has more of a roots rock sound so I decided to release a more “pure” sounding blues E.P. I recorded the whole thing last Spring at my music studio at home. I wrote the song “One Way Ride” many years back but it had different lyrics and was originally a blues rock song. A few years ago I changed the words and music to make it more of a straight ahead blues song. The other originals on the E.P. are “Nothin’ to Lose” and “Where’d You Stay Last Night?” I also cover Elmore James’ “Shake Your Money Maker” and Robert Johnson’s “Ramblin’ on My Mind”. I named the E.P. ‘One Way Ride’ after the song because I like the title and I did a photo session with photographer Dan Williams at an old abandoned train track which appears on the cover,- an interview with us said John Brennan.
It shows promise. Here’s hoping John Brennan’s next one comes in a full-band setting. We recommend that you definitely buy and enjoy this CD, also from here.
