CD Review: Danny Click “Life Is A Good Place” (November 23, 2011)
Copyright © 2011 Robert Carraher All Rights Reserved
Posted by Robert Carraher at 9:58 AM
Danny Click on Life Is A Good Place delivers a dose of regrets, loss and a dash of hope in this album of “Americana” that bends towards the country side of the genre. Call it ‘alt-country’ or roots music, or whatever you please. With influence running the gambit from country and western to blues, R&B, southern rock traditions and folk music, “Americana” or alt-country is a reaction by the industry to the listeners that eschewed the “polished and over produced” mainstream county of the ‘90s. In other words, it wants to put the heart back in the songs and Danny Click achieves that very nicely.
Life Is A Good Place showcases Danny Click in top form, surrounded by stellar musicians including Mark Goldenberg (Jackson Browne) on Hammond B3; Kevin McCormick (Jackson Browne) on bass; Mario Calire (OzoMatli, Wallflowers) on drums; Greg Leisz (Emmylou Harris, Bill Frisell) on lap steel and pedal steel; and Julieann Banks, Annie Burns and Tracy Grammer on vocal harmonies. Mixed by Brian Scheuble (Sheryl Crow, John Mayer) and mastered by Joe Gastwirt (Tom Petty, Grateful Dead, Patti Griffin), this record is ear candy for the heart.
With three previous Internationally released albums to his credit, the fourth, ‘Life Is A Good Place’, will resonate with all who value amazing song writing along side the resulting maturity of years on the road. ‘Life Is A Good Place’ places Click squarely in the upper echelon musically and lyrically.
The album runs the gambit of emotions from struggle and redemption, a deep sense of loss and a wonder of the transformations wrought by life.
Some of the highlights here are the John Prine like, “If I Was God”, a tune that fits very nicely into the social and political changes that America has experienced recently, after many years of yearning and striving.
”Grey To Blue” is a blue grass tinged, tale of how life can just beat you down, and that sometimes those roads we want to follow in the name of experience are dead end roads. I really like this tune and it promptly got uploaded to the MP3 player.
“Warhorse” is a tune with its heart in country, with some talking blues sprinkled on for good measure. The title tune, is folk music for a personal facade. But, when you cut through the advertising, Life Is A Good Place.
The most pleasing part of Danny Click, and this album especially, is that it doesn’t make music to make hits, it doesn’t pretend to want to fit into that Wal-Mart of the music world. It makes music, because it feels it. It can’t help it. And after you’ve lived a few years past the rhinestones and glitter, you actually start to think, feel, and realize the truth in that.
