Articles
Music Review - 'The Horse He Rode in on' Phil Lee (dm)
Category: Music Reviewer - DavidM Hits: 8531
Phil Lee - The Horse He Rode In On (Click on the Photo to watch video)
10 July 2019
Phil Lee, a veteran singer/songwriter, pulls out of the stable, one of America’s best bands, Crazy Horse, to support his rollicking and resonant record, “Phil Lee & The Horse He Rode In On.” Admirers of Neil Young’s work with Crazy Horse will have a plentiful portion of joy in listening to Lee. His country-rock songs hit the right notes, and strike the tuning fork of the heart, whether he and the Horse are coking with abandon on “Wake Up Crying” and “My Man is Gone,” or filling a mug of beer with tears on “Bad For Me” and “All Right Here.”
Crazy Horse – Ralph Molina on drums, and Billy Talbot on bass – plays with the ferocious garage energy they bring to Young’s best rock records, and Phil Lee plays guitar with a clean tone, early rock and roll dexterity, reminiscent of early Elvis Presley or Jerry Lee Lewis albums. What his voice lacks in power, he makes up for with character, singing and speaking his way through his clever, moving, and at times, quite funny lyrics.
It is easy to imagine Lee and company feeling nothing but joy as they created the songs on his new collection, and just as easy to smile and singalong. The record is particularly powerful when Lee’s stories allow the band to stretch out, playing into the six and seven-minute marks. Crazy Horse jams and Lee deeply explores the emotions of his authentically human tales. “Phil Lee & The Horse He Rode In On” is worthy of the same thoroughness of exploration.
David Masciotra (www.davidmasciotra.com) is the author of four books, including Barack Obama: Invisible Man (Eyewear Publishing, 2017) and Mellencamp: American Troubadour (University Press of Kentucky, 2015).
To read all of David's reviews, click here
