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Chris Richards | Jam The Breeze

A mediocre album, causing our writer to feel like a spoilt brat.
CD, Ten High Ranch

Tekst: Maurice Dielemans

Publicatiedatum: 26 februari 2002

Listen up, kids. Let us face the awful truth: Fans of alternative country music are becoming spoilt brats. In the good ol' days - before such a thing as alternative country was invented -you had Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks, and a handful of immortal outlaws, such as Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, but that was about it. Nowadays, with Ryan Adams on MTV and a Grammy nomination for the Hank Williams tribute album, it's all a bit different. No, your humble reviewer is not saying that alternative country is selling out or something like that, of course not, but when someone such as Chris Richards comes along with a mediocre album, it's not that hard to label him as just another Gram Parsons rip-off or wannabe Ryan Adams, who is exactly doing what so many others did before him. If I hadn't listened to Ryan Adams's 'Gold' first,I wouldn't be saying that Chris Richards's 'Jam The Breeze' is a mediocre album, which, I believe, is still a great achievement with that much competition in this genre. What I mean is that a couple of years ago 'Jam The Breeze' would have been something to get really excited about, you know: an unbelievable masterpiece, a milestone, and all of that, but although Chris Richards is still doing a credible job with this ten-songcollection, he is a little behind when it comes down to originality and creativity. The first rule of imitation: If you want to imitate, do it like Andy Kaufman has done or like Eilert Pilarm does, but if you want to do it the righteous way; don't pretend to be a bloody copy machine.

I hate to say it that way, because it's hard to deny that the production of Rick Shea is terrific, the Emmylou Harris-like backing vocals fit in perfectly well with Richards's clean-cut voice, and the melancholic lyrics make 'Jam The Breeze' a God-given feast for the lonely and broken-hearted, especially the first half of the album with a couple of standout tracks, but despite all of these delicious ingredients and the fact that this is far from an awful record, I just cannot get rid of that strange and funny feeling that something essential is missing here. OK, I guess that I'm just a spoilt brat.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/chris-richards/jam-the-breeze/1353/
Meer Chris Richards op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/chris-richards