Track Listing
- Don't Lose Your Cool
- You Belong To Me
- Tell Me
- Sweet Little Angel
- Hoochie Coochie Man
- Death Letter
- Sad And Beautiful
- I Feel So Good
- Western Coast
- Fine Young Thing
EB Rating - 4.5+
- David Gogo
guitar/vocal
- Rick Hopkins
organ
- Dennis Marcenko
bass
- Billy Hicks
drums
- John Forrest
acoustic bass
- Gerry Barnum
harmonica
|
Canada's David Gogo is a tremendous guitarist who somehow had escaped my
attention unitl now. It's surprising to me that a CD this good could go undetected by myself for any length of time,
given the nature of my primary hobby (operating Electric Blues). There was but one lone rating for this CD in EB's
database for the longest time, a 4.5. Eventually a second rating of 5.0 trickled in and my curiosity was eventually
aroused. I ordered the CD without ever having heard a sample or anyone's direct recommendation.
I was very pleasantly surprised... no, make that blown away, when the CD arrived. "Dine Under The Stars" is a live CD,
recorded in David's home town of Nanaimo, BC at the Queen's Hotel, and was originally distributed only by David himself
between sets at his shows. It was later reissued by the Canadian label Cordova Bay as well as the French based label
DixieFrog. It's still not in major distribution, but a with a little effort it can be found at some online music
stores, and is also available through David's website.
This is a highly energetic performance, as Dave and the band burn through impressive versions of
mostly popular cover tunes, including melt-down renditions of B.B. King's
"Sweet Little Angel" and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man". Gogo's playing is
quite intense and precise, yet at the same time somehow exudes joyous abandon. There's a lot going on within
Dave's lead breaks. I'm no expert on guitar technique, but at a minimum I'm certain there's frequent use of a
wah-wah pedal and wammy bar, manipulation of various audio controls, and occasional physical abuse of the guitar's
structural components. While that's a lot of activity, I'm not sure these techniques alone can account for the
wild variety of tones and sounds heard during Gogo's solos.
Vocals, also handled by David, are very good and his vocal style works well with the music and
the band. Hopkins on keyboards is also very good, and some fine keyboard backing and lead breaks are featured
throughout the set. The band is dead-on tight, and the recording quality surprisingly good. I have the DixieFrog
release, which consists of eight live songs plus two acoustic studio cuts that are tacked onto the end, which come
somewhat unexpectedly considering what preceeds them. I guess they're meant to be bonus tracks. I believe the Cordova
Bay release contains only the eight live songs and rearranges the song list, placing "Hoochie Coochie Man" as the
set's closer, definitely a more appropriate finish. I'm going to track down a Cordova Bay release copy of this
CD... With its rearranged set list and absence of the studio cuts, I just might give that version a 5.0 rating.
I've listened to David's other recordings since hearing "Dine Under The Stars". I have a message
for those who have heard one or more of David's other CDs but have not heard this disc. Each of David's CDs
celebrates a different style of blues, and a different style of play. In addition to this disc, he's recorded an
all-acoustic blues CD, a more traditional and restrained electric blues flavored CD, and a basically rock CD. These
CDs all have their own merrits, but it would be a big mistake to prejudge "Dine Under The Stars" on the basis of
any of his other CDs. It's quite a bit different from all the others, as Dave and the boys really raise the bar
and bring down the house on this one. "Dine Under The Stars" is a "must have" CD for blues/blues-rock guitar fans.
|
