Gig Review
Tom Doughty
Saturday, 13 June 2009:
It was a very welcome return to Bluesnights by Tom Doughty. This fine exponent of lap steel guitar turned in a superb performance and left us at the end of the evening feeling quite laid back!
Throughout the evening Tom alternated between three guitars – a National steel and two wooden bodied. The one made from Hawaiian Koa wood had the most beautiful tone; the warm resonance that emanated from it has to be heard! His playlist featured a wide range of material from Cole Porter, Lennon/McCartney, Randy Newman, Charlie Patton and Furry Lewis, together with his own compositions.
Charlie Lewis's “Banty Rooster” got things off to a great start. Randy Newman's “Emotional Girl” was exquisitely played! One of Tom's own, simply called “Zimbabwe”, is a very powerful critique of the regime and particularly of the incumbent leader. I especially liked Tom's arrangement of Skip James's “Illinois Blues” - it was really well played.
... continued
In the second set, Furry Lewis's “Brownsville Blues” kicked things off with a thumping bass, finger picking and slide driving this number along and Tom Doughty followed that with some Rev'd Garry Davis - “Delia”, a medium-paced folk/blues tune.
During the interval I spoke to Tom and asked him if he would play Lennon/McCartney's “Eleanor Rigby”. He of course duly obliged and regaled us with an instrumental version of this poignant, haunting song. A traditional arrangement of “Darling Cora” was beautifully laid back and melodic. I did like his treatment of Kevin Brown's “Mojave Dust”, a great rolling rhythm.
Tom rounded off his performance by playing a couple of real classics – Otis Redding's “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay,” which was absolutely wonderful; there is a sense of timelessness about that song! Can you follow that with Marvin Gaye's “I Heard It On The Grapevine”? Well he did - and what a hypnotic riff! Fantastic!
A very enjoyable evening of eclectic material played by a consummate musician who clearly enjoyed the occasion as much as we did!
Review by: Lewis A Harris.
© Bluesnights. The Dorset Blues Society.
13 June 2009.
