'It All Comes ‘Round”

Kokomo (Boatshed / Border Music) 2011

Reviewer: Franc Sterling

Kokomo have been with us for over twenty years and during that time we have seen them morph from a three piece playing rural blues (solo voice with guitar / harmonica / bass guitar), into a bigger unit with pounding drums, blazing trumpet and biting guitar. Occasionally they have had keyboards in the mix, both live and in the studio and here their old piano playing friend Jan Preston (Sydney) guests on one track. This CD sees the band revisiting their early days; first by stripping back to the three piece unit of old and then by bringing in their other members on a ‘guest’ basis, appearing on select tracks. This is Kokomo’s 10th album and it takes us back to their earliest recordings; “When in Rome…” and “The Original Kokomo Blues”, both from the first half of the 1990s. Only two songs on this CD are original works; the banjo driven, confessional ‘Bonfires’ and the bouncy sing-a-long title track ‘It All Comes ’Round in the End’. Two other songs are from kiwis, ‘Tintin’s In Love’ written by Bill Lake & Arthur Basting (Wellington), and ‘My Baby (Knows What I Like)’ from Mike Garner (Rotorua). Bob Dylan is represented with ‘Buckets of Rain’, a song from his 1975 “Blood on the Tracks” album and the rest are mainly from pre-war blues artists including Skip James, Tommy Johnson and Walter (Brownie) McGee. The opening track ‘Mine’s All Troubled Blues’ was written by the Reverend Gary Davis, the blind blues singer who became a preacher man. Stripping back to guitars, harp and upright bass and with its 5/4 bar turnaround, this number sets the mood for the CD. This is rural blues, the music that was played before moving to Chicago in the ’40s. Next up is the Skip James track from the ’20s, ‘If You Haven’t Any Hay …..’ driven along by the percussive sound of the washboard. Check out the video: www.kokomo.co.nz/index.html . ‘Sporting Life Blues’ is a Brownie McGee song where he tells us how “… this night life is killing me…” Here the band successfully blends piano, harmonica and guitar into a musical gumbo. ‘Plastic Jesus’ is an American folk song from 1957, used in the movie “Cool Hand Luke”. ‘Cocaine Blues’ was written and sung by bluesman Luke Jordan in 1927. (This is one of many songs using the same title). The track ‘My Baby (Knows What I Like)’ is a frisky little number featuring the harmonica and a fine way to finish the album. It’s been 3 years since Kokomo’s last CD “In the Well”, their tribute to the music of Bob Dylan, and the wait has been worth it.

In fact, all of these tracks would sit comfortably on Dylan’s “Theme Time Radio Show”. This CD is presented in a double gatefold style. The production is clean. There you go, 12 tracks for you to enjoy. Kokomo has completed the circle and they are back where they started. Still playing and singing well and delivering the goods.

Recommended:

‘It All Comes ’Round in the End’, ‘My Baby (Knows What I Like)’.

Available: Info:

JB Hi-Fi, Tracs (Tauranga) www.kokomo.co.nz