December/January 2002

Guilty of Love (33rd Street 3305)

The Tommy Castro Band's fourth studio disc continues the San Francisco act's blend of blues, rock, soul, and R&B and should please the band's growing fan base. At the very least, Guilty of Love will be remembered for including what's reportedly the last recorded performance of John Lee Hooker, who died a couple of months before the album's release. (Hooker's contribution is little more than a cameo; his growl seems out of place in one of Castro's up tempo Stax-style numbers.)

The album was produced by longtime Robert Cray keyboardist Jimmy Pugh. Castro's strong suits -- soulful vocals, stellar guitar work, and exquisite taste -- are employed on a diverse mix of songs. "Stay With Me Tonight", an original tune that sounds like a lost nugget from the 1960's, offers a fine slice of rock and soul. Castro invokes the spirit of Wilson Pickett, while backed by a trio of backup singers, and "Somebody To Love You" mines similar territory. He ditches the background singers for a starker production on "Blinded in the Face of Love", which reduces the lineup to guitar, bass, and drums (except for a short but sweet sax solo by player Keith Crossan). Castro's heartfelt vocals here reach a depth he seldom attains on his more pop oriented tunes.

Other selections include an up tempo roadhouse rocker that recalls Delbert McClinton ("Shakin' the Hard Times Loose"), an organ-laced late-night slow blues ("I Ain't Gonna Make That Call"), and a gospel-flavored R&B tune ("If You Ain't Lovin' You Ain't Livin"). Like Robert Cray, whose late 1980s albums helped bring the blues to a wider audience, Castro seems poised to connect with mainstream audiences without sacrificing his integrity.

Michael Cote