Marc Ford Offers An Undercard Classic On ‘The Vulture’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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marcford3Within the often turbulent history of the Black Crowes, their guitarist of longest standing, Marc Ford wasted no time initiating solo projects. In fact, his latest, The Vulture, is his fifth such effort under his own name, and no one should be surprised this latest work of Ford’s suggests he was as responsible for the sound of the Crowes as anyone in that band including its sibling founders.

Hear “All We Need to Do Is Love,” with its slowly undulating electric guitar lines, softly cooing female background singers plus the coming and going of crisp electric piano notes over a swaggering rhythm, but the fact is Ford’s filling the vacuum left by the dissolution of the group once led by Chris and Rich Robinson.  He puts a Southern Gothic spin on the very title of “Devil’s in the Details,” while the “Same Sweet Thing,” short and to the point as it is, nevertheless illustrates how this album, produced by John Vanderslice (Spoon, the Mountain Goats, Strand of Oaks) fully and accurately captures the sound these four musicians are making.

Recorded on analog at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco, Ford and his band—Mike Malone (vocals, harp and keys), John Bazz (bass) and Anthony Arvizu (drums)–are poised and confident enough to let that sound hang in the air and resonate within the simplicity of their arrangements. And while partly as a result of that approach, the lyrics are somewhat secondary to the impact of tracks like “The Ride,” it is easy to interpret the words of that particular song as a reflection on his tenure with that now defunct, high-profile band. The somewhat ominous images within this title song come to full fruition as the corrosive sting of Ford’s solo vividly contrasts the stoic vocal.

The eleven cuts on The Vulture move in quick succession through their two-and-a-half to five minute duration, but there’s a readily discernible momentum in play by roughly the mid-point, in part due to the progressively subtle touches such as the congas that accent “Ghetto Is Everywhere.” And the mix of acoustic country blues and electric funk of “Old Lady Sunrise” is a most effective change of pace, given its sequencing. The tongue-in-cheek attitude within “Arkansas Gas Card” suits the low-slung groove the band digs into while “Shalimar Dreams” is a rousing rocker that suggests the live potential of Ford and his group, The Neptune Blues Club.

It’s high compliment to state The Vulture whets the appetite to see Marc Ford and company in concert, particularly because the guitarist and bandleader tenaciously reinforces that sensation with each of his solos, such as the one on “Girl of Mine” that closes the album so provocatively.

Marc Ford recently announced the formation of Magpie Salute with Rich Robinson along with Sven Pipien (bass) and Eddie Harsch (keyboards) in which they’ll recreate Black Crowes material among other things…

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