Mark Lanegan
I'll Take Care of You
(Sub Pop)
The singer of Seattle grungemeisters The Screaming Trees has gone beyond the mellow despondency of his previous solo efforts like "The Winding Sheet" and "Whiskey And The Holy Ghost," to do an entire album of obscure covers. And what constitutes an obscure cover tune? Lanegan has chosen little heard folk and R&B compositions by cult artists that are acknowledged as brilliant but rarely sell many records. Opening with a gloomy reading of Jeffery Lee Pierce's (from the Gun Club) "Carry Home," Lanegan indulges his most dramatic instincts with songs by folkies like Tim Hardin, Tim Rose and Fred Neil. Lanegan also borrows "Consider Me" from forgotten soulster Eddie Floyd (of "Knock On Wood" fame) and takes the title cut from the pen of the inimitable Brook Benton. These are the kind of albums I really can sink my teeth into. Where else are you going to find a rendition of the Leaving Trains' "Creeping Coastline Of Lights" alongside "Together Again" which was written by none other than Buck Owens? With various Seattle musicians helping flesh out the songs and Lanegan's music director Mike Johnson leading this gentle assault, Mark Lanegan is free to sing out in his dour, uninhibited fashion. On "Little Sadie" the singer takes a traditional American tune and reminds us that Kurt Cobain's facination with the folk-blues genre was not an isolated incident. Keeping classic songs alive and investigating alternatives to the hard rock legacy of the Pacific Northwest, Mark Lanegan will keep things moving in Seattle until Chris (Soundgarden) Cornell's solo album comes out and blows everybody else away.
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.