MIKE MATTISON
''YOU CAN'T FIGHT LOVE''
2014
47:48
1 - You Can't Fight Love 4:19
2 - Gin House Blues 3:41
3 - Midnight In Harlem 4:44
4 - Gimme Your Love 3:57
5 - Everybody's Happy Nowadays 3:21
6 - That Makes Two Of Us 4:15
7 - Piece Of Clay 3:35
8 - No Matter Where You Been 3:14
9 - Good Luck Automated Car Crash 5:30
10 - Life Is Crazy 3:32
11 - Going Home 3:11
12 - Please Let Me Hold You 4:22
REVIEW
by Marley jay from HTN81
For more than 10 years, Mike Mattison has lent his two singing voices – a scratchy head voice tailor-made for the blues, and a powerful falsetto that comes to life on funk and soul numbers – and his urbane, precise writing to Scrapomatic, where he and singer-guitarist Paul Olsen combine to create most of the songs. Mike’s also made key contributions to the Derek Trucks Band and Tedeschi Trucks Band, bringing new depth to their lyrics and outlook. On You Can’t Fight Love the singer steps forward and puts his own compositions center stage for the first time: five of the tracks were written by Mattison alone, and he wrote four others with Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and Kofi Burbridge. The set is rounded out with two blues covers and Mattison displaying some major interpretive chops by transforming the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” by into a country lament.
Mattison has turned in plenty of impressive singing, but he’s never had this much room to shine and show off his range. He doubles and triples up his vocals on several songs, serving as his own backup group. He also serves as his own duet partner on “That Makes Two of Us.” He handles rock, blues and soul songs as well as ever and reveals a country side that hasn’t received as much exposure – You Can’t Fight Love is an appealing mix from a content, confident singer/songwriter who offers diverse styles to a very broad and growing audience.
The backing line-up on You Can’t Fight Love is Scrapomatic’s touring band, along with Burbridge on keys, so it’s not a surprise that it doesn’t sound much different at first from a Scrapomatic record. The cover of the Bessie Smith standard “Gin House Blues” would fit nicely on a Scrap album if it had a harder arrangement, and it’s easy to imagine the Tedeschi/Trucks ensemble playing the upbeat, rocking title track, which Mattison wrote with Tedeschi.
But there are different shadings that distinguish this album from Mattison’s previous work, which may be why some of these songs didn’t find a home with his other projects. Brooding, dark tales are swapped out for the sunny side of Scrapomatic, with romantic fare like the funky, horn-powered opener “You Can’t Fight Love,” the Paul Pena-esque rocker “No Matter Where You’ve Been,” the R&B ballad “Piece of Clay” and the aching closer, “Please Let Me Hold You.” The cover of Charlie Patton’s “Going Home” merges the blues with gospel. Most of all, the country tinges that have slowly become more prominent in Scrapomatic’s work - especially their album I’m a Stranger (And I Love the Night) in 2012 - are in full bloom on “That Makes Two of Us,” the reinvented “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” and “Good Luck Automated Car Crash.”
Derek Trucks Band fans will be pleased to hear studio versions of the Al Green-style title track and the bluesy “Life Is Crazy,” both of which were road-tested by the band in the mid-2000s but never appeared on an album. There’s also a new take on Mattison’s magnum opus “Midnight in Harlem,” which dates to the same period but wasn’t recorded until Tedeschi-Trucks band’s Revelator in 2011. This gorgeous, moving version is dominated by shimmering acoustic guitar and organ, with layered backing vocals that give it a little bit of a doo-wop vibe.
And then there’s the writing. “Life Is Crazy” pulls you in with the indelible image “Woke up in your flower bed/One last time.” It’s a sad song, but the narrator holds his head high and doesn’t apologize for who he is. “Good Luck Automated Car Crash” is a long, mysterious story about two people who happen to find each other on their journeys through life and the road they travel down together.
If Scrapomatic’s albums feel like strange nighttime detours, You Can’t Fight Love is an album for a bright and cloudless afternoon. It’s heartfelt and often sweet, but it has enough subtlety to avoid becoming cloying. The music feels lived-in because of the solid but relaxed performances by the band: guitarists Olsen and Dave Yoke, Burbridge, bassist Ted Pecchio and drummer Tyler “Falcon” Greenwell. If you consider yourself a fan of modern blues, country and soul, make room on your shelf for You Can’t Fight Love - it proves that Mike Mattison can sing and write with the best of them, in any genre.
MIKE MATTISON
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mike Mattison is an American musician and vocalist[1] of the Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues group, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, as well as lead vocalist and co-founder of the blues rock trio Scrapomatic. Mattison's vocal sound has been described as "strong," with an "expressive blues voice".[2] As lead vocalist of Scrapomatic, he picked up a nomination for Minnesota Music Awards best male vocalist, and both he and co-founder Paul Olsen were also nominated for best R&B Group.[3] Mattison was previously the lead vocalist of the Grammy Award winning Derek Trucks Band and has been a main songwriter of all three bands.
BIOGRAPHY
Mattison was born and grew to adulthood in Minneapolis, Minnesota,[3][4] during a period where he was encouraged to learn and experiment with a variety of musical instruments, which appealed to him. Before graduation from high school, he'd learned, with differing levels of accomplishment, to play the recorder, clarinet, tenor saxophone, french horn, trombone, bass, and guitar, in addition to his natural ability to sing. He was influenced by jazz, the blues, and roots music. Mattison began exploring songwriting and performing with a friend who had also been raised in Minneapolis, Paul Olsen. The pair met in 1993 at a Parliament-Funkadelic concert, and began playing R&B and blues-based music together afterward.[5] Mattison's acceptance and subsequent college education at Harvard brought him east, and he convinced Olsen to move with him.
Mattison graduated from Harvard with a degree in English and American literature. Olsen and continued playing and performing together, forming the duo they named Scrapomatic. In 2002, Craig Street and John Snyder, the two record producers that had business ties with blues rock musician Derek Trucks independently suggested Mattison as the person to fill the newly vacated position of lead vocalist for The Derek Trucks Band.[6] Trucks, who was in New York City on business,had begun looking at the information and photos supplied of Mattison, and having seen Mattison's photos and demos singing, was surprised to find he was in the same subway car. After Trucks recognized him and introduced himself, Mattison performed in several concerts following the unusual meeting with The Derek Trucks Band, and shortly afterward, landed the position, where he has remained since his entry into the band. He continues to maintain his position in Scrapomatic, with the duo frequently opening for The Derek Trucks Band.
Mike Mattison's voice has been considered a "perfect fit" for The Derek Trucks Band. After listening to the band play the arrangement of "I Wish I Knew" in the style of Nina Simone, an NPR host mentioned a "growly" quality to Mattison's voice, which Trucks was able to closely duplicate on the slide guitar. The next song had a completely different sound altogether, a rendition of a song by Skip James, where Mattison sang in a falsetto.[7] His wide range appealed to Trucks, who was looking for a lead vocalist that was not the usual fare. Within The Derek Trucks Band, Mattison's voice has been described as an instrument, rather than that of a focal point as frontman.[8]
In 2010, The Derek Trucks Band announced a hiatus, and Mike Mattison joined the new group, Tedeschi Trucks Band, as a backing vocalist and songwriter. One of his compositions, "Midnight in Harlem," appears on the DVD release of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010.
On July 17, 2013, Mike Mattison launched a Kickstarter Project,[9] called "untitled-not-so-secret-mike-Mattison-solo-album" which successfully raised its funding goal on August 17, 2013. The project will be used to finish recording, mixing and mastering of his new album, which was expected to arrive around October 2013.
Mike Mattison released his solo CD "You Can't Fight Love" on Landslide Records (LDCD-1042) with a street date of June 3, 2014.
''YOU CAN'T FIGHT LOVE''
2014
47:48
1 - You Can't Fight Love 4:19
2 - Gin House Blues 3:41
3 - Midnight In Harlem 4:44
4 - Gimme Your Love 3:57
5 - Everybody's Happy Nowadays 3:21
6 - That Makes Two Of Us 4:15
7 - Piece Of Clay 3:35
8 - No Matter Where You Been 3:14
9 - Good Luck Automated Car Crash 5:30
10 - Life Is Crazy 3:32
11 - Going Home 3:11
12 - Please Let Me Hold You 4:22
REVIEW
by Marley jay from HTN81
For more than 10 years, Mike Mattison has lent his two singing voices – a scratchy head voice tailor-made for the blues, and a powerful falsetto that comes to life on funk and soul numbers – and his urbane, precise writing to Scrapomatic, where he and singer-guitarist Paul Olsen combine to create most of the songs. Mike’s also made key contributions to the Derek Trucks Band and Tedeschi Trucks Band, bringing new depth to their lyrics and outlook. On You Can’t Fight Love the singer steps forward and puts his own compositions center stage for the first time: five of the tracks were written by Mattison alone, and he wrote four others with Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and Kofi Burbridge. The set is rounded out with two blues covers and Mattison displaying some major interpretive chops by transforming the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” by into a country lament.
Mattison has turned in plenty of impressive singing, but he’s never had this much room to shine and show off his range. He doubles and triples up his vocals on several songs, serving as his own backup group. He also serves as his own duet partner on “That Makes Two of Us.” He handles rock, blues and soul songs as well as ever and reveals a country side that hasn’t received as much exposure – You Can’t Fight Love is an appealing mix from a content, confident singer/songwriter who offers diverse styles to a very broad and growing audience.
The backing line-up on You Can’t Fight Love is Scrapomatic’s touring band, along with Burbridge on keys, so it’s not a surprise that it doesn’t sound much different at first from a Scrapomatic record. The cover of the Bessie Smith standard “Gin House Blues” would fit nicely on a Scrap album if it had a harder arrangement, and it’s easy to imagine the Tedeschi/Trucks ensemble playing the upbeat, rocking title track, which Mattison wrote with Tedeschi.
But there are different shadings that distinguish this album from Mattison’s previous work, which may be why some of these songs didn’t find a home with his other projects. Brooding, dark tales are swapped out for the sunny side of Scrapomatic, with romantic fare like the funky, horn-powered opener “You Can’t Fight Love,” the Paul Pena-esque rocker “No Matter Where You’ve Been,” the R&B ballad “Piece of Clay” and the aching closer, “Please Let Me Hold You.” The cover of Charlie Patton’s “Going Home” merges the blues with gospel. Most of all, the country tinges that have slowly become more prominent in Scrapomatic’s work - especially their album I’m a Stranger (And I Love the Night) in 2012 - are in full bloom on “That Makes Two of Us,” the reinvented “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” and “Good Luck Automated Car Crash.”
Derek Trucks Band fans will be pleased to hear studio versions of the Al Green-style title track and the bluesy “Life Is Crazy,” both of which were road-tested by the band in the mid-2000s but never appeared on an album. There’s also a new take on Mattison’s magnum opus “Midnight in Harlem,” which dates to the same period but wasn’t recorded until Tedeschi-Trucks band’s Revelator in 2011. This gorgeous, moving version is dominated by shimmering acoustic guitar and organ, with layered backing vocals that give it a little bit of a doo-wop vibe.
And then there’s the writing. “Life Is Crazy” pulls you in with the indelible image “Woke up in your flower bed/One last time.” It’s a sad song, but the narrator holds his head high and doesn’t apologize for who he is. “Good Luck Automated Car Crash” is a long, mysterious story about two people who happen to find each other on their journeys through life and the road they travel down together.
If Scrapomatic’s albums feel like strange nighttime detours, You Can’t Fight Love is an album for a bright and cloudless afternoon. It’s heartfelt and often sweet, but it has enough subtlety to avoid becoming cloying. The music feels lived-in because of the solid but relaxed performances by the band: guitarists Olsen and Dave Yoke, Burbridge, bassist Ted Pecchio and drummer Tyler “Falcon” Greenwell. If you consider yourself a fan of modern blues, country and soul, make room on your shelf for You Can’t Fight Love - it proves that Mike Mattison can sing and write with the best of them, in any genre.
MIKE MATTISON
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mike Mattison is an American musician and vocalist[1] of the Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues group, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, as well as lead vocalist and co-founder of the blues rock trio Scrapomatic. Mattison's vocal sound has been described as "strong," with an "expressive blues voice".[2] As lead vocalist of Scrapomatic, he picked up a nomination for Minnesota Music Awards best male vocalist, and both he and co-founder Paul Olsen were also nominated for best R&B Group.[3] Mattison was previously the lead vocalist of the Grammy Award winning Derek Trucks Band and has been a main songwriter of all three bands.
BIOGRAPHY
Mattison was born and grew to adulthood in Minneapolis, Minnesota,[3][4] during a period where he was encouraged to learn and experiment with a variety of musical instruments, which appealed to him. Before graduation from high school, he'd learned, with differing levels of accomplishment, to play the recorder, clarinet, tenor saxophone, french horn, trombone, bass, and guitar, in addition to his natural ability to sing. He was influenced by jazz, the blues, and roots music. Mattison began exploring songwriting and performing with a friend who had also been raised in Minneapolis, Paul Olsen. The pair met in 1993 at a Parliament-Funkadelic concert, and began playing R&B and blues-based music together afterward.[5] Mattison's acceptance and subsequent college education at Harvard brought him east, and he convinced Olsen to move with him.
Mattison graduated from Harvard with a degree in English and American literature. Olsen and continued playing and performing together, forming the duo they named Scrapomatic. In 2002, Craig Street and John Snyder, the two record producers that had business ties with blues rock musician Derek Trucks independently suggested Mattison as the person to fill the newly vacated position of lead vocalist for The Derek Trucks Band.[6] Trucks, who was in New York City on business,had begun looking at the information and photos supplied of Mattison, and having seen Mattison's photos and demos singing, was surprised to find he was in the same subway car. After Trucks recognized him and introduced himself, Mattison performed in several concerts following the unusual meeting with The Derek Trucks Band, and shortly afterward, landed the position, where he has remained since his entry into the band. He continues to maintain his position in Scrapomatic, with the duo frequently opening for The Derek Trucks Band.
Mike Mattison's voice has been considered a "perfect fit" for The Derek Trucks Band. After listening to the band play the arrangement of "I Wish I Knew" in the style of Nina Simone, an NPR host mentioned a "growly" quality to Mattison's voice, which Trucks was able to closely duplicate on the slide guitar. The next song had a completely different sound altogether, a rendition of a song by Skip James, where Mattison sang in a falsetto.[7] His wide range appealed to Trucks, who was looking for a lead vocalist that was not the usual fare. Within The Derek Trucks Band, Mattison's voice has been described as an instrument, rather than that of a focal point as frontman.[8]
In 2010, The Derek Trucks Band announced a hiatus, and Mike Mattison joined the new group, Tedeschi Trucks Band, as a backing vocalist and songwriter. One of his compositions, "Midnight in Harlem," appears on the DVD release of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010.
On July 17, 2013, Mike Mattison launched a Kickstarter Project,[9] called "untitled-not-so-secret-mike-Mattison-solo-album" which successfully raised its funding goal on August 17, 2013. The project will be used to finish recording, mixing and mastering of his new album, which was expected to arrive around October 2013.
Mike Mattison released his solo CD "You Can't Fight Love" on Landslide Records (LDCD-1042) with a street date of June 3, 2014.
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