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Bob Frank
Red Neck, Blue Collar
(Memphis International)
First Appeared in The Music Box, February 2008, Volume 15, #2
Written by John Metzger
Tue February 19, 2008, 07:00 AM CST
In more ways than one, Bob Frank’s Red Neck, Blue Collar is a
throwback to another era. Not only do his gentle, acoustic arrangements conjure
the same warm and earthy atmospheres of the early 1970s, singer-songwriter
movement, but also his lyrics and his delivery find common ground among
predecessors like Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie and peers such as John Prine and
Kris Kristofferson. After issuing his self-titled debut in 1972, Frank virtually
disappeared from the recording business, a feat he undoubtedly helped to achieve
when he blew off a promotional tour and refused to perform any of the songs from
his new album at the record release party thrown for him by his label Vanguard.
Nevertheless, although he soon was out of sight, he never was completely out of
mind.
Over the years, Frank’s legend grew among folk fiends and collectors alike,
and in 2001, he began to record and release his material independently. He broke
his nearly 30-year silence by creating new music for an old, English ballad (A
Little Gest of Robin Hood), but it was his work with co-producer Jim
Dickinson on Keep on Burning that put him back on the map. Red Neck,
Blue Collar, Frank’s latest effort, is something of a retrospective in that
it gives wider distribution to a series of tracks that were selected carefully
from Keep on Burning as well as his subsequent endeavors Pledge of
Allegiance and Ride the Restless Wind. Regardless of its conception,
the collection makes a fully cohesive statement of its own.
Throughout Red Neck, Blue Collar, Frank dabbles in country, blues, and
folk, and he situates cowboy songs (Out on the Prairie) alongside
portraits of Southern living (Little Ol’ Cabin Home). On Judas
Iscariot, he irreverently turns the story of Jesus’ betrayal into a weirdly
humorous, hashish-stoked, gambling tale, while the title track pays tribute to
the laborers upon whose backs America was built but who now are struggling to
make ends meet. Although Frank is at his best when he’s singing for the
workingman, there’s nary a dull moment to be found on Red Neck, Blue Collar.
Whether he’s rallying union workers (One Big Family) or pointing out the
hypocrisy that separates America’s obsession with religion from its actions
(Pledge of Allegiance), one thing is certain: Frank’s return didn’t come a
moment too soon.  ½
Red Neck, Blue Collar is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
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