Chuck Prophet [Feast Of Hearts]I decided to go out for a lazy walk in the late afternoon today, and picked this disc to take with me, this is the first time it gets in my Blog, i've had this disc since 2003, it took a while to grow on me, i remember one episode where i was driving round London listening to this disc, and it really hit me hard, it's great when a nice disc becomes a superstar!, out on the walk i marvelled at the invention of Chuck Prophet, his subtle musicianship, and his clever lyrics, you can feel his intensity, the instrumentation seems simple at first, but it's also cleverly layered, and it has this natural evolution, he certainly knows how to tighten the pleasure screws in your brain.
Chuck Prophet is an American Singer-Songwriter, he's now 48 years old, he first started out with the Rock group Green On Red, and he went solo in 1990, he now has 14 solo albums, and this is his fourth, i've tried some of his other albums [The Hurting Business, and Soap And Water], but i wasn't impressed, Age Of Miracles is the next album i'll check out of his, i bought this disc in a local second-hand shop, i must admit it was the front cover that caught my eye [photography by Kim Stringfellow], a washed out a yellowy shot of Prophet in what looks like a Motel room, sitting on the edge of the bed in a superb pose, notice the flowery top, really is a treat, in some ways i can feel the loneliness, a really great visual product.
The tracks which rose above the rest were 1, 4, 8 & 10, my favourite song is track 8 'Oh Mary', a real lyrical song, full of nice momentum, with a nice beat to it, Prophet can have a lazy delivery with singing, there's a certain Country twang to it, layered guitars and a drum beat propel it forward, there's no chorus as such, rather the whole thing fuses into four verses that just keep going, i like the lyrics at the start of the third verse,
It's one of those treasured albums, and it was so good to listen more carefully, and to discover that the music and lyrics really do fit more than i've ever noticed before, i recommend this album if you want to delve into Chuck Prophet.
Here's Chuck Prophet singing 'Oh Mary' on YouTube.
I get up in the morning
My head is buzzing like a cheap TV
On into the evening
Pour myself a shot of sympathy
