‘Outside Looking In is the latest offering (his fourth) from respected bluesman TOMMY LEE COOK, whose southern style Chicago blues has gained him a lot of praise in the last few years. This album was conceived following the death of a close friend who was also his recording engineer (Hamp Walker) and this album is dedicated to him. The album does exactly what it says on the tin. What you get is eleven tracks of great earthy blues, some slow, some stompers, but each one moulded in a classic style.
The opening track ‘What You Gone Do’ is an electric blues rocker, which rumbles along nicely with Tommy giving out some clear home truths: - “My mamma told me don’t play with matches,
Don’t start a fire and you won’t get burned/ Can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen/ A pretty picture speaks louder than words.” This gets the album off to an uplifting start which left a grin on my face.
‘God’s Little Acre’ is the perfect religious blues with some nifty slide work on it, slower paced than the previous track, it is still effective and a perfect antidote for those disappointed that Howard Camping’s apocalypse predictions didn’t come true.
“I’m goin’ down to the muddy river, by that shack with the whiskey still/ I’m gone ease on in the water, into the arms of a preacher’s will.” I really enjoyed this one especially the line about wanting to “lose the grip of Satan’s daughter” a feeling that I’ve had several times in the past!
‘Take a Breath’ is the perfect track for the man whose woman natters on all day and night, summing up the situation perfectly to a good time blues melody, this did make me laugh with the observational humour: - “I been sittin’ on this bar stool way too long, I think you been talkin’ since Oprah was on/ Now it’s ten o’ clock and I gotta go/ I bet you’ll still be talkin’ at the end of the Leno show.” Advising his lady to “Take a breath”, Tommy comes out with the excellent comment that her “lack of punctuation’s scaring me to death!”
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Whilst there isn’t a bad track on the album, the ones apart from the above that particularly struck a chord with me were ‘Devil On My Shoulder’ which is a southern style blues that at the same time managed to conjure images of Tom Waits, with it’s line of: -
“Gotta get the mules up on higher ground, hitch a wagon up, head ‘em into town.” And the lovely line “the bank man comin’, drive him away.”
‘Ain’t No Blame’ is a piano and largely acoustic song about a relationship that’s dying, while the last few tracks on the album crank up the volume and put the pedal firmly to the floor, starting with ‘Arkansas Dirtweed’: a gritty, raucous stomping slide blues, the sort of which George Thorogood used to be so fluent in. This to my mind was the best track on the album and one which really raised the bar. Talking all about being jilted, this woman clearly blew his mind: - “She got a red Cadillac 67 De Ville. She looks so good when she slides behind the wheel.” however, this is a woman who doesn’t stay around for long… “She left me standin’ in a field of Arkansas dirtweed.”
The final track ‘It’s a Party’ is just that, opening with the sound of motorbike engines and some good rockin’ blues, Tommy is the perfect party host: - “It’s a party, get ready, I’m ready to ride.” I really liked this CD, there was a lot that made it stand quite a way above a lot of other albums that fall within this genre. Tommy has the kind of drawl that is perfectly suited to this type of blues and he has a knack of drawing the listener in to hear his tales. This is well worth a listen.
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