More Wicked Licks from Wilsey
Santo & Johnny – the fraternal duo best-known for the 1959 instrumental “Sleepwalk,†with its dreamy melody delivered by a lonesome, crying guitar - would be proud of James Wilsey. Or envious. All they’d have to do is listen to Wilsey’s debut solo album El Dorado to know that their legacy – and that of other monumental twang-masters such as Duane Eddy, Link Wray, James Burton, and Dick Dale - is in good fingers, er, hands.Like few players then and now, Wilsey can make his guitar keen, wail, snap, or seduce, roping in a listener with the sheer emotive power of his licks. He was the guitarist behind the intense and atmospheric lines that gave retro-rock crooner Chris Isaak his signature sound. Ensnared by the sinuous guitar playing that marked “Wicked Game,†Isaak’s biggest hit? You can thank Wilsey, who first came to prominence as the bass player in the crucial San Francisco punk-rock group The Avengers.Wilsey left punk and the bass behind to riff and rock on lead guitar. As a charter member of Isaak’s band Silvertone, Wilsey stood in the shadows while forging a sleek aural backdrop for the charismatic singer in the spotlight. Dissatisfied by a supporting role, he left Isaak’s ensemble and relocated to Los Angeles a number of years ago to pursue his muse. Wilsey has since played sessions, scored films, and gigged on the SoCal club scene. All the while, he’s been writing and recording his own compositions. El Dorado, a marvelous, newly-issued collection of ten glistening, guitar-driven instrumentals, is the culmination of those efforts - pure uncut Wilsey, paying homage to his forebears and influences while adding his own bend, twist and post-modern sensibility to the mix.
The elegance and sheen of his craftsmanship - he engineered and produced the album as well as composing and performing - suggest the musical equivalent of a high-end customizer’s painstaking work on a perfectly restored vintage car. The title song channels the sweep and drama of an Ennio Morricone spaghetti-western soundtrack, as does “Untamed.†“Discos Nuevos†is more in the realm of Duane Eddy’s swagger and ramble - as invigorating as a high-speed drive-by-night on a desert highway. The Link Wray connection can be divined in “The Rattler,†as deadly as a rumble in a town without pity. Echoing the supple, hypnotic rock and roll that Wilsey conjured in his Silvertone days, “San Bernardino†is tuneful and limber while hinting at danger, like a gunslinger with a bad reputation arriving in a windswept Wild West settlement.No other contemporary guitarist in popular music is better at evoking the kind of emotional depths that “City of Broken Dolls†so succinctly expresses - its melody embodying romantic melancholy with a whiff of despair. The same goes for “Last Chance,†with sonic sweetness that seems to encode hope, devotion and an acknowledgement of love’s rigors. Wilsey’s debt to 1960s surf music, the stuff of the Pyramids, Ventures, Surfaris, T-Bones and their ilk, is audible in the big sound-wave of “Diabolic.†He closes the album with “Insomnia†– a lovely and unabashed tribute to “Sleepwalk.†While the rest of El Dorado is perfect for a ride down California’s coastal Route 1 or through an arid Southwestern landscape, “Insomnia†is soothing enough to bring on a restorative sleep at journey’s end.To celebrate the release of the CD this week, Wilsey convened his formidable band (which includes Billy Pitman on guitar, Anthony Santaniello on bass and Derek Ritchie on drums), donned a cowboy hat and Western duds, and headlined Safari Sam’s in Hollywood on Tuesday night. An appreciative crowd filled the main floor by the time that he took the stage. Displaying extreme focus while playing and a laconic between-song air, he performed the entire album, from opening track to last.It was a transporting experience, further enhanced by a wordless-but-eloquent three-song encore of the Roy Orbison classic “Cryingâ€; the Carpenters’ hit “Superstar,†which was written by Leon Russell; and, lastly, a stirring, deconstructed instrumental version of “Wicked Game.†Hell of a show.On my way down Sunset after Wilsey’s set, I stopped off at Walgreen’s for a cold (non-alcoholic) beverage to slake my midnight thirst, and – surprise! - Isaak’s “Wicked Game†was coming over the store’s P.A. system. Coincidence? Well, yeah - although, in a perfect world, it would have been a number from El Dorado.For more about and from James Wilsey: http://www.myspace.com/jameswilsey
The elegance and sheen of his craftsmanship - he engineered and produced the album as well as composing and performing - suggest the musical equivalent of a high-end customizer’s painstaking work on a perfectly restored vintage car. The title song channels the sweep and drama of an Ennio Morricone spaghetti-western soundtrack, as does “Untamed.†“Discos Nuevos†is more in the realm of Duane Eddy’s swagger and ramble - as invigorating as a high-speed drive-by-night on a desert highway. The Link Wray connection can be divined in “The Rattler,†as deadly as a rumble in a town without pity. Echoing the supple, hypnotic rock and roll that Wilsey conjured in his Silvertone days, “San Bernardino†is tuneful and limber while hinting at danger, like a gunslinger with a bad reputation arriving in a windswept Wild West settlement.No other contemporary guitarist in popular music is better at evoking the kind of emotional depths that “City of Broken Dolls†so succinctly expresses - its melody embodying romantic melancholy with a whiff of despair. The same goes for “Last Chance,†with sonic sweetness that seems to encode hope, devotion and an acknowledgement of love’s rigors. Wilsey’s debt to 1960s surf music, the stuff of the Pyramids, Ventures, Surfaris, T-Bones and their ilk, is audible in the big sound-wave of “Diabolic.†He closes the album with “Insomnia†– a lovely and unabashed tribute to “Sleepwalk.†While the rest of El Dorado is perfect for a ride down California’s coastal Route 1 or through an arid Southwestern landscape, “Insomnia†is soothing enough to bring on a restorative sleep at journey’s end.To celebrate the release of the CD this week, Wilsey convened his formidable band (which includes Billy Pitman on guitar, Anthony Santaniello on bass and Derek Ritchie on drums), donned a cowboy hat and Western duds, and headlined Safari Sam’s in Hollywood on Tuesday night. An appreciative crowd filled the main floor by the time that he took the stage. Displaying extreme focus while playing and a laconic between-song air, he performed the entire album, from opening track to last.It was a transporting experience, further enhanced by a wordless-but-eloquent three-song encore of the Roy Orbison classic “Cryingâ€; the Carpenters’ hit “Superstar,†which was written by Leon Russell; and, lastly, a stirring, deconstructed instrumental version of “Wicked Game.†Hell of a show.On my way down Sunset after Wilsey’s set, I stopped off at Walgreen’s for a cold (non-alcoholic) beverage to slake my midnight thirst, and – surprise! - Isaak’s “Wicked Game†was coming over the store’s P.A. system. Coincidence? Well, yeah - although, in a perfect world, it would have been a number from El Dorado.For more about and from James Wilsey: http://www.myspace.com/jameswilsey
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