{"id":29353,"date":"2025-05-11T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29353"},"modified":"2025-05-05T09:43:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T13:43:22","slug":"album-review-steve-howell-the-mighty-men-yeah-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/11\/album-review-steve-howell-the-mighty-men-yeah-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Steve Howell & the Mighty Men \u2013 Yeah Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For his 13th<\/sup> long player, guitarist and singer Steve Howell has hand-picked an eclectic assortment of old tunes. The low-key Yeah Man<\/i> features some well-worn classics alongside some relatively obscure selections.<\/p>\n

Howell\u2019s electric reading of Blind Lemon Jefferson\u2019s 1926 composition \u201cLong Lonesome Blues\u201d is sultry and understated. The title track \u2013 a cover of soul man Eddie Hinton\u2019s late \u201870s \u201cYeah Man\u201d \u2013 is spare and uncluttered; it conveys a laid-back character distinct from the sassy, wailing original. J. B. Hutto waxed \u201c20% Alcohol\u201d in 1968; Howell and his band emphasize the \u201cWang Dang Doodle\u201d-esque feel of the song.<\/p>\n

Rhythm and blues heroes The Clovers released \u201cOne Mint Julep\u201d in 1952; the doo-wop classic has been covered many times since then, by a wide array of artists. Howell\u2019s nearly-wordless version bends the tune into an electric country blues mode; a twangy and extended lead guitar break echoes Duane Eddy\u2019s reading of the cut.<\/p>\n

As Steve Howell explains in his annotations for the album\u2019s CD booklet, \u201cLittle Ol\u2019 Wine Drinker Me\u201d has been recorded by Dean Martin and \u2013 believe it or not \u2013 actor Robert Mitchum. The country flavors of the melody and lyric come through in Howell\u2019s cover version. Again, a lead guitar break adds interest.<\/p>\n

Many artists have recorded \u201cI\u2019m Glad for Your Sake\u201d; Howell notes that the Sir Douglas Quintet\u2019s 1968 version is his favorite. And it\u2019s that version that most informs his approach to the song, tailor-made for late-night slow dancing. \u201cJust Like Romeo and Juilet\u201d is another oft-covered tune. Rock fanatics will likely be most familiar with the spirited, uptempo \u201860s version by Michael and the Messengers, featured on Lenny Kaye\u2019s influential Nuggets<\/i> compilation. But Howell\u2019s languid reading will be nearly unrecognizable to those listeners.<\/p>\n

Jazz hero Julian \u201cCannonball\u201d Adderley found crossover success with his recording of keyboardist Josef Zawinul\u2019s soulful \u201cMercy Mercy Mercy\u201d; The Buckinghams added words and took it to the pop charts a second time. Howell\u2019s by now predictably subtle instrumental take on the song has shades of Steve Cropper\u2019s style. Bo Diddley\u2019s signature beat is the foundation of \u201cDearest Darling\u201d; Diddley waxed the b-side back in 1958. Howell and his band lean into the nearly one-chord arrangement. Playful lead guitar crosstalk enlivens the song, but only a bit.<\/p>\n

Steve Howell & the Mighty Men deliver Billy Swan\u2019s countrypolitan \u201cLover Please\u201d in a faithful manner; it\u2019s nice enough but adds little to the listener\u2019s appreciation of the song. Somewhat surprisingly, the group\u2019s take on the spiritual standard \u201cWade in the Water\u201d is the most energetic performance on the entire set. Still, it never quite gets going. But Howell\u2019s brief solo is effective.<\/p>\n

Yeah Man<\/i> closes with an instrumental cover of Bob Dylan\u2019s protest anthem \u201cChimes of Freedom.\u201d An insistent, rock-solid rhythm section pins down the arrangement, and Howell plays some heartfelt (if frustratingly understated) lead guitar.<\/p>\n

The oomph<\/i> never comes on this record, but that\u2019s seemingly by design. As such, listeners in the mood for a well-executed, well-chosen collection of songs delivered in an exceedingly relaxed, sounds-like-they\u2019re-sitting-down-while-they-play fashion will certainly enjoy Yeah Man<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For his 13th long player, guitarist and singer Steve Howell has hand-picked an eclectic assortment of old tunes. The low-key Yeah Man features some well-worn classics alongside some relatively obscure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5677],"class_list":["post-29353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-steve-howell","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29355,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29353\/revisions\/29355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}