Review: Van Morrison’s New Blues Covers -Steeped LP, ‘Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge’

Venerable rock legend and B&V favorite Van Morrison has returned less than a year after the spectacular Remembering Now – which can only be described as a sensational comeback after a few years “in the wilderness” – with Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge. I was wondering how Van had returned so quickly with a new LP – giving me very 70s vibes when albums were expected from artists every year – but quickly learned that Somebody is an album predominantly of blues covers from such legends as B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Leadbelly. Not having to write 15 new songs makes recording an LP a lot quicker, I suppose.

After barricading myself in the B&V labs this weekend to avoid the sub zero temps and heavy snow, I spent the time cranking this new Van album, and my first take is that Van is certainly having a good time. It’s great to hear him return to the music of his youth. He has a number of guests and this starts to feel like an open blues jam at your local honky tonk. I was reminded of his 2017 LP Roll With The Punches which was similar with mostly covers with a few Van originals sprinkled in. Of course Punches boasted the guitar talents of the late Jeff Beck on a number of tracks.

Having given up on Van after 2019’s Three Chords And The Truth, after which he went a little extreme over the whole COVID conspiracy theory thing, I had forgotten that Van puts out records like he’s a little short this month and has to raise some rent money. But as I’ve said in these pages, I’m a huge fan of blues/blues rock. Most of the music that I truly love has its roots in the blues  – from the Stones to Zeppelin. So if Van wants to sing the blues, I’m absolutely here for it. The more Van, the better.

When I heard Van was doing the blues, and when I think of the blues generally, I think of B.B. King telling me that “The Thrill Is Gone,” or Muddy singing, “I’m Ready.” I think of slower tunes with a lot of guitar. The typical blues track goes: vocal lamentations, short guitar solo, more vocal lamentations, a longer guitar solo. There’s plenty of that trad blues here but a lot this record tends more toward “jump blues” with a lot of horns, piano and organ. Jump Blues tends to be more upbeat and we also get a lot of that.

Van delivers 20 songs on this record, just under 80 minutes of fabulous blues. I really enjoyed this record, but then, again, I love the blues. It starts off swinging with “Kidney Stew Blues” and then gets bluesier with “King For A Day Blues,” both tunes associated with jump blues/jazz singer Eddie Vinson. Van is in fine voice on these blues tracks. Van gets almost funky on the old Junior Wells tune “Snatch It Back And Hold It,” complete with call and response vocals.

At that point blues rock legend Elvin Bishop who was a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and who used to trade hot blues licks with Michael Bloomfield, shows up to provide guitar on “Deep Blue Sea.” Elvin pops up quite a bit on this album both on guitar and the occasional duet. Then Van turns “Ain’t That A Shame,” a Fats Domino tune that’s been done by Cheap Trick and John Lennon (to name but a few), on its head. It’s almost like a country blues thing and it just works. It’s a great and unexpected arrangement.

Bishop shows up again for the slow blues burner “Madam Butterfly Blues.” Man, that one is a highlight for you blues heads like me. “Better put on your walkin’ shoes…” Then, just to turn it up another notch, Taj Mahal shows up. I can’t find any credits on who plays what, but I’m pretty sure Taj lays down some great harmonica along with singing duets with Van. What a damn treat it is to hear these vets going after these tracks like “Can’t Help Myself,” or the old classic folk/blues tune “Betty and Dupree.”

Van then does the old standard “Delia’s Gone,” made famous by Johnny Cash. Man there are so many highlights. “Monte Carlo Blues,” which I think is a Roosevelt Sykes tune, really cooks. Van and his longtime collaborator on piano, John Allair, do “Go To The High Place In Your Mind,” and I hope the estate of Fats Domino is getting a royalty here, because this track sounds like a lift of  “Blueberry Hill.”

“Social Climbing Scene,” and the title track have to be Van originals, again I don’t have the liner notes as my copy hasn’t shown up yet, but those weird titles have to come from Van. The good news is they both fit perfectly with all the blues covers. I’m not sure how Van does that – writes current blues tracks that fit seamlessly with old blues standards. It’s impressive.

The album ends on what I consider to be the real highlight here, and that’s with two tracks by Muddy Waters and B.B. King respectively – “I’m Ready,” and “Rock Me Baby” – as duets with Buddy Guy. And yes, Buddy wails on the guitar solos. You don’t get more blues than Buddy Guy. Even rock curmudgeon Van Morrison sounds delighted, in a bluesy way.

It’s great to hear a veteran rocker like Van sound so committed to this music. He’s returning to the music he adored when he was still the lead singer of Them. The whole band sounds into it. At one point, listening to his record, I closed my eyes and I felt like I was sitting in B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ here in town… late on a Sunday night with a belly full of beer and ribs… letting the open jam roll over me.

This is a great way to kick off the year! If you dig Van, or dig the blues put this album on and turn it up loud. It’s too cold to be anywhere outside. Spend a nice evening of blues/blues rock, dancing belly to belly with someone beautiful and a bucket of ice close at hand…

Cheers! Take care of each other out there. We’ve got a lot of things to be blue about these days… But don’t let the bastards drag you down. We shall overcome with the steely resolve of an old blues tune…