The incredibly deep-voiced Nelson County blues guitarist Eli Cook releases his fifth album tomorrow, Ace, Jack and King, that takes an accommodating approach to the blues. The disc has a lot of hellraising, crowd-pleasing originals that celebrate the blues tradition while compositionally stepping out of the blues camp, and won’t shock longtime Cook listeners.
Check out samples at Cook’s website.
But for as long as Cook stares tradition straight in the face (he covers three Skip James songs), he also shows a knack for picking up and making his own the doleful tumbleweeds that have rolled across the blues landscape. Case in point is his cover of Nick Drake’s "Black Eyed Dog." The original version is striking for Drake’s vocal reluctance—it’s a sketch of an imagined encounter with a dog—but in his new version Cook picks up a 12-string, injecting the tune with what can only be called a li’l bit of boogie.
Nick Drake’s "Black Eyed Dog"
Like his playing (mostly slide), Cook’s is versatile; he sounds just as home singing James’ "Catfish Blues" as he does in his own songs, which take some interesting turns into brawny post-grunge.
Ace, Jack and King comes out tomorrow. Catch Cook at the Jefferson Theater for a Johnny Cash tribute on June 25. More on Cook in an upcoming issue of C-VILLE.