Grits and Greens

Country Ghetto
JJ Grey and Mofro
Alligator Records 2007



Thank God that Sly Stone and his illustrious Family did not self-destruct in vain. No, Sly’s legacy lives all over JJ Grey and Mofro’s new album, “Country Ghetto,” which seems to draw inspiration not only the Family Stone but Faces, Otis Redding and Humble Pie, as well. However, the Mofro is that rare band that pulls this off without sounding like the Black Crowes, something called “Southern Rawk” or this horrid thing known as “the Blooze,” which conjures up images of women “clap-dancing” to a bar-band version of “Mustang Sally.” No, Grey and his band are authentic –there is nothing mimicking about “Country Ghetto.”
“Country Ghetto” opens with the barn-burning “War,” which not only incorporates “Dance to the Music” drums and a low voice bass shout-out ala Larry Graham, but lyrically it deals with Sly’s most pressing issue: man versus himself—the “war” inside us all. From the fuzzed-out guitars and organ rides to the pumping organ bass line, “War” grabs you from the first beat and lets you know that the Mofro means business.
After setting the tone with “War,” the band continues to raise the proverbial bar with “Circles,” which begins with electric piano and Grey’s soulful voice, which is sometimes mindful of Bill Withers, before lazily rolling in a warm sea of strings and horns, which is not easy to do, unless you are George Martin or Brian Wilson or evidently, JJ Grey. “Circles” is the best song that Faces never recorded and if God were a fan of radio it would get played ad nauseam.
It’s refreshing to hear a record that is produced well. Grey and producer Dan Prothero keeps things simple and this simple, organic production works well. The drum and bass sounds are fat and tight, the guitar tones are authentic and the organ sounds like, well, an organ. Together, it all sounds warm and it would probably sound like a million dollars if heard on a jukebox in a Southern roadhouse. I know that it sounds great on my iPod on the speakers in my truck as I ride along the back roads of North Mississippi.
The center of “Country Ghetto” is anchored by the songs “Footsteps” and “Turpentine,” which mixes both the swamp music of Grey’s Florida home and the trance-inspired blues of the North Mississippi Hill Country. It’s the type of sound that exists in a world where Ronnie Van Zandt and R.L. Burnside are on the ten and twenty dollar bills, respectively and the local university is known as “Ole Flar’da.”
The songs are the perfect set-up for what follows next. “A Woman” is the best example of modern day soul since Otis Redding recorded “Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul.” Grey’s voice is a powerful instrument on “A Woman,” but it is not overpowering in the slightest. Grey is a soul singer, not a “blue-eyed soul singer.” Once again, he’s more Bill Withers than a screaming Joe Cocker, hoarse Rod Stewart or a big, bossy Blooze singer.
Grey, who IS the Mofro along with Daryl Hance, George Sluppick and Adam Scone, pays homage to my home state on the track, “Mississippi,” which rolls along like an old junk wagon telling the listener that “good things are going on there in Mississippi.” Old Charlie Rangel may ponder “who the hell wants to live in Mississippi,” but I do and it looks like the Mofro wouldn’t find it so bad, either.
Song for song, “Country Ghetto” is an album to listen to in its entirety, as opposed to a couple of great songs and mediocre filler material. It tackles the age-old themes of loves lost and found in a way that is at once both old and modern. Sure, there are female back-up singers, gospel-tinged choruses and big guitars and horns but Grey is nothing of a Humble Pie imitator. He’s an honest songwriter with a soulful voice and a great guitar tones. In a day and age when Indie rock is suddenly arena rock, JJ Grey and The Mofro should be one of the biggest true Indie rock bands in the world. At the very least, they inspired me to write this blog.