The Beat Daddys - 5 Moons (2006)

Two decades and six albums into their career, the Beat Daddys, who are singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist/harmonica player Larry Grisham, lead guitarist Britt Meacham and a changing rhythm section (here, for the most part, bassist Barry Bays and either Paul Scott or David Parks on drums), remain a Southern blues-rock outfit whose métier is the roadhouse rather than the recording studio. That's not to say there's anything wrong with their records. Although self-released, 5 Moons is a well-recorded effort that shows off Grisham's grainy baritone and Meacham's stinging guitar work on a set of traditional-sounding originals. But for a band like this, the perfect environment is a sweaty club, a side table, and a cold brewski close at hand. In such an environment, the Beat Daddys can evoke their better known predecessors, such as the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, in songs that sound like you've heard them before the first time you hear them (because, in essence, you have), and nobody's going to mind. On disc, the discerning listener is going to examine those songs more closely as songs and find them, while sturdy vehicles for Grisham's emoting and Meacham's playing, nevertheless not up to the standard of the performers the Beat Daddys are emulating. Grisham may lament romantic disappointment ("Pale White Circle" refers to a spot on a woman's finger after she has removed a ring), declare his preferences in female attributes ("Big Thighs"), or simply reveal that "Everybody Needs Some" blues, and, on tracks that average just under five minutes in length, Meacham is given plenty of room to wail like Duane Allman or Johnny Winter or Stevie Ray Vaughan. But the Beat Daddys' albums remain souvenirs of Saturday nights to be popped in the CD player of the pickup on the way home, rather than memorable musical statements in their own right.