It is but one song. A standalone single. A lost orphan from a mother lode of a recording binge held a decade or so ago. A gem just unearthed on a dusty hard drive. Yet “Peace in My Time” carries the weight of the world, still.
The story goes that at the very close of a jackpot marathon yielding enough material for both Stuck With the Blues (2010) as well as Traveling Fool (2011), Brad Vickers & His Vestapolitans hadn’t yet called it quits after the final overly productive day. Their invited guests had already left the building, including Magic Sam devotee Bobby Radcliff and his guitar. Yet before the amplifiers were unplugged and the studio lights flipped off, the core band still had a little left in the tank. A little that turned into a lot.
Vocalist/bassist Margey Peters had a song burning in her pocket. So, they reconvened to give it a shot. The minor-key blues sounds born out of 1950s Chicago; specifically, a West Side gut punch with the late, great Otis Rush embedded in its DNA. More specifically, channeling “Double Trouble.” Yes, the torturingly agonized masterpiece from ’58 that engrossed Clapton to Mayall to Butterfield and also supplied the rhythmic two-thirds of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s power trio with its name.
Peters’ defeated tone refrains from any stitch of melodrama, almost chanting the dirge, which only deepens the crush of the dispirited lyrics. Bass and rumbling tom-toms anchor the mood; atop, a piano sheds a steady shower of brittle tears. The actual lashing-out comes at the hands of Dave Gross, whose guitar stabs, slashes and solos in a tense, shattering voice that Otis would appreciate. And patrolling the edges is a heavy saxophone, that of the now-late Jim Davis, to whom this release is dedicated. The big, brassy storm cloud looms prominently, circling out there until finally dropping the hammer via a series of thunderous blasts. Never does the lament shrug off its 20 tons of gloom.
“Peace in My Time” was recorded in only one take. Kismet.
But then after those six surreal minutes, off went the amplifiers and out went the lights. Done. Also done in the sense of this performance having never made it onto a record.
Now, however, “Peace in My Time,” with enough muscle to stand on its own, receives a special, belated unveiling. (And, yes, Brad, Margey and the other Vestapolitans still readily rule bandstands around New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and beyond.)
Label: Brad Vickers & His Vestapolitans
Release Date: 9/6/24
Artist Website: https://bradvickers.com/
Reviewed by Dennis Rozanski
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