Album: Chocolate Lilly /  Artist: Babe Gurr  /  10 tracks / country / blues / roots / May 24th, 2008

Chocolate Lilly, is the fourth album from Babe Gurr, an artist whose name is as intriguing as the title of her CD, begins with the original tune, “Hard To Get Over Me,” a song in which Gurr’s vocals sound like they are channeling Bonnie Raitt. The singer / songwriter plays acoustic guitar, while pianist Rick Hopkins’ playing borders on stride. 

The second track, “Love Is Tough,” is more of a country love ballad, than it is a blues song. Gurr sings about how love is not an easy road, despite what the Pollyannas of the world will tell you. The message of this song is the same one that women have been trying to communicate to men for as long as guys have been trying to convince ladies to fall in love with them, “I need to feel that I am special / not just another girl you play.”  The singer tells her man I do not want you to compare me to your last love, I want to be your new love, and “I wanna’ wash away your last love.”  Gurr’s alto vocals convey a vulnerability that suggests she has some personal investment in these lyrics.

Two tracks on this album rise above the rest, the third song, “Chocolate Lilly,” and “I Give Myself 2U.”  “Chocolate Lilly,” possesses an easygoing melody, with good hooks and some nice mellow fat notes from trombonist Brad Muirhead. The woman in the song, “Chocolate Lilly,” doesn’t fit into a vanilla world that pressures her to conform, to always be politically correct and to never step out of line. The singer’s lament asks how she will ever fit into a messed up world. “I Give Myself 2U,” is a tender love ballad, which portrays the heart of a woman who has learned to trust completely in another, as reflected in the singer’s words, “I let my guard down / My love has come around / I give myself to you.”  Pianist Nick Apivor serves up a very pretty bridge.  Lee Worden’s backup vocals on both of these songs, is worth listening for.

Nine of the ten tracks on the CD Chocolate Lilly, including the last track “Understanding,” are original tunes by Gurr.  “Understanding,” reflects the fabric of Vancouver, Canada, the city that Gurr calls home. Perhaps Canada’s most culturally and ethnically diverse city, Vancouver is also awash in challenges posed by drug wars, violence, and immigrants trying to find their way in a new country. In a city, a province and a country that has spent billions of dollars to host the 2010 Olympics, perhaps there is  message in this song ithat needs to be heard by the politicians and bureaucrats.

Gurr trades in her guitar for a banjo and ukulele on “Larger Than Life,” and as she sings Rod Murray’s muted trombone provides a pretty accompaniment.

Babe Gurr’s Chocolate Lilly, is officially being released on May 24^th, when she performs with her six piece acoustic band, at the Norman Rothstein Theatre in Vancouver, Canada.

Reviewed by  Riveting Riffs (www.rivetingriffs.com)

Reviewed May 2008

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