Album: Play It As It Lays / Artist: Patti Scialfa / 10 tracks: 39:06 / Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Patti Scialfa’s CD Play It As It Lays ranks up there with the seven wonders of the musical world for numerous reasons, but two in particular stand out. The singer/songwriter draws from an extensive musical vocabulary to incorporate elements of blues, soul, R&B, southern rock and gospel music into her songs. She has a vast emotional palette, which she uses to brush stroke word pictures, as she pulls you deeply into songs such as “Rainy Day Man,” and her original tune, “The Word.” On the later tune Mark Stewart’s cello and Soozie Tyrell’s violin, heighten even further the emotional impact. Scialfa speaks passionately from her heart and to the heart of the listener.
In her songwriting, Scialfa was original, creative and drew from others, as she incorporated elements of Abner Spector’s “Sally Go Round The Roses,” into her song “The Word,” and elements of Robert Mack’s “He’s So Fine,” into “Like Any Woman Would.”
“Play It As It Lays,” is a unique song that combines drawled southern vocals with great strings, and awesome acoustic guitar playing by Steve Jordan. Jordan introduces the tune with some good percussion work. Scialfa wrote this tune and the connection between singer and songwriter is obvious, as she infuses her word pictures with the kind of emotion that give the ballad personal meaning. This is a story about love that sees good times, rough times, evolves, but most importantly endures. “Play It As It Lays,” takes its inspiration from a novel by one of Scialfa’s favorite authors, Joan Didion. Scialfa’s website quotes a passage from Didion’s writing, “You have to pick the places you don’t walk away from.”
The southern rock tune “Town Called Heartbreak,” is the longest track on the album coming in at 5:29. In addition to showcasing Scialfa’s emotive singing, it features the incredible, soulful background vocals of Michelle Moore and Cindy Mizelle. Bruce Springsteen (Scialfa’s hubby) appears on acoustic guitar, and the rhythm section is enhanced by Jordan’s drumming and Clifford Carter’s keyboarding skills. If you did not like any other song on this album, “Town Called Heartbreak,” by itself, makes this CD worth purchasing.
The song “Play Around,” has that early R&B rhythm and vocal style, which remind me of James Hunter’s “Watch And Chain,” and music that was heard back in the day, from groups such as The Five Satins. Springsteen plays a very subtle B3 organ, the drums play softly in the background and provide the perfect accompaniment to Scialfa’s vulnerable vocals. This is a song about maintaining one’s dignity and identity within a relationship that seeks, but doesn’t succeed in being controlling.
I liked what Scialfa did with “Run, Run, Run,” a fun song about a rebel spirit, which has a vocal call and response between Scialfa and the duo of Mizelle and Moore. Scialfa’s strong work on the Wurlitzer adds an element of blues. The song pays tribute to female racing car legend Shirley Muldowney.
Play It As It Lays, is Patti Scialfa’s third solo project and it was masterfully produced by her, longtime friend Steve Jordan and Ron Aniello. Bob Clearmountain provided the mix. Scialfa’s previous CDs were her 1993 debut effort Rumble Doll and 23rd Street Lullaby released eleven years later in 2004.
Reviewed by Joe Montague
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Reviewed December 2007
