Eric "Roscoe" Ambel is a man best known by the company he keeps, having produced the likes of
Nils Lofgren,
the Bottle Rockets,
Blue Mountain, and
the Blood Oranges, and played guitar for all sorts of cool folks from
Joan Jett to
Steve Earle. But
Ambel is no mere hired gun, and anyone who wants a crash course in the man's monumental coolness and not inconsiderable talent for the rock thing needs to lend their ears to
Knucklehead, which compiles 15 tracks he recorded in a variety of contexts between 1990 and 2004.
Ambel is front and center on all these songs, and often heading up some impressive lineups; along with unreleased stuff from
the Del Lords and
the Yayhoos,
Ambel borrows
the Bottle Rockets and
Steve Earle's road band for a track each, and
Warner Hodges (of
Jason & the Scorchers),
Tony Shanahan (from
Patti Smith's group), and
Tony Maimone (ex-
Pere Ubu,
Bob Mould) all pop up in the supporting cast. But even when "Gringoman" is playing all the instruments by his lonesome, the man knows what to do with a guitar. He can write a great song (how come "It'll Only End in Tears" or "Feel So Good" weren't hits?) and pick a great cover (not a lot of folks can tackle
Neil Young,
Tom Waits, and
the Flamin' Groovies and make 'em their own), and his instincts for gutsy, roots-oriented rock & roll are just about faultless. While this isn't quite the best
Eric Ambel album, as a musical resumé and a summary of what he does best,
Knucklehead does the job just dandy, and offers up a good and greasy groove and plenty of kicks along the way. Fine stuff. ~ Mark Deming