Curtis Salgado's "Damage Control" Stands As Testament to A Storied Career

 There is an old saying “out of adversity comes opportunity”.  “Timing is everything” is another one.  "Tough times don't last , but tough people do", you get the picture.   If you are lucky and have perseverance, you can string together several of life’s truisms to create success.  Curtis Salgado has weathered numerous adversities and persevered to release a magnificent new cd that is easily the best blues/soul album of the year.

Almost to the day of our one-year anniversary of going into lockdown to fight a terrible pandemic that has darkened performance stages and taken a toll in human life reminiscent of the Dark Ages, comes some aural sunshine that goes well beyond mere “Damage Control”.  Call it luck or call it wisdom, but head alchemist and producer Curtis Salgado has conjured up a powerful set of original songs that, while highly personal, speak perfectly to the time we are in.  Leveraging his 40 years of experience and contacts in the industry, Salgado assembled three different groups of musician wizards, at three of the country’s finest studios adroitly tapping into the strengths of each, as called for by the collaborative material.  

The project was recorded at Ultratone Studios in Studio City , CA; Rock House Recordings in Nashville; and the  studio that is making San Jose the Muscle Shoals of the new millennium, Kid Anderson’s Greaseland.  With this amalgam of sessions and talent one could expect somewhat of a disjointed feel. Not to worry. Much credit, therefore,  goes to Sandy Solomon whose mix maintains a seamless feel to the  collection of nearly all original material that is both timely and timeless.

The disc opens with the poignant but joyous gospel like treatment entitled “The Longer That I Live”.  Considering Salgado has battled and survived liver and 2 bouts of lung cancer make this an inspirational anthem for our current times.  Salgado’s and co-writers Dave Duncan and Mike Finnegan’s songwriting here is simply superb.  Honest, direct and highly emotional, given Salgado’s back story, yet it never descends into self-pity but rather kicks things off with the joy and hope of someone happy to be alive.  When Salgado sings the first verse asking human-kind’s most profound question, it is clear he has given it serious thought: 

                        

                                “…What is the meaning of life?

                                    Well, I can’t talk philosophy

                                   I know that every new sunrise

                                       The more it dawns on me

                                            I may be getting’ old

                                          But I sure ain’t done yet

                                        Cause the longer that I live

                                           The older I want to get…”

Which is why his answer is so real and believable.  Even Bob Dylan would be envious of the way how Salgado perfectly captures the itinerant musician’s lament or creed:

“…You see, I’ve climbed the mountains high

And I’ve played the valley low

And for all the gigs I’ve done

I ain’t got much to show

Though I’m never slowin’ down

Until I play my final set…”

Salgado’s songwriting prowess is perhaps best exemplified on the disc’s third track, “Your Gonna Miss My Sorry Ass”.  Co-written with Alan Hagar, the song is an anti-cautionary tale from the criminal’s point of view with a refreshingly honest point of view expressed with smart, believable imagery worthy of a literary award.  I am by trade a criminal defense attorney who has many former clients as friends.  When I play this track for them they all get a big kick out of it and agree that Salgado and Hagar capture the sentiment with lyrics that smack of authenticity.

“My daddy was wild

He ran with bad men

He robbed a drugstore

With a filthy syringe

He got a nickel and a dime

In the state pen

And the warden said

He'd never last

Well, that wasn't true

Oh, the story instead

Yeah, three squares, a blanket

And a bunkbed

He did 15 years

Standing on his head

And parole

Came up fast

On his release

He turned to say

'I enjoyed myself a vacation stay

I made some new friends

Hell, we had a lot of laughs'…”

The Texas singer-songwriter crowd have nothing over Mr. Salgado.

There is so much to praise on this record I honestly don’t know where to begin or end so I will just give you some of my highlights.  “Precious Time” is one of several tracks that stands out as deserving heavy rotation on commercial radio.  Another track with a timely message, “Precious Time” has a great, sustained slide guitar line reminiscent of Lowell George and Bonnie Raitt interplaying with a nuanced B3 organ.  The following track, “Count of Three” reminds me of Elvis circa mid-60's where Elvis could take ordinary material and make it interesting and Curtis has the pipes to do the same on this playful number.  

The next track, "Always Say I Love You (At the End of Your Goodbyes) is a beautiful slow burn ballad which Salgado's performance gets just right in conveying a mixture of longing and pain.  "Hail Mighty Caesar" is a horn driven workout with the feel of a mid-80's Roomful of Blues number when Curtis was the lead vocalist (see photo below of Salgado and Roomful at Summerfest in Milwaukee.)   

"I Don't Do that No More" has Salgado channeling Delbert McClinton which is as good a compliment as any singer could get.  The songwriting again shines on the title cut "Damage Control" a beautiful mood piece with great interplay between the organ and George Benson-esqe guitar riffs.  Salgado shows off his versatility with genres with the help of Wayne Toups on "Truth Be Told", an upbeat zydeco workout.  

Salgado's collaborative songwriting prowess shines again on the disc's second to the last track, "The Fix Is In", a topical tale of life in America at a time when a growing number of Americans are watching the sun set on their American Dream.  I think one of the easiest (or laziest) things a songwriter can do is go topical and sing about the times they are living in.  Like the old adage that anyone can play the blues, but very few can play the blues well, anyone can go topical but very few singers or songwriters can go topical without the end product sounding hackneyed.  Salgado and Company again prove to be the exception to the rule with "The Fix Is In".  On this track Salgado plays the hip, but world weary protagonist,  a working man of the late baby boom generation.  Time after time the singer is sold a bill of goods under the guise of the American Dream only to have it snatched away again and again by the usual suspects:  the greed heads on Wall Street, unethical businessmen and crooked politicians.  The song's witty and intelligent lyrics capture perfectly the angst and fears of a generation, so much so it pissed me off the first several listens.

The well paced album leaves you feeling good though, thanks to the disc's only cover, a fresh and absolutely rollicking version of Larry Williams classic "Slow Down".

From fronting his own blues band in the late 60's, to vocalist in the early Robert 
Cray Band to lead vocalist in Roomful of Blues, to a successful solo career the last several decades, Curtis Salgado is by no means a new commodity.  The Portland, OR based vocalist's talent has been well known in the music industry but has escaped widespread national attention.  With the release of "Damage Control" those days are gone for good.

(Photo Credits, in order:  Jessica Keaveny, Laura Carbone and Plain Sense)