All of My Stories
Michael Robertson
Michael
Robertson is one half of a great brother team that includes his younger sibling
Scott Robertson. Michael has a powerful contralto that hits the pocket with
nuance and fire; he’s a perfect lead singer. Scott can sing lead or harmony.
He’s one of the great tenors in rock & roll. I first got to know them as
the Robertson Brothers and within a year or so they caught fire as Maybe
August, supplementing the band with Roscoe Selley a harpist extraordinaire and
a great singer. Keith Carolyn became the bass player and he laid down the
bottom like a wrench putting the torque on a nut. The drummer was cool and laid
back. But that was yesterday and yesterday’s gone. Now Michael is older and
wiser. He’s eschewed the pomp and circumstance of a travelling band and decided
to focus on lyrics, tones and the language of the country born of heart, hearth
and struggle. The cover has a perfect black & white hue in sepia tones,
Michael’s hair is windblown and impervious to the overgrown grasses and haggard
trees.
The disc
opens with the title song All My Stories.
This is the plugged in version with Don Rich country style pickin’, the
musicians let the instruments breathe and stretch out. The unison vocals of
Robertson and Honesty Elliot shine softly above the instruments. This is a
mature song cycle that speaks to loving as opposed to lust and loss for what is
inevitable.
Highway Song is a precious diamond in the rough.
The cry of the lap steel sets the tone in sepia color with Dylanesque charm and
Al Cooper organ splashes. Robertson builds those stately notes big and
beautiful and Selley’s lonely harp sings to the night.
Sirens hijack my attempts to fly
Those days we swore we’d never come
back
Truth was fiction and fiction was
fact
Big screens and real estate
How’d the hell did we get here
We drank to the future and pretended
we didn’t know
We laughed as the bridges burned
And the lessons we learned
Take your maps and pictures and throw
them away
Old Man sounds
like a Rolling Stones outtake on the Honky Tonk Women sessions. Michael is
doing his Keith Richards, lurking in the shadows with and bemoans his lost
youth while looking back on his career. He’s still a rebel. This is great
singing and great playing. Everyone in this project is a monster musician!
It wasn’t so long ago
We were young men
Frisky and ready to take on the
establishment
Lines on our face don’t stop us from
digging it.
Old man I don’t give a goddam
We all look into the mirror eventually
Sale on Salvation is a Maybe August song excavated and put in its proper place and time.
Michael strums the acoustic and begins to sing as the organ splashes the
backdrop. The lyrics are clever and the singer’s voice is road hard. There is a
couplet within the song that was quite controversial back in the day, “shoot
any more liberals” use to contain a naughty word.
We got a sale on salvation all of
this week
So they‘re flying out the door as
fast as we speak
If I can just keep my tongue out of
my cheek
I might not be condemned to eternal
damnation
But the song ends well enough with a
rendition of Amen
Its Not What You Think is simply incredible. It opens up with Robertson’s lap steel
and mindful strumming. Michael’s voice has aged well like a fine whisky and it
parrells his wisdom for the ages. It’s our only time, our only life. It’s a
song of sepia tones and ugly truths; a woman with a baby and a boss with a
libido. Robertson plays the lap steel
and it whines in tune with the sadness and suffering. He reaches for the
heavens. It’s a cry for life.
Michael inserts …
There once was a man from Nantucket
Kept all his dreams in a bucket
One day he woke up and said
Its funny how there is no one to
blame
It is what it is and
It’s not what you think
Blame on You has
a tightened up percussion, punctuated drum beat like Archie Bell & the
Drells on steroids. Acoustic/electric guitar flourishes ring out. Robertson is at his angriest best when he
sings about his pain and getting away from words. The holes in your hands lyric
appear to be a reference to Jesus or to suffering.
Get from your head to a place I
understand
Get down from the mountain where you
stand
Maybe I’ll just turn and walk
Like I don’t give a damn away
Little Man opens
with a sweet circular riff followed by Michael’s voice – the drummer is in the
pocket and the slide guitar soars like an eagle in flight. This is an ode to a
father and son, a true agape, in the vein of Cat Stevens’ Over Young.
Little Man, Little Man
Look at you now
Before you know it
You’ll have stories like me
Little Man Little Man
You won’t know how fast it will be
Somedays you’ll wake up and outshine
the sun
Little Man, I already know
Shut Up and Go to Sleep has a great guitar riff
that repeats and brings it all home. Incessant drums and high hat lead the
charge, great energy and a lot of fun. This involves kidding in the square,
underneath it all are some very serious issues.
I left the Misses to Mr. Right
Hand cut to the Camaro
Parked out of sight
She was screaming out something
And I was trying to steer
There’s got to be someplace I belong
But I know it ain’t here
All My Stories (acoustic) is a masterpiece similar to Van Morrison’s You Stoned Me
(like jelly roll). This alternate acoustic take is the most incredible song
I’ve heard in years. Now I know for sure there is a spirit of heavenly love and
bliss. It is in those soft voices that reassure us. Michael Robertson is the
seeker and he knows true love can last way past the heat.
Tonight I lie Down on my bed
Escape the mantra in my head
The voice outside sounds just like
you
Saying some dreams still come true
But you know all my stories
Some day the voices just won’t leave
They come to me and say…just breathe
Take me now for what I am
The shadow of a better man
Waiting here for you to save me
Take me now for what we’ll be
A better you and a better me
Michael Robertson and Honesty Elliot
teamed up to create a musical landscape of harmony and peace. This is adult
music and adult thoughts. What’s next, old How will we wear it?
Peace & Love
Bo White
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