I really enjoy listening to Debut Albums, in fact some of the
best Albums I have listened to were Debut's, hence I was quite excited to
receive
David Gerald's first release, "Hell And Back".
"Hell And Back" consists of 10 Tracks, comprising 5
Originals and 5 Covers, a gutsy move for any musician, particularly when the 5
Covers are all done Live and you had better be smack on in your interpretation,
when performing them.
David Gerald had 5 chances to do that on "Hell And Back",
and I must say he certainly knows how to make those that came before him, very
proud.
From the Soulful R&B Track "I'll Play The Blues For You (Live)",
to the final Track, "Red House (Live)", David Gerald does not disappoint
in the least, in fact he offers us brilliant interpretations of those songs,
showing us full well his amazing talent, not only as a musician but as a very
powerful vocalist.
David Gerald's 5 Originals show us no less of his talent then
the Covers did. From more Soulful R&B, to Straight Ahead Blues, like the
Postman in his 5th Track, David delivers, showing us yet another talent as a
very fine writer.
David Gerald "Hell And Back" was a treat to listen to,
especially the Covers, and one I would certainly recommend.
A combination of five studio originals and five well known live tunes, Hell and Back is straight ahead blues, solid as
the day is long. The cover tunes are great, respectful of the originals without trying to copy note for note the work
of the legends. Gerald has, in essence, made them his own. I found the originals of particular interest. Anyone can
do a decent cover, but the originals show me what a man is made of, and David Gerald has what it takes to go all the
way should he chose to do so and get a decent break.
Much of this business is being in the right place at the right
time and being heard by that one individual who has the ability to make it happen. Gerald has the talent to be sure.
His originals are well written, straight from the heart and emotionally powerful enough to touch that spot in the
listener that makes him (or her) relate. When the audience relates, a star is born. David Gerald has that “star”
quality. An excellent guitarist, this one would be a good choice for addition to the collection of any guitar lover.
His vocals drip with soul, his songwriting and arrangements are great and the backing band is right on the money.
With this piece, it’s hard to go wrong. This is a great package any way you slice it. David Gerald is one of the
better artists I’ve heard in the realm of electric contemporary blues.
This one gets a big “thumbs up”. If you’re a fan of blues guitar you will, without a doubt, love Hell and Back, strong enough for the younger crowd who like it
with a hard edge without losing that raw emotional power that wins over the likes of old timers like me.
Review By Bill Wilson
David’s family moved before he was born from their native Mississippi, due simply to the vile effects of overt racism and segregation. They made a new
home in Detroit, Michigan. As a consequence of this move David’s early musical
roots were an interesting mixture of Prince and eighties rock guitarists. As a child
he was obsessed with making music and fortunately for him a neighbor was also a guitarist; he gave David any broken guitars and guitar parts he had. He
would then set about creating (in David’s own words) ‘Frankenstein’ guitars; he
recalls that most of them were “horrible to play and sounded bad, but I had to
play music. It was my destiny.” He started playing at the age of sixteen and after
a while he began appearing in many local bands be they Blues, R&B or Rock, to
gain the necessary experience he needed to achieve his dream. As time passed he became increasingly drawn to the Blues and began listening to artists such as
Albert King, Z.Z. Hill, B.B. King and also Stevie Ray Vaughan.
In his early playing days he had formed a band, but he encountered so many difficulties in maintaining one he eventually decided to become a solo performer.
In an effort to create the sounds of other instruments he taught himself to play
bass, keyboards, and drums, and he overdubbed each of these parts on to two old cassette recorders; the resulting performances were less than satisfactory but
he was moving in the right direction. With time and practice on his side he painstakingly perfected his craft.
Now some sixteen years later we see David fronting his own band and regularly playing to packed audiences all over Michigan. He recently opened for Bobby
Rush at the State Theatre in Jackson, Michigan.
With the release of this album, David’s career has entered a new phase. At this
moment in time, 25th January 2010 the album is the number one album on the Michigan roots radio airplay chart. His solid and impressive
guitar work is marvelously restrained on the more emotive numbers such as “Hell and Back,”
his vocals are sturdy and mature, he evidently relishes the more serious adult themes. He conveys such an understated sympathetic understanding of these
traumatic events, it would appear that his knowledge and life experiences allow him to accentuate the content of the material in such a compassionate manner.
There are ten numbers on the album: five compelling original compositions and five driving live covers, of these Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House” and “Cold Shot” are
where David really lets rip with his fizzing and roaring guitar and the audience
overwhelmingly display their evident pleasure! This is a very fine album from a very fine artist!
Review By Brian Harman
David Gerald was born in Detroit, but his Mississippi-born and raised parents loved the blues and R&B, so he grew up listening to the music they loved. As a teenager, he started playing guitar, at first influenced by rock guitarists of the ’80s, but eventually returning to the blues of Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Z. Z. Hill, and B. B. King. Piecing together scraps from old guitars originally, he eventually was able to start performing in local clubs. Due to the difficulties of keeping a band together, he also learned to play bass, keyboards, and drums, and started writing and recording his own songs.
Now in his 40s, Gerald has his own band and performs all over Michigan, playing at numerous festivals and even opening the Triple Threat of Blues show for Bobby Rush and Mel Waiters earlier this year in Jackson, Michigan. He also found time to release his debut album, the self-produced, self-released Hell and Back. The disc contains ten tracks, five self-penned, self-recorded tunes recorded at Gerald’s studio and five covers recorded live with his band (Mike Ruppriecht – keyboards, Bob Bennett – bass, Lou Eurns – drums) at J. Dubs in Riverview, Michigan.
Gerald’s original tunes are excellent and show blues and R&B influences equally. The opener, “My Guitar,” is an autobiographical track that rocks hard, while “How I Feel” sounds like a ’70s R&B tune done to a Texas shuffle. “Postman” is a slow blues about a man who always delivers. The title cut is about a family suffering through hard times, and echoes issues many are going through presently, and “Stay” mixes funk and R&B.
The cover tunes will be familiar to most blues fans and provide a solid representation of Gerald’s live show. “I’ll Play The Blues For You” and “Thrill Is Gone” are tributes to two of Gerald’s major influences, Albert King and B. B. King. “She Caught The Katy” is the old Yank Rachell/Taj Mahal number amped up with horns, and “Cold Shot” and “Red House” are nods to two other Gerald influences, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.
Gerald’s guitar work is top notch, showing myriad influences, most especially Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. His vocals are equally impressive. He also shows himself to be a songwriter of considerable talent. The covers on the disc are done with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but Gerald’s original tunes are actually more interesting. Hopefully, he will give us a few more originals on his next release.
Hell and Back is an excellent debut release, made even more amazing by the fact that David Gerald did most of it single-handed. We’ll be hearing more from him in the future for sure.
1.My Guitar 3:32
2.I'll Play The Blues For You (Live) 5:37
3.How I Feel 3:42
4.Thrill Is Gone (Live) 9:14
5.Postman 3:54
6.Hell and Back 4:10
7.She Caught The Katy (Live) 3:23
8.Stay 5:00
9.Cold Shot (Live) 6:40
10.Red House (Live) 10:25
David Gerald, the son of Mississippi born and raised parents, grew up to the sounds of the blues and R&B music in his hometown, Detroit. He’s the 11th of 11 children, 6 of whom were born and partly raised in Mississippi. “Because segregation and racial discrimination were so bad in Mississippi, my dad moved the family north to Detroit when he was 33, so we'd have a better chance at the American dream. He reminisces about that ‘til this day,” says Gerald.
Gerald started playing guitar at the age of 16 influenced by Prince and 80’s rock guitarists. He rediscovered the blues and listened to the music of Albert King, ZZ Hill, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan to name just a few.
“I was lucky enough to have a neighbor who was a guitarist and gave me scrap guitars. I would piece them together and build 'Frankenstein' guitars,” says Gerald. “They were horrible to play and sounded bad, but I had to play music. It was and is my destiny. I finally scraped up enough money to buy an old amp and I was happy.”
Gerald performed in many local blues, R&B and rock bands cutting his guitar and vocal chops live and in person. Finding it hard to keep a band together, Gerald learned to play guitar, bass, keys and drums. Using two antiquated cassette recorders he would overdub each part individually until the song was completed. “The end result sounded horrible, and the songs would not end up in the same key they started in. But it got my songs recorded,” says Gerald. This was the beginning of his songwriting, most of which were pop and rock tunes during the 80’s. Around the age of 24, he began experimenting with computers to write and compose music, which he has done to this day.
Gerald, now in his 40’s, has his own band playing locally and regionally in Michigan. Earlier this year he opened the 'Triple Threat Of Blues' show for Bobby Rush and Mel Waiters in Jackson, Michigan performing at the State Theatre. Gerald has performed several times at the two major festivals in Michigan; Detroit Riverdays Festival, (International Freedomworks Festival) and Chrysler Art, Beats and Eats Festival. Recently David was listed as #1 on the ReverbNation blues charts for Michigan blues artists.
David Gerald’s debut album, Hell And Back, contains five studio originals and five live arrangements of well known tunes including Thrill is Gone, Red House and Cold Shot.
Thrill Is Gone
David Gerald and his band, Bob Bennett on Bass, Why Lou
on Drums and Mike Rupprecht on Keys. Performing 'Thrill Is Gone'. This live
version is available on David's debut CD 'Hell and Back'.
