Reviewed by: HW Bones

Published:  10 November 2011

lp: king billy

If you’ve spent any amount of time in the Adelaide music scene, Cal Williams Jr will need no introduction - you would most likely have heard or read his name somewhere on local radio and in the street press. I’ve mentioned in previous reviews the importance for local artists to have plenty of accessible information and to promote themselves as much as possible and Cal is certainly a good example to follow.

Having said that, briefly, some of Cal’s achievements include three time ‘South Australian Song Writer of the Year’ award winner, Bank’s Music ‘Best New Music UK’ award winner and recipient of worldwide airplay as well as numerous glowing reviews.

When my assistant handed me Cal’s latest release after opening the package from Music SA I was immediately struck by the fantastic artwork for ‘King Billy’ by ‘Foz’. His work is becoming instantly recognisable around the traps for his striking comic book/photo look; very appealing visually. Most recently you may have noticed his art on the new Jay Hoad release.

Popping ‘King Billy’ into the cosmic destruction player I was quickly struck by Cal’s dexterous playing which made my fingers ache instantly just from listening. The vocal in all tracks on this album is very restrained and to my ears it sounds like the ghost of Nick Drake is being summoned throughout the album.

Cal enlisted somewhat of a super group in recording ‘King Billy’, utilising the talents of some of Adelaide’s great musicians including Kory Horwood, Dee Trewartha, Heather Stratfold, Anthony Pak Poy, Jon Hunt, Emily Davis and Emma Luker. The combined supergroup sound of the backing band gives ‘King Billy’ a really lush and pleasurable listen.

In the second track ‘Hollow Lake Blues’ I can’t help but feel that this was written as a prose piece and turning it into a song was an afterthought. The rhythmic guitar lines seem to trap the lyrics and the tempo and delivery isn’t quiet in place with where it seems it should be. The lyrics to this track are very good but a little more space musically could have made this track really special.

The real standout for me is ‘Death Don’t Have No Mercy’, a fantastic cover of the song by Reverend Gary Davis. Everything in this track just works! The wonderful backing vocals, fiddle and sparse guitar  do wonderful justice in this interpretation of the song.

For my two cents ‘King Billy’ could do with more variety, as each track blends with the next track; this is possibly due to the rhythmic style of playing. Because of this feel on the album, each coming track is very predictable and there are no real surprises - not to say it isn’t good, because that is far from the case, but some could say it’s a little predictable.

Overall this is a good release and there is no doubting the proficiency of Cal’s guitar playing. This cd has a broad appeal and I’d imagine the blues fans and guitar aficionados out there will really enjoy it – another proud feather to be stuck in Cal’s baseball cap for sure.