Roger Romeo
Reverb Nation
"Come for a Ride with the Eleven"
Buy at Amazon.com
CD review by Roger Zee (04/21/21)
Cover Art by Hannah Romeo
My good friend, musician Al Bazaz, hipped me to "Come for a Ride with the Eleven" by Roger Romeo for two reasons. One, both men played in top Reggae bands in the 80's and '90's in NY and NJ -- Bazaz in "No Discipline" and Romeo in "RedStripe." Two, a couple of Bazaz songs appear on Romeo's first solo record which also marks the first time Romeo recorded with his children. Daughter Hannah created the album cover. The "Eleven" in the title refers to their family -- husband, wife and remaining nine children. It used to include ten kids. But eldest son, Maxwell, died in a car crash.
The mostly Rock and Reggae songs celebrate the love, joy, and pathos of the Romeo family. Romeo senior sings in a deep, sexy, basso voice and plays all guitars, mandolin, bass, Honer melodica, and Emu Systems E synth. He also programmed the "Addictive Drums 2" software. The Romeo children, Natalie, Benjamin, Jacob, Olivia, Hannah, Calvin, Ariel, and Lucy sing. Mark Heddleson plays occasional organ.
This ain't your mother's Partridge family! So much more hip. I got to know the CD in my usual, total immersion fashion. I play it when waking up in the morning and feed my cat Zoe and two parakeets, Eli and Nyssa. Then listen while I shave, shower, and exercise. Next I move to the living room and slowly learn all the bass lines. And finally I place it on timer in my bedroom while I fall asleep.
Let's start with the Rock tunes. The album welcomes you with the propulsive, funky R&B of "Come for a Ride." Sung by Roger Romeo, it features massive, Psychedelic guitar. "You'd love to betray it to anyone.
You'd love to share what's way down inside. Does anyone around here want to come for a ride?" On "Nineteen," Romeo puts music to the Bible's "Psalm 19." He brings in a propulsive disco beat and bass pattern that's a cross between The Trammp's "Disco Inferno" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."
Rock continues with the slow, hypnotic, deep groove of "You Wrecked Me Baby." Romeo riffs on guitar and his daughters sing backup while he moans, "I stood by while you took everything I had. I stood by while you gave me all your bad. You wrecked me baby, but good." On the Blues shuffle written by Al Bazaz, Romeo pours out his heart in grief after losing his firstborn Maxwell. "Woke up this morning, got out of bed. Crazy thoughts running through my head. Lord, give me strength to live another day" Oh do those guitar lines sting!
More odes to those who passed. After her brother's death, Lucy wrote and sang the words at age six to the mid-tempo chugger, "Spark," which her father captured on his hand-held recorder and later put to music.
"Ooo I miss you Spark. You're my dream. You always took care of me. I always heard you in my dream. Spark, did you have to do this?" On the 75th birthday of Roger Romeo's Irish mother, he penned her life story, sung here by son Jacob with all the kids backing him. "And the Children will Rise Up." "On a cold day in December, in 1926, one little girl came into the world. She didn't have a daddy, her mother couldn't stay."
On to Reggae. A big fan of the Grateful Dead, Romeo first heard them cover "El Paso," the Marty Robbins Country classic, at his first Dead show in 1973. Much later, he came up with the idea of doing it Reggae. It fits! Then daughter Natalie sings the Al Bazaz tune, "All or Nothing at All." The lilting music and sweet mandolin belie the sad message. "Our current situation just won't do. You tell me our relationship is making you blue. You say that something's missing, and our love has hit a wall. And you tell me that it's got to be all or nothing at all."
More Reggae. Once again the catchy groove and bass line of "The Race" stand in contrast to the somber theme. "What's all this talk about who comes out ahead? It sounds just like a race. If we stay on this track we might as well be dead. We'll surely never place." They also perform some great Reggae covers. Daughter Olivia duets with dad on the UB40 version of "I Got You Babe." Next, "Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp, a collaboration with Andy Lasseter, replete with wonderful Jerry Garcia guitar.
The record closes with an uplifting, upbeat, all synthesier romp called "The Road Home." After all, isn't it all about family? So if you get your kicks by Rocking home on the Reggae tip, pick up a copy of "Come for a Ride with the Eleven." Please keep in mind that the artist makes much more money from downloads than streaming. One <3
YouTube - Come for a Ride - Roger Romeo
©2021 Roger Zee
