Mackey, WesSecond Chance2002Bluesline Entertainment & MusicBL02625

Mackey, Wes - Second Chance - 2002 - Bluesline Entertainment & Music - BL02625

Written by John Taylor

Calling one's first recording project after an extended hiatus "Second Chance" seems almost like tempting fate. Yet surely a gentleman like Wes Mackey, who's backed the likes of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, deserves another shot, regardless of the reasons for his absence from the music scene.

Mackey is hardly a household name, and Second Chance will likely be the first encounter with his work for most blues fans. Born in South Carolina, he started out playing honky-tonks, scratching and scrabbling 'til his career reached a pinnacle with a gig in Paris and work with the aforementioned legends.

He's a fine singer in a silky-smooth vein, a tastefully restrained guitarist, and somehow, even on disc, comes across as a warm and wise individual. Which is why I wish he'd been given a somewhat better showcase than this to re-establish himself.

That's not to say Second Chance is bad; Mackey works his way through a collection of soul-blues standards like Little Milton's Lonely Man, B. B. King's Rock Me Baby, and Ivory Joe Hunter's immortal Since I Met You Baby. More contemporary fare is represented by Carl Weathersby's Sweet Music and a handful from the pen of executive producer Laura Fisher (she and Mackey share the credit for the title track).

The problem here is that Mackey gets largely synthesized backing that, quite simply, sounds cheesy and cheap. There are occasional contributions from real people - Peter Honeychurch adds guitar on one song, Tom Lavin plays bass on the three tracks he produced (these also feature real drums and sax), and Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne makes a cameo appearance… but that's about it. And while technology might have its merits from an economic standpoint, it simply doesn't provide the appropriate foundation for music that, to be successful, has to come from the heart.

To be sure, Mackey does his best. He's nothing short of spine-tingling on some of the moodier material; this is, after all, a man who's had to go back and start all over again, so he knows a bit about the blues. But when things veer into poppier territory (Solitary Midnight), both the material and the support seem unworthy of his talent.

Still, despite a few problems there are some very nice moments on Second Chance. So let's hope this is just the beginning of a career renaissance for Mackey, that someone recognizes his potential as a major figure and gives him a better showcase for his considerable abilities.

I await, with bated breath, Mackey's "Third Time Out!"

Copyright 2003. Review by John Taylor.

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