George Marinelli - Except Always (2024) Hi-Res

This CD includes a generous portion of music produced by Grammy-winning guitarist/ singer-songwriter George Marinelli. The set starts wisely with 9 new songs on Except Always.

Who’s George? He was the Staten Island, NY-born founding member of Bruce Hornsby & the Range, Bonnie Raitt’s incredible lead guitarist & performed on sessions for James Taylor, Shawn Colvin, Garth Brooks & dozens more. Impressive resume.

During that time, he made 6 solo LPs but great musicianship & accolades don’t always translate into an acknowledged mainstream performer. That’s a more difficult egg to crack. It takes more than stellar talent, opportunity & ability to create an image.

With these, George impressively plays all the instruments. I mentioned in an earlier review that the problem with competence is that it doesn’t always come with originality or creativity. But George has that in his repertoire, although the marquee is elusive. As it is for many.

Not everyone is Elvis, The Beatles, Prince, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, or Janis Joplin. This issue has kept stellar guitarists like the late Roy Buchanan from entering a larger spotlight. So, this is an effort to bring George some much-deserved recognition in a solo capacity. He isn’t, to my knowledge, going to wear spandex, wrap a snake around his neck & employ 75 near-naked dancers with smoke machines & laser beams behind him.

On CD 1 it’s fairly standard fare. The earthy vocals aren’t as distinctive as John Hiatt, John Prine, or Bruce Hornsby. Marinelli does have personality in his tone, (an excellent “Same Old Wrong”) is quite good. He fires off a consistent pristine guitar & it floats in a dark strong coffee blend. None of these has milk. The songs offered have maneuverability. A subtle Tim Hardin with a touch of Steve Earle. Let’s be optimistic.

The title track “Except Always,” could benefit from a stronger vocal with more range but here it’s still a well-crafted driving number with momentum. The vocals take a backseat to the excellent guitar playing. Listeners know what to expect from John Prine, Randy Newman & Leonard Cohen but George doesn’t have that type of distinguished fabric. He hasn’t locked into a signature topic field. You think Tom Waits or Shane McGowan (The Pogues) & you know what you’re getting.

Here the tunes are more commercially tailored & more pleasing than evocative. The precision’s always evident but it’s delivered with delicacy. “Only a Fool” is interesting. The pot’s boiling.

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Although it is not about where you have been but about where you are going, a brief look at George Marinelli’s resume reveals him to have moved in some rarefied circles. And still moving in them. Not only a founder member of Bruce Hornsby & The Range but he has been Bonnie Raitt’s right-hand man for the past thirty years, not to mention releasing a string of solo albums, numerous production credits and being a go-to session player. I say all this to point out that anyone who has walked such a path clearly knows what they are doing. Then again, one spin of his latest album Except Always will have you drawing the same conclusion anyway.

This double album kicks off with a great statement of intent, “I Don’t Have The Blues” being a brilliant flip on your standard blues narrative; here, optimism rules the roost rather than the melancholy that usually pervades through the genre. It is an attitude and optimism which runs through much of his work. The title track is like a pop version of a Stones single, and “Dear Boy” soulfully grooves like an old Santana record.

And I picked this opening triptych to demonstrate just how varied George’s repertoire is. Sure, a bluesy vibe runs through almost everything found here, but like all great players, he pushes that through soul, rock, reggae, funk, pop and more to explore the sonic pastures, test the generic boundaries, hop them, and then push on, and in doing so, create a wonderful signature sound.

With the first album made up of all new material and its accompanying platter being a seventeen-song career retrospective, whether you are new to George Marinelli’s music or looking for a cool compilation of his finest moments from past albums, then this is for you. It is not just a great brace of albums but a masterclass in songwriting and an awesome display of guitar skills.