Tinsley Ellis - Speak No Evil - Alligator Records 2009

Not only does Tinsley Ellis knock out the guitar, and belt vocals on Speak No Evil, he also wrote the album's 12 songs, and produced the record as well. Bruce Iglauer, friend and founder of Alligator Records, was the executive producer for the CD, a position he's held a few times working with Ellis.

Ellis released his first record with Alligator in 1986, when they picked up he and the Heartfixers' Cool On It. He would record five more albums with Alligator before leaving the label, only to ultimately be welcomed back by Iglauer roughly seven years later. The pair haven't looked back since that time, dropping the Live - Highwayman disc in 2005, Moment Of Truth in 2007, and now, Speak No Evil.

The title track is unrelenting, with great lyrics, great guitar, and a kick ass bass line by the man Speak No Evil's liner notes simply dub "The Evil One." "It Takes What It Takes" follows up, and was the standout track for me the first time I popped this disc on in the car. The song is very well written and everything about the song just "clicks."

Speak No Evil does a fantastic job of shifting gears moving from song to song, while still keeping the momentum up, and keeping your head bobbing. There's a song for just about everyone on here. "The Other Side" has a swamp rock feel and talks of zombies, tombstones, and a subject that "won't be around much longer": another well written piece. There's even lighter fair, like "Loving For Today," a soulful number with guitar that goes from searing to subdued, and some of the best vocals to be found on Speak No Evil.

There are several tracks where Tinsley Ellis' band provide an excellent depth to the songs with their playing that goes beyond the other songs on the album. What I mean by that is that items like the slide guitar on "Left Of Your Mind," the aforementioned bass on "Speak No Evil" and drums on "Sunlight Of Love," and the Hammond B-3 on "The Night Is Easy" almost catch you off guard. You hear them, but when you actually listen to them, you're floored in an instant.

Speak No Evil finishes with "Grow A Pair," a cleverly written admission of Ellis' need to "man up" in order to get what he wants, and "Rockslide," a slide guitar laden instrumental that shows off Tinsley's guitar chops one last time. So, overall, Speak No Evil is "full of win," as the tech savvy kids say, and I would just as easily feature the songs on a Rock music program as my Blues show. It has that sound that could easily cross over. It's a well done album with some excellent playing and writing, and personally, I really enjoy the direction Tinsley Ellis has taken his singing here.

Standout Tracks: "It Takes What It Takes," "Speak No Evil," and "Loving For Today"

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