David Egan
"Twenty Years of Trouble"
Rhonda Sue/Louisiana Red Hot Records
In 1995 I purchased several blues and soul albums among them Percy Sledges Blue Nights and Little Buster and The Soul Brothers Right On Time much to my delight both albums contained the song First You Cry. I noted that the songwriters names were David Egan and Buddy Flett.In 1998 I tripped over Johnny Adams Man of My Word cd. The late Johnny Adams was the toast of New Orleans and today he remains in the hearts of music fans everywhere. On this Johnnys last album, he opens with Even Now also penned by David Egan and Buddy Flett. When I first heard it, it was so good; its the kind of song where you check to see who wrote it, I played it over and over. Blues Access magazine wrote Theres something especially poignant about the track that leads off his final album, recorded when he knew he was dying of cancer. David Egan and Buddy Fletts terrific composition is an adult look at a rocky relationship, and Adams oh-so-knowingly wraps himself around it like the master he was.I attended my third New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival and there I heard for the first time the Lil Band of Gold. I left New Orleans with their cd that I had purchased in the cd tent. There in the band was David Egan on keyboards, and he was singing on First You Cry. I couldnt believe it.Later that year or maybe the next I attended Michael Arnones Crawfish Festival. Michael produces the best New Orleans festival that I have ever attended in the northeast and I will never miss it. He brings in five bands for Saturday and another five for Sunday. The festival is held in Augusta New Jersey and takes place each year on the first weekend in June. One year he had Lil Band of Gold and the next year he had File, a Cajun band. David Egan was in both bands. For File he penned both One Foot in The Bayou and I Just Cant Do Right on the album La Vie Marron, The Runaway Life. Recently I began writing cd reviews for The New York Blues and Jazz Society website (www.nybluesandjazz.org) and I contacted David Egan to do a review of his album. David Egan to me is the best new songwriter in the tradition of Dan Penn. Who is Dan Penn? Well thats another review.Great performers choose great songs to sing, because they can, and because they know. Emotions run high in Davids songs. It is a unique talent to say just a few words and have them evoke deep feelings. Your writing has to be concise and to the point. You have to know music very well. You have to know where the singer might pause, where he might sigh. I am not a musician but Ive been told I have a good ear. It doesnt take too good an ear when your listening to a David Egan song. The man can write a song, really.The album opens with a piece called Twenty Years of Trouble. Its about a life, making trouble out of nothing. David Egan recently quit File. It was an agonizing thing for David, but David will have his own band. On this outing there are 30 musicians who lend David a hand so that there is no trouble, including Steve Riley, C.C. Adcock, Miki Honeycutt, and Buddy Flett. David says when he made this album, he and his wife sold the net, that theyre now working without one. The song however is about a rocky relationship not really the good one I know David has. I expect they will play Michael Arnones Crawfish Festival someday soon. Here is the rest of David Egan & 20 Years of Trouble.Slingshots and Boomerangs, David tells me he wrote this while riding a bus when he was on tour with File. They rode past a truck full of rickety-ass sticks, the drummer said Man, they aint gonna get anything outta that but a load of slingshots and boomerangs. We all better watch what we say around this guy, he might just write a song about it. This one is about a woman who uses people.If She Calls and Im not at home tell her to come on in. Need I say more.You laugh about my dreams, you make fun of my lovin, but I was Good to You Baby.Half Past The Blues, I Just Cant Do Right, Fail, Fail, Fail rocky relationships.Next comes People Will Be People. This song and two others David wrote appeared on the album Sing It by Marcia Ball, Tracy Nelson, and Irma Thomas. Its a feel good song.Beg, Borrow & Steal, She dont Play By The Rules, each of these songs are strong enough to appear as covers on other artists albums. With a crack backup band often he gets into a deep New Orleans groove while other times he has an almost Cajun feel. He can also be downright jazzy as on the opening track.Three bonus tracks follow. The live After This Time, shows us that David has a sharp sense of humor as he introduces the song. If You Knew How Much and Wake Up Call follows. Each song is penned by David. Six are co-written with Buddy Flett, (two of which are also credited to Earl & Ernie Cate. One is co-written with C. C. Adcock and one with David Love Lewis.David just had Etta James record his song Please, No More on her new Lets Roll album. If your looking for a new emerging artist to brighten up your day look no further than David Egan.Richard Ludmerer
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