JJ Grey brings back that ’70s sound

JJ Grey seems like he’s just stepped out of the early 1970s.

He dresses like Jerry Reed. He plays organ like Donnie Hathaway. And he likes to play guitar in open G like old bluesmen R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough.
Most significantly, he writes songs in a storytelling fashion like what Grey says was the golden age of music.

“Some of the best arrangements I’ve ever heard are from the ’60s and ’70s,” Grey said by cell phone from inside a Memphis Laundromat. “To me, that was the peak of writing and arranging.”

Grey, who plays Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Crystal Bay Casino, is on tour supporting his fourth album, “Orange Blossoms,” which Alligator Records released Aug. 26.

JJ Grey & Mofro’s previous albums are similar to Grey’s live performances: On one song, he’ll play steamy blues on his guitar, and on the next he’ll sit behind the organ for some soul cooking with a pinch of funk. Although two “Orange Blossoms” tracks include an open G-tuned guitar, this album stays mostly on the soul side. But that was not a conscious decision by Grey.

“People say, ‘You are changing,’ but I don’t even know what in the hell that means,” Grey said. “I approach every album the same. I try to let it happen mentally.”
Grey’s also been told his latest release sounds like his most produced album — another fallacy. He said “Orange Blossoms” is his least produced CD. Grey started working on it in his home studio — “the egg room” — in November 2007, and brought the Mofro band into the Retrophonics Studio in St. Augustine, Fla., in March. As with all of Grey’s albums, Dan Prothro is the producer. Anthony Cole is the band’s new drummer.

“I recorded it myself at home to get the hang of it,” Grey said. “It’s different from ‘Country Ghetto’ in that I wanted the horns and strings attached early instead of last minute. Me and Anthony (Cole, the drummer) and Adam (Stone, the bass player) laid down all the tracks the first week.”

The process Grey described explains the Mofro sound, which often bring instrumental leads and solos in a comfortable, almost subtle, way.

“Dan says, ‘When I do a record, I like the voice to be up front, and right behind the voice is the drums and bass, and then everything else is slightly behind that,’ ” Grey said.

“Orange Blossoms” also takes its time, what musicians call “leaving space.” To describe this, Grey again referred his favorite musical era: “Bill Withers’ tracks are so sparse but so huge at the same time,” he said. “Or George Jones. Tracks that were done in Nashville from the ’60s and ‘70s, songs that are very orchestral but very sparse. There’s not a lot of stuff all over it.”

Here’s a look at some of the songs on his new album:

• “Orange Blossoms” — The title track has a dual meaning: Grey sings about a would-be girlfriend from when he was a teenager. But her father didn’t like the way JJ looked, and that was it. Grey still remember his mother telling him, “In 10 years you won’t even know these people.” Grey said, “All these years later, it’s something that affected you so profoundly and it still effects you. In some ways it had no meaning, and in other ways it means everything.”

• “The Truth” — This is a gospel song inspired by a fatal automobile accident that Grey survived. “The truth is you’re not in control. I’m not even in control of what I think. I certainly can’t control the songs I write. I just try to let it happen.”

• “Ybor City” — Despite being a sad tale of a gravely wounded cattle wrangler dreaming of being in the party town near Tampa, this is the most raucous song on the CD, in twangy, 12-bar Jerry Reed style. “Everything I do is a nod to him. He dresses like all the old men dressed around me when I grew up, and that’s the way I dress.”

• “On Fire” — This is a celebration of the female body, sure to be in rotation at strip clubs. Grey started working on the song in 1996.

• “Dew Drops” and “She Don’t Know” — These are the two songs with a guitar tuned in open G. But they contrast previous recordings because the instrument doesn’t grab all of the attention.

• “WYLF” — The acronym stands for “What You’re Looking For.” The smooth funk makes it the most danceable track.

• “Move It On” — Another smooth groove. It sounds like a “blaxploitation” movie soundtrack from the early ’70s. Listen to it and you might just think about your favorite Pam Grier flick.

• “Everything Good is Bad” — This is the first cover Grey has recorded. It’s a 1972 song by 100 Proof (Aged in Soul) that only made it to No. 45 on Billboard’s pop charts. Grey heard it on the radio in an Oxford, Miss., diner: “It wasn’t the lyrics — I liked his music, I liked his voice, I liked his chord arrangement. I thought this sounds like a hit that never got to be a hit. I’m sure it did OK, but it was a six-minute song and radio wouldn’t like that.”

• “I Believe (In Everything)” — This is Grey’s homage to comedian Brother Dave Gardner. “He would always say I believe in everything,” Grey said. “I would say I believe in nothing but that’s too vast. So I believe in everything. That don’t give me no room for no argument.”