TODD SHARPVILLE: Medication Time (BLUES,-): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Todd Sharpville has a hard time making a name for himself in France. However, he has been preaching the good word of British blues across the Channel for 30 years, with a certain success. His first album, released in 1992, won the Best Album award at the British Blues Awards. However, his career has been anything but smooth sailing. As the youngest son of the third Viscount St Davids, he first had to establish himself as the first (and only) blue-blooded bluesman. It was hard to be credible in this musical style for a descendant of an aristocratic lineage. But life allowed him to find inspiration. In particular, a painful divorce which forced him to be separated from his daughters and which led him into a spiral of depression, until he was hospitalised for several months in a psychiatric ward. It's this descent into hell that Todd Sharpville tells us about in this new album, "Medication Time", in which he gives himself up unabashedly but which, even if it breathes sincerity, presents many flaws.

Indeed, "Medication Time" is weakened by the excessive generosity of its author. 12 tracks for more than 60 minutes of music is a long time for a blues album. Especially since it contains four ballads ('Tangled Up In Thought', 'Medication Time', 'Silhouettes', 'I Don't Need To Know Your Name') which, in spite of their qualities, have a hard time not penalizing the dynamics of the whole. A dynamic that also suffers from some dubious choices, notably the cover in a rather strange shuffle version of Dire Straits' 'Money For Nothing', where the theme is played on the harmonica for a surprising but rather superfluous result.

It's a pity that these inconsistencies penalize "Medication Time", because Todd Sharpville dominates almost all the tracks with his hoarse voice and his very inspired guitar playing, for a sometimes brilliant result. This is the case with the excellent cover of Bob Dylan's 'Walk Out In The Rain' and also with his own rhythm and blues-inspired compositions ('Get Outta My Way', 'Brothers From Another Mother', 'Stand Your Ground'), on which he shows his true blues guitar talent.

There's no doubt that Todd Sharpville's masters are Albert King, Eric Clapton and Joe Louis Walker. This is evident in the fluidity of his playing and his constant search for the right note. The frustration is all the more acute for the listener when listening to this far too long opus. An effort of concision would have undoubtedly allowed "Medication Time" to be a great album. Instead, it's just another blues record. The best is often the enemy of the good, even in music. - Official website

TODD SHARPVILLE

MEDICATION TIME

DIXIEFROG RECORDS

BLUES