With his taffy voice, lissome melodies, lyrical wisdom, and lively wordplay, Steve Forbert has never sounded more candid and confident than on his ninth studio album. As if soaking up all the Memphis vibes of the legendary Ardent studios where it was recorded, Evergreen Boy is also the most sonically satisfying record of his career. Jim Dickinson (who produced Big Star's classic Sister Lovers and played on landmark albums by Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones) reconciles Forbert's rock and folk sensibilities while introducing a knock-out dose of deep soul with sanctified organ lines and understated horn charts. Lyrically, Forbert continues to combine melancholy restlessness with a sure faith in human character. "I went down through a dark ordeal," Forbert broods, only to feel "a breeze from the springtime heather / And as it breathed on me / I could feel how my heart could heal." Like John Prine and Greg Brown, Forbert remains a great comic voice, not because he's clever, but through finding a fresher joy by never shrinking from heartache and doubt.
--Roy Kasten
Evergreen Boy
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something's got a hold on me
she's living in a dream world
strange
evergreen boy
rose marie
now you come back
your own hero
late winter song
breaking through
it doesn't matter much
listen to the mockingbird
trusting old soul