Terry and His Bottle Tree
Terry McLaughlin is full of surprises. He
lived in Tamarindo for some time with his wife, Lynn and entertained all over
Guanacaste with his harmonica expertise. During that time, he released his CD,
“El Gato”, a collection of classic songs, interpreted by Terry with his own,
unique style. It’s a kind of a tribute album, which received great acclaim
locally.
After touring The States, performing in
such cool venues as the Napa Opera House and Yoshi’s in San
Francisco , Terry and Lynn are back in Costa Rica , landing in Grecia, for
the time being. He returned with his second CD, “Bottle Tree”, a collection of
six original songs, all penned by Terry, with the help of his long-time friend,
Lorian Hemingway, who wrote the lyrics for the final cut, “Hymn for the Ninth
Ward”. Lorian is Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter and a successful writer on
her own, with the highly acclaimed novels “Walk on Water” and “Walking into the
River”. I warned you: this guy is full of surprises. Terry sings all the lead
and back-up vocals on the recording, in addition to providing keyboards, bass
guitar and, of course, the slick harmonica work. So, yes, this is Terry’s
album, his labor of love. All guitar tracks are provided by long-time friend Flip
Shoemaker, a jazz guitarist with his own impressive credentials, including work
with Bernadette Peters, Mel Torme, Liza Minnelli, Ramsey Lewis, Roy Hanes, Nat
Adderly and his contributions on “Renaissance”, the Grammy nominated album by
Rene Croan.
My first impression of the project is
how melodic it sounds, how well sculpted. Put that in his repertoire, too: Terry
McLaughlin, sculptor. It’s a very soulful album, reminiscent of Boz Scaggs in
the Nineties, when he recorded such classics as “Some Change”. The album opens
with “Wish You Were Here”, a romantic, nostalgic number and a nice introduction
to The Blue-Eyed Soul of Terry McLaughlin. “Darlene”, the second song on the CD
is up-tempo, a bit tongue in cheek, with great vocals and harp and full of infectious
hooks. The third song, “Trouble’s No Stranger” is another richly-layered tune,
highlighting Terry’s sweet vocals and songwriting mastery. “More Work 4 Less
Money” is self-explanatory, an historic opus looking back on the life of a
hard-working musician, again with soulful vocals that inspire. “Rivers Run”
moves along like a gentle stream, with a strong bass line and memorable,
crafted lyrics. The final cut, “Hymn for the 9th Ward”, displays the
crisp harp work of McLaughlin, a song that deserves to be listened to and
listened to again. I’m still listening, and I think this holds true of Terry’s
entire “Bottle Tree”.
El Gato told me he got the idea for the title
from a Eudora Welty novel, in reference to a tradition brought to America by
slaves from Mother Africa. Stripped-down branches from trees outside their
domiciles are used to house inverted bottles, placed there to capture spirits
to prevent them from entering the house. Terry has captured his own spirits (or
some of them) on this wonderful recording. I look forward to him visiting
Tamarindo again performing for us. In the meanwhile, copies of “El Gato” are
available at Jaime Peligro book store, as will be “Bottle Tree” when it is
released.