''Only Slightly Mad'' is an album by the David Bromberg Band. It was released by

Appleseed Recordings Appleseed Recordings is an American folk music record label founded by Jim Musselman in 1997. History Appleseed's first album was a tribute to Peter Seeger. Musselman approached musicians and others (writer Studs Terkel, actor Tim Robbins) to re ...

on September 24, 2013. Writing about the album in '' The Philadelphia Inquirer'', Steve Klinge said, "Bromberg recorded ''Only Slightly Mad'', released by West Chester's

, with producer Larry Campbell, who played guitar in Dylan's touring band from 1997 to 2004, and who now runs the studio of the late

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

. Bromberg originally intended to do an album of Chicago blues-style songs, but at Campbell's encouragement, the project turned into what Bromberg calls "an old-fashioned David Bromberg album with everything in the world on it." It's a broad mix of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, bluegrass, folk, and gospel, mostly originals and a few choice covers, with moments of ironic humor, extemporaneous sermonizing, and deeply personal confessions, including a pair of love songs addressed to his wife, Nancy Josephson, the former leader of the Angel Band."

Critical reception

In '' American Songwriter'', Lee Zimmerman said, "Bromberg doesn't just vary his template, he shakes it up completely. Aside the album's final three selections, all its entries are covers, songs spanning Big Bill Broonzy and

Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American gospel blues singer, guitarist and evangelist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930—thirty songs in total—display a combination of powerful "ch ...

David Wiffen David Wiffen (born 11 March 1942) is an English-Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Two of his songs, "Driving Wheel" and "More Often Than Not", have become cover standards. Early life Wiffen was born in Redhill, Surrey, England.

, Floyd Cramer and

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

. To his credit, Bromberg manages to take ownership of them all... Other songs find him even farther afield; the fiddle frenzy and mandolin plucking that marks the "Cattle in the Cane / Forked Deer / Monroe’s Hornpipe" medley have him turning towards trad, while "I'll Rise Again" veers towards gospel, not the most likely route for a good Jewish boy from Philly. Given the album's self-effacing title, Bromberg's ambitions are easily understood. That's part of the reason why ''Only Slightly Mad'' is so crazy good." On Twangville, Bill Wilcox wrote, "For ''Only Slightly Mad'', Bromberg returned to the formula that made his 1970s albums so great — which is to say there is no formula at all. From blues to bluegrass to rhythm and blues, Bromberg does it all, and his new album covers the full range of his musical interests.... It's all old fashioned fun with the humor and musicianship fans came to expect from Bromberg in his prime — a prime that is apparently ongoing."

Track listing

#" Nobody's Fault but Mine" (

) – 4:46 #"Keep On Drinkin'" ( Big Bill Broonzy, arranged by David Bromberg) – 3:49 #"Drivin' Wheel" (

) – 6:49 #"I'll Take You Back" (Rick Estrin, Donald Woodruff) – 8:33 #Medley – 5:07 #*"The Strongest Man Alive" (Bromberg) #*"Maydelle's Reel" (Kelly Lancaster) #*"Jenny's Chickens" (Traditional, arranged by Bromberg and Larry Campbell) #" Last Date" ( Floyd Cramer,

) – 6:18 #"Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Mornin'" (Tom Delaney, Pearl Delaney) – 6:35 #"The Fields Have Turned Brown" ( Carter Stanley) – 3:56 #Medley – 4:42 #*"Cattle in the Cane" (Traditional, arranged by Bromberg) #*"Forked Deer" (Traditional, arranged by Bromberg) #*"Monroe's Hornpipe" ( Bill Monroe) #"I'll Rise Again" (Bromberg) – 3:51 #"World of Fools" (Bromberg) – 3:18 #"You've Got to Mean It Too" (Bromberg) – 4:08

Personnel

;David Bromberg Band * David Bromberg – electric guitar,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Mark Cosgrove – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, backing vocals *Nate Grower –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

*Butch Amiot –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, backing vocals *Josh Kanusky –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*John Firmin – tenor saxophone,

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

Peter Ecklund Peter Ecklund (September 27, 1945 – April 8, 2020) was an American jazz cornetist. Career In 1967, Ecklund received a degree from Yale University. He went on tour with singer Paula Lockheart and started a jazz band, in addition to working with ...

– trumpet ;Additional musicians * Larry Campbell – electric guitar, acoustic guitar,

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

, National guitar *Harvey Tibbs – trombone * Brian Mitchell –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* John Sebastian –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

* John McEuen –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

*Johnny Duke – electric guitar *John Roberts – vocals *Tony Barrand – vocals *Nancy Josephson – vocals *Kathleen Weber – vocals *

Amy Helm Amy Helm (born December 3, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the daughter of drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own tou ...

– vocals *Teresa Williams – vocals ;Production *Produced by Larry Campbell *Recording and mixing: Justin Guip *Mastering: Richard Dodd *Studio assistance: Michael Russo *Additional engineering: Eric Masse *Photography: Jim McGuire *Package layout, design: Christina Galbiati

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Albums produced by Larry Campbell (musician) David Bromberg albums