Many will recognise the name Jim Kirkpatrick as the guitarist/composer from classic rock band FM, but he’s also collaborated with other major talents such as the great Bernie Marsden and toured extensively with Thea Gilmore. His solo career is pretty damn good too with 2006’s Changed Priorities and the excellent Ballad of a Prodigal Son showing other styles of music are close to his heart.
Now we have a new album called Dead Man Walking that has a familiar yet fresh approach to the broad brush label, blues rock: there are thoughtful injections of country, Americana and a gospel influence to savour too.
The opener, ‘Promised Land’ is the first surprise as Jim takes the field song principle and weaves a short but sweet acoustic backing, vocal excursion. This blends into the title track (co-written with Mr Marsden) this is solid, irresistible blues rock with strong riffs, a great solo and choruses giving way to seductive guitar runs and a backing of dust-strewn Americana. ‘Life On The Run’ is southern rock firmly relocated into British rock with the added fizz of Fitzpatrick’s searing solos.
‘Union Train’ has echoes of Thunder (in a good way) and had me Turning Left at California at first. It is, however, very much Jim and is a delightful, blues song with tasty rocky undertones. The weighty blues of ‘Road Of Bones’ has a kind of Black Velvet Stallion bass line, but Jim layers his powerful vocals and guitar runs over it to make it a brilliant, heavy blues song. ‘Heaven Above’ gives a sneaky nod to Walk This Way but the melody of the choruses and the horn section blasting away makes this blues of a familiar but different hue.
The closing track, ‘I Fall Apart’, is a very different take on the great Rory Gallagher’s original, it is faithful and the guitar playing is exceptional but it’s the orchestral backing with additional keyboards that are so very different. Does it work? Well, it won’t replace Rory’s, but it is a genius interpretation and a very worthy and fitting tribute.
This a great album for lovers of blues, blues-rock and bluesy AOR/Melodic rock…somehow Jim ticks all of those boxes with aplomb and serves up an absolute treat of an album.
Dead Man Walking is out now
