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Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John

by

Peter Case

 
Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John
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A renowned power-popper turns to the folkie realm.

  • We Say...

    Review by Peter Blackstock

    When he left the power-poppin’ Plimsouls to go solo in the mid ’80s, Peter Case took a sharp turn toward acoustic troubadour territory. Since then he’s frequently returned to more amped-up avenues, but on Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (its title a tip of the hat to the late country bluesman Sleepy John Estes), he’s squarely in the folkie realm. The performances primarily feature just Case and his acoustic guitar, with the occasional cameo contribution (most notably Richard Thompson on the opening “Every 24 Hours”). “Million Dollars Bail” vividly portrays the societal gulf between the upper and lower classes; “Palookaville” is drenched in the dispiritedness of down-and-out characters who “coulda been somebody”; “Somebrightmorningblues” looks toward a way out, somewhere on the horizon. And there are hints of Case’s full-band past; it’s easy to imagine “Just Hangin’ On” being delivered with the same punch of the Plimsouls staple “Now.”

  • They Say...

    Review by Mark Deming, All Music Guide

    In 2001, Peter Case produced an all-star tribute album honoring the music of Mississippi John Hurt, Avalon Blues, so with a title like Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, it's not hard to imagine he's chosen to pay homage to another great country blues artist, Sleepy John Estes. As it happens, the album features ten new songs from Case (along with one traditional blues tune, "Get Away Blues"), and the album's blues influences are generally more a matter of approach and attitude rather than the adoption of any strict musical templates, but Case does follow the "less is more" approach of classic blues. Most of the songs feature just Case and his acoustic guitar, and the lyrics often dwell on bad luck and trouble as they manifest themselves in the modern world, from the multi-millionaire jailbird in "Million Dollars Bail" and the knocked-down street people of "Underneath the Stars" to the washed-up boxer of "Palookaville" and the big city malaise of "Ain't Gonna Worry No More" (which concludes with the spectral appearance of Lightnin' Hopkins at a local saloon). Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John suggests the lean musical structures of Case's 1998 album Full Service No Waiting fused with the storytelling sense of 1989's The Man with the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditional Guitar, and the result is one of Case's most satisfying albums in years; as a lyricist, Case hits his targets dead on with these songs, and musically the Spartan arrangements favor the sturdy beauty of his melodies, and when he does bring in an accompanist -- Richard Thompson on "Every 24 Hours," Duane Jarvis on "I'm Gonna Change My Ways," Carlos Guitarlos on "Underneath the Stars" -- he makes their presence count. And if Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John is dominated by the realities of life on the streets in Big City U.S.A., Case also finds some genuine inspiration in the ineffable mysteries of life, and "Every 24 Hours" and "That Soul Twist" bookend this album with an unpretentious beauty and a simple joy in world that changes with every sunrise; this is a splendid album from a truly gifted artist.

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