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REVIEWS
Review of "Good Man's Journey"
"Neil Carswell is man with many talents
musically, but his ability to sing a song that
you will never forget is a gift from the gods
that anyone with an ounce of soul and feeling
could understand."
-
Keith "MuzikMan"
Hannaleck
"In the liner notes to Good Man's
Journey, Neil Carswell writes that his
music combines "a heavy-metal approach
with a back-porch vibe." I couldn't have
described the man's down-home sound
better myself." - Sea of Tranquility --
review 4 stars!
Read Review |
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He (Neil
Carswell) has the kind of power in his
voice that brings to mind Gregg Allman, Jon Bon Jovi, and Travis Tritt. He has the blues when he wants to (and when
he doesn't want it), but can sing like a good ol' country
boy who loves the outdoors, and he can rock things up.
The album is well recorded, and while he could fit in with
the jamband crowds, he could also do extremely well in the
new country music scenes. I hope he
takes on everyone and let's people know
what he's about.
MusicforAmerica.org |
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In 2005, Neil Carswell
calls Nashville his home and has moved into the new millennium with a
new sound and a new solo release, "Good Man's Journey."
This
new release features Neil with a host of great musicians like, Johnny Neel (Allman Brothers), Chris Anderson (Outlaws), Barry Goudreau
(Boston),
and Stu Kimball.
Additionally, there
will another CD released in 2008 titled "Keep You Guessing."
Here is some background information on Neil Carswell and Copperhead....
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Neil Carswell was born
and raised in Lake James, North Carolina, a mountain lake nestled in the
heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He was blessed to love |
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music, singing and
writing songs, since he was a child. He
was strongly influenced by the music of John
Lennon, Paul
McCartney, The Beatles, Jim Croce, Bob Segar,
Eric Clapton, Ronnie Van Zant, Merle Haggard and
Don Williams -- real country, real country rock and rock in general. |
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He loved the Memphis sound from
Elvis to Al Green - real Delta
Blues. Neil kept coming across
the name of record producer, Tom
Dowd, while reading the credits off
of the many albums he loved, from
the Allman Brothers, Derrick
and the Dominos, Lynyrd Skynyrd all the way to Rod Stewart and Booker T
and the MGs.
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Neil Carswell is one of the founding members of the Southern-Rock band
called Copperhead.
Copperhead, managed by Dirk
Peterson, played for a good
seven to eight years on the road
while Neil was still in high
school. Copperhead cut
demos and met Derrick Oliver
from England who introduced the
band to a producer named Eli
Ball.Copperhead's |
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entertainment lawyer, Charlie
Phillips, worked closely with them during the time they
were cutting demos in Memphis. Record industry executive, Eric Cronfield,
took interest in the band and introduced them to Fred Davis, Clive Davis'
son, which led to Copperhead doing showcases for over fifteen different
major record labels in New York. Alec Peters has just joined
Mercury/Polygram Records Records when Copperhead was signed to their label. Under
direct supervision of Bob Skoro, and Ed Exstein, president of
Mercury/Polygram Records
Records, Alec Peters worked with Copperhead to find a producer. |
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Although Neil was torn between
David Briggs and Rodney Mills as his choice for a producer, Copperhead's
manager, on a whim, decided to call Tom Dowd. Mr. Dowd listened to
the demo and accepted the project and was to start pre-production within
six to eight weeks. Copperhead drove out to Miami, Florida to meet
Tom Dowd and flew in John Hannon (David Briggs' assistant engineer and
apprentice) to be their engineer, and form a production team. It wasn't
long before Neil realized that he had his work cut out for him, to try to
fill the shoes of all the great artists Dowd had worked with - the ones
that had inspired Neil as a young man.
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Copperhead returned back home to record in Memphis with Dowd and Hannlon.
Copperhead's first single, however, was recorded in Rhode Island at
Normandy Sound recording studio with producer Phil Green. The cut,
"Long Way From Home" was an epic Copperhead song that became the title
song for the movie "Harley
Davidson and the Marlboro Man."
Their song “Busted” was featured on
the soundtrack of Dr. Giggles.
After cutting "Long Way
From Home", Copperhead
and Dowd traveled to
North Carolina for two
weeks of pre-production
and then returned to
Memphis to |
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record at Ardent
Studios. Ardent
Studios had a reputation
for having a bad buzz
problem with guitars.
The frustration of the
buzz problem combined
with the east coast/west
coast clash of Dowd and Hannlon
not getting along put a damper on the project, to say the least. Rodney
Mills, in Atlanta, saved the day by stepping in to take over for Hannlon,
and work with Tom (the two hadn't worked together since Skynyrd's "Street
Survivors" LP). A few new tunes
were added, they re-cut some
guitars, added more vocals and mixed
... and then Tom Dowd passed away
and out of Neil's life. |
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Neil recalls the last
conversation with Tom as
being spiritual. Tom
told him "keep the faith."
"I pray he is
in heaven arranging some of those boring hymns and adding some
slide guitar, but I bet the time, the click, and the bippem is
right on the beat, perfect" -- Neil Carswell |
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NEW CD |
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"Good Man's Journey"
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Thanks, to God the
Father, Son, And Holy Ghost,
for looking after me
throughout my life and
sparing my life when so many
close friends didn’t make it
and for all the blessings
I’ve seen along the way.
Thanks to my mom and dad
Bland and Brenda Carswell,
my wife and daughter Melissa
and Kirsten for staying by
me through so many rough
times, I love you. Chris and
Nanette Anderson for all the
time they have put into our
lives and help
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they have given. To Doug
Jones for all his insight in
getting my career back on
track and friendship we have
shared. Johnny and Christine
Neel for all the great
playing and inspiration you
have given us all. Stu and
Michelle Kimball for all the
support through the years,
guitar playing, producing
and arranging skills. Phil
and Carol Green for the
records we made together and
all the laughs. Barry
Goudreau for all the support
and great guitar playing he
has added with a lot of
laughs along the way. Barry
Beckett, Ross Sermons, Chip
Abernathy, Randy Threet,
Dennis Gully, Ben Fowler,
John Saylor, Zim Zumwalt,
Alec Peters, Charlie
Phillips, Kim Keyes,
Jennifer Cihi, Shane Theriot,
Judd Fuller, Mike Leveque,
Jeff Coxx, Wade Gwynn,
Caroll Gwynn, Wes Powers,
for all your friendship
throughout the years Shannon
and Lisa Carswell for
helping us keep our business
running in North Carolina
with the move to Nashville
and all, we couldn’t have
done it with out you.
Charles and Carolyn Bostian
for all their help and
friendship through the
years. John and Sherry Good
for all the good times on
the river back home.
Especially thanks to William
J. Patton Jr. my executive
producer and publisher
without you Bill none of
this art would be possible,
thanks for all your support.
Sincerely,
Neil Carswell |
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MORE REVIEWS:
Read Review from Metaliville
Read Review from Indie Music Stop
If we're to be realistic,
it's highly probable that the world at large has not been
clamoring for the lead singer of '90s Southern rockers
Copperhead to release his solo debut – the band's success
was largely regional – but listening to Neil Carswell's Good
Man's Journey, one finds the ghost of Lynyrd Skynyd looming
large -- and for Southern rock fans, that ain't a bad thing
at all. Carswell's voice, however, comes closer to that of
Chris Cornell than the Van Zandt boys, making things often
sound just as modern as they do retro. It's clear from the
liner notes that this is a very personal album for Carswell,
with songs inspired by the death of friends, lost loves, and
other emotionally tumultuous events, which would explain the
bluesy feel to many of the tracks. By the way, speaking of
friends – in this case, those still with us – Carswell
brings in his pal Barry Goudreau from Boston to play lead
guitar on the opener, "The Cain Preacher." While it isn't
necessarily a groundbreaking musical trip, fans of the
Southern rock sound will definitely dig this Good Man's
Journey. ~Will Harris, bullseye.com
RootsTime Review
“The Cain Preacher” for
example almost sounds like a
Led Zeppelin song with Neil
singing like Robert Plant on
Bourbon, and Goodreau and
Andersen pouring their souls
out on guitar.
READ FULL REVIEW |
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