Guitar maven Arlen Roth has released his 20th solo album, an acoustic set of ten classic folk-pop tunes and one new original (the title track). Playing Out the String is a blissful treat. The master guitarist delightfully picks and strums his way through songs well-known among to fans of 20th-century acoustic guitar music fans, such as Norman Blake’s “Church Street Blues” and Brownie McGhee’s “Gonna Move Across the River” and singer-songwriter fare like Townes Van Zandt‘s “Pancho and Lefty” and Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talking”. Roth does sing on many of the cuts but not on the latter two numbers. He just lets his axe narrate these numbers (and Roy Orbison‘s “Blue Bayou”), perhaps because the original vocals are familiar. Roth’s voice is serviceable enough, but his guitar prowess is the star here.
While Roth’s work may not be familiar to the general public, he’s renowned among other stringed instrument players. He’s published ten guitar-playing books and wrote a well-regarded column in Guitar Player magazine for about a decade. He’s performed and recorded with the best, including Bob Dylan, John Prine, Johnny Winter, and Simon & Garfunkel (together and individually), to mention a few. He’s adept at bending the notes and making them linger while fingering the next one, so it often sounds like he’s overdubbing while playing things straight. Roth also knows how to make his 12-string guitar sound like a whole band on tracks such as the old Gus Cannon Jug Stompers’ classic from the 1920s, “Walk Right In”.
Playing Out the String has a friendly vibe. A picture of the man playing his instrument to his attentive pet dog on the inside cover captures the mood of the living room. Even when Arlen Roth is at his most skillful, such as the intricate picking on the traditional / Norman Blake version of “Randall Collins”, Roth sounds relaxed. The guitarist keeps the beat as steady as a metronome on the slower-paced rhythm and blues cuts such as “You Can’t Get That Stuff No More” (Louis Jordan / Sam Theard). His decorative instrumental flourishes are perfectly timed to fit the melody while he sings hokum-style lyrics.
The nicest surprise is Roth’s version of the instrumental “Java”, originally a piano composition by New Orleans’ artist Allen Toussaint and a trumpet hit for Al Hirt in 1962; Roth puts a bounce into his jam that suggests the tune’s more playful aspects. The song’s Crescent City roots offer a more cat house vibe than one usually thinks of when hearing the more popular renditions of the track. Like Blind Blake’s “Diddy Wah Diddy”, on which Roth sings, something dirty and nonsensical is happening.
The instrumental title track comes as a coda to the other material and refers to both Arlen Roth’s actual playing style and the fact he has gone through a repertoire of contemporary guitar pieces. He does not show off or pretentiously play to get attention and admiration. He keeps it lively, but there is also something smooth and easy about the music. Roth knows the strength of the material is enough to engage the listener in the tunes he’s covered and that his contribution can stand on its own.