Godless Land by The Lucky Losers
Cathy Lemons and Phil Berkowitz are San Francisco’s dynamic duo The Lucky Losers. They and their band have released what I think is their best effort yet with Godless Land. Their third release Blind Spot was a good one, but to me this one takes the cake; their fourth effort mixes blues and funk and jazz and honky tonk and R&B for a fun ride through 12 original and very fine cuts. They wrote 9 of the tracks between them and 3 were written for their use here.
Whether they are commenting on the tragedy of what we call today or the tragedy of a love lost, these two really deliver the goods. The songs are tight, the music and lyrics are great, the performances are crisp and they sing with great emotion. I’ve listened to all their recordings and this really tops all their prior stuff and they’ve done some really good stuff before this. I was very impressed and highly recommend this one!
— Steve Jones, Blues Blast Magazine, August 6, 2020
Tracklist
| 1. | Half A Nothing | 4:10 |
| 2. | Godless Land | 6:57 |
| 3. | Mad Love is Good Love | 4:04 |
| 4. | No Good Lover | 3:44 |
| 5. | Be You | 4:49 |
| 6. | Catch Desire By The Tail | 4:50 |
| 7. | Leave You On The Side Of The Road | 6:34 |
| 8. | Can't Keep Pretending | 5:10 |
| 9. | My One Good Eye | 6:08 |
| 10. | What Makes You Act Like That | 3:29 |
| 11. | The Good Fight | 4:52 |
| 12. | The Ragged Heart | 4:48 |
Credits
The Lucky Losers with Cathy Lemons & Phil Berkowitz
“Godless Land”
TRACK LISTING:
Tracks 1,2,7,9,12
Lemons/ BMI
Track 3,8,11
Berkowitz/Caron BMI/ASCAP
Track 6
Lemons/Berkowitz/ BMI
Track 4 Baker/Vanderpool /BMI
Track 5 Pomus/Rebennack/ BMI
Track 10 Johnson /BMI
Title: Godless Land
Label: Vizztone
Catalog: VT-LL-01
Genre: Blues, Soul, Americana
Packaging: Digipack: $14.99
UPC: 634457024007
Distributor: Redeye
All tracks are suitable for airplay according to FCC standards. Suggested tracks: 2,3,6.
San Francisco’s finest male/female duet fronted band, The Lucky Losers, established themselves as top tier performers with their album “Blind Spot” when they won a coveted 2019 Independent Blues Award for Best Blues-Soul Artist. Now Cathy Lemons & Phil Berkowitz are back with their much-anticipated 4th album, “Godless Land” on Vizztone Records.” “Godless Land” features nine remarkably creative original compositions and three rare covers originally performed by Irma Thomas and Dr. John, Mickey & Sylvia, and Lonnie Johnson and Clara Smith. Their music is steeped in the blues tradition, yet it draws from a variety of American roots music genres that span from the jazzy blues of 1920’s up to the early soul & R&B of the 1970’s. No two songs are alike. While Lemons writes about present day events such as the drowning of a father and daughter along the US border (“My One Good Eye”) or our society’s callous treatment of the poor and homeless (“Godless Land”), Berkowitz delves into introspective topics about love and relationships (“Can’t Keep Pretending” and “The Good Fight”). A song they wrote together (“Catch Desire by The Tail”) shows just how these opposites attract, using both charm and humor. The musicianship on this album is superb, with Berkowitz blazing the trail with some of his finest harmonica playing to date. Multi-instrumentalist, Kid Andersen, plays seven instruments on this album, including an outstanding lap steel lead on the true story tale of road madness and mayhem in “Leave You On the Side of the Road”.
Produced by Kid Andersen
Recorded at Greaseland Studios, San Jose, CA
Mixing & Mastering (All tracks): Kid Andersen
Vocal Assistance: Raz Kennedy (3,5, 8, 11)
Vocal Assistance: Danny Caron (8); Ben Rice (11)
Vocal arrangements, Kid Andersen (2,6,7,8,12)
Horn arrangements: Michael Peloquin
Graphic Design: Maurice Tani
Photography: Myron Mu
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Winners of 5 Independent Blues Awards in 2021 for "Godless Land". Blues, soul, old school retro, genre bending sonic films with political and social subject matter as well as great male female lead singing with harmony.