Something for Everyone by Jim Gibson

My good friend and keyboard player John Herron opened the doors to his studio for me and opened his heart and set me on my way to making this dream come true.

We knocked out the basic tracks to fourteen songs in one day. It was electric. The band was on a musical high. You can hear the songs taking on a life of their own. We kept plowing. Most tracks were one take since we already knew the songs. We all felt like we were giving new birth to the music. Later that night David Jackson visited us from Jackson Brown who brought his accordion with him. We put him on some tracks and it was magic. Then John Herron jumped on the Hammond B3 Organ and took us to another level. It was one of those sessions you can only dream about having. Everything fell into place. Each beat, each note was delivered at the right time at the right place.

I will always remember this as one of my favorite CD's and sessions. Thanks to some really great friends and musicians.

Jim Gibson

A review from Blues on Stage

Singer/songwriter Jim Gibson's debut CD "Something For Everyone" first appeared in 1999. Although raised in Savannah, GA, Gibson has landed in several places across the US, and this is reflected in the rather eclectic style of music that appears on the album. The element that shines through strongest, however, is blues based music from New Orleans/Louisiana.

The opening track, "Hey Joe, Where Did Sara Go?" kicks things off nicely, mixing together a light funky New Orleans beat with a smattering of zydeco. It has a nice familiar feel to it, which is backed up by "Easy Come, Easy Go" which sounds not unlike the sort of thing that Little Feat used to do so well, especially when you take into account the slide guitar. This feel also reappears later on "The More You Get, The More You Want."

Although Gibson wrote all the tunes here, the influences seem fairly clear in a few places. "California," for example, has shades of Steely Dan about it, "Angel of Mercy" suggests Ry Cooder, "Savannah" hints at Randy Newman ("Louisiana 1917") and the vocals on the soulful "Rendezvous" even call to mind Bruce Springsteen. The geographical influence of New Orleans comes over strongest in the wailing clarinet sound of the jazzy "A Few Miles Away From Home." It also features in the funky "She Don't Know" which has some very neat rolling piano.

"Something For Everyone" pretty much lives up to its title. It has blues, soul, funk and jazz, all done rather well by Jim Gibson and his cohorts. Regardless of style, the band always carries things off, and the quality of the songs is, on the whole, very good indeed. Several of the tunes on the album could quite easily be attributed to more famous artists. All in all, "Something For Everyone" is a good album that should appeal to those who like a bit of variety with plenty of New Orleans influence.

Gordon Baxter

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