12/1/2006

Ian Zack

In conjuring his distinctive brand of blues and gospel-inspired Americana, Memphis guitarist and singer William Lee Ellis stands on the shoulders of tradition instead of letting it weigh him down. On God's Tattoos, this third CD, one can certainly feel the presence of Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Willie Johnson - three legendary pickers with a penchant for mixing blues and sacred music - but Ellis) who happens to be the late Bill Monroe's godson) pays homage while continuing to stack out his own ground, with influences as diverse as '70s rock, Latin American rumba, folk, and R&B. backed on several tracks by Amy LaVere on bass, Paul Taylor on drums, and Jim Dickinson (who also produced) on keyboards, Ellis recalls Gram Parsons on "Search My Heart," an old spiritual that he recast as breezy Southern rock. "The Call," an original about the challenge of trying to follow one's own bliss, features Ellis' delicate slide playing on resonator guitar, as well as background singing by the Memphis soul group the Masqueraders. For fans of the ragtime-like Piedmont style of guitar picking, Ellis does nicely by Hurt's "Here I Am, Lord Send Me," rendered as a gentle vocal duet with Ellis' wife Julie Coffey.