A legendary figure of the blues, not content to rest on his reputation, but still exploring and growing.
Peter Gabriel’s Real-World Studios in rural Wiltshire is one of those recording spaces that almost seems to have its own sound. Eric Bibb says of it “There’s a wholeness about In The Real World that deeply moves me.” So much so that he took the studio name to inspire his album title.
Producer Glen Scott has been working with Bibb for years and they seem to have developed a relationship that brings out the best in Bibbs music. “It feels like Glen Scott, and I have reached a milestone on our collaborative journey. Musically, the album feels like a self-portrait because it truly represents my influences,” he says.
He makes full use of the studio’s atmosphere on the first song here, ‘Take The Stage’ which has a comfortable groove to it, which Robbie McIntosh’s slide guitar stops from drifting into blandness. ‘Walk Steady On’ packs a bigger punch. With more of McIntosh’s guitar work, a feature throughout the album, this time channelling late period Mark Knopfler.
‘Everybody’s Got A Right’ invokes the spirit of John Lee Hooker, with a riff that could have come straight out of his 50s recordings with the church-inspired vocals Hooker did so well. ‘Best I Can’ highlights the folkier side of his music, with accompaniment from a string trio. Single ‘Roll On Buddy’ is the most rock and roll song here. Scott plays many of the instruments here as elsewhere, including Mini Moog which would have been just at home on a 70s Stevie Wonder tune. Matched with Chuck Anthony’s solo and Sepideh Vaziri’s adlibbed vocal lines this turns into a hot funky workout.
Just before that we have one of only two Bibb solo compositions. ‘Dear Mavis’ (Stapes presumably) “Dear Mavis, I’m writing this letter to you. Hopin’ it gets through. Wanting you to know. How you heal my soul.” Just a simple acoustic love letter to a key influence. ‘Neshoba County‘, named for a district of Mississippi where the murders of 3 civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, took place in 1964. Bibb’s father, Leon, was a key figure in the civil rights movement so Eric probably heard about this as a teenager. In an album of influences this song acknowledges his father amongst that list.
The last song of the album is the title song. The strings are back, and there is almost a feel of the studio’s owner Peter Gabriel about the vocal. A ballad ruminating on music’s ability to inspire and insulate us. “In the real world, angels are singin.’ The sound of kindness soothes my soul. In the real world, every wayfarin’ stranger. Finds a friend, finds a home.” If Gabriel needs an advert for his recording space, then this is the soundtrack.
There is a bonus song in ‘Victory Voices‘, a duet with Lily James who Bibb describes as “a gift to my soul.” It’s easy to see why this has been kept until the end as it’s not entirely in keeping style wise with the rest of the album, but it is one of the standout moments, and ties up another influence, Country.
With five decades of music and over forty albums behind him you might have expected Eric Bibb to be cruising into later life on the sort of mediocrity that many of his peers have drifted into. That he is still exploring his influences and still looking to move forward. “It really tells me where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m headed,” he explains.“Thematically, it’s about the you-me-we connection. It’s about the world we’ve created for ourselves and the world we long for.”
