Blues Approved

Album review

Every local music scene has had one: a surefire star who for whatever reasons never made a record or tasted larger success. It makes sense that in the fertile '70s music scene of North Carolina's Triangle region, one that spawned storied indie rock acts like Let's Active, Sneakers and the dB's, there would be an undiscovered "legend" like guitarist Sam Moss. A key member of a number of local bands throughout his high school years and into the 1970s, Moss, who also sang and wrote songs, eventually opened Sam Moss Guitars in Winston-Salem, NC in 1982, where he'd cross paths with famous musicians like Z.Z. Top and The Who. But Moss' life was upended when his wife Diane died of cancer in 1998, and in an all too predictable last act, Moss committed suicide in 2007.

Assembled by friend Chris Stamey of the dB's, with help from other Triangle notables (producer Mitch Easter, former dB Gene Holder) and financed through crowdfunding, Blues Approved is a lively collection that confirms that Moss had talent though maybe not the drive. The recordings come from two periods, the first with Mitch Easter in 1977 and the second from sessions at Creative Audio/Turtle Tapes studio in Winston Salem between 1989 and 1993. The sound is remarkably clear and detailed considering some of these recordings originate from 4-track tapes made in Easter's rudimentary studio. There is also a lo-fi track of Moss rehearsing the Buck Owens (later The Beatles) tune "Act Naturally" with the Clique in 1967. Moss was a blues fan, as heard in the opener original, "Rooster Blood." He does a very convincing snarly Stones imitation in "Vida Blanche," and to close this collection Stamey chose a cover of Jagger and Richards' "Who's Driving Your Plane," where Moss lifts some of the phrasing and attitude from Jagger's original vocals.

As a multi-dimensional listener and player Moss could also indulge his inner Robin Trower and get proggy and heavy as in "Nightflight Over Berlin." The spirited rendition of "Pleasant Valley Sunday," with all the backing vocals recorded around a single microphone, has Moss' best vocals of this entire collection and demonstrates that he was also aware of pop music. Finally, in "To Those Still at Sea," with a sharp guitar solo near the middle, Moss shows that he too knew about the power pop that many North Carolina musicians were gravitating towards at this time. Though digital technology has increasingly made truly "undiscovered" music a rarity, this worthy tribute is admiration done right. © Robert Baird/Qobuz