Fattening Frogs For Snakes John Sinclair Okra-Tone Records, 2002   Buy it online Reviewed by Mark Gallo	John Sinclair has been saddled with a plethora of labels over his lifetime: hippie radical, MC5 manager, head of the White Panther Party, cofounder of the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, and marijuana advocate (John Lennon wrote John Sinclair about his imprisonment for giving a couple of joints to an undercover policeman in the late 1960s). Labels tend to get in the way. The only constant is that John Sinclair is a poet. The concurrent release of his new book, Fattening Frogs For Snakes, and CD of the same name signals the opening round of a larger work. The disc is the first of what is projected to be a quartet of musical works mirrored by the four sections of the book. More than a mere libretto, the book is a work of riveting and well crafted poems that celebrate the lives of historical blues figures. The disc offers music that compliments and illuminates the themes. The CD adds the big beat, the musical muscle that sends them to a different level, though the book, rich in visual imagery, reads just as musically. Sinclair's spoken word essays are historically grounded and intertwined with quotes from and about the musicians he pays homage to. On the disc this is enhanced with a primal, propulsive, hypnotic beat by way of the Blues Scholars: lead guitarists Everette Eglin and Jeff "Baby" Grand, rhythm guitarist Bill Lynn, bassists Richard "Tricky Dick" Dixon and Mark Bingham, rock solid Michael Voelker on drums (check out his work on "Cross Road Blues"), pianist Mark Adams (who has worked with Bryan Lee), and Rockin Jake on harp on one tune. This is barebones, in-the-pocket music that lays a foundation strong enough to support Sinclair's gut-bucket poetry. Opening straightforward with the statement, "This is the Delta sound," Sinclair quotes Muddy Waters ("Ain't too many left that plays the real deep blues") and then, buoyed by Grand's slide, paints a picture of life in the cradle of the blues in the beginning. Hardly a stiff and scholarly look at blues greats, this music (both on disc and on the page) is fused with a groove thicker than a bowlful of Jello Biafra. This is fun. This is music to listen to real loud. The book is meant to be enjoyed in the same way. Turn your brain up loud and listen. This first disc features eight selections from the first section of the book set to music: "The Delta Sound," "Cross Road Blues," "The Wolf is at Your Door," "We Just Change the Beat," "Sunnyland Train," "21 Days in Jail," "Pea Vine Blues," and "Chicago Bound." Each is imbued with a sense of immediacy and of power. "The Wolf is at Your Door," with it's more than mildly familiar underpinning of "Smokestack Lightnin'" sees Sinclair quoting Johnny Shines: People back then, Johnny Shines has said, thought about magic and all such things as that. I didn't know it at the time, but Wolf was a tractor driver. As far as I knew he could have crawled out of a cave. That the author is able to make this and the other imparted stories fascinating, both from a purely literary and a musical standpoint, is brilliant. "We Just Change The Beat" quotes Willie Dixon at length while musically demonstrating the consequence of that beat change. "Sunnyland Train" is, as you'll have guessed, Sunnyland Slim's story. It benefits from a brief vocal interlude from the legendary Andre Williams, who also serves as producer of the recordings. "21 Days in Jail" tells the story of Robert Lockwood Junior learning guitar rudiments from Robert Johnson, who had a "crush on [his] mother." It further chronicles tales of his playing with Rice Miller and getting tossed in jail with the legendary harp player. While in the hoosegow, the story goes, the duo "went up to the second floor: & raised the jailhouse windows & started playing. In a matter of minutes the jailhouse was surrounded with people. There was a little fence down there, about as big as the one on the side of my yard, and the people started throwing nickels  & dimes & quarters & dollars over that fence. The trusty went out there & picked the money up. & we knew he didn't bring it all to us, we knew he got fat, but when he turned it in to us, we had made four hundred dollars The story continues on this outrageous tact with a steady loping beat. On the following "Pea Vine Blues," long a staple in the live shows (you have to experience this live to truly appreciate it), the Delta comes alive in geography, in the passing names of towns and burgs from Dockery Farm to Chicago. This is no mere musical bluesical diversion nor apparition. Fattening Frogs For Snakes is a tour de force of wordology. Words on paper, words sharing space with non-spoken language. Words of a master poet storyteller. Words of the maestros of the genre. This compact disc and the equally compelling book that is its mate are highly recommended juju for the converted and a dare to those who only think they know about the blues. This is the Delta sound. This is the roots. | November 2002 Mark Gallo is a long-time freelance music journalist whose byline has appeared in over 30 publications in the past 25 years. He has also been a DJ, publicist and archivist/researcher. When not writing about music he is a social worker	Tracks: 1: Delta Sound 2: Cross Road Blues 3: Wolf Is At Your Door 4: We Just change The Beat 5: Sunnyland Train 6: 21 Days In Jail 7: Pea Vine Blues 8: Chicago Bound