“Come Over Here” Review from Rootstime – 2022
“On ‘Come Over Here’ Judy Mangini aka Judy Sings the Blues feeds her songs with funk, jazz and blues and, never disappoints…” (ESC, for Rootstime – BE)
Singer and songwriter Judy Mangini, aka Judy Sings the Blues is the front lady of a blues band from Lewes, a town in the state of Delaware on the American East Coast. She debuted in 2017 with ‘Born a Sinner’. ‘Come Over Here’, Judy’s new album with 10 original songs, she recorded in Delaware. It is – as you can read on the cover – anointing: (Judy writes) “that she has suffered a lot of pain and abuse in her 62 years, but also that she was loved and cared for…”. The latter is evident from the drawing on the cover that was made by three of Judy’s grandchildren. The musicians involved in the recordings are Lin Doughten on guitar, Chuck Hearne on bass and Keith “KB” Brooks on drums. Joey Fulkerson plays lead guitar on four songs, Dan Long keys on three and Brian Cunningham sax on one. Special guests Victor Wainwright (keyboards) and Albert Castiglia (lead guitar/bvs) can be heard (each) on one track.
The album opens with “Are Ya” and with funky rhythms, carried by Joey Fulkerson’s wah-wah’s that accentuate his guitar lines and Chuck Hurne’s slapping bass. They provide a backdrop for Judy’s strong singing in which she wonders what the man is going to do with her and where this relationship could lead. “Junk and Trunk” adds some more funk to this. The band, aided by Victor Wainwright’s effervescent keyboard work, makes a mess of it, before Albert Castiglia adds some typical robust riffs to the hard rocking “I Guess I Was Wrong”, another story about a relationship that is dying. At “47 Feet”, Joey takes over the lead again and Judy sounds angry, because the man knows nothing about her and sends him back: “back up 47 feet!…”.
The title track “Come Over Here” dedicates Judy to “all the young girls like me”. It remains blues with some funk and a touch of jazz, with Lin Doughten delivering both lead and rhythm guitar, while Judy sings convincingly on the difficult subject of child abuse: “Come over here and sit down to me, you’re so beautiful. You can’t tell your dad, you can’t tell your mam, they won’t believe you and don’t believe what they heard. Tell them that you yoy lay…”. “I Got the News Today” is a quiet jazzy blues song with a lot of sax. Brian Cunningham’s sax solo is restrained and delivered with the right feeling.
“You Can’t Even Buy One” is a beautiful, mid-tempo bluesy song, with a cautionary tale and “He Hit Her” a sultry and disturbing song, with exactly what the title suggests and with a recognizable story about senseless domestic violence. In the end, she “shot him.” Lin’s attractive Latino rhythms and soft guitar work only serve to highlight the tragedy of the situation. The swinging “You Got Me Down On My Knees” has a jazzy feel through Dan Long’s piano. Judy then concludes with a plea to be treated as an “Equal”. Joey does the slide lead over a puffing rhythm and an old-fashioned R’&’B riff.
