My Name Is Doug Hream Blunt

1500x1500srThe story of Bay Area funk master Doug Hream Blunt is a simple one. In 1985, at the grown-ass age of 35, he enrolled in a class called “How To Form A Band.” He then proceeded to learn electric guitar and formed a group with his classmates, with whom he recorded a full-length LP, Gentle Persuasion, and a six-song EP called Big Top, both self-pressed and bound for obscurity.

But while Blunt’s origin story is a simple one – and a testament to the power of will – the music found on Luaka Bop’s new collection of his work, My Name Is Doug Hream Blunt: Featuring the Hit “Gentle Persuasion,” is less easily parsed. There’s a uniqueness and complexity in his sideways grooves that can’t merely be attributed to the amateur chops of Blunt and his group.

The lyrical focus shifts throughout these songs, from the social commentary of “Fly Guy” to the psychedelic journey of “Trek,” from the weird character study of “Big Top” (“This is a freak check,” Blunt explains) to the lusty, open-hearted sex jams of “Gentle Persuasion” and “Love Land.” The melodies and rhythms weave in-and-out of sync, and occasionally Blunt’s guitar rises above the rhythm section and synthesized chords, wild and careening. In liner notes by Amanda Petrusich, Blunt cites artists like Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Ocean, and the Whispers as inspirations, but he doesn’t sound like them. Blunt’s his own man –funky, chill, and smooth.

“Like ice, your butt is like dice now, damn,” he croons on “the hit,” “Gentle Persuasion.” The meaning isn’t easily ascertained reading on the page, but when he sings the line, it somehow makes perfect sense. words / j woodbury

Doug Hream Blunt :: Ride The Tiger