Mink Deville Coup De Grace CD

While Willy DeVille was trying to perfect his blend of roots rock, fiery punk energy, and the heart-rending ballad style that singled out singers like Ben E. King and Sam Cooke, he went through a few changes. Mink DeVille's previous recording, Le Chat Bleu, had opened the door to DeVille being as fine a ballad singer as any. Along with the Doc Pomus ballads there were a few rockers, and the seeds were sewn for the band to pursue this direction, with Willy DeVille stepping more and more out front as an enigma. The combination of DeVille and Jack Nitzsche brought the early rock and soul vibe deep into the heart of the record. Louis Cortelezzi and Kenny Margolis provided the sound of the Jersey Shore and Coney Island on saxophone and keyboards -- including accordion -- that had been introduced on the previous disc and swirled around DeVille and Rick Borgia's guitars, undercut by Tommy Price's drums. The band's sound combined with Nitzsche's timeless production style, which combined with that voice to create a purer rock & roll noise than even Bruce Springsteen's in 1981. The evidence is on the anthems "Maybe Tomorrow," the slippery doo wop feel of "Love & Emotion," and the devastating read of Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On" that includes in its soulful Spanish stroll mix a pair of marimbas and the ever-lamenting accordion, turning the track into something that is so deadly serious it should have perhaps been in West Side Story. This was Mink DeVille near their zenith as a recording unit. ~ Thom Jurek

Influential late Seventies classic available on CD for the first time.

Photographer: Joyce Ravid.

Arranger: Jack Nitzsche.

Personnel: Willy DeVille (vocals, guitar, slide guitar); Kenny Margolis (accordion, keyboards, vibraphone); Louis Cortelezzi (saxophone); Joey Vasta (bass guitar); Tommy Price (drums, percussion); Brother Johnny Espinet, Jimmy Maelan (percussion); Eve Moon, Exhilarations (background vocals).

Liner Note Author: Mark Keresman.

Uncut (p.119) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[A] feisty blend of Atlantic-seaboard soul, street-singer ‚lan and Latin-tinged, punk-infused R&B, given vivid, full-spectrum production by Jack Nitzsche."