David Egan You Don't Know Your Mind CD

"The history of piano blues is played out on this album: barrelhouse rockers like 'You're Lyin' Again,' slithering New Orleans funk on 'Love Honor and Obey,' and torch song weepers like 'Bourbon in My Cup' all play flawlessly... Ultimately, Egan's tasteful touch comes through in each track on this delightful record."225batonrouge.com "You Don't Know Your Mind is worth the wait... alternately wry and touching lyrics and deep, rich vocal phrasing... a CD filled with highlights... and like the work of Louisiana songwriting legend Bobby Charles, Egan's new version of "Sing It" -- his hit for Marcia Ball, Tracy Nelson and Irma Thomas -- shows that some songs shine brightest when they're delivered by their creators."Scott Jordan, The Independent "The 11-song set is a simmering bouillabaisse of originals that serves the full range of Egan's musical flavors spiked with his knowing, whisky cured vocals... 'Bourbon in My Cup' is a 100 proof, late-night ballad that would have made Charles Brown smile."Dave Rubin, Guitar Edge

It isn't really surprising that as a songwriter David Egan has had cuts on albums by the likes of such blues and blues-rock singers as Joe Cocker, Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge, and Etta James, since he writes songs in what comes across as an authentic blues style, songs that sound like they could have been written in the 1940s and '50s instead of the '90s and '00s. As a performer on his second solo album, You Don't Know Your Mind, Egan provides another batch of songs that would be worthy covers for some of the same performers. (Actually, "Sing It" has already appeared as the title song of an album by Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, and Tracy Nelson.) The only downside of his ability to write material so steeped in tradition is that they can sound a little too familiar, even on first hearing. The title song and the closing song, "Smile," are both barrelhouse piano numbers that could have come from the repertoire of Professor Longhair. "If It Is What It Is (It's Love)," a duet with Jennifer Niceley, might have been written and performed by Fats Waller in the '30s. "Money's Farm" and "Sing It" are both set to New Orleans second-line rhythms and might as well be by Dr. John or the Neville Brothers. And while one is tempted to sing along to the feisty, allegorical "Proud Dog," it wouldn't be hard to drift over to such dangerously similar tunes as Hank Williams' "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" and Joe South's "Games People Play." Egan's renditions of his songs are a cut above merely being good publishing demos. He is also steeped in the Louisiana style as a performer, playing excellent keyboards (for which he is not credited on the album, though that must be him) and singing in a thin but soulful tenor. Still, more distinctive stylists in the blues and soul vein will want to pick up this disc for possible cover material. ~ William Ruhlmann

Personnel: David Egan (vocals); Kevin Gordon, Buddy Flett (guitar); Dennis Taylor (baritone saxophone); Ron Eoff (bass guitar); Paul Griffith (drums); Mike Dillon (percussion); Katie Rees, Charlene Howard (background vocals).

Dirty Linen (p.50) - "Egan closes out with 'Smile,' a self-explanatory message that assures life goes easier without the attitude."
Living Blues (p.39) - "The album opens with a simmering seven-and-a-half-minute title track about a booze-soaked relationship gone sour, which leads into the rollicking barrelhouse groove of 'You're Lyin' Again'..."