Melody Trucks & The Lee Boys: Capturing Righteous Lightning in a Bottle!

by Scott Hopkins

[A million thanks to Tony Brier of Brier Media LLC for his outstanding photographs!]

Melody Trucks, percussionist, vocalist, music educator, and daughter of the late Butch Trucks, and The Lee Boys, brilliant purveyors of sacred steel music, hooked up again, this time for a three-night run through Florida, going from Panama City to Sarasota and then to Jacksonville. We were blessed once again to witness them capture righteous lightning in a bottle on Saturday, June 7, at Big Top Live in Sarasota, a wonderful outdoor venue.

A word first about The Lee Boys, because these gents have been spread very thin at times. They sail regularly on Virgin cruises, and not all members of what we knew as the “original” band have been available all the time. In fact, when they absolutely blew up the stage at Sunshine Get Down in April, vocalist Derrick Lee was joined by five men we had not seen before, and they were spectacular. That included pedal steel player Frank Owens, “The Professor.”

At the same time as this show, several Lee Boys members, including guitarist Alvin Lee, were in Miami for the celebration of life for another of sacred steel’s titans, Calvin Cooke.

The decision was made for this show to feature Alvin Cordy, longtime bass player, the aforementioned Frank Owens, and a drummer. I have to confess that I didn’t understand until later that he was, in fact, Big Easy. He had lost considerable weight and, more importantly, had both of his knees rebuilt; we were accustomed to seeing him use crutches. Nonetheless, I should have known it was him from his masterful time on kit. Trucks was absolutely correct when she called him “INSPIRATIONAL”! And he’s just Easy now!

They opted to fill in with local players, and Sarasota provided two great ones. We have not been accustomed to seeing the band with a keyboard player, although they did have one at Sunshine Get Down. We had seen Jeremy Egglefield before at Big Top Live – playing with Trucks, and he was outstanding once again on organ, clavinet, piano, and electric piano. Guitarist Dana Lawrence tucked right into the fold with great support all set long.

BOTTOM LINE: The Lee Boys will be superb regardless of which great players are there!

The show was scheduled for 7 to 10, but the sun was absolutely brutal in their faces. They completed a quick soundcheck with “So Much to Live For” and then retreated, announcing they would begin at 7:30, an excellent decision. Cordy, a great singer in addition to his bass-playing chops, shared many of the vocals with Trucks, with Owens also firmly in the game.

The set opened with Cordy explaining that we were “We Gonna Have a Good Time,” and he was right! Egglefield and Lawrence got a chance to show their stuff right off the bat. Trucks sang “Call That Gone,” which melted into a dandy “Fiyo on the Bayou” (The Meters), Trucks’ voice soaring to the heavens at the end. “Call That Gone” was the first time we heard Lawrence as lead vocalist, sharing with Trucks.

The traditional sacred steel portion opened with “So Much to Live For,” Egglefield at bat again and Owens shredding. Trucks loves to talk about how this collaboration arose, mentioning first the late great Wanee Music Festival presented by Butch Trucks and The Allman Brothers Band. She mentioned meeting a man whose influence on most in this scene cannot possibly be overstated: Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret.). And out poured a superb reading of the Col.’s “Yield Not to Temptation.”

“Testify” is the Lee Boys’ answer to those who might want to testify, so powerful. Owens sang and made his pedal steel sing as well, with everyone in on the tune. Trucks then told the story of seeing The Lee Boys for the first time at Wanee 2013 and how it became a family affair as they played her sister’s wedding! They followed that with “Stand Back,” a great ABB tune from Eat a Peach.

After a funky look at “Superstition,” they turned “The Professor” loose, first for a down and dirty “Hey Joe” and then “Pressin’ On.” “I’ll Take You There” turned the temperature down just a bit before Cordy closed the set with “Feel the Music.”

“Don’t go anywhere,” we were told. “We’ll be back after a quick break.”

“We Gonna Have a Good Time” was a solid start to set one; this reprise was an overwhelming powerhouse led by Cordy. It was lit! From here sacred steel tunes and others seemed to alternate, beginning with their “I’m Not Tired,” which exploded, as is the tradition, into a wicked “Dance with Me”! After “Going in the Right Direction,” they jumped into a fine version of the Bobby Blue Bland smash “Turn On Your Lovelight.” Lawrence again shared stanzas with Trucks here! Egglefield had a great electric piano solo.

To this point, the sound engineer had the sound dialed in perfectly. Unfortunately, he got a little overenthusiastic and cranked the volume up a bit. It was unnecessary, and it cause the electric piano, pedal steel, and even Trucks’ vocals to occasionally pierce the ear. Suggestion for future: don’t tamper with perfection!

Trucks and Owens shared vocals on “Don’t Let the Devil Ride,” one of their best-known songs. At this point it was 10:00, and they thought they had no more time. Fortunately, the promoter said they could play until 10:30. Smiles all around!

They played one of their favorite covers, the Solomon Burke gem “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.” Then Trucks and Owens began bantering about trains, Owens then turning his pedal steel into a roaring freight train before they shifted gears into a wild  “Folsom Prison Blues,” Trucks singing. Two more pure dance favorites rolled out next, a crushing “Shakey Ground” (The Temptations) was already designed to dovetail perfectly into “Give Up the Funk” (Parliament). Masterful!

Cordy sang another band favorite, “I Don’t Know What You Came to Do,” and for the final song they chose Bobby Lee Rodgers’ masterpiece “Tumbling Down.”

Thank you to Melody Trucks, The Lee Boys (Alvin Cordy, Frank Owens, and Easy), Jeremy Egglefield, Dana Lawrence, and Big Top Live for a magnificent night of music, capturing that righteous lightning in a bottle!