Sonny Landreth

Sugar Hill

Thirsty for the rock and blues of the Allman Brothers and Lynryd Skynyrd? Levee Town is the place to go for both musical and literary refreshment. Landreth picks and plays slide on electric guitar to stunning effect. This is his third album since 1993 that explores his roots in the South—his musical vocabulary is Southern, drenched with zydeco, blues, soul and rock. He has ace sidemen such as Michael Doucet and David Ranson along, and Bonnie Raitt joins Landreth on the stirring pop-blues tune “Soul Salvation.” Amid the musical wonders, it’s easy to miss Landreth’s fine lyrics. Don’t. They evoke a Mississippi Delta with roots from Robert Johnson and Robbie Robertson, suggesting the profound, magical possibilities of myth. “This River” reminds me of Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and the title cut has the opaque possibilities of songs from the Big Pink era. A keeper.