Susan Tedeschi

SUSAN TEDESCHI - JUST WON'T BURN (1998)

1. Rock Me Right
2. You Need To Be With Me
3. Little By Little
4. It Hurt So Bad
5. Found Someone New
6. Looking For Answers
7. Can't Leave You Alone
8. Just Won't Burn
9. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
10. Angel from Montgomery
11. Friar's Point

A Boston native now living in Atlanta, Sue Tedeschi gets wildly overpraised by some purported blues pundits and gratuitously slammed by others. The truth lies somewhere in between. She's an earnest but undistinguished singer and a functional songwriter-guitarist whose music provides mild entertainment. On an album that veers between blues-slanted material (try "Friar's Point") and bluesy pop-rock (take your pick), she carries on with élan but none of the finesse or emotional clarity of a big-league singer like Joan Osborne or Bonnie Raitt. Tedeschi's cover of John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery," alas, is her blatant imitation of the famous redhead but it is light years away from Raitt's persuasive capacity for interpreting lyrics. The most alluring track is "Can't Leave You Alone," written by Tedeschi band member Adrienne Hayes, who unleashes a stirring little guitar solo therein. --Frank-John Hadley