Roll on another hit!
It’s funny but I still remember Kid Rock back in the early ‘90’s just after his debut ‘Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast’ was released by Jive Records. Born Robert James Ritchie in 1971, Kid Rock back in 1990 had a classic spiked Gary Rhodes haircut, with his hair shaved around his ears and around the back, slightly different from his long straight Country locks from today. Of course he was also rapping about, ‘Yo Da Lin In The Valley’ which was a poetic way of describing oral sex, and whilst there was some great Metal crossover moments (courtesy of producer Mike E Clark who was also behind fellow Detroiter’s Insane Clown Posse), it wasn’t until 1999 when ‘Cowboy’ suggested that he has more than a pint or two of Southern blood running through his veins, and more recently his Country Rock song, ‘All Summer Long’ was a smash hit all over the globe, looping the classic guitar riff from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.
So to this single, ‘Roll On’: Is it Cowboy Country crooning or hard hitting Hip Hop? This is another slice of easy-listening Country Rock, and it’s very good. Having shaken off his Bad Boy image a touch in a hope of finally maturing, and aside from any scuffles with Tommy Lee, this shows that he’s beginning to sing from the heart being quite contemplative throughout the lyrical content whilst slow guitars and female backing singers harmonise, and even the odd saxophone appears, and doesn’t sound out of place. It’s also worth noting that Kid Rock’s voice has improved immensely since the ‘Devil Without A Cause’ days when he first had a go at opening up the old vocal chords.
I was a big fan of Kid Rock to start with, then he had some mediocre ‘crossover’ albums with him shouting out raps, before he brought me back around again with his most recent album, ‘Rock N Roll Jesus’. This is good stuff, perhaps without the catchy stolen riff of, ‘All Summer Long’ but it’s a great track all the same.