The Lucky Losers just got back to San Francisco after a long national tour. The duo—vocalist Cathy Lemons, and singer and harmonica player Phil Berkowitz—said they were glad to be home, but they didn’t have a lot of time to rest.
“We’re releasing our new album, Arrival, in a couple of days,” Lemons said. “We book and manage ourselves, so putting a record out requires a lot of work. We have to hire a radio publicist and a press publicist, arrange for the distribution and manufacture of the CDs, and get things set up on the streaming services. It’s all got to be perfect.”
Arrival is the duo’s sixth collection, and follows in the footsteps of their 2020 set Godless Land, winner of five Independent Blues Awards, including Best Blues/R&B Soul CD. It’s a fitting award, since their arrangements draw on R&B, soul, gospel, rock, funk and downhome blues.
They recorded Arrival at Greaseland Studios with members of their touring band—Chris Burns on keys, Simon Smith on lead guitar—along with some special guests and multi-instrumentalist and producer Kid Andersen (Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, Tommy Castro).
“We’re more focused on classic soul and blues this time around,” Berkowitz said. “We even have some ’70s pop and rock’n’roll.” Lemons agreed and said they also included “Ain’t the Marrying Kind,” an acoustic outing, with percussion supplied by stomping feet and hand clapping.
“I came up with that song at the end of the recording sessions,” Lemons said. “I had the idea of us having a public argument, kind of like in Jackie Gleason’s The Honeymooners. My mother was married four times and my sister was married six times, so I’m terrified of marriage, but it’s a funny song.
“We didn’t have a drummer in the studio,” Lemons continued. “Kid [Andersen] had us stomp on the floor, and we recorded it with some reverberation. We all clapped the back beat together and Kid played his 12-string guitar with a Mississippi blues sound, giving it a bit of a John Lee Hooker vibe.”
Lemons and Andersen also collaborated on “S-C-A-M,” an R&B number. The chorus is chanted by the ensemble, accented by a horn section, with Lemons singing about the ways folks can get bilked out of their cash, by everyone from local thieves to government officials.
There’s a hint of gospel in “Pull on The Rope.” Burns plays sustained notes on the organ to open the tune, with Lemons adding sanctified melismas to her vocal lines. It’s a metaphorical description of the search for salvation, with a call-and-response chorus and a short, soulful harmonica solo by Berkowitz.
Berkowitz also shines on “I Believe Her,” a slow, traditional blues. His keening harp accents intensify Lemons’ vocal, as she expresses the difficulty women face when calling out an abusive relationship to family and friends.
This is the sixth album the duo has made with Andersen. They said they loved his approach to producing and arranging. “He has a grand vision and, if you trust him and give up on your ego, he’ll bring the songs to life,” Lemons said.
“He’s got a great sense of pitch, as do I, so between the three of us we’ve never come up with a bum note on any record,” Lemons continued. “He has a library of thousands of roots and blues songs in his mind. His references are identical to ours, so we can count on him to understand what we’re going for. He helped us lean into the sound of early ’70s soul.”
Although they’ve been making records and playing together for 11 years, Berkowitz said he believed Arrival was a fitting title for the duo’s latest offering. “I imagined us arriving on a train or stage coach,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘Just because you’ve arrived in one spot along your way, it doesn’t mean you’ve got time to rest on your laurels. It’s a continuum.’
“You’ve arrived many times in your life,” he added. “Sometimes you’re greeted with flying colors, sometimes with: ‘What took you so long?’ A lot of effort goes into arriving, creatively and physically. That’s why we put out albums. Each one is a starting point to the next destination.”
‘Arrival’ will be released by MoMojo Records on Friday, Nov. 7. For more info visit theluckylosers.com. Listen to the band’s albums at theluckyloserswin.bandcamp.com.
