album of hand-polished gems. Wolf's thoughtful delivery and the band's deft ensemble work, so commanding in its understatement, give such songs as "Growin' Pain" and "Sleepless" their simmering power. They lock into a tight Memphis-soul groove on "A Lot of Good Ones Gone," wherein Wolf expresses loss commingled with the will to persevere. He wraps his warmest, most affectionate vocal around "Hey Jordan," a sweet, shuffling ballad. Wolf and Mick Jagger -- how's that for a summit meeting? -- join forces on "Nothing But the Wheel," a righteously ragged duet whose countryish overtones evoke the Rolling Stones' "Sweet Virginia." Keith Richards adds stinging guitar licks on "Too Close Together," a romping jump blues by Sonny Boy Williamson.
Sleepless is a tributary and reflective record, tapping into a lifetime's passion for old-school R&B, blues, country and reggae. On "Oh Marianne," Wolf even delves into the graceful, Latin-inflected pop of the Drifters era with masterful results. The album's gorgeous, bittersweet aura is perfectly summarized in a couplet from this song: "Life is a dead-end street/Oh, but the music's sweet." And it doesn't get much sweeter than Sleepless.
JANN S. WENNER
(RS 906 - October 3, 2002)
