Inspired by the Bobby “Blue” Bland song “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City,” bluesman Scott Ellison reached out to Michael Price (who co-wrote it with Danny Walsh), and ended up collaborating with him for 10 of his new album’s 14 tracks (an experience he describes as “eye-opening”).
From a Chicago-meets-Texas shuffle to full tilt blues-rock workouts, pure soul blues and just about every point between, Ellison’s searing guitar and soulful vocals make for a potent one-two punch. Featuring his primary backing and touring band on some tracks and an array of Los Angeles-based all-stars including members of Eric Clapton’s band and Albert Lee’s band on others, There’s Something About The Night weaves an array of styles together in a cohesive package that checks all the blues boxes and then some.
Premiering today is Scott Ellison’s video for “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City.” The guitarist dips into one of his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s darkest moments to bring a whole new dimension to the classic.
Ellison notes of the first single from the forthcoming album:
The hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre had just happened, and even though the song is really about the fallout from a relationship gone south, it’s not a big jump to paint with a bigger brush and apply the lyrics in a much broader context. This was actually the first song I started working on for this album. I’m from Tulsa, and when I was growing up I never heard anything about it. Not a word.
They didn’t teach you about it in school, it was as if it had never happened. I really resented that it had been pushed under the rug for so long. It was such an obscene event, and basically excising it from this city’s history for decade after decade magnified that obscenity beyond belief. I can’t even begin to imagine what the people who went through it felt and what their descendants feel, so when I had the chance to make this video I really wanted to dig into it deep.
I told Don Kreutzweiser (the director) what I wanted to do; the message. I wanted to make it heavy, to make people sit up and take notice. He found all this amazing footage, which I had no idea even existed, and put it all together.
