Marc Black | Everybody Wants My Hat
(Suma Records)
Songwriter Marc Black has been a Woodstock area stalwart—heck, legend—for decades, and his latest 11-track disc, Everybody Wants My Hat, from the finger-snapping opening title track to the closing chill jazziness of “This World of Mine,” is further evidence why. Short, sweet songs; deep, snug hooks; funky sounds (dig the kazoo on “Tears of Joy”); a perfect Catskills mix of electric and acoustic tones; what more does a listener want? Black, inspired by the twin forces of a visit to Berlin and the conundrum of COVID-19, deftly summons up a mix of John Sebastian and Bobby Charles in a hipster blend measured by an admittedly older, more traditional yardstick. But it works, whether in the tinges of gospel in “Drum of Peace” (cowritten with Jennifer Condos) or in the truthful eeriness of “I Write My Name.” There’s a reason, as Black intones early on, that everybody wants his hat.
This article appears in January 2022.
