Lemme just lay this out there. I’ve always hated white bluesmen. I don’t care how ‘technically-gifted’ he is, every time Stevie Ray Vaughan launches into one of his 12-bar wankfests I turn my radio dial. I can tolerate Clapton right until he uncorks another Willie Dixon vintage. And Johnny Winters: pack it up for the next state fair, snowy. So the likelihood of "Road House: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" being my cuppa was slim from the get-go.


You may remember Jeff Healey as Casey. His Jeff Healey Band were the house band at the Double Deuce in Road House. His blues guitar prowess is on ample display here (check his solo “I’m Tore Down”) so if this be your thing, by all means: enjoy.

There also a few old-timers in the house. The Voice of Chevy, Bob Seger provides a credible cover of Fats Domino’s “Blue Monday”. Well, it’s credible until at 1:22, some studio hack detonates a catastrophic synth-sax solo. We also get Little Feat (post-Lowell George), who contribute “Rad Gumbo,” a generic zydeco ditty whose ‘radness’ is better suited for a Putamayo Summer Sampler than an action movie soundtrack.


The movie Road House contains a wealth of music from artists as diverse as Wilson Pickett, the Crew Cuts and Alabama - so the fact that this compilation caps off at a stingy eleven cuts is a bit troubling. Even more troubling is that executive producer Jimmy Iovine decided to squander two of the those tracks on golden throat Patrick Swayze. If we can take anything positive out of Jimmy’s indiscretion, it’s that after singing on two previous soundtrack albums (Dirty Dancing, Next of Kin), Pat finally hung up his microphone for good after this one.


BONUS LINK:
Jeff Healey Band - When the Night Comes Falling (video)