Deceived Alan Arena

• 1 Raised on Radio 03:04
• 2 Believe in Yourself 04:34
• 3 Deceived 03:18
• 4 Big Black Cat 03:24
• 5 Devil in the Bottle 03:12
• 6 Mother Earth 02:55
• 7 Speed of Life 02:40
• 8 Hypnotized 03:06
• 9 Believe in Yourself (Radio Edit) 03:30
• 10 Deceived (Instrumental) 03:18
• Total Runtime 33:01

Info for Deceived

Singer and guitarist Alan Arena brings a deep set of blues rockers together on this latest release. The team of Paul Nelson/g, Brad Hallen/b, Marty Richards/dr, Brooks Milgate/p-org and Stephens Clements/perc bring in some cameo guests for some clever originals. Arena comes off as a storyteller here, spinning yards as the fun “Big Black Cat”, the autobiographic “Raised On Radio” and the Memphis swamp of “Devil In The Bottle”, all backed by some hip riffs. He glides over a Latin pulse on “Deceived” and wails along Jerry Portnoy’s heavy harp on Memphis Slim’s “Mother Earth”, while searing over Richards’ snappy sticks on “Hypnotized”.

"Full of organ swirls, honky-tonk piano, and thumpin’ bass notes, on “Speed of Life” Arena chimes “my life is turned upside down and there is no place to turn around…things just got out of hand, as things don’t always go as planned…I’m traveling at the speed of life”. “Hypnotized” with “Sax” Gordon Beadle, “I been on the road for a lot of time, but when I saw you’ve been hypnotized… I just want to shine one moment at a time but since I met you I’ve been hypnotized”. “Believe In Yourself (Radio Edit)”, reprises this song with some great piano from Milgate. On the closer, with “Sax” Gordon and percussionist Clements, “Deceived” is also reprised but performed as an instrumental.“Deceived” should garner Arena a lot of attention. The album is dedicated to “Hugs For Lizbeth”, and the caregivers. Arena also reminds us of Paul Nelson who not only played with Johnny Winter but also opened for many artists at The Music Room in Cape Cod, including Kim Wilson, Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia, Shemekia Copeland, Bernard Allison, and others. Now Arena honors the legacy of Paul Nelson." (Richard Ludmerer, makingascene.org)

Alan Arena, vocals, guitars
Paul Nelson, guitar
Brad Hallen, bass
Marty Richards, drums
Brooks Milgate, keyboards
Jerry Portnoy, harmonica

Alan Arena
had two top 10 New England albums when he moved away from Boston to become a caregiver for his best friend, a veteran who had been stricken with Huntington’s Disease. He thought performing original music might no longer be in his future, but when a venue and studio called The Music Room opened on Cape Cod, he decided to see if it might be a good place to record new material. It turned out to be the break he never found in Boston. Grammy-winning guitarist and producer Paul Nelson, who played for Johnny Winter for 14 years, was a partner in the venue, and they struck up a conversation. Paul asked Alan to play a couple of his original songs and, impressed, offered to produce Alan’s next recording.

This album contains no booklet.