For Crow Jane Alley, the follow-up to Horse Of A Different Color (1999), Willy DeVille has once again sought inspiration in the southernmost parts of the United States and further down, in Mexico. And again DeVille combines different music styles, which all have in common that they were the basis for current American pop music, such as rhythm & blues, country, soul and texmex. Opening track
… Chieva, with David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) sets the tone for the rest of the album, which despite the varied styles still retains a genuine Latin American flavor. It is striking how different DeVille's voice can sound, as shown in Muddy Waters Rose Out Of The Mississippi Mud, in which he uses an unadulterated blues voice. Misfit is Slave To Love, a cover by Brian Ferry, which has a completely different sound and is not really appropriate on Crow Jane Alley. DeVille dedicated the title track to producer Jack Nitzsche, who died in 2000, who produced several Mink DeVille albums. (IV)more
