This I Gotta See (CD - 2004)

Personnel: Andy Griggs (background vocals); Andy Griggs (vocals); Delbert McClinton, Bekka Bramlett (vocals, background vocals); Nashville String Machine (strings); Steve Nathan (piano, Wurlitzer piano, organ, Hammond b-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer); Michael Omartian (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Michael Rhodes (bass guitar); Neil Thrasher, Russell Terrell (hand claps, background vocals); Donny Kees, Wendell Mobley (hand claps); Chip Davis, Wes Hightower (background vocals); Randy Scruggs (acoustic guitar, slide guitar, National guitar, banjo); Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Brent Rowan (electric guitar, slide guitar); Dan Dugmore (electric 12-string guitar, steel guitar, dobro); Glen Duncan, Stuart Duncan (mandolin, fiddle); Greg Morrow (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixer: Steve Marcantonio.

Recording information: Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, TN; SCruggs Sound Studio, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Pamela Springsteen.

On his third outing, Louisiana-born Andy Griggs continues his streak of hits with a sound that's indebted to Southern rock and latter-day Outlaw Country artists like Travis Tritt. Griggs comes charging out of the gate with a hard-hitting, electric sound on the first track, the anthemic title song. Thereafter, blues-rock guitar licks and rock rhythms rub shoulders with country ballads, fiddles, and acoustic guitars. There's enough of a rock & roll production aesthetic here to suggest that Griggs has more than a few ZZ Top albums in his record collection, but the slower, more country-oriented tracks will appeal to more traditional country listeners. With a closing number that could have come off a vintage Charlie Daniels album, Griggs has got a bit of the Southern rebel in him as well, and THIS I GOTTA SEE never falls into a stylistic rut. minimize