Janiva Magness

Truth in the Room: The Clearmountain Sessions

Blue Elan Records

Janiva Magness is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and one of the most acclaimed voices in contemporary blues. A seven-time Blues Music Award winner, she is the recipient of the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award and the first woman to win that prize. She is also a 2025 inductee into the Women’s Songwriter Hall of Fame. Overall, Magness has spent three decades creating emotionally fearless music that bridges blues, soul, R&B, and Americana. Her powerful performances and unwavering authenticity have earned her a devoted global audience and a lasting place among the genre’s most important artists.

Magness was born in Detroit and grew up amid considerable hardship, a childhood marked by instability and loss that would ultimately deepen her capacity to connect with the emotional core of the blues. This is the 18th album for Magness and follows the 2019 publication of her memoir, Weeds Like Us, which vividly portrayed the traumas of both her parents’ suicide and her often nightmarish experiences in the foster care system.

With the release of Truth in the Room, Magness’ first comprehensive live album, she has delivered the document her fans have long been waiting for — proof, captured on record, of what she has always done live: make a room stop, listen, and feel. Recorded in front of an intimate gathering of 150 invited friends and industry guests by the legendary Bob Clearmountain, it is a milestone that crowns her as one of the most honest and enduring voices in American blues. Lead vocalist Magness is accompanied by guitarist Zach Zunis; keyboardist, Hammond B-3 organist, and backing vocalist Jim Alfredson; bassist and backing vocalist Gary Davenport; and drummer W.F. Quinn Smith. Bernie Barlow is added on backing vocals. The album was recorded at Berkeley Street Studios and mixed at Mix This!

The album opens with “My Bad Luck Soul,” written by B.B. King and Jules Bihari in 1961. Magness sings, “I wanna go home but I ain’t got sufficient clothes. Doggone my bad luck soul, I ain’t got no money and my job’s done closed, I would call that old man but I’m afraid he may explode. My man done quit me, my husband too. Doggone my bad luck soul, I ain’t got nobody and I don’t know what to do. They say things will get better but I don’t believe that’s true…I thought I had friends they all disappeared, I got no credit…they say things will get better but I don’t believe that’s true…I would call my old man but I’m afraid he may explode.”

On “Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love,” written by George Jackson and fabulously sung by Ann Peebles, Magness chimes, “I knew from the very beginning what you had in mind, but I said to myself baby you just be wastin your time, but somehow during the night, things got out of hand, and before I knew it baby, I was giving all my love away again…Oh, I slipped, tripped, and fell in love with you baby…slipped, tripped and fell in love.”

“Make It Rain” was co-written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan in 2004. Magness chants, “She took all my money, and my best friend, you know the story, here it comes again…I have no pride…life’s too quite when I’m stressed out…make it rain.”

On the slow blues “You Were Never Mine,” co-written by Gary Nicholson, Delbert McClinton, and Benmont Tench in 1997, Magness cries, “I saw someone again today, who remembered you and me. They asked all the same old questions, I gave the same excuse. They said what a shame, to lose a love so fine, but I never lost you, I never really lost you, cause you were never mine.”

“That’s What Love Will Make You Do” was written by Little Milton Campbell in 1971. Magness belts out, “That’s what love will make you do. Oh, when I hear your name, I start to shake inside, yes I do. When I see you stroll, I lose my self-control. But that’s what love will do for you, that’s what love will make you do. Oh yeah, no matter how hard I fight it. Baby I’m still in love with you,” with some great Hammond B-3 from Alfredson.

On “Hammer,” a new original co-written by Magness and Darling and featuring Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, Magness shouts, “you got to keep swinging until the walls come down. You’re never gonna see somebody walking up here handing you a crown. You got to just keep on moving no matter what they say. If you’re chasin’ down your dreams, walk right by when somebody’s standing in your way…you got to keep on swinging the hammer every single day.”

On “The Devil Is an Angel Too,” written by Julie Miller in 1997, Magness wails, “Well, you look just like an angel, you sound so bright and true. You seem so sweet coming down the street, but the devil is an angel too,” with some great slide from Zunis.

“Closer” was written by Annie Mack, Jonathan Herchert, and Paul O’Sullivan in 2022. Magness howls, “Well, I finally laid my heels to rest, put away my pride and childish ways. I have traveled far…all the braids in my hair and the lines on my face, here is the simple truth, I I’m a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and a little bit closer to the grave.”

“Love Wins Again” is a second original, written by Darling, Magness, and Carl Sealove. Magness declares, “You say you’re done fussin’ and fightin’, uh, huh, yeah…your patience wearing way past thin, you’re up to here, with all the lonely, this is where we begin-yeah. Now this is so much more than romance-uh, huh, uh, crystal clear right from the start, we all fit together now in any kind of weather…love wins again.”

On the album’s closer, “Things Left Undone,” written by William Maddox and Paul Thorn in 2002, Magness croons, “When your life is over, you’re reaching the end, and the river of Jordan, is around the bend. Will you be counting all the trophies you’ve won, or will you look back on, things left undone? When a stranger came knocking, did you let him in? Was there food on your table for a down and out friend. Did you hide in the shadows, did you walk in the sun? or do you regret the things left undone?…do you regret?”

Magness states, “I am really happy I said yes to the opportunity to work with Bob Clearmountain. He actually captured the energy of me and the band. And there it is. It all seems to come back to Spirit, even before the brain understands it, the heart can receive it, and when we find it, it is truly glorious. Once again, thanks for listening, connecting and coming along for the ride.”

Richard Ludmerer

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