Blues & Gospel - Newsletter 142 - Johnny Adams -> Charlie Musselwhite + DVDS, Books, Calnedar
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NEWSLETTER #142
Blues & Gospel
 Johnnie Adams -> Charlie Musselwhite
 

NEW DVDs
 
BIG GEORGE BROCK Cat Head 1002 Hard Times ● DVD $19.98
DVD,1 hour, 7 min., recommended This Damien Blaylock-directed film began life as a promo piece for MS. bluesman Big George Brock. It ended up as a documentary about Brock's life and times. He worked as a sharecropper, boxer, and blues club owner; is said to have knocked down Sonny Liston (before his title), and even wrestled a bear for money! As a club owner, Brock booked Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf and other greats over the years, and played with them all. His own style owes more than something to Howlin' Wolf, although Brock names Waters as the king of the blues. Brock is no youngster, but his singing and harp playing still have an undeniable power and rawness, even if he does perform sitting down. Concert footage is interspersed with interview segments. In the end, this DVD lacks any real depth in terms of revealing Brock as a man, perhaps because his record label wasn't interested in showing him in anything but a flattering light, perhaps because Blaylock only shot film for three days. So Brock tells about picking cotton (and actually picks some on camera) and boxing but reveals little beyond a few personal observations. Still Brock's story is pretty damn interesting. Did I mention that he has 42 kids? (JC)

 
MAGIC SLIM Blind Pig 6003 Anything Can Happen ● DVD $19.98
DVD, 75 minutes, good Brief liner notes accompanying this disc state that "although the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's luxuriously appointed Big Room is light-years removed from the kind of clubs in which Magic Slim grew up learning and plying his craft, the music is as real as it gets." True since Slim and his three-piece band are real people playing real instruments to a real audience in Chico, CA, but the antiseptic feel of the surroundings finds Magic Slim rarely rising above the level of mediocrity with the sameness of the grooves getting downright tedious after the first few songs. Miles Jordan's notes close by saying "I never made it to Florence's, or any other of Chicago's clubs where this music lives and breathes, but I can't imagine that what we heard that night in Chico was too much different from what Slim and his band play for his Chicago audiences." A suggestion would be for the writer to make a pilgrimage to the Windy City in order to witness what Slim lays down at B.L.U.E.S. or other home turf clubs to see if that opinion changes. (CR)

 
OTIS RUSH & FRIENDS Eagle Eye DVD 39114 Live At Montreux, 1986 ● DVD $13.98
DVD, 13 tracks, 88 min., highly recommended Rush drew national attention way back in the 1950s while at Cobra Records, where his I Can't Quit You Baby hit the charts hard enough to do serious damage. By this 1986 show at Montreux, he was near the top of the short list of greatest living bluesmen. A gifted and expressive singer and guitarist, Rush is backed by Professor Eddie Lusk's band, as hot a blues machine as you are likely to find. The "friends" are Eric Clapton and Luther Allison, both of whom were heavily influenced by our man. Clapton joins Rush on a cover of Albert King's Crosscut Saw and stays for Double Trouble and All Your Love (I Miss Loving), both of which Clapton has recorded with marked success. Then Luther Allison waltzes on stage and all three blues legends turn their attentions to the Memphis Slim classic Everyday I Have The Blues. What more could you want? (JC)

 
POPS STAPLES Silvermine Video 4042 In Concert ● DVD $19.98
Color, 60 mins, recommended The first 30 minutes of this video features the patrich of Staple Singers, Roebuck "Pops" Staples doing a solo set alone with his Delta blues flavored treemlo laden electric guitar on a varied selection including Nobody's Fault But Mine/ Will The Circle Be Unbroken/ Too Close/ Why Am I Treated So bad and others plus a rap on the dangers of drugs. Some beautiful performances though somewhat marred by an annoying hum throughout and some ridiculous graphic effects. For the next 15 minutes Pops is joined by a band doing some of the songs from his 90s albums - Pops singing is great but the band is a bit heavy handed. The last 15 minutes features various contemporary groups and choirs including one that sound like hip-hop gospel. Not really my cup of tea. Production throughout is pretty amateurish but those first 30 minutes is a real joy if you can ignore the hum. (FS)

**

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Fat Possum 1020 You See Me Laughing ● DVD $18.98
DVD, color, 86 min., highly recommended It would be easy to condemn this documentary as cynical self-promotion on the part of Fat Possum Records, but it doesn't feel like that at all. It takes a look at the FP roster of elderly blues practitioners, yes, but one gets the feeling that label founder Matthew Johnson really is motivated by a desire to see his musicians get the respect they deserve...and some money, if possible. The big star here is Fat Possum's best seller, R. L. Burnside, who recently passed. The clip of Burnside from the early 1970s is a real treat, but the reason to watch this is the gritty, realistic way each musician is presented. Holly Springs, Mississippi, ain't Los Angeles, and Cedell Davis and Junior Kimbrough and T-Model Ford and others are allowed to be themselves, even when they aren't always the way a press release might want them. The poverty of the area presses itself through the screen and into your house in ways you will be unlikely to forget. This is the real blues, before it's packaged, shined up, and marketed to middle America. Intense. (JC)

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS Winner 222 Mark Naftalin's Blue Monday Party, Vols 1 & 2 ● DVD $19.98
Blues pianist Mark Naftalin party hosted the weekly Blue Monday Party at the Sleeping Lady Cafe in Fairfax, California between 1979 and 1983 featuring his own band (usually including Bobby Murray/gtr and Henry Oden/ bass), and featuring numerous visiting blues greats. The Blue Monday Party was the scene of three half-hour television specials in 1980 and 1981 and this DVD presents two of them - the first one featuring Lowell Fulson and Percy Mayfield as guests and the second one features Charlie Musselwhite and John Lee Hooker with Luther Tucker in attendance on guitar. All the artists are in fine form with particularly nice performances by Fulson and Hooker - the latter departing from his familiar repertoire with some less familiar songs.
 
MUDDY WATERS Hip-O 5842 Classic Concerts ● DVD $19.98
DVD,25 tracks, about 2 hours, highly recommended This welcome release documents three great Muddy Waters concerts: the Newport Jazz Festival (1960), the Copenhagen Jazz Festival (1968), the Molde Jazz Festival (Norway, 1977). Reason enough to watch is the Newport footage, which has been synced to the stereo tapes for the first time, thus offering exceptional sound to go along with Muddy's remarkable performance. His band at the time included Otis Spann (piano) and James Cotton (harmonica), among others, and during one cut Muddy brings out several of the blues/R&B performers at Newport, including Jimmy Rushing and Sammy Price. The Denmark show also features Otis Spann on keys, and Muddy introduces him as his brother before letting Spann sing Nobody Knows My Trouble and Cold Cold Feeling. Muddy Waters enjoyed a popular revival in the 1970s and his Norway show finds him older (he plays sitting down now) but still vocally powerful beyond any doubt. His band consisted of Pinetop Perkins (piano), Luther "Guitar" Johnson, Jerry Portnoy (harmonica), Calvin Jones (bass), Willie Smith (drums), and Bob Margolin (guitar). Bonus features include a live cut from a London show in 1977 and interview footage. Includes informative liner notes and previously unreleased footage. (JC)

 

NEW CALENDAR
 
CLASSIC BLUES ARTWORK FROM THE 1920S 2007 Calendar Blues Images 207 ● DVD $16.98
Get ready for 2007 with the fourth of what is promised to be a series of 15 calendars using images discovered by collector John Tefteller. These are drawn from a cache of original artwork for advertisements printed in African-American newspapers in the late 20s and early 30s by the Paramount Record Company advertising their latest blues releases. This one features ads for records by Victoria Spivey (not a Paramount but a great image), Charley Patton, Ida Cox, The Beale Street Sheiks, Bumble Bee Slim, Ma Rainey and other. The calendar also includes sample song lyrics, brief biographies and birth and death dates for many blues artists. As if that wasn't enough the calendar comes with a bonus CD with 14 tracks - all 12 of the advertised releases plus four bonus sides including both sides of the recently unearthed fourth Paramount by Son House that was recently reissued by Yazoo and in the introduction to the calendar Tefteller reveals some more information about the source of this incredible and wonderful rarity. Also included are full color inserts to enable you to make your own Classic Blues Artwork CD with a jewel case (jewel case not included) Since these would make such a great gift if you buy five or more calendars you can get them for ● CD $14.98 each! Calendar/ CD set counts as four CDs for shipping purposes.

 

NEW COMPACT DISCS
 
JOHNNY ADAMS Rounder 2182 The Great Johnny Adams Blues Album ● CD $12.98
12 tracks, 53 min., recommended
A compilation of Adams' bluesier tracks drawn from his many (at least a dozen) Rounder releases. Songs feature some fine New Orleans musicians, including Dr. John on piano, Alvin "Red" Tyler on tenor sax, and Duke Robillard on guitar, among others. But since everything here is available on other Rounder CDs, and since the variety of blues styles here is so wide (songs by Sam Cooke, Percy Mayfield, Doc Pomus, Lowell Fulsom, Oscar Lee Perry), it would seem logical enough just to pick up any Johnny Adams CD, because, as here, he always does a fine job in front of the mic. But if you're looking for an Adams blues album recorded in New Orleans, this one qualifies. (JC)

 
JIMI BOTT Roseleaf 001 Cheap Thrills - Live, Vol. 1 ● CD $14.98
11 tracks, 63 minutes, recommended
It's not often that blues drummers issue CDs as a vehicle for displaying their associations with other highly-regarded musicians but there aren't many blues drummers with the pedigree Jimi Bott boasts either (only a few others come to mind). This hour-plus disc contains all previously unissued recordings and showcases Kim Wilson and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rod Piazza, Junior Watson, Mark Hummel, Alex Schultz and many others, with the common thread being Bott's in-the-pocket drumming. Perhaps a bit sonically challenged here and there due to the tracks being recorded live in clubs (but easily listenable and enjoyable), the musicianship is of the highest caliber. That's What You Do To Me/ Ah'w Baby/ I'd Rather Be Blind/ Crippled And Crazy, a storming Jam Up! and plenty more. Bott's self-penned liner notes capture the mood of these cuts well. Super and well-worth it! (CR)

 
BIG GEORGE BROCK Cat Head 1003 Round Two ● CD $14.98
13 tracks, 45 minutes, recommended
Although Big George Brock is no spring chicken at the age of 74, he's still a relative newcomer to recording with "Round Two" being only his second outing, a follow-up to his solid "Club Caravan" disc of last year. This is some serious, down-home juke-joint blues with Brock's throaty harmonica and raspy vocals well to-the-fore with a rocking quartet of guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums assisting. Hubert Sumlin sits in on a pair (Brock's So Long and Willie Dixon's Shake For Me) adding some lowdown six-string, but the hands-down winners are where Brock offers harp with only drum support as on his own tough-as-nails Rockin' Chair and the ragged instrumental Mattson, Miss. And you thought they didn't make records like this anymore. Potent and powerful. (CR)

 
SAM CHATMON Dynamic 32 Blues When It Rains ● CD $17.98
Delightful collection of 11 sides recorded in 1976 at his home in Hollandale, Mississippi by this infrequnetly recorded Mississippi country bluesman and songster. Sam is in fine form on a selection of his most popular songs - St. Louis Blues/ Stoop Down Girl/ I'm A Fool About Your Loving/ Used To Be (Sam's unique take on Lowell Fulson's Black Nights)/ Good Eat Meat Boy, etc.
 
WALLACE COLEMAN Pinto Blue 1954 Stretch My Money ● CD $14.98
12 tracks, 55 min., recommended
A bluesman who smiles on the cover photo? Yes, he does exist. He's blue but his band is good enough that he doesn't need to pose. Coleman covers Lightnin' Hopkins (Mojo Hand), Willie Dixon (Dead Presidents, Bring It On Home), Earl Hooker (Off The Hook), Roosevelt Sykes (Dangerous Man), Howlin' Wolf (Who's Been Talking) and sounds convincing each time out. He's is no slouch with a pen either, as Spare Woman aptly demonstrates. And it doesn't hurt that he's got three guitarists, including Frank "Silk" Smith on slide. Coleman sings and blows harp throughout, though not simultaneously. Nothing here to blow you away, but nothing likely to disappoint either. (JC)

 
MICHAEL COLEMAN & THE DELMARK ALL-STARS Delmark 785 Blues Brunch At The Mart ● CD $14.98
13 tracks, 69 minutes, recommended
With Little Arthur Duncan, Lurrie Bell, Willie Kent, Steve Freund, Bonnie Lee, Tail Dragger, Aaron Moore and others backed by Michael Coleman for a 'live' location recording from Chicago's Jazz Record Mart expectations are bound to be high and the gathered cast doesn't disappoint. Coleman shines bringing new life to The Sky Is Crying mixing T-Bone Walker and Fenton Robinson with his own modern guitar approach and Lurrie Bell sounds better than ever on Reconsider Baby and I Need You So Bad while Steve Freund soars through a rousing My Little Playhouse delivering scorching guitar. It'd be nice if Delmark could manage more recordings from their Blues Brunch series of performances. (CR)
 
THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS Tone-Cool 51633 Painted On ● CD $16.98
12 tracks, 47 minutes, excellent
While Kim Wilson remains as the only original member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, he still maintains the gritty mix of blues, R&B, and vintage rock 'n' roll that brought the band to cult status and later shot them to (somewhat short-lived) stardom. The biggest change is the personnel with Kirk "Eli" Fletcher and Nick Curran sharing guitar duties (with Curran adding a few vocals) but Wilson stands as a brilliant harp player, songwriter, and singer who's aged (and matured) into more than a driving force. Leroy Washington's Wild Cherry is superb with a healthy dose of Kim's originals (Hard Knock/ Got To Get Out/ Postman/ Painted On and more) and Curran's You Torture Me standing tall. Not the straight-ahead blues outing Kim takes on as a solo artist, but just as potent and powerful. (CR)

 
THE FIVE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA Acrobat 4204 1948-1951 ● CD $13.98
28 tracks, 78 mins, essential
The Blind Boys first recorded in 1948 for the Coleman label with Clarence Fountain and Paul Excano sharing lead duties. This superb disc features both sides of their three Coleman sides plus 20 of the 26 sides they recorded for the Gospel label in 1950 and 1951. The Coleman sides are acapella while the Gospel sides add discreet acoustic guitar accompaniment. These performances outshine even their more popular Specialty recordings for sheer vocal beauty. Spirited numbers such as Honey In The Rock, one of their most popular numbers, feature Excano and Fountain trading verses, increasing the overall intensity on every pass. Sound on the first coupl of Coleman sides is abit muffled and distorted but the rest is fine and their detailed notes by Opal Louis nations. (FS)
 
BLIND BOY FULLER JSP JSPCD 7772 Volume 2 + Bull City Red, Cedar Creek Sheik & Others ● CD $28.98
4 CDs, 100 tracks, essential Blind Boy Fuller Volume 1 (JSP 7735) was excellent: this set completes his output and fills out a satisfying box with the work of other east coast artists. On the opening disc it is Fuller's March 1940 sessions which stand out - tracks like Shake It Baby and Somebody's Been Talkin' are among his best uptempo work, while the interesting structure of the eight bar Little Woman You're So Sweet adds further variety. Fuller also now started to record religious material. Whatever the motivation for the gospel sides though, it is difficult to think of him as anything other than a bluesman. Twelve Gates To The City may be brilliantly sung, but it is the embittered, weary opening verse of Crooked Woman Blues which follows that stays longer in the mind.
Disc B begins with Fuller's last session and despite many fine performances like Thousand Woman Blues and Lost Lover Blues provides a chance to play the "you can tell he was ill" game. Neal Slaven nibbles at the subject in his very good booklet notes, but the much quoted "my left side jump, baby, and my flesh begin to crawl" line from Night Rambling Woman, his last recording, also appeared on Passenger Train Woman, an earlier version of the song. The rest of Disc B features the solo work of Bull City Red aka George Washington, Fuller's washboard player - fair enough as a guitarist and vocalist in the Fuller style, but whose best work was as a brilliant accompanist to the master. Disc C is a straight reissue of the tracks on Old Tramp OTCD OTCD-03, in the same order. Cedar Creek Sheik (who may have been white) and Roosevelt Antrim are both limited performers: the Sheik concentrates on novelty and hokum songs while Antrim essays three amateurish blues which share verses and are virtually one performance. Virgil Childers is much better, and you can imagine him as a true traveling man with his repertoire of minstrel show songs and blues. Sonny Jones, who closes the disc, was clearly influenced by Fuller and was a decent guitarist but a rather uninteresting singer.
The final disc is a harder edged affair. The talented Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council usually only gets recognition nowadays as providing inspiration in the naming of Pink Floyd, but like the Trice brothers who also feature he knew Fuller and played in a similar style. Council was also clearly influenced by Blind Blake, as Lookin' For My Baby demonstrates. Frank Edwards' six titles are different - although an east coast bluesman he had a more Chicago style sound (his two 1949 sides not on Document DOCD 5426 are included). A nice bonus is the final four tracks by Denis McMillon. McMillon was a skilled guitarist and strong singer who could play nice slide as well as the infectious rhythms which propel Paper Wooden Daddy (appearing, to the best of my knowledge, for the first time on CD, and which may have been inspired by Fuller's I'm A Rattlesnakin' Daddy). It is a pity that space limitations prevented the reissue of the three alternate takes of McMillon's work. Sound quality of the Fuller and Washington titles is generally very good, providing worthwhile upgrades over previous reissues. Elsewhere the tracks which appeared on Old Tramp are better presented, with some sounding clearer as well as less noisy. Sound is also better than on the Floyd Council and Trice brothers' tracks which appeared on Document DOCD 5168. Altogether this is a very nice set which brings together some important performances in one neat package. (DPR)
ROOSEVELT ANTRIM: Complaint To Make/ I Guess You’re Satisfied/ No Use Of Worryin’/ Station Boy Blues/ BULL CITY RED: Black Woman & Poison Blues/ Everybody Wants To Know How I Die/ Have You Decided (Which Way To Go)/ I Feel Like Shoutin’/ I Saw The Light/ I See The Sign Of Judgment/ I Won’t Be Dogged Around/ Jesus Touched Me/ Mississippi River/ Now I’m Talking About You/ Pick And Shovel Blues/ Richmond Blues/ Talkin’ With Jesus/ CEDAR CREEK SHEIK: Buy It From A Poultry Man/ Don’t Credit My Stuff/ Don’t Use That Stuff/ Ford V-8/ I Believe Somebody’s Been Ridin’ My Mule/ Jimmy Shut His Store Doors/ Mary Had A Little Lamb/ She’s Totin’ Something Good/ Watch The Fords Go By/ What A Pity/ VIRGIL CHILDERS: Dago Blues/ Preacher And The Bear/ Red River Blues/ Somebody Stole My Jane/ Travelin’ Man/ Who’s That Knockin’ At My Door/ FLOYD "DIPPER BOY" COUNCIL: Don’t Want No Hungry Woman/ I’m Grievin’ & I’m Worryin’/ Lookin’ For My Baby/ Poor And Ain’t Got A Dime/ Runaway Man Blues/ Working Man Blues/ FRANK EDWARDS: Gotta Get Together/ Love My Baby/ Sweet Man Blues/ Terraplane Blues/ Three Women Blues/ We Got To Get Together/ BLIND BOY FULLER: Baby Quit Your Low Down Ways Tk 1/ Baby Quit Your Low Down Ways Tk 2/ Big Leg Woman Gets My Pay/ Black Bottom Blues/ Blue And Worried Man/ Bus Rider Blues/ Bye Bye Baby/ Crooked Woman Blues/ Good Feeling Blues/ I Crave My Pigmeat/ I Don’t Care How Long/ I Don’t Want No Skinny Woman/ I Want Some Of Your Pie/ It Doesn’t Matter Baby/ I’m A Stranger Here/ Jesus Is A Holy Man/ Jivin’ Big Bill Blues/ Little Woman You’re So Sweet/ Lost Lover Blues/ Must Have Been My Jesus/ Night Rambling Woman/ No Stranger Now/ Passenger Train Woman/ Precious Lord/ Red’s Got The Piccolo Blues/ Shake It Baby/ Somebody’s Been Talkin’/ Step It Up And Go/ Thousand Woman Blues/ Three Ball Blues/ Twelve Gates To The City/ When You Are Gone/ Woman You Better Wake Up/ Worn Out Engine Blues/ You Can’t Hide From The Lord/ You Got To Have Your Dollar/ You’ve Got Something There/ LITTLE BOY FULLER (RICH TRICE): Bed Spring Blues/ Blood Red River Blues/ Come On Baby/ Down-Hearted Man/ Lazy Bug Blues/ Pack It Up And Go/ Shake Your Stuff/ Trembling Bed Springs/ SONNY JONES: Dough Roller/ I’m Pretty Good At It/ Love Me With A Feeling/ Won’t Somebody Pacify My Mind/ DENNIS MCMILLON: Goin’ Back Home/ Paper Wooden Daddy/ Poor Little Angel Girl/ Woke Up One Morning/ WELLY TRICE: Come On In Here Mama/ Let Her Go God Bless Her

 
VIVIANE GREENE Classics 5173 The Chronological Viviane Greene, 1947-1955 ● CD $14.98
24 tracks, 72 mins, recommended
Another fine artist rescued from obscurity by the good folks at Classics, Viviane Greene was a Texas born singer and piano player who started recording in 1947. This disc features her entire output except for a 1962 session. These recordings made between 1947 and 1955 for a variety of labels. Her material covered a pretty broad spectrum including blues, boogie, sultry ballads and even a version of the classical piece Clair De Lune. At her first session she cut the hot jazzy boogie Unfinished Boogie and the blues ballad Honey, Honey, Honey. The latter was covered by a number of artists including Ray Charles who was a big admirer of Greene and gave a eulogy at her funeral in 1994. The last couple of sessions are pretty much straight pop but the earlier sides have a lot to offer blues fans. (FS)
VIVIANE GREENE: Bowlegged Boogie/ Clair De Lune/ Come On Let's Face It/ Early Mornin' Stroll/ Get To Gettin'/ He's Funny That Way/ He's The Man/ Honey, Can't We Steal Away Together/ Honey, Honey, Honey/ I Guess My Man Don't Love Me/ I'm Wise/ Jades Of Green/ Love Me! Love Me! Love Me! Or Leave Me!/ Lover Boy/ Picture Of You/ Red Light/ Since I Fell For You/ Solitude/ Sugaboy/ Thanks For Nothing/ The Unfinished Boogie/ Tonight You're Mine/ Two Loves Have I

 
THE GRIFFIN BROTHERS Acrobat ACRCD 218 Blues With A Beat, Volume 2 ● CD $10.98
Another fabulous collection of sides by this exciting combo featuring a mix of rocking instrumentals and fine vocals by Margie Day and Buddy Griffin. In addition to 23 tracks by the band there are four solo sides by Buddy Griffin with his wife Claudia on vocals. Includes 12 page booklet with notes by Dave Penny.

 
THE HARMONIZING FOUR Acrobat ADDCD 3005 1943-1954 ● CD $13.98
Acrobat brings another great two CD set devoted to the recordings of one of the great gospel quartets of the post war era - this time The Harmonizing Four of Richmond, Virginia. The group was originally founded in 1927 but didn't make their first recordings until 1943 and this set covers almost all their recordings from that first session until 1954. Their earliest sides are all acapella but by 1947 second tenor Lonnie Smith (father of Lonnie Listin Smith) picked up the guitar and provides discreet but beautifully effective and imaginative guitar licks. 54 tracks in all - many making their first appearance on CD. Compiled and annotated by Opal Louis Nations.
 
J.W. JONES Northern Blues 0035 Kissing In 29 Days ● CD $16.98
14 tracks, 68 minutes. excellent
Canadian JW Jones has been making himself well-known to the blues world through associations with Kim Wilson and other high-ranking artists and follows up 2004's My Kind Of Evil with a new plate showing a definite New Orleans slant from beginning to end. Although not the most potent or forceful singer (not unlike Rusty Zinn), his voice shows improvement, and Jones displays quirky, mature, and highly creative guitar work. The four-piece band is made up of guitar, bass, keys, and drums and pushed along by a large horn section (alto, tenor and baritone saxes plus two trumpets) and features David "Fathead"Newman on a few cuts. Maybe a little less adventurous than his prior recordings by sticking close to the Crescent City but Jones has fun and it comes across in his efforts. (CR)

 
THE KILBURN ALLEY BLUES BAND Blue Bella 1007 Put It In The Alley ● CD $14.98
13 tracks, 59 minutes, excellent
Although still a relatively unknown quantity outside the greater-Chicago circuit, what The Kilborn Alley Blues Band lacks in notoriety they make up for in enthusiasm, passion, and dedication with their gritty blend of straight blues and blues-laced soul. An original dozen with B.B. King's I Like To Live The Love tossed in, this crew knows the meaning of playing from the heart with Andrew Duncanson's lead vocals and guitar belying his age as much as Joe Asselin's tough harp work. Your Next Baby's Daddy with smart lyrics sounds like an outtake of Muddy's Tiger In Your Tank while a shuffling The Blues Take Me In/ Can I Get A Hello and Mr.Campbell's Blues (a heartwarming ode to the late Little Milton) showing the stylish writing and performing abilities of the band. Produced by Nick Moss and recorded in the Chicago suburbs, this disc oozes Chicago grime. (CR)

 
B.B. KING Virgin 11654 Original Greatest Hits ● CD $25.98
2 CDs, 40 tracks, 120 minutes, recommended
From Riley B. King's first outing as a recording artist for the Bullet label in 1949 with his pairing of Miss Martha King and When Your Baby Packs Up And Goes through Blues Stay Away From Me/ Rock Me Baby for Kent in 1964, this is a dandy overview of the blues' greatest ambassador. Boasting superior sound from a superb blues shouter who possessed an ability for some of the most devastating guitar work ever, this collection focuses mainly on sides King recorded for the Bihari brothers' imprints; RPM, Kent, and Crown. 3 O'Clock Blues/ She's Dynamite/ The Woman I Love/ Ten Long Years/ Crying Won't Help You/ Be Careful With A Fool/ Worry, Worry/ Walkin' Dr. Bill and many more with brief notes from Colin Escott and peak chart positions for the songs. Nicely done. (CR)
B.B. KING: 3 O'Clock Blues/ Ain't Nobody's Business/ Bad Luck/ Be Careful With A Fool/ Blind Love/ Blues Stay Away From Me/ Boogie Rock (House Rocker)/ Confessin' The Blues/ Crying Won't Help You/ Days Of Old/ Did You Ever Love A Woman/ Down Now/ Downhearted (How Blue Can You Get?)/ Every Day I Have The Blues/ I'll Survive/ Love You Baby (Take A Swing With Me)/ Mashed Potato Twist/ Miss Martha King/ My Own Fault/ Neighborhood Affair/ On My Word Of Honor/ Peace Of Mind/ Please Accept My Love/ Please Love Me/ Rock Me Baby/ She's Dynamite/ Story Fom My Heart And Soul/ Sweet Little Angel/ Sweet Sixteen Parts 1 & 2/ Ten Long Years/ That Evil Child/ The Woman I Love/ Walkin' Dr. Bill/ When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer/ When Your Baby Packs Up And Goes/ Worry, Worry/ You Don't Know/ You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now/ You Know I Love You/ You Upset Me, Baby

 
CHRIS THOMAS KING 21st Century Blues 2114 Rise ● CD $14.98
11 tracks, 47 mins, highly recommended
Powerful and moving new album by the multi-talented King expressing his feelings about his home town of New Orleans in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Seven of the songs are originals including the spine chilling What Would Jesus Do, the soulful Like A Hurricane (Ghost Of Marie Laveau and the beautiful . Covers include a tremendous rendition of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi which seems remrkably prescient, a tough version of St James Infirmary, the lovely Irish folk song 'Tis The Last Rose Of Summer sung for his mother who died in December 2005 and the set ends with a message of hope with a fine rendition of the Louis Armstrong standard What A Wonderful World. Perhaps not really a blues album there's some fine blues singing and guitar from Chris on a number of tracks and if this wasn't an experience to engender the blues I don't know what is. In the past Chris's music has sometimes seemed unfocussed - here his music expresses his feelings with razor sharp clarity (FS)
Additional comments by Nancy
 It seems to have been the conclusion of the federal government that saving much of the Gulf Coast was optional (certainly less important than getting the oil rigs and refineries back on line), and that rebuilding much of New Orleans had best be left to the tourist industry. If any of you reading this recognize that it is up to us to restore the heart of American vernacular culture that is the Mississippi delta, I recommend that Chris Thomas King's Rise be a touchstone: there have been earlier (also deliberately engineered) destructions of New Orleans by flood than this latest one, and more than a few records by black artists that spoke to the ruin of their lives, but this time it's ours, and Chris Thomas King is the genius out of whose heartbreak and despair its artistic expression was wrung. So listen to it, and share it, and then figure out what you can do to help heal the Delta. (NSN)

 
LEAD BELLY Empire Musicwerks 50833 The Tradition Years - The Legend Of Lead Belly ● CD $13.98
23 tracks, 57 mins, highly recommended
More great sides from the legendary blues singer, songster and 12 string guitarist. These were recorded in 1939, 1943 and 1944 and were originally issued on Musicraft and Asch and since then have appeared on numerous LPs and CDs. Most of the songs are familiar ones he recorded for a number of labels including De Kalb Blues/ Bourgeois Blues/ Gllows Pole/ Goonight Irene/ Bottle Up And Go/ Jullie Ann Johnson and others but the performnces here as good as any of these songs. It also includes two superb rendition of the traditional balls John Hardy - one with accordion and one with guitar. On Big Fat Woman he treats us to some of his wonderful raggy piano playing. His version of How LOng features Sonny Terry on harmonica and one of his rendition of Pretty Flowers features fine guitar work from Josh White. If you don't already have them these are ceratinly a worthwhile addition to your Lead Belly collection. (FS)

 
LITTLE WALTER Chess (UK) 9357 Chess Collectibles, Vol 3 - Blues With A Feeling ● CD $34.98
2 discs, 40 tracks, 114 mins, essential
This wonderful set has been out of print in the USA for a couple of years but fortunately it is still available in Europe and we have managed to turn up a few copies. Chicago blues lovers are going to think they died and went to heaven when they slip this into their CD player. Forty tracks by the greatest of all post war blues harmonica players - only one which has previously been issued on CD in the USA before. The rest features unissued titles, alternate takes and tracks only issued before in the USA on singles. A number of these cuts have appeared before on foreign "bootlegs" but have never sounded as good and this set includes 2 titles and 8 alternates that have never been issued anywhere. The material runs the gamut from his first session for Chess in 1952 (alternate takes of Juke and Can't Hold Out Much Longer) to his last session in 1966 (the instrumental Chicken Shack) though, wisely, the compilers have concentrated on recordings from the 50s before his lifestyle took a toll on his musicianship. Don't be discouraged by the significant number of alternate takes - a Little Walter alternate was not just a slight variation on the issued one but is often very different - in some cases, so different, as to almost be another song. Throughout the recordings he was accompanied by the creme de la creme of Chicago musicians - usually featuring a twin guitar lineup (Jimmy Rogers & Muddy Waters, Louis & Dave Myers, Robert Lockwood & Louis Myers or Robert Lockwood & Luther Tucker), the drumming of Fred Below and the occasional piano of Henry Gray or Otis Spann. There are so many treasures here that it's hard to pick favorites - his treatment of the Charles Brown standard Drifting Blues is unexpected and a joy in spite of the reservations expressed in the liner notes, Come Back Baby is a gorgeous performance that has not been issued before in the USA and it's a pleasure to have the alternate version of the incredible minor key blues Blue & Lonesome which is, if anything, even more intense than the issued performance with powerful guitar from Luther Tucker and a hair raising chromatic harp solo from Walter. Sound is superb, there are good notes by Mary Katherine Aldin, full discographical information and some incredible photos. A wonderful and most important blues release (FS)
LITTLE WALTER: Ah'w Baby (alternate)/ Baby/ Big Leg Mama/ Blue Midnight (alternate)/ Blue and Lonesome (alternate)/ Blues With a Feeling (alternate)/ Break It Up/ Can't Hold Out Much Longer (alternate)/ Can't Stop Lovin' You/ Chicken Shack/ Come Back Baby/ Crazy Mixed up World (alternate)/ Crazy for My Baby/ Drifting/ Everything's Gonna Be Alright (alternate)/ Fast Boogie (alternate)/ Flying Saucer/ Goin' Down Slow/ I Love You So (Oh Baby)/ I'm a Business Man/ Juke (alternate)/ Last Boogie/ Me and Piney Brown/ Mean Old Frisco (alternate)/ Mercy Babe (My Babe)/ My Baby Is Sweeter (alternate)/ My Kind of Baby/ One of These Mornings/ Rock Bottom (alternate)/ Shake Dancer/ Teenage Beat/ Temperature (alternate)/ That's It/ Thunderbird/ Tonight With a Fool/ Who/ Worried Life Blues/ You Don't Know/ You Gonna Be Sorry (Someday Baby)/ You're Sweet

 
BILL LUPKIN & FRIENDS Blue Bella 1006 Where I Come From ● CD $14.98
14 tracks, 59 minutes, excellent
Bill Lupkin's career as a top-drawer harp player stretches back to his uncredited appearance with Jimmy Rogers on the "Gold Tailed Bird" sessions for Shelter in 1972. After leaving Chicago and a lengthy period of inactivity (still keeping his chops sharp) Lupkin re-appeared with a 'live' disc in 1999 and then as a guest on "Got A New Plan" from Nick Moss & The Flip Tops in 2001. Moss's Blue Bella label gives Lupkin another showcase (with far better distribution) and the disc succeeds as a potent nod to Lupkin's mentors (Little Walter, Junior Wells, Johnny Young, etc.) on an all-original set with Moss handling guitar chores brilliantly with Harlan Terson and Gerry Hundt sharing bass duties and Mark Fornek drumming. This is smoldering Chicago Blues from a harp player and vocalist we should be hearing lots more from in the future. (CR)

 
MAGIC SLIM & JOE CARTER Delmark 786 That Ain't Right ● CD $14.98
13 tracks, 63 minutes, highly recommended
Recorded and produced by Ralph Bass in 1977, this pairing of Magic Slim's gritty, single-string attack and Joe Carter's rough and ragged slide approach is a wonderful addition to the Delmark catalog. Morris Holt's half-dozen (In The Dark/ She Is Mine/ Strange Things Happen/ Cummins Prison Farm/ Soul Blues/ Just To Be With You) are typical, slashing Magic Slim grinders with Junior Pettis plus Nick and Doug Holt supporting. Joe Carter (1927-2001), with help from Lacy Gibson, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Black, and Fred Below fared much better on this session than he did for the Barrelhouse label in 1976, and the level of assistance makes the marked difference - I'm Worried/ Anna Lee/ Sweet Home Chicago/ Joe's Boogie/ Stormy Monday, and Bobby's Rock. Improved sound and Jim O'Neal's liner notes add to its appeal and you also get Fred Below doing Route 66. (CR)

 
THE MANNISH BOYS Delta Groove 105 Live & In DEmand ● CD $15.98
12 tracks, 57 min., recommended
With the release of the Mannish Boys' studio album, "That Represent Man" (surely the title comes from a line in the song that is their name sake, yes?), came talk of blues super groups and many superlative-heaped reviews, some of them deserved. This live set (recorded at the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival in Winthrop, Washington, in 2005) features an almost entirely new playlist (very little duplication), and a few of the Boys on TRM have been (at least temporarily) replaced. Specifically, Kirk Fletcher has been replaced with Kid Ramos; Roy Gaines is missing, along with Ronnie Weber (bass), June Core (drums), and Paul Oscher (guitar). But the band still knows how to drive a blues song home and park it in the living room. And who can resist the song She Wants To Sell My Monkey? Extra points for Tom Leavey's purple cowboy boots on the cover--must be alligator or snake. Great sound quality. (JC)

 
PERCY MAYFIELD Winner 445 Live ● CD $15.98
11 tracks, 52 mins, highly recommended
Available again. It's not without reason that Percy Mayfield is called "The Poet Of The Blues" with his beautifully crafted, witty and intelligent, but never pretentious, lyrics that can strike at many nerves. In the last few years of his life he was no longer crafting new songs but his vocal skills were still strong with a great warmth. In those last years he frequently performed in the Bay Area and was a regular guest on Mark Naftalin's live radio show "Blue Monday Party" and the recordings on this excellent disc are drawn from shows over a two year period. Percy performs some of his most famous songs - River's Invitation/ Strange Things Happening/ Loose Lips/ The Highway Is Like A Woman and other, including of course, his most famous composition Please Send Me Someone To Love. Percy sounds relaxed and enjoying himself with frequent chucckles and asides. He is accompanied by top notch musicians, mostly Bay Area locals including Naftalin on piano, Pee Wee Crayton, Bobby Murray or Ron Thompson/ guitar, Dr Wild Willie Moore, Julian Vaught or Bobbie Webb/ sax and others. Recording quality is excellent and these last recordings by a blues legend are a sublime ending to a career that was often fraught with misfortune. (FS)

 
MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL Capitol 33919 I Dont Play No Rock 'n' Roll - The Complete Sessions ● CD $19.98
2 CDs, 90 mins, 19 tracks, very good
Back in print at a lower price. Well, Fred McDowell may claim that "I do not play no rock 'n 'roll", but when he got a groove going he rocked and rolled better than just about anyone you can think of. This two CD set features all the recordings cut by this great Mississippi bluesman in the Malaco studios in 1969 with bass and drums. Nine of the cuts were originally issued on Capitol, eight were on a short lived album on the Just Sunshine label and the remainder have never ben issued before. Fred is in good form playing electric guitar and his repertoire here is mostly familiar material like Baby, Please Don't Go/ Kokomo Me Baby/ Red Cross Store/ 61 Highway/ Jesus Is On The Mainline/ Write Me A Few Of Your Lines, etc. Bass player Jerry Puckett and drummer Dulin Lancaster do a competent job of backing Fred. These recordings are probably more noteworthy for the fact that by being on a major label they gave Fred more exposure than the specialist labels he had recorded for rather than that they are particularly exceptional McDowell recordings. For Fred at his very best you should check our his Arhoolie or Testament albums. (FS)
MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL: 61 Highway/ Baby Let Me Lay Down/ Baby Please Don't Go/ Baby Please Don't Go (Alt.)/ Drop Down Mama/ Everybody's Down On Me/ Eyes Like An Eagle/ Glory Hallelujah/ Good Morning Little School Girl/ Jesus Is On The Mainline/ Kokomo Me Baby/ Long Line Skinner/ Mortgage On My Soul/ My Baby She Gonna Jump And shout/ Rap/Louise/ Red Cross Store/ Somebody Deeps Callin' Me/ Someday/ That's All Right Baby/ Write Me A Few Of Your Lines

 
R.J. MISCHO Crosscut 11087 He Came To Play ● CD $16.98
14 tracks, 49 minutes, recommended
R.J. Mischo pays homage to past heroes, their songs, influences, and their styles by fusing his own gifts as a songwriter, singer, and top-shelf harmonica player with the music he grew up loving. He's no newcomer either - he's been doing it so long that there's a seamless fit between nods to J.B. Hutto (20% Alcohol and Please Help), John Lee Williamson (Bluebird Blues), Louis "Mr. Bo" Collins (The Train), and Jimmy Dawkins (Hippie's Playground) with his own imaginative instrumentals such as The Switch/ The Pull, and The Waddle or his crafty ability with the turn of a phrase on Telephone Driver and I Came To Play. Recorded 'live' in one room with Frank Goldwasser and Kid Anderson on guitars and a spot-on rhythm section (with piano and sax) Mischo gets assistance of the highest caliber. He's one of the best around which should come as no surprise with him having been honing his craft for about three decades now. (CR)

 
MISSISSIPPI HEAT Crosscut 11085 Glad You're Mine ● CD $16.98
12 tracks, 54 min., recommended
The Ms. Heat is lead by harmonica master Pierre Lacocque, although its voice belongs to Inetta Visor, who can belt out a song with the conviction of a drill sergeant. On their third CD for the German CrossCut label, Lacocque does the song-writing, although he does cover the Leiber-Stoller number I'm A Woman and two from Denise LaSalle (Give Me Yo Most Strongest Whiskey. and Real Sad Story. At least some of the heat here comes from Steve Doyle's slide guitar, as well as from hired axe man Carl Weathersby. As usual with the Heat, this is not just a blues harmonica album where the songs are excuses for mad solos; this is a solid blues outing with harmonica in all the right places and none of the wrong ones. Why a US label doesn't pick them up is a mystery, probably involving test market research, demographic studies and business models. (JC)

 
NICK MOSS & THE FLIP TOPS Blue Bella 1004 Sadie Mae ● CD $14.98
16 tracks, 75 minutes, recommended
Cutting his teeth with Jimmy Dawkins and many other Chicago legends, guitarist Nick Moss delivers his fourth disc maintaining the same street-wise, two-fisted, mostly original approach that has marked him as a force to be reckoned with. "Sadie Mae" kicks off with Moss and his bandmates in the rough and tough knockdown of the title track straight from Hound Dog Taylor's Sadie - which is no mere coincidence. As with his previous outings, Nick tips his hat to his mentors with timeless grooves that propel his gripping originals - I Never Forget/ One-Eyed Jack/ The Money I Make, and The Bishop are worth the price of the disc alone - and his covers of Jimmy Rogers' Crazy Woman Blues and Earl Hooker's You Got To Lose are just as surely in-the-pocket. While Moss has guitar chops to spare, he maintains an ensemble approach that's refreshing and dishes out plenty of space to his sidemen. Another superb showing. (CR)

 
NICK MOSS & THE FLIP TOPS Blue Bella 1005 Live At Chan's ● CD $14.98
11 tracks, 76 minutes, recommended
Those who think traditional Chicago-style blues has become little more than a museum display obviously haven't heard of Nick Moss & The Flip Tops and it's a sure bet they haven't heard him and his gang lean on a groove. Moss possesses a voice as powerful as his guitar and shines on a few well-chosen covers (Your Red Wagon/ It's Good In Your Neighborhood/ Wine-O Baby Boogie, and a stunning I Love The Woman) but he truly stands out on the well-crafted originals One Eyed Jack playing s