Archive Review: Lonnie Brooks, Long John Hunter & Phillip Walker’s Lone Star Shootout (1999)

By 1999, blues guitarists Lonnie Brooks, ‘Long John’ Hunter, and Phillip Walker were all in their mid-to-late 60s and had enjoyed varying levels of success with their own distinctive takes on blues music. All three men had come up through the rough-and-tumble Gulf Coast blues scene during the 1950s, honing their skills in front of the toughest, most demanding audiences you can imagine in dodgy bars and clubs in cities like Beaumont and Port Arthur, and backwater juke joints along the Texas and Louisiana border. 

Alligator Records founder Bruce Iglauer had the idea to reunite these three talented performers and instrumentalists, all of whom had played together one time or another back in the day. Recording in Austin, Texas with local musicians, Lone Star Shootout was an album that excelled at execution but flopped at the box office. Critically-acclaimed and receiving two W.C. Handy Award nominations – ultimately losing both to a pair of fellow Texans, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and their In Session album – Lone Star Shootout sold poorly nonetheless. It’s time for blues fans to take another look, perhaps, at the undeniable talents and fine performances of Lonnie Brooks, Long John Hunter, and Phillip Walker on Lone Star Shootout. 

Lonnie Brooks, Long John Hunter & Phillip Walker

The party kicks off with a particularly raucous rendition of Lonnie Brooks’ “Roll, Roll, Roll,” a swamp-rocker that throws a little New Orleans-styled piano courtesy of Riley Osbourn. The three guitarists swap both licks and vocals with reckless aplomb on this vintage 1950s-era rocker, Brooks taking the lead with his smoky voice and wiry solo while Long John shines during the second section with his soulful voice and high-toned, complex solo. Not to be undone by his compatriots, Walker steps out of his role here as rhythm guitar to tear off an impressive solo of his own that lands somewhere in between Brooks’ lightning and Hunter’s thunder.

Long John Hunter comes to the fore for one of the newer tunes on Lone Star Shootout, “A Little More Time” a 1950s-styled R&B romp penned in the manner of Guitar Slim. A mid-tempo semi-ballad with soulful vocals, bluesy lyrics, and a lovely, emotional lead, “A Little More Time” is the perfect fusion of rhythm and blues. The classic “Bon Ton Roulet” represents the New Orleans side of the Gulf Coast sound, the song featuring an infectious foot-shuffling rhythm and a jaunty, Cajun-flavored rhythm. Marcia Ball adds some lively piano fills behind the three guitarist’s imaginative leads, the undeniable influence of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown lying heavy on the performance.

Lone Star Shootout

“Feel Good Doin’ Bad” is another new track, penned by Brooks in the style of Lightnin’ Slim’s Louisiana-bred Excello Records releases. Brooks takes the microphone for this one, laying down a blustery vocal take that he supports with an electrifying lead full of energy and gorgeous tone. Hunter holds down the bottom end with his solid rhythm guitar while Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff throws in blasts of icy harp throughout the song, his harmonica ringing as clear as a train whistle. The delightful “Street Walking Woman” features Hunter and Walker, this song itself influenced by the great T-Bone Walker. Walker’s hearty drawl is perfectly suited for the lyrics, and he and Hunter swap hot licks until the finale when the two friends set into a six-string swordfight with rockin’ results.

Although there are only three guitarists listed on the marquee for Long Star Shootout, longtime Gulf Coast bluesman Ervin Charles crashes the party with a pair of great performances. A former early 1950s bandmate of Hunter’s, and the elder musician of the bunch, Charles steps into the spotlight for “Born In Louisiana.” A smoldering, slow-paced blues tune with Charles’ tearjerker vocals and taut, muscular fretwork, assisted by Osbourn’ well-timed piano, Charles delivers a superlative, emotionally-charged performance. A spirited cover of Muddy Waters’ “Two Trains Running” places Charles and Hunter back together again, Ervin delivering haunting vocals above a hypnotic riff and Long John picking out a provocative lead before the two guitars intertwine into a single voice, the sound of Texas blues.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Fans of blues guitar who still haven’t discovered this incredible album, originally released in 1999, owe it to themselves to grab a copy of Lone Star Shootout sooner rather than later. Brooks, Hunter, Walker, and Charles deliver the real goods, the unique sound of the Gulf Coast fusing the roughneck, houserockin’ style of Texas blues with the soulful, R&B influenced sound of the Louisiana swamp. With four talented string-benders in the studio, and fifteen excellent performances, Lone Star Shootout is as close as you’ll get to that Port Arthur juke joint experience without actually travelling back in time. (Alligator Records, released May 25, 1999)