Archive Review: Corey Harris's Fulton Blues (2013)

The wonderful thing about acoustic bluesman Corey Harris is that you never really know where he’s going, musically, from album to album – you just know that it’s going to incorporate some fine Delta-inspired blues in amidst the other musical influences. For many fans, the last time we heard from Harris was with 2009’s critically-acclaimed blu.black album for Telarc. What many don’t know is that the artist released an album titled Father Son, Mother Earth back in 2011with the Rasta Blues Experience on his own independent Njumba label. While information on that release is sparse, at best (I haven’t heard the album, so I can’t comment on it), fans should know that Harris released the excellent Fulton Blues album earlier this year, and if you don’t have it, you should track it down via Amazon.com or CD Baby ‘cause this one’s a keeper!

Fulton Blues starts out with the throwback romp “Crying Blues,” which kind of mixes a Chicago blues vibe with an R&B big band sound to great effect, Harris drawling out the vocals like a modern-day Cab Calloway as the horns swing buoyantly behind him. As proof of my opening statement, Harris switches gears so fast as to derail the train, the Delta-tinged “Underground” featuring Harris’ mournful vocals and eerie acoustic fretwork, the two meshed perfectly with his haunting lyrics to create a smothering, malevolent ambiance. The song’s socio-economic commentary is cleverly hidden between the lines, which isn’t the case with the brash title track, which pairs a Piedmont blues soundtrack akin to Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee with modern lyrical concerns, Harris’ vocals and fine git pickin’ assisted by Hook Herrera’s blustery harp play. 

While most of the songs on Fulton Blues flow brilliantly from Harris’s pen, he does add a couple of perfectly-chosen covers in Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman” and Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues.” The former is delivered with a languid pace, sprawling harp and guitar, and Harris’ best Mississippi drawl while the latter is provided a bigger band accompaniment with Harris picking up a Gibson ES-165 electric to show that he knows how to lay down a groove with the best of them while Chris “Peanut” Whitley’s chiming keyboards create a dissonant space for Gordon Jones’ bigger-than-life, jarring blasts of sax. It’s the bluesiest take I’ve heard on the song yet, and further proof that while you never know what you’re going to get from a Corey Harris album, you know it’s going to be good! Grade: A- (Njumba Records, released January 31st, 2013)