Archive Review: Big Bill Morganfield’s Blues With A Mood (2013)

Big Bill Morganfield is getting a lot of ink these days – and deservedly so – to go along with multiple Blues Music Award nominations for his 2012 debut Son of the Seventh Son. But Muddy Waters’ other blues-singing son has been quietly building a legacy of his own for better than a decade and a half. Since the 1999 release of Big Bill Morganfield’s Rising Son album (which won him a BMA for “Best New Blues Artist”), the singer, songwriter, and guitarist has become a popular live performer and perennial festival attraction.

Big Bill Morganfield’s Blues With A Mood

For his fifth album, Morganfield goes indie all the way, Blues With A Mood released on the artist’s own Black Shuck Records imprint. Recorded in Nashville with producer Colin Linden and an all-star cast that includes guitar greats Eddie Taylor Jr. and Bob Margolin, as well as keyboardist Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornadoes) and harp player Richard “Doc” Malone, Morganfield scatters a few well-chosen covers across Blues With A Mood, surrounding them with solid original tunes written in an undeniably retro style.

Morganfield’s stated intent for Blues With A Mood was to deliver a moody set of performances that would evoke memories of old-school John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters and I’d say that he’s accomplished his goal. Only the original “Money’s Getting’ Cheaper” evinces any sort of contemporary lyrical influence – then again, poverty has always been a part of the blues landscape – socially-conscious lyrics accompanied by a raging vocal performance, Jim Horn’s icy blasts of sax, and Meyers’ fleet-fingered honky-tonk piano. “No Butter For My Grits” is a humorous but starkly realistic talking blues with a Chicago blues swagger and a swamp-rock vibe that showcases the hypnotic guitar interplay between Taylor and Linden.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Altogether, Blues With A Mood is a throwback to the Chicago blues and R&B of the 1950s and early 1960s when giants roamed the streets of the West Side. Morganfield has this stuff hard-wired to his DNA, and Blues With A Mood isn’t so much an attempt to recreate those golden days as it is an inspired tribute to the era’s long-lasting influence, lovingly delivered with no little style and energy. (Black Shuck Records, released 2013)

Review originally published by Blues Music magazine...