A restless soul, seemingly from day one, the late guitarist Gary Moore was never satisfied with pursuing a single style of music. While his roots were in the blues, and his first band of note – the original Skid Row – was firmly a part of England’s thriving late ‘60s blues-rock scene, Moore jumped from bands and styles as easily as changing shirts, playing with Thin Lizzy (hard rock), Colosseum II (jazz-rock fusion), and Dr. Strangely Strange (folk-rock), among others. As a solo artist, Moore excelled at the blues, hard rock, and heavy metal while, as a hired gun in the studio, he recorded with artists as diverse as Greg Lake and Keith Emerson (ELP), the Beatles’ George Harrison, the Beach Boys, and even bluesman Otis Taylor.
Moore was at his best as a live performer, and he has a half-dozen live discs in his catalog. He was as close to a regular at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland as an artist could be, first appearing at the famed event in 1990 and returning for performances six or seven times subsequently. Sadly, the guitarist’s July 2010 performance at the festival would be his last, albeit one of his best. Reuniting with estranged former bandmate Neil Carter (UFO, Wild Horses), Moore put together a new band to tour the summer of 2010, leaving much of his blues-oriented material of recent years behind in favor of a hard-rocking bit of nostalgia for material from his mid-‘80s albums recorded with Carter. Moore’s Live At Montreux 2010 is the last recorded work from the legendary guitarist, and a perfect showcase for his multi-faceted talents as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter.
Gary Moore’s Live At Montreux 2010
Starting with a thundering drumbeat, Moore asks the crowd, “are you ready?” before launching into the lightning-strike intro to his classic Celtic-rock gem “Over the Hills And Far Away.” A U.K. hit from his 1987 Wild Frontiers album, the performance here takes on an eerie, ethereal feel with Moore’s elegant fretwork dancing atop the band’s crashing instrumentation. Moore’s recurring riff hits hard, his solos cut to the bone, the band chimes in with gang-fight harmonies, and the song’s wistful, poetic lyricism is a testament to Moore’s often-overlooked, anthemic songwriting skills.
Another mid-‘80s U.K. hit, “Military Man,” was originally performed by Moore’s friend and former bandmate, Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott. Taken from 1985’s Run For Cover album, the song’s anti-war screed is bolstered by a martial rhythm, screaming guitars, and explosive bass and drums before it breaks down into an obviously Lynott-styled soulful vocal break, which itself is accompanied by a beautiful, winsome Moore solo. The Top Five hit “Out In the Fields,” from the same album, was a Lynott/Moore duet; here it’s performed more forcefully than the original, with rapidly-paced rhythms, vocal harmonies almost buried beneath the instrumentation, and taut fretwork that walks a fine line between hard rock and heavy metal in style and fury.
Back To The Blues
Moore’s 2010 Montreux performance wasn’t totally devoid of the guitarist’s blues influence. The mid-tempo ballad “Where Are You Now” displays a certain bluesy hue in both Moore’s somber, melancholy vocals and in some of his rattling guitar phrases. Moore’s pastiche of the instrumental “So Far Away” with his own “Empty Rooms” is another example; the former cleverly mixes jazzy licks and a blues undercurrent with a rock ‘n’ roll heartbeat while the latter blends blues and rock guitar beneath Moore’s mournful vocals. An inspired cover of Jimmy Rogers’ Chicago blues classic “Walking By Myself” is pumped up on steroids, rocking full-tilt with swinging rhythms and Moore’s fluid guitarplay layered in behind his playful, joyous vocal performance.
Live At Montreux 2010 includes the performance of three new songs that Moore had written for what was going to be a Celtic rock-styled album that would be interrupted by his tragic death. “Oh Wild One” is the best of these, a rollicking, raging ode to a friend (Lynott?) that displays some of Moore’s most powerful, albeit nuanced fretwork. The song is a cross between Thin Lizzy and the Pogues, and is Irish to the bone. “Days of Heroes,” another new song, is Moore’s take on early Lizzy, an anthemic toast to days gone by with Celtic-flavored twin guitars, a larger-than-life soundtrack, Moore’s passionate vocals, and a monster solo that takes the guitarist around the world, from Ireland to the U.K. to American blues, and back to the Emerald Isle. The album closes with another Lynott co-write, the hauntingly beautiful “Parisienne Walkways,” wherein Moore reveals his Peter Green influences with a tearful ballad that showcases both the guitarist’s softer, bluesy side and his heavy metal shred.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Truth is, there’s but a scattering of blues to be found on Live At Montreux 2010, mostly in the grooves of a handful of songs, and all over the wonderful “Walking By Myself” cover. But that eclecticism is a large part of Moore’s appeal to his fans…much like his contemporary Jeff Beck, one never knew where Moore’s muse would take him.
Fans of Moore’s edgy blues-rock albums like Scars or Bad For You Baby might be disappointed by this one, while those of us who appreciate Moore in whatever milieu he chose at the time of recording will delight in Live At Montreux 2010 as not only a document of a stunning performance, but a fitting and proper swansong for the artist as well. (Eagle Records, released September 20, 2011)
It’s been said by some that if drive down Highway 100, south outta Nashville and
through the sleepy little burg of Fairview, you’ll find an old dirt road at the
Hickman County line. You follow this road back through the woods ‘til you find
the gnarled tree where the strange chickens roost all day and night. From there,
you take the gravel trail on the right, go down the hollow past Lady Sniff’s
shack (pay no attention to the sirens’ wail that you’ll hear coming from behind
those walls) to arrive at the crossroads. Pick the right fork, and it’ll take
you down through the knotty kudzu gateway to the edge of the ole swamp…
Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers’ Swampblood
Now, you have to be careful when going down there, ‘cause much like
Rudderville or Kingfield, folks ‘round these parts get a might touchy if they
don’t know you. If you’re drivin’ too nice or too new of a car, the ‘shiners
might toss a few rounds your way thinkin’ that you’re a Revenue agent or some
other sort of Federale. Tales say that the swamp is haunted by the ghosts of
several Delta bluesmen that gave up thriving careers and settled down right
here, working as farmhands in the nearby tobacco fields. On Saturday nights,
they’d get together with cigar-box guitars and harmonicas and they’d sing.
Somebody would drag some sort of scaly critter out of the swamp and cook it up
for dinner, washing down the dubious feast with some clear, vicious,
foul-tasting liquor.
If you have a mind to venture out into
that neck o’ the woods, I’d suggest that you first make sure that you’re
driving the right kind of car…nothing too flash or too Hollywood, and
certainly nothing made by the flan-factories of Detroit after 1980. Maybe some
sort of early-70s Mopar, like a Charger or Satellite, preferably one with a
few well-earned rust holes, missing chrome and a dirty old sock stuffed in the
gas nozzle. Nobody down around the swamp will look at you twice, especially if
you’re rattlin’ Swampblood, the latest-and-greatest from th’ Legendary
Shack*Shakers, out of your vintage quad sound-system. With the Col. J.D.
Wilkes as your co-pilot across these perilous killing fields, you’re assured
of getting back home alive and kickin’.
Feedback-whipped howls and
nancy banjo-pickin’ comprise the brief instrumental “Dawn,” sounding right at
home surrounded by hanging vines and cypress trees. It’s the perfect-fit intro
to “Old Spur Line,” Swampblood’s kick-off tune and as nasty a slice o’
greasy redneck funk as you’re likely to hear these days. The Colonel’s vocals
are slightly echoed in the mix as he spits out this cautionary tale of
traveling into places that you shouldn’t oughta. The band shuffles along, a
minor thunderstorm behind Wilkes’ haunting vocals. “Hellwater” begins with an
authentic Tony Joe White guitar lick, David Lee channeling the spirit of John
Campbell as he picks out a familiar poke-salad riff and Wilkes belts out a
song about the wages of sin.
Appalachian Hillbilly Hoedown
Properly warmed up by this time, the Colonel and his instrumental army take
Swampblood up a notch; “Easter Flesh” sounds vaguely Middle Eastern in
flavor, with circular riffs and martial rhythms, Wilkes’ up-tempo vocals
bringing some sort of nasty Biblical judgment to the poor unfortunate souls
who resist salvation. The title cut takes us further into the murky water than
we’ve ever been before, the song a raucous, compelling number with manic harp
work and fire-and-brimstone lyrics sung in a possessed voice. Lee’s trebly
fretwork fuels the song’s instrumentation, a rhythmic assault that is as dense
as the morning fog on the bayou.
From this point,
Swampblood descends further into alcohol-fueled madness, each
performance proudly wearing the sweat and fervor of a backwoods preacher as
the Colonel puts his boys through their paces. “Cheat the Hangman” is like a
runaway freighter jumping the tracks and diving headfirst into a muddy river
while “Born Again Again” is an old-timey spiritual with a jug-band soul and a
church-pew heart. “The Deadenin’” proves that it’s not nice to fool with
Mother Nature, the song an environmental anthem that has Wilkes’ howlin’ at
the moon while the band kicks out a wily, smoke-tinted and disturbing
soundtrack behind the Colonel’s gnashin’-and-wailin’ vocals.
There
are several more gems hidden in Swampblood’s grooves that will tickle your
imagination, like “Jimblyleg Man,” an Appalachian hillbilly hoedown with spry
fiddle playin’ and plenty o’ words about some sort of wicked sprite, an
imaginary evil like the chupacabra down in south Texas or West Virginia’s
mothman. “He Ain’t Right” is a rockabilly rave-up that reminds one of Hasil
Adkins. “Angel Lust” has a jazzbo sound that kicks your ears like Professor
Longhair jammin’ with Cab Calloway while Brett Whitacre’s tribal drumbeats and
tasteful fills play along nicely with Mark Robertson’s muscular upright bass
as Wilkes’ swinging vocals take up any remaining slack. Whitacre adds the
accompanying patterns behind the Colonel’s mighty potent
stream-of-consciousness rant “Preachin’ At Traffic.”
Swampblood finishes much like it started, with the somber crosspatch
“When I Die” leading into the fading hill country banjo-maul that is “Bright
Sunny South.”
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Swampblood is th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers’ fifth studio album, and if
the band never evolves into world-beaters, they’ll always deliver exactly what
you’d expect them to: a combustible blend of roots-rock, honky-tonk country,
electric blues and retro-rockabilly. Yeah, they may be a throwback to a
simpler, highly-rocking time, and hopelessly out-of-step with today’s musical
trends. But as the Colonel says, “I dream in sepia, mono and Beta” – as
defiant a statement of Luddite fist-shaking as has been committed to tape. I
wouldn’t expect th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers to headline the Pitchfork
Festival, but if I ran into them at a cockfight, I’d buy ‘em a mason jar of
whatever they wanted to drink… (Yep Roc Records, released July 16th, 2007)
Review originally published by the Cashville411 website, 2007
Calidoscopio – Get Ready! (Jargon Records) Roaring out of the Flower City with sabers rattling and amps cranked up
to eleven, at first blush Calidoscopio sounds like just another talented bunch
of 1960s-styled garage-rock revivalists with six-string Sturm und Drang.
Further spins of Get Ready! reveal hidden charms, however. The album is
an international affair, members of Germany’s Golden Coats collaborating
alongside Rochester NY’s Dave Anderson, with guest performances from
Australia’s Joey Bedlam (Dollsquad) and garage-rock deity Sky Saxon (from
beyond the grave). While the LP cover gives off serious Jack Kirby/psych-rock
vibes, songs like the scintillating title track – with big beat drums, gang
vocals, and twangy fretwork – evince a timeless, electric, rock ‘n’ roll
sound. “The Lanky Gunman” mixes trembling ‘Spaghetti Western’-styled guitar
strum with wall-of-sound instrumentation and an eerie story-song while a
long-lost monologue from the Seeds’ frontman Saxon is integrated into “Green
Forest,” a spacey, hippie-rock screed. “Demon Child” honors its shockabilly
roots, benefiting from Bedlam’s breathless vox and Anderson’s jagged guitar
licks while the punky “Koko the Gorilla” mixes Hasil Adkins with the Electric
Prunes for a raucous good time. Calidoscopio’s Get Ready! provides a
mind-bending trip back to the future with a timeless sound that is both
familiar and yet innovative.
Grade: A
BUY!
Deep Purple –
Turning To Crime (Ear Music) British rock legends Deep Purple are in their sixth decade as a band and
although they’ve never been adverse to recording the odd cover song (their 1968
hit “Hush” comes to mind), they’ve so far resisted the urge to record an album
exclusively of covers…until now. Turning To Crime is a collection of
twelve of the band’s favorites, ranging from bluesy 1950s-era R&B (Huey
‘Piano’ Smith’s “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu”) and ‘60s psych
(Love’s “7 and 7 Is”) to blues-rock (Cream’s “White Room”) and beyond. Although
the current band is quite adept at playing any sort of music, Gillian’s aging
pipes betray his intent at times. Still, Turning To Crime is quite the
live wire, the band pulling off the performances more often than not. Fleetwood
Mac’s classic “Oh Well” is given an altogether new coat of (hard rockin’) paint,
the Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things” is provided a stout psychedelic-pop sheen and,
surprisingly, Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken” is an excitingly funky strut. Bob
Seger’s “Lucifer” is a deep-cut that mixes guitar-driven hard rock and Memphis
soul, but it’s the album-closing Southern rock-inspired medley (with tunes by
Booker T, Don Nix, Gregg Allman, and Steve Winwood) that will turn heads.
Grade: B+
BUY!
Tom Guerra –
Sudden Signs of Grace (Casa del Soul Records) Tom Guerra began his career nearly 40 years ago as a member of outfits
like the Dirty Bones Band and the Mambo Sons. Guerra launched his solo career
with 2014’s All of the Above and came to our attention with 2018’s
acclaimed
American Garden. Recorded during the pandemic, Guerra’s fourth solo effort,
Sudden Signs of Grace, offers up everything that’s great about the artist
– finely-crafted songs, hypnotic melodies, intelligent lyrics, and stellar
guitarplay, all neatly packaged into three-minute, radio-friendly songs.
Although Guerra dishes up a couple of nifty covers here – perfectly capturing
the angst of Eddie Money’s “Gimme Some Water” with his fiery guitarplay while
Harlan Howard’s country classic “The Streets of Baltimore” is provided a
suitably melancholy, twang-drenched performance – it’s Guerra’s original
material that really shines. “Lonely No More” is a gorgeous power-pop song with
Duane Eddy-inspired guitar and winsome vocals; the jaunty “Lover’s Time” is a
charming amalgam of the Byrds and Big Star; and the honky-tonk flavored “Down
the Farm” rides on Guerra’s rapid-fire vocals, rollicking piano-play, and wiry
fretwork. There’s not a duff track to be found on Sudden Signs of Grace,
Guerra delivering an inspired collection of rock ‘n’ roll full of heart and
soul. (See the video, below!)
Grade: A
BUY!
The Specials –
Protest Songs 1924-2012 (Island Records) God bless ‘em, the Specials still crank it out 40+ years after the band’s
exhilarating debut. Breaking up in the mid-‘80s, several members reunited in
1993, and they’ve carried on ever since, releasing a handful of albums since
reuniting, including 2019’s critically-acclaimed Encore. Crucially, the current
line-up includes Specials’ founders Terry Hall, Lynval Golding, and Horace
Panter. Protest Songs 1924-2012, is an exciting collection of themed
cover songs inspired by the George Floyd protests of the summer of 2020. An
eclectic collection it is, too, including classic material by the Staple
Singers, bluesman Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Marley, the Dixie Jubilee Singers, and
Frank Zappa, among others. The Specials are a long way from their days as ska
revivalists, pursuing a soulful, R&B-drenched sound as evinced by their
reading of Pop Staples’ powerful civil rights ode “Freedom Highway.” The Mothers
of Invention’s “Trouble Every Day” is provided an appropriately menacing tone,
complete with scorching guitars, while Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” is sung
in Cohen’s droll style. The Wailers’ “Get Up, Stand Up” offers a powerful,
albeit subdued performance that emphasizes Peter Tosh’s defiant lyrics. Totally
unexpected, but pleasantly surprising, the Specials’ Protest Songs is one
for the ages.
Grade: A-
BUY!
The Wildhearts – 21st Century Love Songs (Graphite Records U.K.) Wildhearts founder Ginger got the gang back together in 2012 for a series
of gigs that led to a live album, but the reformed band wouldn’t go into the
studio until 2019’s acclaimed Renaissance Men. With the
brand-spankin’-new 21st Century Love Songs, the band comes full-circle,
delivering its 10th studio work. It’s a real banger, too, with plenty of the
Wildhearts’ trademark melodic hard rock that often times teeters on the razor’s
edge of heavy metal. For instance, the album-opening title track hits your ears
like a sledge, combining an erudite Mott the Hoople-style of British rock ‘n’
roll with thrashy molten slag. Much of the rest of
21st Century Love Songs follows a similarly-skewed blueprint:
“Institutional Submission” sounds, at times, like Killing Joke on steroids until
the vocal harmonies and elegant fretwork chimes in while “Sleepaway” could pass
for a harder-rocking Cheap Trick. Underneath the instrumental clamor you’ll
unearth undeniable melodies, often accompanied by football hooligan harmonies
running interference for Ginger’s sweeter tones. Ginger could have been a hella
successful pop star if he’d chosen a less debauched path but, lucky for us, he’s
walked a sleazier, obstacle-strewn road to rock ‘n’ roll nirvana for almost 30
years now.
Grade: A
BUY!
Various Artists – I’m A Freak Baby 3 (Grapefruit Records/Cherry Red U.K.) The late ‘60s and early-to-mid-‘70s provided an abundance of interesting
rock ‘n’ roll as bands discovered their muse and experimented musically. This is
the third volume in the U.K. archivists Grapefruit Records’ “Freak” series,
exploring the exciting new sounds of 1968-1973, and it’s every bit as
entertaining as the first two sets. Featuring 53 songs spread across three
discs, they follow a simple blueprint – offer a few scattered obscurities by
well-known bands (Free, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Mott the Hoople,
Procol Harum) and mix in songs by lesser-known but period-essential groups
(Hawkwind, Spooky Tooth, Stray, Trapeze, Nazareth, Tear Gas). It’s when the
madmen at Grapefruit dig into the pits that it gets really interesting, though,
and I’m A Freak Baby 3 also includes rare (collectible) 7-inchers from
diverse artists like Quatermass, Mighty Hard, Curtis Knight Zeus, and Steam
Hammer and then caps off the set with previously-unreleased music from folks
like Stack Waddy, T2, Red Dirt, Wicked Lady, and the Yardbirds (!). Toss in
toons by cult rockers like Leaf Hound, Killing Floor, Third World War, and
Budgie and you have yourself a party, I’m A Freak Baby 3 providing a lot
of bang for yer hard-earned buck!
Grade: A
BUY!
Sami Yaffa –
The Innermost Journey To Your Outermost Mind (Livewire Records) After 40 years in the trenches, former Hanoi Rocks and New York Dolls
bassist Sami Yaffa finally got around to recording a solo album and, as one
might expect, it’s a flamethrower. Yaffa approaches rock ‘n’ roll with a fierce
Johnny Thunders/Stiv Bators aesthetic and songs like the album-opening
“Armageddon Together,” a devastating take on modern religion, reflect this crash
‘n’ burn style of hard rock. There’s more than meets the eye here, tho’ –
Yaffa’s undeniable sense of rhythm adds melody to cod reggae tunes like the
mesmerizing “Rotten Roots,” which crosses the Clash with Lee “Scratch” Perry or
“You Gimme Fever,” which pairs a deep Sly/Robby groove with lusty lyrics and
elegant fretwork to great effect. “Fortunate One” flat-out rocks (not dissimilar
to Lords of the New Church), with Yaffa’s whiplash vox punctuated by Michael
Monroe’s bleating saxophones while “Germinator” slaps yer eardrums like a
nail-studded baseball bat, fueled by Monroe’s raging harmonica and guitarist
Christian Martucci’s razor-blade licks. “Cancel the End of the World” sounds
downright Pink Floydish, with lofty vocals and gorgeous, atmospheric
instrumentation. Yaffa is no one trick pony, displaying the many facets of his
enormous instrumental and songwriting talents with
The Innermost Journey…Grade: A-
BUY!
Texas blues guitarist
Gary Clark, Jr. made quite a splash with his full-length 2012 major label debut
Blak and Blu. The album’s mix of incendiary fretwork, soulful vocals,
electric blues, and old-school R&B with a hip-hop edge turned many people’s
heads, announcing that a major new talent was on the scene. Clark was
“discovered” by Eric Clapton, who invited the young guitarist to the 2010
Crossroads Guitar Festival, his subsequent history-making performance (captured
on the DVD of the event) gaining Clark a major label contract and a certain
degree of notoriety.
Still, as good as Blak and Blu might
have been, many still had doubts – especially the blues cognoscenti, who were
hoping for another Stevie Ray Vaughan clone (as if we didn’t already have enough
of those ragdolls gigging around…) – while traditionalist shook their collective
heads in mild disdain. Truth is, Clark was already a seasoned veteran by the
time that Clapton enlisted the guitarist to bring a shot of vitality to the
Crossroads event. Some 26 years old in 2010, Clark had been playing in and
around Austin, Texas since he was a young teenager, and he already had three
independently-released albums under his belt by the time he took the stage at
Crossroads.
Gary Clark Jr.’s Live
In spite of his experience, Clark’s Blak and Blu came as a
revelation to many of us, and the album’s accessibility, along with the talent
on display in the grooves, helped enlist a legion of new blues fans to the
genre. Blak and Blu rose as high as number six on the
Billboard Top 200 albums chart, and dominated the blues chart for over a
year from either the number one or number two position. Still, many critics put
down the album’s overly-slick production qualities, with producer Rob Cavallo
sanding down every rough edge to make the songs pop-radio friendly. Too, many
questioned Clark’s dedication to the blues in the face of the album’s rock and
hip-hop influences. Nobody stopped to think that the guitarist was simply having
fun with his sonic palette and the possibilities his talents enable. No matter,
‘cause Clark’s two-disc Live set should put paid to any critic’s concerns.
The
opening chords of Live should put to rest any doubts about Clark’s blues
authenticity. Tackling the traditional “Catfish Blues,” credited to Muddy Waters
by way of Robert Petway, the young guitarist imbues the performance with plenty
of Delta mud, but embroiders the antique arrangement with bluesy,
psychedelic-tinged guitar that owes as much to Jimi Hendrix as it does to any
Mississippi string-bender. Clark proves his songwriting bona fides with the
original “Next Door Neighbor Blues,” a stomping, snortin’ blues-rock dirge with
huge dinosaur guitar riffs, distorted guitar, anguished vocals, and
finely-crafted story-song lyrics that one could easily hear Howlin’ Wolf wailing
away on while Hubert Sumlin tears up the guitar behind him.
Three O’ Clock Blues
Clark displays his flexibility as an artist and performer with the raucous
“Travis County,” a rollicking, rockabilly-tinged, Chuck Berry-styled runaway
train that lyrically features another tale of woe while the band choogles along
at 90mph, drummer Johnny Radelat keeping time with the biggest of beats. The
performance is enhanced by dueling solos, rhythm guitarist King Zapata bringing
the twang while Clark adds the blistering heat. The highlight of the first disc,
however, is Clark’s nuanced cover of B.B. King’s classic “Three O’ Clock Blues.”
The young guitarist perfectly captures the master’s blend of jazzy licks and
bluesy ambiance, his tortured vocals channeling plenty of emotion and
heartbreak. It’s an inspired performance, and one that proves that the blues run
deep in Clark’s soul.
The second disc of Live opens with the
thunder and lightning of Clark’s “Ain’t Messin ‘Round,” the band playing an
extended instrumental intro that’s heavy on the martial rhythms while Clark and
Zapata throw around guitar licks like laser beams. Clark’s vocals are smooth,
with just a hint of fracture around the edges, evoking memories of old R&B
crooners like Otis Redding or Solomon Burke, but the soundtrack is pure Southern
soul with a bit of rock ‘n’ roll. Clark further shows the depth of his blues
knowledge with a spot-on cover of Albert Collins’ “If Trouble Was Money.” With a
shimmering six-string intro that sounds like sun glinting off a sheet of ice,
Clark lays down a vibe every bit as frosty as the Iceman once did. Clark plays
it straight, mimicking Collins’ existential angst while still managing to bring
a contemporary relevance to the song – after all, neither trouble nor money ever
go out-of-date.
Third Stone From The Sun
One of the high points of Blak and Blu was Clark’s mash-up of Hendrix’s
“Third Stone From The Sun” with Memphis bluesman Little Johnny Taylor’s “If You
Love Me Like You Say” (a song also covered by Collins, and Danny Gatton too,
among others). The fusing of two apparently different styles (and eras) sound
like it would be a ramshackle construction at best, but in Clark’s hands, he
finds the energy at the heart of both and welds them together with his
incredible fretwork. The fluid psych-drenched instrumentation of “Third Stone”
evolves organically into a funky Bluff City backbeat, Clark’s delivery of
Taylor’s tale of love-gone-bad perfectly framed between heartbreak and bravado,
the argument further bolstered by Clark’s shape-shifting solos. By contrast,
Clark’s “Please Come Home” is a lovely throwback to 1950s-era R&B, a doo wop
inspired vocal showcase worthy of the Platters or the Drifters, but with red-hot
guitar notes in place of the backing harmony vocals.
The title song
of Blak and Blu is of a similar cloth as the “Third Stone/If You Love Me”
hybrid, Clark drawing inspiration from jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron in the creation
of a mesmerizing, altogether haunting performance that sparks and fades like a
dying star. “Blak and Blu” is a strong song on the studio album, but on stage it
takes on an otherworldly vibe, Clark’s wistful, almost melancholy vocals are
punctuated by sharp shocks of guitar, the song depending entirely on the
strength and charisma of the performer to pull it off. Much like the studio
album, the song slowly unravels into “Bright Lights,” a blustery hard rocker
that hits your ears like a 2x4 plank by comparison, the guitars getting louder
and heavier, the vocals exploding out of your speakers with passion and force.
This is a man that has a story to tell, and you’d best shut up and listen…and if
you don’t, well, the song’s serpentine riffs and squealing feedback will make
sure you pay attention. It’s a powerful performance, Clark and Zapata trading
solos like battling kung fu masters, bassist Johnny Bradley and drummer Radelat
providing a heavyweight rhythmic canvas behind the guitarists for them to paint
on.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Gary Clark Jr.’s Live offers 15 electrifying tracks, and there’s
not a duff performance among any of ‘em! Stripped of the studio gloss provided
Blak and Blu in order to appeal to the iPod generation, these songs
sizzle and burn in a live setting like hot embers in a barely-constrained
bonfire. Live allows Clark and his band to stretch the material out to
its natural-born length, with plenty of room for Clark’s ballistic solos, and
with audience feedback driving the band to dig that much deeper and bring their
best to every song. This is the way that Gary Clark, Jr. was meant to be heard –
live and unadorned with studio gimmicks or slick production tricks. It wouldn’t
be a sin if Clark decided to record his next studio album in front of a live
audience but, in the meantime, if you’ve wondered what the buzz around Clark is
all about, Live will set you straight in no uncertain terms. (Warner
Brothers Records, released September 23, 2014)
Gary Clark, Jr. is the most exciting thing to happen to a stolid blues
scene since, well, since fellow Texas gunslinger Stevie Ray Vaughan blew out of
the Lone Star state like a whirlwind and upset the slumbering status quo back in
the early 1980s. Plucked out of relative obscurity in 2010 by Eric Clapton who,
perhaps, saw something of past glories in the young guitarist, Clark had his
coming out party at that year’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.
After
releasing a trio of independent albums on the Hotwire label, Clark’s association
with the blues-rock legend led to a major label deal and the
critically-acclaimed The Bright Lights EP, which has spent the better
part of the last year hanging around the upper-reaches of the
Billboard magazine blues chart alongside such heavyweights as Joe
Bonamassa, Bonnie Raitt, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. So, is Clark the 21st
century savior of the blues or just another pretender to a long-vacated (and
largely imaginary) throne? He’s certainly no pretender, and while the book has
yet to be written on his lasting influence on a blues scene that often refuses
to budge easily, this much is certain – Blak and Blu is a stunning,
ground-breaking work.
Gary Clark, Jr.’s Blak and Blu
For Clark’s newfound fans – who have waited better than a year for his
full-length debut album – it’s unlikely that they’ll be disappointed by the
guitarist’s magnificent Blak and Blu. Not even
The Bright Lights EP could have prepared listeners for the stunning
depth of songs like “Ain’t Messin’ ‘Round,” which seamlessly blends brassy
old-school R&B with a Memphis soul groove and a rock ‘n’ roll heartbeat to
one-up the Black Keys at their own game (including the tasteful Steve
Cropper-styled guitar licks). Clark enjoys his Jimi Hendrix moment with the
bold, bigger-than-life blues-rock dirge “When My Train Pulls In,” the song
mixing a Delta blues spirit with an undeniable Stevie Ray Vaughan vibe,
Clark’s tortured solo leading out of the song sending shivers down the spine
of any true guitar fan.
Clark is no two-trick pony, however,
venturing beyond blues and soul and onto avant-garde turf with the chilling
title track, a tear-jerking tale of abuse that displays a jazzy edge in its
sampling of the great Gil Scott-Heron, the song firmly rooted in the blues as
it also picks and chooses from Albert King’s classic “As the Years Go Passing
By.” The result sounds like early Prince and achieves more, via its eclectic
instrumentation, than anything the Purple One has done in the past decade. On
the flip-side, “Travis County” is a Bruce Springsteen-styled poop-punter with
rockabilly leanings and an infectious backbeat. The doo-wop flavored “Please
Come Home” comes fully-packed with strings and vocal harmonies, like an old
Etta James joint from the late 1950s or early ‘60s, Clark showing off his
singing chops with elegant Smokey Robinson-styled vocals, but his lively
guitarplay evinces a later, more emotionally fraught time and place.
Third Stone From The Sun
The insightful lyrics of “The Life” are matched by a melodic amalgam of
neo-soul, hip-hop, and funk while the heavy “Numb” is a snarling beast armed
with molten riffs and tusk-gnashing rhythms. Clark’s mash-up of Hendrix’s
“Third Stone From the Sun” with Little Johnny Taylor’s “If You Love Me Like
You Say” (best known from Albert Collins’ Frostbite LP) provides plenty
of cheap thrills, jumping off with the crash and rattle of ringing guitars and
sporadic drumbeats. The swirling psychedelic blues-rock instrumentation (sans
vocals) quietly and quite suddenly evolves into “If You Love Me Like You Say,”
Clark’s approach to the song adding a bit of sly Southern funk to Collins’
original reading of the song.
Clark changes directions one last
time with the acoustic-blues stomp ‘n’ stammer “Next Door Neighbor Blues,” the
song itself a sort of dichotomy, its contemporary lyrics gussying up an
undeniably Delta-influenced soundtrack. Clark’s voice is altered
electronically to mimic the echo found on those old 78rpm records, maybe even
rising up a notch in pitch to sound more like an old Tommy Johnson side, but
there’s no arguing with the result, the guitarist’s spry fretwork chiming like
Son House, the song riding a razor’s edge between modern chic and authentic
Mississippi throwback.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Music lovers are going to rejoice over Clark’s debut even as blues
purists are gonna hate, but the truth is that Blak and Blu marks the
emergence of a major talent who is bringing his love of blues and soul to
mainstream audiences. Regardless of whether or not we’ve heard it all before,
we’ve never heard it quite like this – as Gary Clark, Jr. puts his own unique
stamp on the familiar, he walks further down the path blazed by Clapton,
Hendrix, Vaughan, and few others, venturing beyond their footsteps to mark a
direction for others to follow in the future. Blues, welcome to the 21st
century! (Warner Brothers Records, released October 22, 2012)
Irish-born blues-rock guitarist
Gary Moore has
never made any secret of the impact that his musical influences have had on his
decision to pick up a guitar and subsequently forge a lengthy and acclaimed
career from his talents. From British blues pioneer Peter Green’s work with John
Mayall and Fleetwood Mac to Delta blues legend Robert Johnson’s groundbreaking
art, Moore’s largish back catalog is littered with references and inferences to
these important artists.
American blues-rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix
is another musical giant who has had a powerful effect on Moore’s career,
beginning with his late 1960s blues-rock trio Skid Row and throughout his
prolific solo career. In October 2007, as the Hendrix estate was preparing to
release Jimi’s Live At Monterey album, Moore performed a unique concert
at the London Hippodrome. With his touring band at the time – bassist David
Bronze and drummer Darrin Mooney – Moore cut loose with a lengthy set of classic
Hendrix material. This London Hippodrome concert was filmed and released as
Blues For Jimi on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc, the first posthumous release
by Eagle Rock since Moore’s unexpected death in February 2011.
Gary Moore’s Blues For Jimi
The album starts out promising enough with “Purple Haze,” the song’s familiar
screaming psychedelic-colored intro jumping things off. As Moore’s vocals slide
into the first verse, however, one can easily hear the difference between
Hendrix’s original warm, mellifluous voice and Moore’s gruffer, strained tones.
Moore embellishes Jimi’s original soundtrack for the song with a few tasty
flurries of notes, especially the finishing thunderstorm of sound and fury,
redeeming the performance by strength of will.
“Manic Depression”
begins in much the same way, with a chaotic instrumental opening that, by now,
is encoded in the Hendrix fan’s DNA. Moore’s vocals are buried somewhat deep
here in the mix, and he’s singing at a different register that’s closer to
Jimi’s soulful wail. The fretwork is stellar, however, wrestling with Jimi note
for note in some instances, taking off and soaring into the stratosphere in
others. Moore’s vocal shortcomings are quite evident on the slower,
ballad-styled songs like “The Wind Cries Mary,” the guitarist simply unable to
achieve the nuance and emotional tenderness that provides a counterbalance to
the song’s lofty guitar tones.
I Don’t Live Today
Hendrix’s “I Don’t Live Today” was one of the legend’s best blues-rock songs,
and while Moore opens up the arrangement to allow for his own unique brand of
six-string pyrotechnics, overall the performance is true to the spirit, if not
the letter of the original blockbuster. Moore’s trippy, psych-drenched solo
three-minutes or so in is matched by the furious backdrop of Dave Bronze’s
powerful bass foundation and drummer Darrin Mooney’s explosive, unrelenting
barrage of percussion.
Moore’s original instrumental intro into
“Angel” is hauntingly beautiful, albeit too brief by a mile, leading into the
song with his vocals softer and more effective here than previously. Moore
manages to capture a modicum of the wistfulness displayed by the original, an
emotional edge bolstered by his spot-on mimicry of Hendrix’s pitch-perfect
guitar lines, save for a big closing which is stunning in its intricacy and
elegance.
Billy Cox & Mitch Mitchell
Longtime Hendrix friend and bassist Billy Cox and original Experience drummer
Mitch Mitchell join Moore and his band for a trio of their favorite Hendrix
songs, beginning with the blustery blues-rock romp “Red House.” Moore lays down
his strongest, bluesiest riff yet for the song’s opening, the performance itself
a welcome slow grind of stinging guitar notes and solid, if unspectacular
rhythms. Moore’s fretwork is simply incendiary, stretching the song out to an
entertaining eleven-and-a-half minutes with quiet solos and raucous crescendos
of sound alike accompanied by sparse backing instrumentation.
By
contrast, Hendrix’s signature “Stone Free” frequently descends into sonic
anarchy with swirls of bass and drums punctuated by razor-sharp guitar licks.
Moore rejoins his regular band for the classic Jimi rocker “Voodoo Child (Slight
Return),” its familiar instrumental gymnastics re-created here with reckless
abandon, Moore banging his plank and coaxing out sounds even Hendrix would find
alien as the Bronze/Mooney rhythm section strikes your ears like a wrecking
ball. It’s Moore’s red-hot fretwork that rolls you over, though, striking like a
cobra and generating enough raw electric amperage to power a small Irish village
for a month.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
The best part of Blues For Jimi is when Moore stops singing and just
plays his guitar, his vocal performance on this classic material frequently
falling short of even second-tier Hendrix doppelgangers like Arthur Lee or Lenny
Kravitz. While I have no doubt that Moore is doing the best with what he has to
work with, his voice just isn’t up to the chore of covering this many classic,
too-familiar musical treasures either on stage or on record.
Moore
doubles-down on the guitar fireworks, however, delivering an inspiring
instrumental performance in these grooves that allows the listener to (mostly)
forget the vocal shortcomings and instead enjoy the heartfelt tribute that is
Blues For Jimi. This is maybe not the swansong that Gary Moore would have
wanted, but it’s a neat bookend to a career spent in sincere awe and admiration
of those artists that influenced a young Irish lad to pick up the guitar in the
first place. (Eagle Records, released September 25, 2012)
As blues historian and music journalist Bill Dahl points out in his exhaustive liner notes for the wonderful Freddie King set The Complete King Federal Singles, while the legendary guitarist is usually seen as a Texas blues firebrand, King actually spent better than a decade circa 1950 to 1963 living and playing in Chicago. Originally mentored by guitarists like Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, and Robert Jr. Lockwood, King became one of the innovators of the West Side sound along with other young six-string talents like Magic Sam and Otis Rush.
As Dahl also points out, it was the twin influences of Texas bluesmen like T-Bone Walker and Lightnin’ Hopkins and the blues he heard, and played, in Chicago that made Freddie King a unique figure on the modern blues scene. More than any of his peers, King enjoyed modest success on the pop charts, primarily through the better than two-dozen singles he released on the associated King and Federal Records labels between 1960 and 1967. Freddie’s melodic licks and unique finger-picked guitar style, as heard on these singles, would be a major influence on a generation of British blues-rockers like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck.
Freddie King’s The Complete King Federal Singles
Sadly, King’s back catalog is in serious disarray, with a handful of titles available from Friday Music, and many other albums simply out-of-print. Even odder, no collection has previously featured the aforementioned groundbreaking, influential singles King recorded for King and Federal until now. The Complete King Federal Singles collects all 54 of the guitarist’s original sides for the labels stretched across two CDs, providing listeners with a whopping 155 minutes of fiery guitar blues, red-hot R&B jams, and a few misfires. King’s first single for Federal – the label that James Brown made famous – was the slow-burning “You’ve Got To Love Her With A Feeling,” a remake of a classic Tampa Red side that showcases King’s underrated vocals and smoldering fretwork.
It was King’s second effort for Federal, the immortal instrumental “Hideaway,” that would forever become known as his signature song, however, King using scraps of melody and guitar “borrowed” from other artists like Hound Dog Taylor to create the energetic guitar-driven romp. Named for Mel’s Hideaway Lounge, one of the West Side venues that King frequently played at in Chicago, “Hideaway” became a Top 30 pop hit, hit #5 on the R&B charts, and would subsequently be covered by dozens of other artists, including John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Stevie Ray Vaughan. An energetic boogie with lively fretwork and a break that includes the rhythmic vamp from the “Peter Gunn Theme” (from a popular early 1960s TV show), “Hideaway” is a true American music classic.
San-Ho-Zay!
“Hideaway” would set the stage for much of what would follow during King’s lengthy tenure with the King/Federal label family…bluesy vocal R&B tunes and the occasional instrumental, all showcasing King’s flexible guitar stylings. The 1961 track “Lonesome Whistle Blues” offers up some tasty guitar licks, backing vocals that borderline on doo-wop, great piano play, and a sultry rhythm that drove the song to #8 on the R&B chart. The B-side to this one was “It’s Too Bad Things Are Going So Tough,” a tear-jerker blues tune with crying fretwork and mournful piano notes, the song a remarkable (and unheralded) example of the traditional Chicago blues style.
The 1961 instrumental “San-Ho-Zay!” would become another hit for King, who borrowed much of its structure from fellow Chicago blues guitarist Eddie C. Campbell. Bluesier and with more distortion than “Hideaway,” this instrumental foreshadowed the British blues-rock explosion that was a few years away in the future. Another of King’s overlooked instrumentals, “Sen-Sha-Shun,” was the B-side to the more traditional blues of “I’m Tore Down.” While the former offers up plenty o’ hot licks and smoky vocals, King backed on the upbeat houserocker by a blast of horns, the latter tune takes an entirely different tack, mixing bits of blues and rockabilly with an undeniable surf-guitar sound for an electrifying, invigorating performance.
Christmas Tears
During the 1960s, labels released new singles with a frequency unheard of today, and they often asked artists to record holiday-themed material for the market. King’s entry into the Christmas sales fray is the wonderfully morose “Christmas Tears.” Although the 1961 single was only a modest R&B chart success, it’s a fine holiday tune with King displaying a hot hand on the fretboard, a jazzy rhythmic backdrop playing against his loudly-sobbing vocals. The single’s B-side, the raucous “I Hear Jingle Bells,” is a delightful, over-the-top rocker that provides several licks that Clapton would later steal for the Yardbirds.
Although King would chart an amazing seven singles during 1961, his streak ended there and he would be pushed throughout the ensuing years towards more commercial R&B material and songs designed to exploit teen trends during the early ‘60s. “Do the President Twist” was one such attempt to cash-in on a popular dance craze, the lightweight 1962 effort overshadowing King’s stinging guitar licks with blaring horns and unremarkable vocals by Lula Reed, wife of producer Sonny Burgess. More interesting is the scorching “What About Love,” a R&B-tinged rocker that put King’s voice loud and proud in the mix and offering up a couple of short but sweet solos. That single’s instrumental B-side, “Texas Oil,” delivers a fluid groove, plenty of hornplay and, most importantly, King’s wiry guitarplay throughout.
The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist
As the calendar pages turned, the label continued to downplay King’s strengths with hackneyed attempts at gaining a hit song, as shown by the relatively-tame 1963 instrumental “The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist,” which attempted to capitalize on three dance trends at once, with only very modest success (#103 on the pop chart). It could be worse, however – the horrible double-sided monster that was “One Hundred Years” b/w “(I’d Love To) Make Love To You” would eschew King’s guitar altogether in an attempt to remake the Texas bluesman as a pop crooner, the B-side of the 1963 single displaying a pronounced island lilt while the A-side lacks any sort of melodic hook for King to hang his vocals on, and only sparse instrumentation (sans guitar) to attract listeners.
The aforementioned creative and commercial flops notwithstanding, King did record some fine blues material during the latter part of his years with King/Federal. Alongside such marginal fare as “Surf Monkey” and “King-A-Ling” you’ll find gems like the old-school blues of “(The Welfare) Turns Its Back On You,” the socially-conscious lyrical commentary offering up cutting guitar licks, honky-tonk piano, and mournful saxplay. The 1964 track “Someday, After Awhile (You’ll Be Sorry)” is a minor blues masterpiece crying out for rediscovery by a modern singer like John Nemeth, King’s tortured vocals matched tear for tear by his emotional fretwork. The jazzy “Now I’ve Got A Woman” would have been tailor-made for a singer like Ray Charles, the up-tempo R&B locomotive fueled by King’s lively solos, while a cover of Jimmy McCracklin’s “You’ve Got Me Licked” is an inspired mix of Chicago-style and West Coast blues with a smooth groove and piercing notes dancing atop the rhythmic instrumentation.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
King returned to Texas late during his years with the King Records machine, preparing for the next stage of his career. Blues music was evolving throughout the 1960s, moving away from the business model of releasing a half-dozen singles on an artist during the year and towards fully-realized, full-length albums. King would move onto Atlantic’s Cotillion label for a pair of late 1960s albums produced by saxophonist King Curtis before signing with Leon Russell’s Shelter Records label for a handful of early-to-mid-1970s album releases that would find a new audience and cement his legacy as one of the greatest blues guitarists.
King laid the foundation for his legacy with the 54 sides that he recorded for King and Federal, and while there are more than a few clunkers to be found among the tracks preserved by The Complete King Federal Singles, the gold far outweighs these forgettable moments. Highly recommended for any old-school blues fan, fan of blues guitar, or even the newcomer navigating their way through the history of the genre, Freddie King’s The Complete King Federal Singles is essential listening. (Real Gone Music, released February 26, 2013)
For the late, great Janis Joplin, it all began back in 1966 with psychedelic blues-rockers Big Brother & the Holding Company. Chet Helms, the band’s manager and an old friend from Texas, convinced Joplin to join Big Brother, a band that didn’t seem to really want the singer. Joplin and Big Brother got over their shotgun marriage, however, and the singer vaulted to stardom – or at least notoriety – on the strength of the band’s sophomore album Cheap Thrills. Joplin would leave the band after less than three years to strike out on her own, leaving behind two studio albums and the Live at Winterland ‘68 set as the only documents of her tenure with Big Brother.
Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 represents a previously unreleased performance by Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Joplin, taken from the archives of legendary San Francisco scene soundman Owsley “Bear” Stanley. Stanley made his bones mixing live sound for the Grateful Dead in 1966, and he ran the sound system at the Carousel Ballroom, which would later become the legendary Fillmore West. Stanley often recorded the shows he worked as a way to improve the listening experience, recordings he called his “sonic journals.” Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 is the first of “Bear’s Sonic Journals” to be released commercially, and was mixed by Stanley, who also oversaw the album’s mastering before his death.
Big Brother & the Holding Company’s Live At The Carousel Ballroom 1968
Recorded a couple of months after the show documented by Live at Winterland ‘68, the tracklist for Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 includes all of the band’s well-known songs at the time – “Down On Me,” “Ball & Chain,” “Piece of My Heart,” “Summertime” – but it also includes some obscure material as well, like a rare live performance of “It’s A Deal” and “Call On Me,” from the band’s self-titled first album. An extended jam, titled “I’m Mad” (or “Mad Man Blues”) can’t be found anywhere in the band’s catalog, and the album also includes a live reading of “Coo Coo,” a 1967 track that was only released on a 45rpm single at the time.
The show opens with “Combination Of the Two,” a lesser-known but no less powerful song from Cheap Thrills, the performance starting slow and building to a feverish crescendo with buzzing guitars and throbbing bass lines, crashing percussion, and scraps of Joplin’s already-powerful voice. While not the best showcase for Janis – she barely sings here – the psychedelic cacophony provides a lasting snapshot of the trademark Big Brother sound. The slow-burning “I Need A Man To Love” features Janis in full-blown mode, singing and moaning, screaming and scatting atop the band’s fluid, bluesy groove. “Flower In the Sun” is one of the band’s underrated gems, featuring a fine Janis vocal performance that relies more on straight, torch-style vocals as well as plenty of James Gurley’s imaginative fretwork.
Piece of My Heart
Another treasure here is the driving psychedelic jam “Light Is Faster Than Sound.” Written by Big Brother bassist Peter Albin, this live performance takes on an improvisational jazz-styled vibe, with swirling guitars and waves of instrumentation spinning like a whirlpool around Joplin’s soulful vocals and the band’s backing harmonies, before descending into a tsunami of guitars and percussion. By contrast, the moody and atmospheric take provided “Summertime” starts out deceptively languid before Joplin’s voice and the nuanced backing guitars build the song up to an emotional peak. “It’s A Deal” is an unabashed garage-rockin’ good time with plenty o’ feedback and distortion riding high in the mix alongside Joplin’s wildfire vocals.
The familiar “Call On Me” is delivered as a straight-forward soul-blues number, mid-tempo with six-string flourishes and a bit of over-amped distortion, but otherwise a remarkable reading of the song. A second version of “Call On Me,” from the previous night, is slower and bluesier and just as moving. “Piece of My Heart” is every bit the over-the-top blues-rock rant offered by the studio version, Joplin’s soaring vocals matched by subtle instrumentation that amps up to match the singer’s swells of emotion. The obscure “Coo Coo” is a welcome find, a mostly-instrumental rocker with heavy bass and sizzling guitar galloping through the mix, with little but random shouts heard from Ms. Joplin, while the raucous “Down On Me” closely mimics the album version, albeit with more scattershot guitarplay behind Joplin’s forceful performance.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Remarkably, the sound on Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 is pretty good considering the primitive recording technology used at the time, even if the stereo separation is purposely a bit unusual. Stanley did a great job in capturing the ambiance, the energy, and the spirit of the performance, and of the era...the album sounds like you’re watching the performance live. Noted rock critic Jaan Uhelszki’s liner notes put the recording in context, Stanley Mouse’s cool cover art is period perfect, and a 28-page CD booklet includes plenty of rare photos.
Hopefully we’ll get to hear more from Bear’s private musical stash in the future, but in the meantime, Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 – featuring a red-hot performance by Big Brother and the Holding Company and their larger-than-life singer – is a “must have” not only for the Janis faithful, but also for fans of 1960s-era psychedelic blues-rock jams. (Legacy Records, released March 13, 2012)
By 1972, Stax Records had seen its glory days come and gone, but there were still a few fires burning brightly at the legendary Memphis soul label. Among the artists keeping the doors open in the early 1970s were soul giant Isaac Hayes, R&B greats the Staple Singers, and extraordinary blues guitarist Albert King. Working in the studio with members of the Bar-Kays, including producer/keyboardist Allen Jones, as well as members of the Movement, Hayes’ backing band, King recorded I’ll Play the Blues For You, a masterful collection of blues-infused contemporary soul that nearly hit #11 on the R&B chart and inched nearly half-way up the top 200 albums chart.
Albert King’s I’ll Play The Blues For You
Back in 1972, “I’ll Play the Blues For You (Parts1 & 2)” was originally broken into two parts and released as the A and B sides of a 45rpm single. On album, the seven-minute performance is a smoldering, smooth-as-silk jam with plenty of King’s signature bent-string fretwork, an uncharacteristic but effective spoken-word interlude, and a slippery rhythmic groove that adds to the heat of the performance. Taken altogether, the song is like a hot, humid day in Memphis, its emotional underpinnings concealed just below the languid, steamy surface.
King recorded the Ann Peebles’ hit “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” not long after the R&B diva had a massive chart hit with the song, but in the guitarist’s hands it becomes something else entirely. While Jones’ production doesn’t eschew the mournful soul roots of the original, King’s emotion-drenched vocals, his elegant fretwork, and the addition of Wayne Jackson and the Memphis Horns take the performance into heady territory. By contrast, “High Cost of Living” relies more on King’s screaming guitar notes and the explosive hornplay of Jackson and Andrew Love. King’s vocals wring every bit of romantic angst out of the lyrics, but it’s his razor-sharp blues licks that drive the performance.
Answer To The Laundromat Blues
King’s effective cover of the early Curtis Mayfield gem “I’ll Be Doggone” is dominated by the Memphis Horns, the guitarist’s voice lost beneath the brass and Jones’ chiming keyboards. King gets a few punches in, though, his flamethrower solos riding loud in the mix above drummer Willie Hall’s supporting percussion. King offers a sly reference to James Brown at three minutes in, before launching into a high-flying solo. King’s original “Answer To the Laundromat Blues” reprises his 1966 hit “Laundromat Blues” with fiery blues licks, spoken-sung lyrics that would have been controversial by today’s standards, and funky horns propelled by jazzy drumbeats. “Don’t Burn Down The Bridge (‘Cause You Might Wanna Come Back Across)” should have been a massive R&B hit, with King’s edgy vocals and edgier fretwork, a funky rhythmic crosscurrent, and scraps of energetic brass.
This expanded reissue of I’ll Play the Blues For You includes four previously-unreleased tracks, including alternate versions of the title track (sans the spoken interlude and with different horn charts) and “Don’t Burn Down the Bridge,” which benefits from a leaner, meaner arrangement that places more emphasis on King’s incendiary six-string pyrotechnics than on the horns, with bassist James Alexander’s funky steel-chain bass line establishing the song’s rhythmic foundation. That “I Need A Love” remained unreleased until now is a mystery, the song a bluesy, up-tempo R&B romp with precise guitarplay, gritty vocals, and well-timed blasts of sax. The instrumental “Albert’s Stomp” is a short, sharp shock of lightning guitar licks leveled against a thunderous backdrop that revolves around second guitarist Michael Toles’ swirling, psych-drenched rhythms and Jones’ spirited keyboard riffs.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Albert King’s eight-year tenure with Stax Records brought him a modicum of stardom and several R&B chart hits, helping to extend his career well into the 1980s. With I’ll Play The Blues For You, King delivered a bona fide classic of 1970s-era blues and soul music, a collection of inspired performances that have withstood the test of time.
For fans wondering if they should upgrade to this new reissue of an otherwise comfortable album, I’d offer a quick ‘yes!’ Aside from the clear-sounding digital remastering and four bonus tracks – two of which are engaging, entertaining new songs – the disc also includes music journalist Bill Dahl’s insightful and informative new liner notes. While reissue CDs too often just slap a new coat of paint on an old album, this modernized version of I’ll Play the Blues For You tunes up the engine and adds a little nitrous for that extra punch. What more could a blues fan ask for? (Stax Records, reissued May 22, 2012)
