Blues Matters 64

Hubert Sumlin

Come along to the nal of the New Brunswick Battle of the Blues on 27th March to see and hear some of Britain’s best-unsigned Blues artists and discover whom Tourism New Brunswick will be taking to play at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in New Brunswick, Canada later this year.

Five great acts will take to the stage and will play some of their own original material in front of an international panel of judges, and whilst the judges reach their decision last years winners 24 Peso’s will headline.

So join us on the 27th March at: The Garage 20-22 Highbury Corner, London N5 1RD.

Admission is by ticket only (£7) and is sure to be popular so buy your tickets now from: www.hmvtickets.com or www.ticketweb.com

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to charity, details of which will be announced on the night.

To learn more about the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, or more about the New Brunswick Battle of the Blues visit: www.tourismnewbrunswick.co.uk or www.facebook.com/newbrunswickbattleoftheblues

BLUES MATTERS! EDITORIAL

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EDITORIAL team

Alan King / Gez Morgan: editor@bluesmatters.com

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Contributing writers:

alan@bluesmatters.com

Liz Aiken, Roy Bainton, Andrew Baldwin, Adam Bates, Duncan Beattie, Adrian Blacklee, Bob Bonsey, Colin Campbell, Bob Chaffey, Mark Cole, Martin Cook, Norman Darwen, Dave Drury, Linda Fisher, Jamie Hailstone, Stuart

A. Hamilton, Beryl Hankin, Nat Harrap, Brian Harman, Alan Harvey, Gareth Hayes, Steve Hoare, Tony Holmes, John Hurd, Billy Hutchinson, Peter Innes, Duncan Jameson, Edward Killelea, Martin Knott, Brian Kramer, Frank Leigh, Geoff Marston, Ben McNair, Vicky Martin, Michael Messer, Martin McKeown, Martin ‘Noggin’ Norris, Merv Osborne, Mike Owens, Frankie Pfeiffer, Thomas Rankin, Clive Rawlings, Paromita Saha, Graeme Scott, Dave Scott, Andy Snipper, Richard Thomas, Tom Walker, Mel Wallace, Darren Weale, Kevin Wharton, Rhys Williams, Philip Woodford, Vicente Zúmel, Roser Zúmel.

Contributing photographers:

Christine Moore, Liz Aiken, Annie Goodman, Marilyn Stringer, Vicky Martin, Philip Woodford, Paul Webster, others credited on page

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© 2012 Blues Matters!

Original material in this magazine is © the authors. Reproduction may only be made with prior consent of the Editor and provided that acknowledgement is given of the source and copy is sent to the editorial address. Care is taken to ensure that the contents of this magazine are accurate but the publishers do not accept any responsibility for errors that may occur or views expressed editorially. All rights reserved. No parts of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise without prior permission of the editor. Submissions: Readers are invited to submit articles, letters and photographs for publication. The publishers reserve the right to amend any submissions and cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage. Please note: Once submitted material becomes the intellectual property of Blues Matters and can only later be withdrawn from publication at the expediency of Blues Matters. Advertisements: Whilst responsible care is taken in accepting advertisements if in doubt readers should make their own enquiries. The publisher cannot accept any responsibility for any resulting unsatisfactory transactions, nor shall they be liable for any loss or damage to any person acting on information contained in this publication. We will however investigate complaints.

A belated Happy New Year to you all. We trust you are recovered from your Christmas celebrations and looking forward to a good Blues year. Good to hear that the Burnley Blues festival has new backing and is back to its usual three day format though it has moved its dates to May.

This issue we have interviews with Tony McPhee formally (and still occasionally) of The Groundhogs, the legendary Taj Mahal, JJ Grey, Nicky Moore ex Samson & Mammoth singer whose son Jnr is taking over the voice in the renowned Blues Corporation), Moreland & Arbuckle from Kansas, the new girl on the block Grainne Duffy (suggested that she may be the UK’s Bonnie Raitt) and more. Also features on the Blues Scene in Spain by Vicente Zúmel & Roser Zúmel (Pt.1). Young and Blues by Brian Kramer (mentioned but not appearing in our last issue), Slide Guitar Part 3 by Michael Messer and as always many, many more. Let’s not forget all the Live Reviews, CD Reviews, Blue Blood, News and Feedback. We never mention these but the wonderful Blues Cartoon by Jay Nocera and Red Licks’ Top 20. Blues Top Ten this issue is provided by Nicky Moore and Kevin Wharton’s ‘Least We Forgot’ on Cyril Davies.

You may have heard by now, the legendary Hubert Sumlin has died. In this issue we have two tributes to him by two people who knew Hubert well, Bob Angell (Hubert was his friend and mentor) and Stephen Dale Petit (recently in the studio with Hubert). Hubert Sumlin was best known for his celebrated work as guitarist in Howlin’ Wolf’s band.

The EBU (European Blues Union) have asked Blues Matters to select an artist to represent Britain next year’s ‘European Blues Union Challenge’. Ben Poole won the best newcomer in the ‘BM Poll’ (See issue 62). We’ve asked Ben and he accepted.

Butlins Skegness Rock N’ Blues Festival - This year’s line up on the BM Jaks stage is set to be a cracker. As always the BM HQ team and writers will be present. The Jaks Stage will now be open all day Sunday into the evening for the first time as many of you have been asking for so we talked to Bourne Leisure and gained agreement for you. So more acts to come and enjoy. We hope to see you all there.

Apologies to Mike Owens who was not credited for his ‘Blues In Schools’ article in issue 63 and Richard Thomas name was incorrectly spelt.

Alan & Gez and all the BM ‘Team’ HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Regulars Features

14 INTERVIEWS

Grainne Duffy, Taj Mahal, The Baddest

Blues Band, Will Johns, Tony McPhee, Nicky Moore, Izzy Young, Allen Toussaint, The Myers Brothers, Moreland & Arbuckle.

54 FEATURES

54 Hubert Sumlin

68 Spanish Blues

Heinrik Freischlander, Imelda May, Joanne Shaw Taylor, John Mayall & Oli Brown, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Nimmo Brothers, Rev Payton’s Big Damn Band & The Straits, Robin Trower

130 COMPETITION

Win Books

76 Blues Jive

78 Michael Messer on Slide Guitar

82 Young and Blue

128 Before We Forget

86 FESTIVAL FEVER

Cambridge Rock & Blues, J Hospice, Carlisle Blues Festival, New Brunswick, Plumpton Festival, Torquay..

ARTHUR, BIG PETE, ‘BIG BOY’ CRUDUP, BILL WYMAN’S RHYTHM KINGS, BLUES

BAND, BLUESFREAK, DAVE O’GRADY, DAVID YOUNGS, EARL GREEN & THE RIGHT TIME, EMILY O’HALLORAN, FILLIGAR, JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND, JOHNNY OTIS, MARIELLA TIROTTO & THE BLUES FEDERA-

TION, MATT ANDERSEN, MIGHTY MO RODGERS, MORELAND & ARBUCKLE, PIGNOSE, RAMON GOOSE, ROXI & THE BLUE CATS, SHAUN MURPHY, SLEEPY EYES NELSON, SON ROBERTS, STRETCH, SUGAR RAY & THE BLUETONES,THE DEADLY GENTLEMEN, STEVE ROUX & THE WHITE KNUCKLE BLUES

BAND, TIM AVES & WOLFPACK, TOBY WALKER, TOMMY EMMANUEL, WHITEBOY JAMES AND THE BLUES EXPRESS, BARE BONES

BOOGIE BAND, D’MAR & GILL, GRAINNE DUFFY, LANCE LOPEZ etc. etc.

Cover feature

Taj Mahal

Born 27th May 1942, Henry Saint Clair Fredericks. In the course of his 50 years in the business he has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music. He fuses blues with nontraditional forms, including Caribbean, African and South Pacific.

Three times over American Grammy winner, other awards have been bestowed on him. He has released countless albums, DVD’s and movies. Many artists have included him on their albums. Such is the respect which he has with fellow artist. We wish him well in all his future musical ventures and hope to enjoy his company for many years.

Nicky Moore

Grainne Duffy

Taj Mahal

Moreland & Arbuckle

Izzy Young

Allen Toussaint

The Baddest Blues Band

The Myers Brothers

Will Johns

Blues Matters invited Nicky Moore, and his two talented sons Junior and Timmy, to list his top 10 Blues tracks of all time. Nicky quickly came up with a list, and then another list he liked as much, and another, but we kept him to his first choice. One which doesn’t appear in the list deserves a mention: ‘The Thrill is Gone’. BB King’s classic is Nicky’s favourite song to cover and it appears on his own live album.

1. Howlin Wolf - ‘Smokestack Lightning’

The first Blues I ever heard, when I was 15 or 16 years old. The Wolf’s songs feature absolutely amazing guitar by the late Hubert Sumlin. That was the track that inspired the next 40 years of my career, and is my favourite of all time. Howlin’ Wolf was my God.

2. Lorraine Ellison - ‘Stay With Me Baby’

There are two great versions of this song, the other by Terry Reid. But this version is just the most soulful, genuine thing I’ve ever heard.

3. Bobby Bland - ‘It’s Not The Spotlight’

I first heard this sung by Rod Stewart, but I was completely bowled over when I heard Bobby Bland sing it. This and the other song in this list, plus ‘Stormy Monday Blues’. were among the songs on the seven albums I first heard, in one go, by Bobby Bland and which made a massive impact on me.

4. Bobby Bland - ‘I Got The Same Old Blues’

I play this on one chord – Bobby Bland played it with a full band. It has fantastic lyrics about love lost and won again. I absolutely love it.

5. Them - ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’

Them played in the era I loved best, when white British Blues was at its peak. with The Animals and Alexis Korner and others playing. It’s just wonderful. It has guitar playing beyond belief. I love Them.

6. Allman Brothers Band - ‘Statesboro Blues’

The original was by Blind Willie McTell. But listen to the Allman Brothers Band cover from the album At Fillmore East. It just blows me away every time I hear it. It has a unique tempo to it. That album is brilliant, and includes a cover of Stormy Monday. I enjoy singing this one live, in my own style. (check out my live cover on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtrQT-rREqo )

7. Edgar Winter - ‘Tobacco Road’

This has the greatest ending of any record I’ve ever heard. Edgar Winter is the little brother of Johnny Winter. He is a fantastic singer and his scream at the end brings up the hairs at the back of my neck.

8. The Jeff Beck Group - ‘Rock My Plimsoul’

This was actually a B side to the single “Tallyman”. It is basically “Rock me Baby” to a massive riff. Jeff Beck is the most unique guitar player produced in this country. The vocal is by Rod Stewart. I first saw Rod sing with Steampacket. He is the most fantastic singer

9. The Staple Singers - ‘We’ve Been Waiting’

If you’re a singer you can’t escape this. Four people having a wonderful time, you just have to sing along to it. I nearly recorded with Mavis, a real shame it didn’t come off.

10. The Persuasions - ‘People Get Ready’

My odd choice. There’s not an instrument on it. It has a great four part harmony and is just fantastic. And your best recent track would be?

I had to Go And See Alice - Buddy Whittington from his Six String Svengali album.

photo by Christine Moore

Festival Saturation Point?

As a devotee of Monica Madgwick’s wonderful Boogaloo Blues weekends (jewels in the blues scene held at locations across the UK which by the way predate the other events by some years) I do at least share Annabel’s frustration at the date clash between the Stoke weekend and the Carlisle festival. That said Stoke is a very welcome new Boogaloo venue given the loss of a number of regular venues in recent years. In addition I did raise the date issue with Monica some months ago but regrettably the Hotel preferred to stick with it. These decisions are not the promoters alone. It is also true in my experience at events from Torquay (which is incidentally run by a local promoter) to Carlisle, that the majority of attendees are relatively local to the area, only a small percentage come from further afield. Whilst not ideal therefore, there should be room for events spread widely across the UK over a short period. I do not suppose there will be many such as my wife and myself attending Torquay and Carlisle (and not Stoke I am sorry to say for reasons of personal expedience). Finally I am sure that all three events will prosper so unfortunate yes but a death knell? Thankfully no, finally to seemingly criticize the Boogaloo weekends which have received favourable footage in BM from musicians and fans alike because they are not run by a local promoter is short sightedness in the extreme.

Bob Chaffey - Plymouth

BM: Hi Bob, indeed let us all hope that more local fans (and of course many more not so local fans) attend these events which are created to further the music and the artists and hopefully do other local businesses some good at the same time. Of course in these times of enforced economies times are tough and many have to carefully pick and choose which event to attend when ideally they’d love to go to them all. At least we know there are organisers and promoters out there trying to provide good entertainment and opportunities for all of us who love the music.

Dear BM,

In my humble opinion, the blues scene in the UK doesn’t have enough of a cohesive infrastructure. There’s a pitiful amount of radio air time for blues

artists and no touring support scheme such as the one in the jazz world. With the amazing tradition and history of the British blues scene it’s scandalous that it should be relegated to the status of a second class citizen….. by a long way. Thank heavens then for ‘Blues Matters’ with its brilliant presentation, very substantial content, and most importantly its unbiased overall view of the musicians who are keeping the music alive. I was especially pleased to see a Blues Matters ‘poll’ which reflected the choices of reviewer’s who are exposed to, and listen to, all the new albums week in and week out. So often polls have a ‘predictable’ feel or slant to them.

Rob Koral - Poole, Dorset.

BM: Hi Rob, we here at BM couldn’t agree more about the air time for Blues music. There are some radio stations which offer Blues but only for an hour a week while Pop and Dance receive weeks of airplay. Rock for example has its own stations (Kerrang etc.) and gets a few plays on the prime time stations. Where are the Blues radio stations? Radio 1 and others play what is popular in the charts or top of iTunes. Regarding touring support, I must admit you will have a much better idea than us on that one as you’ve played in Jazz and Blues bands. Finding it hard to answer this one, maybe this is something we can touch on in a future issue.

Dear Blues Matters,

With reference to the request for us to write about some of the best Blues CD stores may I say I can HIGHLY recommend ‘THE COMPACT DISC’ run by Martin Salisbury in Sevenoaks, Kent. The store has a vast Blues section with many imports that you do not get at most shops. Martin is very helpful and will always play CDs before you purchase.

Geoff Pine - Broadstairs, Kent.

BM: Hi Geoff, thanks for this. So readers, if you’re ever in the Kent why not check out Martin Salisbury store. With imports and try before you buy, sounds like a good deal right?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first year of Blues Matters. Keep up the good work, great stuff!

J. Stuart Ashworthy, Lancaster.

BM: Thanks Stuart, and we have a load of great stuff ready for 2012.

BILL WYMAN’S RHYTHM KINGS: ‘Live Communication’ REP 5170 Digipak

Also available:

‘Struttin’ Our Stuff’ REP 5171

‘Anyway The Wind Blows’ REP 5172

‘Groovin’’ REP 5173

BILL WYMAN’S RHYTHM KINGS:

‘The Best Of Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings’ REP 5148 Slip case

‘Double Bill’ REP 5174

‘Just for A Thrill’ REP 5246

‘Live’ REP 5247

THE BLUES BAND

‘Few Short Lines’ REPUK 1149 Digipak

THE BLUES BAND

‘Best Of The Blues Band’ REPUK 1150 Slip cased 2CD set

Coming soon:

‘Official Blues Band Bootleg Album’ ‘Ready’

CHRIS SPEDDING

‘Pearls’ REPUK 1144 Digipak

CHRIS SPEDDING

‘One Step Ahead Of The Blues’ REPUK 1121 Slip case

ROBIN TROWER

‘The Playful Heart’ REPUK 1142 Slip cased 2CD set

Also available:

‘20th Century Blues’ REP 5245 Digipak

‘Another Days Blues’ REP 5244 Digipak

‘What Lies Beneath’ REP 5243 Digipak

STRETCH

‘Unfinished Business’ REPUK 1134 Digipak

Available on www.repertoirerecords.com

STRETCH

‘That’s The Way The Wind BlowsA Collection’

REP 5231 2CD Digipak

Also available:

‘Elastique’ REP 5082 Digisleeve

‘You Can’t Beat Your Brain For Entertainment’ REP 5083 Digisleeve

‘Lifeblood’ REP 5084 Digisleeve

The Burnley Blues Festival Is Back For Three Days In 2012

After lack of sponsors/backing meant the long running event was sadly restricted to just one day in 2011 so with new financial backers it is back to full three days, also the festival is not over Easter, the new dates are 4 - 6th May

Chingford Man Launches Britain’s First National Blues Archive

Britain’s first Blues music archive has been set up by a local retired law lecturer. Peter Harvie, 62, set up the British Blues Archive with BBC Radio 2 presenter Paul Jones in October and hopes to capture the music, memorabilia and magic created by some of the UK’s finest Blues musicians. Mr Harvie, of Polehill Road in Chingford, took early retirement from his job at the University of Westminster to focus on the project, and told the Guardian he has had a huge response from Blues fans in the short time since launched the archive.

He said: “I have loved the Blues all my life. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this so I decided to take the chance. I’m completely overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to join the archive, it’s incredibly successful. “I created a Facebook group and the next time I logged in there were 200 people who’d joined it.”

He decided to create the group to preserve the history of British Blues from the 1950s to today at a time when some of its pioneers are reaching old age. He has already interviewed John Mayall and hopes to speak with other greats including Eric Clapton.

Mr Harvie is also collecting memorabilia for the archive which is based at Loughton Library, in Traps Hill, alongside the National Jazz Archive. It already has thousands of books and magazines and a plectrum from the Sun Studio in America, where Elvis Presley has recorded. But he also hopes the archive will highlight the talented blues artists based in Waltham Forest. “We’re documenting local Blues played in the pubs and clubs around here because the standard is so high, it’s quite incredible. I play the saxophone but I’m afraid to come on stage after some of the acts that play,” he added.

The archive is launching the Blues Legacy Festival at The Coach and Horses Pub in Leyton High Road, Leyton, on Sunday, November 27.

Marcia Ball Receives Grammy Nomination For Roadside Attractions

Texas-born, Louisiana-raised pianist/vocalist/songwriter Marcia Ball has received a 2011 Grammy Award nomination in the ‘Best Blues Album’ category for her critically acclaimed CD, ‘Roadside Attractions’. This is Ball’s fifth release for Alligator Records and the fourth to receive a Grammy Award nomination. And Ball is absolutely thrilled. “Wow! This time I’m blown away. Thanks and congratulations really go to my great band and all the musicians who played on Roadside Attractions, to producer/co-writer Gary Nicholson, engineers Ray Kennedy and Sam Seifert, and to the great crews at Alligator Records and The Rosebud Agency. Fingers crossed!”

Gibson Custom And Stratstone of Mayfair Aston Martin Announce Gibson City Blues Jam

Gibson City Blues Jam is a new and exciting monthly event that puts budding musicians up on stage. In one of the city’s most impressive venues, Boisdale of Canary Wharf. Gibson City Blues Jam will provide guests with a unique opportunity to perform on stage with the Gibson City Blues Jam house band, Pacifico Blues.

Dinner guests will have the opportunity to jam with Pacifico Blues using a Gibson Custom guitar in the exquisite setting of Boisdale of Canary Wharf. A selection of Gibson Custom guitars will be available for purchase on the night. Gibson City Blues Jam will invite guests to become part of the house band, be it on guitar, bass, drums, keys or vocals. Pacifico Blues will support and improvise, incorporating each participant’s style and musical ability. Gibson City Blues Jam celebrates the blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and above all, a great night out. “It is the ultimate way to be in the band, but without the commitment.”

The Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville doesn’t just make the world’s finest and most sought after guitars, they make dreams a reality. Gibson Custom have been producing the ultimate hand crafted electric guitars since the 1920s and who hasn’t dreamed of owning a similar guitar played by the masters of their craft, legends such as Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Slash, Eric Clapton, Angus Young, Marc Bolan, Mick Jones, Joe Bonamassa and BB King to name a few.

The House Band: Pacifico Blues Pacifico Blues is a contemporary London Blues outfit featuring musicians from the internationally renowned AllStars Collective; the session musicians who in their day jobs play with the world’s most celebrated music artists. The Gibson City Blues Jam offers the incredible “money can’t buy experience” of performing on stage with some of the music industry’s elite. Former Banker and band leader Paul Pacifico said “I worked in the City for 10 years before giving it up to follow my dreams in music. It’s fantastic to have the chance to come back to the City and play music with all the guys that used to be in bands but now just don’t have the opportunity to play”.

The Richard ‘Hacksaw’ Harney Grave Marker Appeal Was Completed Almost After It Started. Presently a granite marker is being sourced, and no less than Steve LaVere is coming up with the inscription. There will be more news in the future, and hopefully pictures of the grave marker in place. There will be one more Blues tourist stop off point in Mississippi (Raymond), and hopefully the Mississippi Blues Trail Marker will honour us with placing a MBTM close by the cemetery.

Rolling Stone Top 20 Guitarists

1. Jimi Hendrix, 2. Eric Clapton, 3. Jimmy Page, 4. Keith Richards, 5. Jeff Beck, 6. BB King, 7. Chuck Berry, 8. Eddie Van Halen, 9. Duane Allman, 10. Pete Townsend, 11. George Harrison, 12. Stevie Ray Vaughan, 13. Albert King, 14. Dave Gilmour, 15. Freddy King, 16. Derek Trucks, 17. Neil Young, 18. Les Paul, 19. James Burton, 20. Carlos Santana.

Grammy Award-Winning Blues, Soul and R&B Singer Etta James

The voice behind hits like I’d ‘Rather Go Blind...’ and ‘All I Could Do Is Cry’ is terminally ill. The singer’s doctor disclosed last week that James is terminally ill with chronic leukaemia, dementia and kidney problems. Although the 73-year-old singer’s health has been declining over the past year, the doctor made the announcement on Thursday15th Dec, explaining that James’ leukaemia was deemed incurable two weeks ago. In 1960, James signed a recording contract with Chess Records - a relationship that spawned several hit numbers for both the singer and the record label. The six-time Grammy winner was portrayed by Beyonce in the 2008 flick Cadillac Records.

Paromita Saha meets with New Orleans R&B legend

Composer singer/songwriter Allen Toussaint needs no introduction. For nearly five decades, he has been the chief standard bearer of the New Orleans R&B sound and is regarded as one of America’s greatest singer/songwriters. Toussaint first became well known in the sixties for writing and producing hits such as ‘Mother in Law,’ ‘Working in a Coalmine,’ and ‘Fortune Teller,’ which was eventually covered by artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Who and more recently Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. In the seventies, he developed a funkier sound while producing New Orleans greats such as The Meters and Dr John. His reputation led him to work with artists such as John Mayall, The Band, Paul McCartney, Frankie Miller and Solomon Burke. At the same time, his career peaked with the release of his solo albums including the seminal “Southern Nights.” Over the past decade, his career has continued in leaps and bounds from touring, collaborations with the likes of Elvis Costello and Eric Clapton as well as producing critically acclaimed albums such as ‘The Bright Mississippi.” He has also been the chief torch- bearer for New Orleans music after the devastation of Katrina. I meet him one afternoon at the Jazz Café, just before his gig in London. As I walk into the empty venue, the notes of a piano overture resonate across the room. I find myself standing in a big empty room with Allen Toussaint playing his grand piano. It’s a priceless moment. Eventually, I am introduced to him and we are taken upstairs to the dressing room, where the interview takes place. Clad in a sharp suit and his socks and sandals, Allen Toussaint is very much the debonair gentleman, as described to me, by his peers.

BM: You spent the latter part of last year, performing on the New Orleans Nights tour across the US with the likes of fellow New Orleans musicians such as Joe Krown, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. How did that come about?

AT: I really didn’t bring those musicians together, as they were already together. I was the foreigner. I was the stranger. They played together as a group for a while, so they had cohesiveness and they are very funky. Batiste on drums, Joe Krown leading the way on keyboards, Walter Wolfman on guitar as well as a great bass player. It was a great situation to drop anyone into. Trumpeter Nicholas Payton was with us, which also made it very special as he played on the Bright Mississippi album with me. And we had a chance to do it and that was really wonderful.

I’ve noticed that over the past five years, you have been actively touring and from speaking to your contemporaries such as Irma Thomas, there has been this drive, in the aftermath of Katrina to get New Orleans back on the international music map. Has this been your crusade? It just turned out that way. A series of events that happened after Katrina just led a group of us to be in certain places. And of course, soon after Katrina, certain questions were asked so we just had to respond. It had happened automatically. So I am glad that so much attention has been focused on New Orleans and I am glad that I am around when there’s been focus. Without even trying that’s happened. We have become ambassadors without trying.

Longevity is quality that is synonymous to you and your New Orleans contemporaries such Dr John, Irma Thomas, Fats Domino, and Dave Bartholomew. What is that keeps New Orleans musicians going?

It’s in the water. (He laughs). It just feels good. New Orleans music is filled with syncopation and a large degree of humor. There’s the second line brass bands that prevail in your subconscious, and bring a certain pride and stride. There is the frenzy of the Mardi Gras Indians that lives constantly and is full of energy. The music here is played for different reasons and not for commercial reasons. Those elements live in us. Professor Longhair had that kind of rumbling. It’s hard to keep it down.

There has been talk of a post Katrina New Orleans sound – does such a thing exist?

I don’t hear this “new sound” of New Orleans. The links in the chain are fully intact to me and I see them moving towards to the future. We have young talent like Trombone Shorty and Russell Batiste and they are the links in the chain. I don’t see any great difference that Katrina has made to the spirit of New Orleans. It was a little hiatus for a moment. I don’t see any contribution that Katrina has made to music.

You must have seen a lot of the New Orleans greats pass away including your beloved teacher, Fess (Professor Longhair), Ernie K Doe, Johnny Adams, Lee Dorsey and Earl King? As well as

Professor Longhair, is there anyone you particularly miss?

I understand the process of coming here, being here, making your mark and leaving. These people made such indelible marks. I can’t really say that I miss them, as I understand the process so well, in that, we all must travel down that road. I was blessed to be able to meet these people, and be able to perform with them like Chris Kenner, Professor Longhair, Lee Dorsey and of course, Ernie K Doe. It was a pleasure being with them and they left such good music here. I can’t use the word the miss. I am so glad that so much of them are alive to me today. Professor Longhair lives in me, and he is that undercurrent. He’s the strongest undercurrent. I loved them all. James Booker of course, was my dear friend, even as a boy. They made such a great marks.

What was the R&B scene like in New Orleans back in the fifties, when you all hung out at J &M studio with Cosimo Matassa? I can imagine the revelry that must have taken place?

It was a great time. In New Orleans we didn’t see it as business. We were just making music and having a good time. And I think you can sort of hear that in the music. We weren’t even into the overdubbing or multi-tracks. We were making music for each other and passing it on.

When would you say you got your big break? Was it playing with New Orleans R&B artist Earl King as a teenager or being taken under the wing of legendary R&B producer David Bartholmew?

When I played with Earl King that was my rites of passage into adulthood. I was in the adult world playing with Earl King. Then I did a big tour with Shirley and Lee, which was another big break because I went on another roll and stayed out for almost a year. When Minit Records started, I was there that evening, accompanying artists who were going to sing. Afterwards Minit Records asked me if I’d audition, and if I would like to come on board as a music person. I said yes and as a result, I became part of the record company. I am glad that was the case. They were very fair with me, and I got in to do what I am still doing.

Did you have any idea of the success to follow?

Oh yes. I went with the flow and I did think that I would always work in music. I would be a part of it. I didn’t know what to extent and what level. I didn’t think beyond New Orleans. I knew I would always play the music I loved.

When did you start to develop the Toussaint sound?

I didn’t try to develop the sound and it just came out of what I was doing. I think that happens to everybody after a while. I remember Al Green was having such a great time trying to sound like James Brown. One day, somebody told him ‘stop sounding like those guys,’ and he started singing and now we have Al Green.

You wrote hits for the likes of Lee Dorsey, Benny Spellman, Ernie K Doe and Irma Thomas Did you write specifically for them or did they choose from a batch of songs that you had written?

I wrote “It’s Raining,” for Irma while she was there, (he points to a corner in the room) and “Ruler of My Heart.” Everything I wrote for her was while she was there. (He points to the same corner again). As for Lee Dorsey, if he were coming to my house for 3pm, I would have written song for him by1pm/2pm when he was on his way.

Your father was the inspiration behind your seminal hit “Southern Nights” and your nom de plume was Naomi Neville, your mother. Tell me about how your parents have inspired you?

I had wonderful parents. My father was called Clarence Toussaint and before I was born, he was a weekend trumpet musician. He played in big band. He played off the street. However, he had a family with three kids and a wife. In those days, music wasn’t as it is today so he became a railroad mechanic and he was very good at it. He needed that kind of job to support his family and by the time I came along he was no longer playing but that music was in his background. My mother was a lover of classical music so every Sunday I heard opera and symphonies. I am glad she introduced me to it as I would never gone out of my way to listen to it. It became part of the walls on Sunday.

How did classical style inform your style of playing then?

I have a love for it. While I play the style which closer to what I do. I do dabble in the classics but in an

innocent form because the classical market is very serious. I approach the classics like any song on the radio. I don’t’ see myself anywhere close as a classical musician but as a lover of the classics. I pick a bit of the classical world into my music.

You cite your key influence as Professor Longhair aka Fess whom you describe as your Bach of rock ‘n’ roll. What’s the one thing that Fess taught you about playing and performing? Bach was a person of inventions and he put some things in law that we still use today. We don’t even break the laws that he made. Professor Longhair had moments where he played a certain thing and then two years later; he’d play something that was a whole different element. You could tell it was from him, but it was like another invention. You could play like this or you could play it like that. That’s our Bach of rock. How did he compare to Tuts Washington?

Tuts played the Junker Blues. We all loved the Junker Blues and it is indicative of the New Orleans sound. Many of the older guys played the Junker Blues really rowdy. Tuts played it well yet he was a Stride pianist who also played a lot of Ragtime. Longhair had a Rumba rhythm, which he played along with the Junker and it came to be something very different. As a piano stays in one place, for some reason his piano takes to the street just like a second line parade.

Who do you think are the best interpreters of that sound?

If not like Fess, there are some people who are great in their own right who are just as wonderful, like New Orleans piano player Davell Crawford. David Torkanowsky is just magnificent. He has also larger sense of it all. He has much funk in him as well as the jazz. He’s marvelous writer. He’s a reader. He’s head is on a good place. He plays his piano with romance. If there is a man for all four seasons – it is David Torkanowsky.

You played at Ponderosa Stomp this year, which focuses on celebrating the music of unsung heroes and their role in shaping modern music. Is there someone that you herald as an unsung hero?

None of the people who attend Stomp are unlikely to know him. His name is Professor Ernest Pin. He was a man who played in the days of the Jitney dances. We called it the Jitney era and he was playing in the red light district. They used to have two bands at the dance hall. One band would stand on one side and another band will play on the other side. When one band played the last note, the proprietor would ask the other band to hit it, so people would not have to leave during the gaps. Ernest Pin was a banjo player and he played it mean, He was in that era that if you played with a string instrument you had to play every instrument with a string and that included bass, guitar, violin, viola, basically anything with a string. He moved into my neighborhood when I was 12 years old. But by then his days were over as he had become an outcast and I did hear stories why. He didn’t have the banjo anymore, but there was a piano in the house. He really could play well and I brought him in and he was amazing. As a result that piano became bigger anything in the neighborhood. He played Stride piano. He was patient enough to show me things. He spent about a year in the neighborhood. He was the most important unsung hero to me. At 13, I was playing with a Flamenco band, but they didn’t want to play with him, as he was an antique to them. But to me, he was tomorrow to me.

What happened to him?

He woke up one morning and sat on the side of his bed and killed him-self. He has written nothing and nothing has been recorded by him.

You have worked with the likes of John Mayall and Frankie Miller. What was your take on the British blues explosion, which was in full swing when you were playing at Minit Records in the thick of the New Orleans R&B scene?

I thought it was wonderful as it enhanced the music scene and made it bigger. I liked that people respected so much of what we were doing and we understood that very well. The British took it more seriously than we did because we took it for granted. They felt the soul as much as we did. They did it extremely well and added much to it.

What did you think they brought to the music?

They brought melodic lines and they began to emulate certain things. It’s like when I started playing, I used to mimic everyone I heard and suddenly some of me started to come out. The same thing happened with the British. They emulated Professor Longhair and some Little Richard. Eventually some wonderful things came out and eventually inspired us to do our next thing.

What are your plans for the future? Can we expect another masterpiece?

I am going to record another album with producer Joe Henry who did my album, The Bright Mississippi. He’s a gentlemen producer and I have full confidence in him and he sees me better than I see myself. Since I have been traveling, I have been writing many things, that I wouldn’t have written if I were at home. I dearly appreciate Katrina for sending me around the world otherwise I would have been comfortable in the studio and even complacent. It’s better to be where the people are.

At this point, the interview comes to a sudden halt, as the next journalist is ushered in by one of Alan’s assistants. As I leave, Toussaint complements my footwear, which are a pair retro looking black and white spats. It provides the perfect opportunity to ask him about his choice in footwear. However, I choose not to as it would not be ladylike to ask such a question of a such a perfect gentlemen.

NICKY MOORE

Moore Blues In The Family Nicky and Junior Moore and The Blues Corporation

By Darren Weale

It’s 2012 and once again that Blues trailblazer John Mayall has scorched across the UK and beyond on tour, this time showcasing the talents of a young star in the making, in the elegant shape of Oli Brown.

One Blues family is doing something similarly exciting. For them, 2012 is a very special year. It marks the 20th year since Nicky Moore’s Blues Corporation began captivating the ears of the UK and beyond with their superb live and recorded music. It also marks the year in which Nicky will turn 65 years if age and bow out from his Corporation, passing the mic to his son, Junior Moore. Yet Nicky’s fans have much to look forward to.

Blues Matters caught up with Nicky in his family home in Maidstone in Kent, which is also the HQ for Nicky’s vocal tutoring and son Timmy’s guitar tutoring. Timmy has been playing lead guitar for the Corporation for eleven years. Sitting at the dining room table and accompanied by his Rocky, his friendly Westie, Nicky reflected on his plans.

“Later in the year I will be playing acoustic sets with Danny J. Kyle from the album we’re working on. I’ve taken a long, long time working on these songs. They’re up there with the best I’ve ever done. It’ll be fantastic going back where I started out, relying on guitar and voice and great songs.”

“We haven’t decided on the name for our acoustic act yet,” Nicky says, “We’re thinking of simply using our names, Moore and Kyle. We do know what the album will be called, ‘The Whale and the Waah’. The Whale because of my voice and when I wail in my singing, and also because, as the song says, I’m built for comfort, not for speed. The Waah is about Danny. He came to me for singing lessons and ended up playing with the band for four years. We kept saying “Waah, that’s so good” about his playing and it stuck. Danny does his own thing now. He has an album out called ‘Wood and Strings’, great stuff. He has a traditional finger style like you wouldn’t believe.”

http://www.dannykyle.com

Blues fans will be able to see Nicky’s final full-show concerts with his full band, plus son Nick Junior Moore starting out as “The Blues Corporation featuring Junior Moore”, bringing his bristling energy and raw, impassioned vocals to the Blues party. By the time you read this, Junior will have started his year with a bang, playing the Butlins Big Rock and Blues Weekend, by the special invitation of Blues Matters magazine. Junior will have been in great company there, with The Animals and Friends, Argent, Wishbone Ash, and other young guns like Virgil and the Accelerators.

A man amongst big men

How did Nicky Moore get where he is today? His period as frontman for heavy metal acts like Samson and Mammoth, the band that put the heavy in metal, is well known. Mammoth was made up of men of stature, like Nicky whose song titled ‘300 pounds of joy’ suggests that he is not exactly a waif. Mammoth also featured six foot seven inches of bass player in John McCoy. Yet the real legacy for Blues lovers of this departure from singing the Blues that he loves was that Nicky was bequeathed the late Paul Samson’s guitar. This guitar now serves the Blues in the hands of Timmy Moore.

What makes Nicky Moore special for Blues fans is The Voice. The Voice has twice blown one of the world’s best microphones - Neuman U87’s - from 12 inches away. Ranging through three and a half octaves from bottom D to B flat, The Voice is the musical equivalent of a supercharged Bentley covered in cream and strawberries and sluiced in champagne. That, coupled with Nicky’s ability to craft memorable songs and entertain an audience, is a powerful combination. Then there is his devotion to the Blues, which he has passed on to sons Junior and Timmy and even his grandsons, who love to listen to The Voice. Timmy’s son, Jake, 3, is already picking up his first guitar.

Inspired by the Blues

Nicky was once handed a stack of seven Bobby Bland album’s and listened to them one after the other, entranced. Eventually, he found his Blues heaven, watching Bobby Bland and BB King play together. Yet

Nicky’s love of the Blues started much earlier when, aged 16, he first heard Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Nicky can still feel the impact of that experience today.

“It changed my life. I’d never heard anything so raw, dark and exciting; I played their album to death. I saw them at The Marquee in 1966-67 and spoke with them and absolutely loved it.”

This led him away from his classical training in Exeter Cathedral choir to his first professional band, Hackensack, which started out playing the Blues but moved towards Rock before he joined his heavyweight bands. Nicky was also influenced by Bo Diddley, with his way out clothes and outrageousness, and the great British Blues bands including The Animals and The Yardbirds.

The Rock interlude was, like so much of Nicky’s career, fun. Highs included opening for the likes of Status Quo and playing in the band Tiger with some great musicians including drummer Simon Phillips, who went on to perform with Toto and The Who, and guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. Lows included having his gall bladder removed during a truncated tour of America with Uli Jon Roth. Yet that period, the 1980’s, was not a great one for Blues artists, who enjoyed a low profile and low audiences even after the seminal film, The Blues Brothers, was released in 1981. Richie Taz, Saxaphone player with The Billy Walton Band, recalls it only too well, “I love that film, but it was so true to the life of musicians in those days, being ripped off and exploited.”

So it was no great surprise that when Nicky founded Nicky Moore’s Blues Corporation in 1991 that while he built and entertained his fanbase, opening for Bill Wyman’s Rhythm and Blues Kings and for Jools Holland, on the side he embraced a career as a vocal tutor that continues today. For a while he was featured in the BBC show ‘The Lakesiders.’

Simon Dring, former drummer with Oli Brown and fresh from playing with Billy Walton on his UK tour, agrees that this is familiar territory for even the best of Blues artists. “I teach drums to my students in Norwich. It’s fun to do and helps compensate for the up and down income from music, but loads of musicians have to do it.” You can read more exclusive content from Nicky, Simon, Richie and Billy Walton in the Blog of the Blues: http://blogoftheblues.blogspot.com/

Nicky’s vocal tutoring has benefited students including Jim Stapley. Son Timmy, a guitar tutor, has also taught many students, including Jake Rigden, who has at 18 already jammed with some great bands. Timmy says of Jake, “There seems to be a Blues production line at the moment, with Jake, Aaron Keylock, Andrew Pipe (of The Mentulls) and others coming through. It’s great to see the Blues thriving with such great young talent, and now we have Junior taking our band forward.”

Nicky has loved playing with his Blues Corporation over almost 20 years. “We always have a laugh and like to chat to the crowd, but when it comes to the music, we’re serious. That includes Timmy; our great bass player, Grant Tunbridge, despite his nickname – Cheeky; and of course the wonderful Mr Eddie Collins on drums. Musicians are only human, which means that while mostly it’s my job to motivate the band, sometimes they step in if I’ve been having a bad day and motivate me”.

Nicky’s motivation for songwriting is quite simple, “I write them sometimes to exorcise ghosts or deal with niggles.” Among his output are some outstanding songs, such as ‘Best

photo of Nicky by Christine Moore

Friends Girl’, later covered by Chris Farlowe, ‘Sea of Blues’, and, from Nicky’s last album, Hog on a Log, ‘Sweet Love.’ Nicky’s approach to creating songs is also straightforward. “If you can play it with a guitar in your bedroom and it sounds great, it’s a good song. If you have to add all sorts of instruments to make it sound good, the song’s not right.”

Touching on his near-namesake, the late and lamented Gary Moore, Nicky says “I toured with Gary for a while. Gary always loved the Blues. I saw him when he started out as a teenager, playing in Skid Row (The Irish band, not the American one). I knew he was destined to be famous. He was such a talent.”

The prodigal sons

Junior Moore has the same passion for the Blues as his father. It comes across in the way that he speaks about it his music, his nervous energy, his gestures, and his words.

“The Blues is everything. I’ve loved it ever since I heard Steve Marriott of Humble Pie wailing out “Black Coffee”. I’ve been listening to the music at the roots of Blues in America. My favourite is Son House’s ‘John the Revelator’. Songs like that inspire me. I want to use the Blues Corporation’s material, but at the same time I want to put my stamp on some of the new material we’re writing. I’d like to help align modern Blues with its roots, write songs that reflect how people feel today and the issues we face. Early Bluesmen wrote about poverty, oppression, racism, drink and drugs, as well as love and sex, but those deep, harsh issues haven’t gone away. Some of the best artists incorporate a myriad of the music they hear in life into their songs, but the Blues underlies so much of popular music.”

Junior is following some big footsteps with the Blues Corporation, taking over from The Voice for the longer term.

“It’s quite daunting but it feels appropriate, that I fit the place. It’s something I have to do. My biggest challenge is to make people know I’m the real deal, and being true to myself. I know I will be raising my ability. Listening to the music my dad did at the same age I am now, I see the potential that is there for me. The Blues reflects completely and always relevant themes, from its African roots onwards. Early Cream and their contemporaries understood this, but pushed the barriers of the music, and we need to again. With the Blues, playing guitar and singing that music comes from my heart and takes over my body.”

Bright future

Nicky believes The Blues Corporation is in safe hands with his sons.

“Timmy is a really great guitar player. It’s hard to recognise it in my own family but I knew he had something when Sherman Robertson invited Timmy to play with him. Timmy was stunned and didn’t follow up the invitation. Junior has a bright future. Junior’s voice is different to mine, more gravelly, more in the Blues Shouter mould, but he is sincere about the music. As to me, I’m looking forward to people hearing my acoustic songs, I’m amazingly proud of them but they’re a year in the making and it’ll be a few more months before they’re published. When you’re nearing 65, you want to be producing real quality. I’d so love to take them to play the Blues in Chicago and in Florida, which is one of the nicest places in the whole damn world. While I play new songs that I really love, Junior will be full of passion, and fire, let loose with a great band.”

Look out for Nicky’s quality and Junior’s fire in 2012 and beyond.

photo of Nick Jnr by Zoe Sparkle

photo of Timmy by Christine Moore

TAJ MAHAL

“The Blues Keeps Workin’ Its Way Through”

- by Brian Kramer

Henry St. Clair Fredericks, born in Brooklyn NY adopted the name Taj Mahal; one of the Seven Wonders of the World after it appeared to him in a dream. He steadily rose to become an international wonder in of himself, one of just a handful of Blues artists known by name and music globally outside of the dedicated blues community; BB King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal all make that short list. Anyone who isn’t familiar with Taj, his influence and his contribution to the world of roots/blues/world music, in all its flavours and across all boundaries, well just hasn’t had their groove on… Ever!

I was introduced to Taj’s music at a very early age as a teen in the late 1970’s and it was then that I got a glimpse of the possibilities beyond the Delta, without letting it wander off too far.

I first met Taj in 1988 at a Blues Festival outside of New York, just before I was to record my first album which featured Junior Wells & Mick Taylor. I mustered up the guts to approach Taj, asking if he would be interested in being part of the project and he said he was, putting me in contact with the proper channels to make it so. However, our list of guest artists was growing and budget shrinking, so I had to make the hard choice to scratch that possibility. When I relocated to Sweden a decade later, I befriended & started working with Eric Bibb who knew Taj well and he quickly became a central focus of our conversations as well as our musical soundtrack on the road. In 2000 Taj was returning to Scandinavia for his first tour in almost 20 years there, I was asked to be the opening act for the local shows and this became the standard every time Taj returned back to Sweden.

It was a privilege and a dream to be around and part of Taj Mahal’s shows and we started to get to know each other a little bit more each time he returned. In 2007 I was once again chosen to be on the bill for three concerts when Taj returned to Sweden. At that time I was preparing to do a big festival in South Africa and conduct a few workshops in the Township for a program called “Empowerment Through Music”. We were arranging to make a promotional CD with some of the local SA musicians in the Township and I asked Taj if he would like to record a track with me to contribute to this project. He agreed and on our day off, after spending five hours relaxing on a luxurious boat, out on a lake in Sweden, fishing with Taj Mahal (yes, that’s right I said it; I was fishin’ with Taj Mahal!), we found ourselves side by side with two acoustic guitars in a small, local recording studio. We laid down my song, “Cross Boundaries”, a tune I wrote inspired by a conversation I had about life and music connections when I first met the great Mali Kora player, Toumani Diabate. Toumani had also collaborated with Taj for the brilliant, Grammy winning Kulanjan recording, mixing Taj’s blues with traditional West African musicians & instruments.

I consider this to be one of the highlights of my journey and career, to have shared a deep musical moment in time with someone who has had such an influence and profound impact on my own music (and the fishing thing wasn’t that bad either!).

Now; November 2011 Taj is back in Sweden and once again I find myself in the room with the “Big Man”. He is here with his trio; long time band-mates Kester Smith (drums) and Bill Rich (bass). These guys are seasoned, dependable and know how to swing with Taj’s every groove and shift. They make a basic trio feel huge and layered with nothing lacking. We quickly got comfortable and caught up a bit just before his set and in a spontaneous moment, I mention that I have be contributing articles to Blues Matters Magazine and if he was up to it after the show, would he like to do a little Q & A with me for the magazine?

I’ve always loved talking to Taj. His knowledge and wisdom are vast on an intellectual level, but he speaks with a passion and soul that grounds you in the dialogue. He is generous and engaging and I’m so happy that he took the time to spend with me for this interview.

Brian Kramer: Good to see you again Taj, can I steal a few moments of your time?

Taj Mahal: What steal? Let’s share some good ideas in a positive conversation! Well, what are we gonna talk about?

Well the first thing is you’ve inspired so many over the years including myself, what inspires you these days?

Y’know it’s the same thing, it’s never “these days”. My mother was a black American Southerner and my father was a black Caribbean man and the Caribbean people have a connection to the Latin music, Central South American because of what always goes on… most definitely to live music you hear, you have a direct relationship with that. So, as a child growing up I was totally aware of what my roots were and I didn’t go searching for em’ in the 60’s, what a lot of people did because, you know the only person that had any roots in recent years on any kind of plantation was my mother’s side, and she was a college graduate from South Carolina State, 1938. So this changes the whole solution. So what am I up to? All the Caribbean music was in the house, and what was really interesting; in the Islands everybody’s separated by the colonial style… this that and the other thing, the language etc. When they come to the United States there’s a tendency because they’re Caribbean to be all placed in all-together because they definitely don’t want to fall into the scene that’s happening in the United States because, you know, a lot of guys just start doin’ that hard work. The level that which people allow themselves to see them self as part of the globe have always been a part of global consciousness. It’s wasn’t like; (in a Jamaican accent) “oh I heard Bob Marley, now I’m a Reggae mon”. My Father was from St; Kitts, my step father was from Jamaica. From the time I was a kid I was hearin’ all the accents from everybody… Almost everybody around me spoke English with an accent. So I always saw music as being connected and as a kid before I learned how to play; I’m talkin’ back in the 40’s, I was like WAY inside listening!

So, that station’s always on for you…

That’s ALWAYS ON! And it’s like; why couldn’t my cousin come from Jamaica and put just a little bit of upbeat on the blues & boogie thing I was playin’. Or why when you take a Jamaican style and then take a real older blues form (and combine them)… Cause these are all cousins. Y’know they brought Africans from everywhere and just mixed em’ up and the only thing we had to really work with was music. That was the one thing that glued everybody together, so over the years it morphed itself this way and morphed itself that way… South West Louisiana you get Zydeco, rolled over to New Orleans you get Jazz, on to Havana you get Salsa, over here you get rumba, tango… But the Blues itself is something that is specific to the American experience.

Is there something specific that you always go back to?

The door is always open man, once I’ve gone there; it’s open…

Like, do you find new inspiration in what’s say acoustic Delta blues?

OK, when I first heard acoustic Blues, I heard it to some degree on records, late at night, Boogie Chillin’ by John Lee Hooker… Then I heard it from my 14 year old next door neighbour in North Carolina and he played in on the porch. I had a guitar, I couldn’t play. He could play, I could sing. I was tryin’ to play harmonica, I tried to play trombone, clarinet, piano, but guitar? I didn’t know what it was! So I just decided; he had a guitar, I had a guitar and I just followed him, everything he did and that gave me the basis of what and how to play. And up the street these other guys came from what “they said” was Clarksdale Mississippi… Noooo, they were from Stovall! They were really literally from Stovall Mississippi, not Clarksdale… what others were sayin’… so what do you think they played? Open tuning, boogie tunin’ you know, slide… I mean I can seriously see myself puttin’ a finishin’ nail up under the (guitar) nut and getting my friend to tune it to what he called Vestapol; open D tuning, and then sitting there with a butter knife tryin’ to make some notes out of it. Tryin’ to figure out how the hell they do this, you know if you don’t ever see them do this stuff, you don’t know how they played it. So anyway, it’s always been like that but then the lucky part of it was the rediscovery of a lot of these guys, so I got to see em’ first hand, when they still were full of their energy and had all of their faculties and you could talk to em’ and play music with them. I went and just listened a lot on the one hand, and me I was like; hmmm? what’s gonna happen is that’s all gonna go tunnel into some little corner in the middle of some University, be filtered up into some thesis and be put inside a nice little leather bound jacket and suckin’ air and that’s it! I said NO, that’s not supposed to happen, it’s not suppose to be that; it’s a living thing. It’s like there are so many great players in Mali and it’s still resonant in the minds of the people, and the music is resonant enough that there are young people that are still exposed to it. Here it’s a popularity arc “you know if it’s not popular, it must not be good… even if it’s lousy, as long as it’s selling a lot”

Isn’t that the thread of all traditional folk music, that “living” aspect of it… Not the popularity of it. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Whether it’s popular or not doesn’t mean it’s going away.

When I moved to Sweden I started listening to traditional Swedish folk music, especially on the fiddle which can be very haunting, beautiful and melodic, and started to hear some similarities to melodies Mississippi John Hurt was doing in the 20’s & me and my harmonica player and band mate; Mats Qwarfordt started to dig around on this end and discovered that there was a Swedish fiddle player that migrated to the Delta & the South around that period. There’s also a very old, traditional Swedish Midsummer song called “Små Grodorna” (Small Frogs) and the melodic structure is almost note for note a song Blind Lemon Jefferson did called “He Arose From The Dead” (I sing the melody for Taj)

Oh wow, somebody heard somethin’, somebody

heard somethin’! That stuff gets out there man. How many years was that Sacred Steel hidden from everybody? Holy shit man! When that stuff came out, all I saw was one picture. Aint this a trip man, it’s like a hundred years old and people don’t know about it! And now there’s people who do… That was fabulous. If there’s any place that I’m really interested in, it’s definitely that Sacred Steel, I LOVE that music.

On another note, what do you like to listen to when you’re at home chillin’ and you don’t want to hear another Blues?

Oh no, no, no. Probably every day I’m hearin’ something. See there’s so many versions of it, the trouble is with the popularity contest like; (sings main riff from “Hoochie Coochie Man” while slapping his leg in basic 4/4 time.) everybody’s lookin’ for the common melody but I listen to everybody and always tryin’ to find people I never heard before with some great songs. Doesn’t matter if an artist has got one song or a body of great songs, sometimes they just write the one great song, or two songs, or two and a half songs…

Anything specific you keep going back to?

I like High Water part 2 by Charley Patton.

Oh, yeah… that’s total inspiration!

(Taj sings perfect impression of Charley Patton) “High water everywhere, men sinkin’ dowwwwn, rolling dowwwwwn… “You know that shit was like; WHAT? It’s interesting to hear how Patton gave (Son) House the shot to go up to Grafton Wisconsin to play (when he recorded his first sides for Paramount) cause he was getting’ paid and Son saw him and brought him over to the guy who was paying him and passed him over to whoever it was who was payin’ him.

There are artists that people emulate and then there are artists that no one can even try to touch. Patton falls into the category of one of those…

Well, Howlin’ Wolf did a pretty good job, he went the next leap with it.

He learned from Patton, didn’t he?

Went to Patton’s house, Patton showed him how he played it… that’s why when I heard Wolf play “Saddle Up My Pony”, that mo’ fo’ learned THAT shit from Charley Patton, that was not from a record! The same way when you hear Johnny Shines…

That’s a different level of intensity, like a glass of water passed from person to person, generation to generation without spilling a drop.

Exactly! Nicely put… And it’s the same thing with Robert Junior Lockwood, when he would play the shit like Robert (Johnson) played… Nobody else touched it. There’s this particular kind of way that they played, I don’t even think there’s anyone who can do it anymore. When they’re playin’ they got the high string always ringin’… I’ve watched him do it only a couple of times.

We have a whole bunch of academics involved with this thing, and they’re always “not liking” anybody to, uh, shake the thing up a little bit.

That scares me… actually…

Don’t be scared of that, come on!

The guys that come out with the tweed jackets and the glasses and go; “Not Blues”. They certainly did the same thing to me, from both sides of the ocean; (in a professorial, British accent)

“You’re not a proper blues man”. Well, I don’t think you’re a proper blues man either, you, you, cricket playin’… two handed… kilt wearin’… (laughs). You have to jump over those guys, they got tunnel vision. There was a whole bunch of blues Nazis in New York City man, and they really seriously thought that the people, who really made the music, weren’t the ones who knew anything… They Were! They are

assembling & I was like; man, what are you talkin’ about? Who are you? And who’s yo’ mamma? You know

I’m serious; I’ll get serious on their ass.

It’s like you’ve said before it’s about getting people on their feet…

It was dance music for people that were having harsh times from the social systems that were in place… If you can stand on the outside and say “but it’s not Blues”, you know it’s like; but you’re not a critic. And also you have to really look at the anthropologists and the ethnomusicologists because they went in often times to the guy; “well, play me some of the songs that you have. No, no play me something else”. Once they heard what the market was… was it Speir? And Huey Meaux… and who else was going down there and recording those people?

Lomax I guess…

Peer, Ralph Peer. Lomax was later. The early guys that was going down there recording… Plus in the 1920’s they actually floated the white players in this direction; you got banjo, mandolin… fiddle, your playin’ that music. And they point at black musicians in that direction sayin’; you got blues, jazz, ragtime… gospel, spirituals and never the twain shall meet. And so, you got to really take that into account, but still you realize it’s a marketing ploy, they can’t figure out what it is. See, here’s the whole point; the line-don’t-exist-in-nature, and that is the tool that for the last 3,000 years has been used to try and size up the world. It’s come down to all the theories we’ve had in the last 3,000 years didn’t mean shit, because look what we’ve accomplished? And the blues keep workin’ its way through that whole thing!

Larry Johnson always used to say (you know I worked with Larry); “We didn’t call this thing the Blues; THEY DID!”

That’s right, no he’s absolutely right! It was a marketing ploy… Now it’s been around so long, people think that that’s what it is. I still don’t worry about it, if I want to stretch out, I stretch out! I’ve always been listenin’ to this and listenin’ to that, but I REALLY love the Blues when it has something to say.

Well you’re probably one of the most valuable purveyors of that today. I watch you when you get up on stage when you hit that first lick and within 20 seconds everybody starts moving & they naturally line up into the correct vibe and understanding of why this simply-feels-good. Right, that’s the bottom line cause the whole point is to get people over themselves and out of whatever pain they’re in.

I like to watch the audience when you start playing because it’s amazing to witness the transformation. Do you find there’s a difference in the response and appreciation between the audiences in the US and European audiences?

Here people are a lot more excited. Quite a bit more excited about the music, they take time to find out what’s goin’ on, who it is and if they don’t know they trust their friend’s taste to bring them to something good. I’m always excited about coming here ‘cause you have to communicate through a language barrier or through a different language, so it goes back to that original thing. When Africans were brought into the western world, they came from all over Africa, they had to come up with a language. So here we are again at the same point comin’ up with the common language.

Well, Thank you Taj… One more thing I’ve noticed, and I often tell folks this; when you bring a date to a Taj Mahal show, there’s a really good chance that you’re gonna get “lucky”.

(Taj Breaks out laughing!)

Honestly, I swear to god I look at couples out there when you’re playing and the women start lookin’ at their men like; I want you, NOW!

I’m feelin’ it tonight baby!

How do you do that and do you know that you do that to people?

All I know is that the music has always been sensuous and exciting to me so I’m hoping that it is to people. Thank you, thank you so much.

Well, you’re welcome!

*Brian Kramer from Brooklyn New York, has been working and travelling as a musician for over 25 years and has performed and recorded with Legendary artists like Junior Wells, Bob Brozman, Larry Johnson, Taj Mahal, Eric Bibb & others.

Since re-locating to Sweden he has enjoyed a renewed and refreshed understanding for this music and continues to travel around the globe sharing this spirit with others.

For more info about Brian & his music check out briankramerblues.com

by Duncan Beattie

Rising out of the Kansas wheat lands, Moreland & Arbuckle have been exploring the depths of Delta blues fused with rock, folk, country and soul for the last decade. It’s a journey that’s taken them to Iraq to play for troops and on major tours with George Thorogood, and Buddy Guy. Playing in a bassless trio, their untraditional instrumentation contributes to their gritty, intense sound: a threepiece with lead singer/blues harpist, drummer, and cigar box picker making their music both hard hitting yet also engagingly subtle. Their sound is based on a solid understanding of the importance of rhythm in the Blues; no matter how catchy a guitar riff is or how personalised a lyric may feel, it’s all for nothing if the rhythm doesn’t reach out and grab the listener. After three relatively low key albums, the band gained prominence signing to the Telarc label where they released ‘Flood’ in 2010. The band’s latest album, “Just A Dream”, focuses more heavily on the rock aspect of blues, making Moreland & Arbuckle’s sound louder and more intense yet still maintaining their timeless bluesy roots. The album has a track featuring legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, creator of Booker T. & the MG’s and member of the Blues Brothers. Duncan Beattie was happy to discuss their careers to date with both Aaron Moreland and Dustin Arbuckle and look forward to a time when the band, completed by Kendall Newby on drums, will play on these shores.

BM: So I believe it’s a decade since you first met at an open-mic session at a club in Wichita. Can you say how you got on together musically and first started working together?

Dustin Arbuckle: We bonded over a love of old-school Mississippi Blues. There weren’t a lot of other musicians, especially young ones, interested in playing that kind of stuff, so it was really a big deal for both of us to meet someone else who really wanted to focus on that sound.

Aaron Moreland: It was a good fit musically and personality-wise from the start.

DA: Aaron asked me to play harp on a CD he was making, and we got to jamming. We became good friends pretty quickly. It wasn’t long before we were playing gigs together.

Can you tell me about how you came to record your first album, the primarily acoustic release, ‘Caney Valley Blues?’

DA: We started out as an acoustic act and for several years we played as many gigs as an acoustic duo as we did with the band. By late 2004, when we started work on ‘Caney Valley’, we were still at our best playing acoustic, so it just made sense to make an acoustic album.

AM: Yes, it was the primary modus operandi. We were also playing in a quartet with a drummer and a bass player. But the main focus for us at the point was the acoustic duo.

How did you come to settle on bassless lineup?

DA: To a degree, it was out of necessity. We went through a couple of bass players early on, but we couldn’t find one who was really into what we were trying to do musically. By late 2005, when we parted ways with our last bass player, we had already been fooling around with a three piece lineup with David Floyd, our drummer at the time. Once we really gave it a try, it didn’t take long for us to realize that we didn’t need a bass player to play the lion’s share of the tunes in our repertoire. It was a challenge, at first, and some songs got left behind, but the stuff that was the core of our sound (Mississippi/early Chicago Blues) felt as good as ever. From all our time as an acoustic duo, Aaron was already used to carrying the bass with his thumb, and I had developed a pretty rhythmic harmonica style, so it turned out that we were pretty well equipped to make the change.

Your profile grew with..

DA: It was a gradual process, and I think it’s ongoing. Going bassless forced us to approach things differently, so that was part of it.

AM: It is ever evolving. It seems like we have been lucky enough to always have some originality. When we merged our acoustic duo with our quartet, we pulled from both sources to create the sounds that we now are honing.

Your profile really grew with 2006’s ‘Floyd’s Market’ and”1861” in 2008. When do you feel you really honed into your own unique sound and to what extent does the use of Aaron’s Partaga Cigar box guitar contribute to it?

DA: When the cigar-box came into the picture it added a huge, unique element. There are quite a few guys playing them now, but I think Aaron approaches the instrument differently from a lot of other guys I’ve heard play them. Plus, we’ve continued to let more, different influences creep into our sound, so it continues to evolve bit by bit.

AM: I got lucky. I met my friend Mike Snider from Tennessee. He was making cigar box guitars and offered to make me one. The minute I picked it up, I could play it. It turned out the work perfectly for our already bass-less band. I don’t ever use a pick. My thumb allows me to hold down a low end sound and play melody parts as well.

Rhythm appears very important within the band’s musical approach…

AM: Rhythm is everything to our sound. I spent about 7 years playing pretty much ONLY pre-war blues. This style is completely rhythmic in nature. All that time on my resonator guitar had a tremendous impact on my rhythmic approach. In addition, it’s key that we have deep grooves with our instrumentation.

Dustin, your harmonica is crucial element to the band’s sound. Who inspired you to play harmonica?

DA: I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. When I got into Blues as a teenager and decided to start a band, my Dad pushed me to pick up an instrument. I tried harmonica first and fell in love with it. Early on, guys like Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Sonny Terry really bit me. I like Big Walter Horton, Johnny Woods, and Paul Butterfield a lot, as well, but Little Walter is my all-time favourite. His stuff blows my mind. Another huge influence AND my favourite peer is my friend Lee McBee, from Kansas City. Some other modern guys I really dig are Kim Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, and Jimmy Meade, another friend from KC.

Likewise Aaron, what were your original influences when you first started playing guitar?

AM: I grew up on classic rock. Led Zeppelin is my favourite band ever, so Jimmy Page was hugely influential to me. I virtually started my blues pilgrimage from listening to them. How influential to your sound were the Fat Possum label artists such as Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside, and more recent acts such as the North Mississippi Allstars and the Black Keys? Would you categorise yourselves alongside these bands?

DA: Artists like R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough were hugely influential on our sound. The Allstars and the Black Keys are among my favourite bands, and we are definitely influenced by a lot of the same music as they were. I wouldn’t say that either band’s music has had much direct influence on our sound, but the Allstars definitely helped turn me onto that Hill Country sound, so I owe them a lot of thanks for that.

AM: They have many of the same influences as we do, so naturally people tend to think that they influenced us. The recent acts had little influence on our sound. I was huge RL and Kimbrough fan long before I ever heard the Allstars or Black keys. They are both awesome bands!

While you’re considered a blues rock act, there’s a large distinction between yourselves and the conventional blues rock power trio. Through combining a greater range of influences, including

more traditional aspects of the blues, by paradox you actually sound more modern that some of the acts that play to a more narrowly defined style. Would you agree?

DA: I would agree. I’m happy to say that we actually hear that a lot. It’s a great compliment.

AM: Thanks for saying that. I think you are correct. The influences we bring, combined with our instrumentation have helped us develop a unique style. It’s impossible as a guitarist to take 15 minute guitar solos when I am the only stringed instrument in the band.

In 2008, you went out to Iraq to play to the US troops. How did this come about and how was the experience?

DA: We met the producers of the tour in May 2008 when we were playing a show in Clarksdale, MS, the night after the Blues Music Awards. They liked us and offered us a spot on the tour. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Probably the most exhaustive tour we’ve ever done, but also extremely rewarding. Everyday we’d wake up very early, sometimes 3:00 or 4:00 AM, put on helmet and body armour, jump on a C-130, and fly to the next base. There were usually activities they had planned for us to do around each base during the day, then we’d play the show that night, finish up and crash around Midnight. The soldiers were great. They really appreciated the entertainment. It meant a lot to hear soldiers say things like “You helped me forget I was here for a couple hours”. They were stuck halfway around the world from everyone and everything they love, so a taste of home meant the world to them. It was proof of the spiritual power music can hold for people.

Telarc released ‘Flood’ in 2010. How was releasing an album for a bigger label? Was there greater pressure and were you happy with the results?

DA: We actually recorded ‘Flood’ and then shopped it to labels, so it was already done when we signed with Telarc. At this point in our career there is always pressure to make the best record you’ve made yet. There are always things you second guess yourself on, but overall, yes, I’m happy with that album.

AM: Looking back on ‘Flood’, I think we made the best record possible for that moment in time. Of course when I go back and listen, there are things that I would do differently today. But recording is a snapshot in time.

How has your profile increased since being on Telarc?

DA: Just being on a label with their reputation helps to make some people take notice. They also have

been able to help us get press coverage that we hadn’t had before.

AM: Telarc is great to work with. They give us the latitude to make records the best way we can. We’re continually are playing bigger and better gigs. Each year we seem to climb the ladder so to speak.

Yes, you’ve toured with some pretty big names in the last few years - George Thorogood, ZZ Top, Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang. What have you taken from these tours?

DA: The biggest things we learned were how to interact with bigger crowds and how to structure our sets to get the maximum impact in a short time. Those shows gave us the opportunity to go to a city for the first time and usually play to 500 – 2000 people, instead of 15 – 20 at a bar.

Your latest album ‘Just A Dream’ was released in August 2011, and there are some subtle changes to your sound and song writing. Did you have a change of focus or approach with the album?

DA: The changes in our sound and song writing are just a product of the natural evolution we’ve undergone as a band over the years. The change in approach on ‘Just a Dream’ was in the production. A lot more time was spent getting the right sounds and performances than ever before. I think we’ve taken a big step forward in song writing too.

AM: We worked hard on making sure we got the best performances that were possible on ‘Just a Dream’. We changed our approach in that in the past, we would not take as much time and care into crafting each individual song. We then took great care in putting each song together to make an entire collection of songs that had the most power. I am proud of the way we were able to take our sound style to a new level. No other record has captured such quality sounds, songs, and overall vibe.

Steve Cropper wrote and played a guitar solo on ‘White Lightning.’ How did your association with him come about?

DA: We were introduced to Steve at a wedding by our former manager, and ended up having a great time talking music with him. He sent us “White Lightning” soon afterward. Luckily, he liked what we did with the tune and offered to lay down a guitar part. It was an honour to have him be a part of the album.

You’re still based in Kansas. Have you ever considered basing yourselves in one of the coastal cities?

AM: Never. No way. Not gonna happen. We are Kansans through and through.

DA: When I was younger, and much more foolish, I had it in my head that I needed to move. Sometime around the time I was 23 or 24, I started to realize just how wonderful a place Kansas is to call home. At this point, I can hardly even imagine living anywhere else. It would take a lot to make me relocate.

You’ve made some inroads into Europe, playing played in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, and you’re soon due to play the Dutch Moulin Blues Festival. I’m sure there are many readers who are hoping that you will play in the UK. Do you have any plans to do so?

AM: We sure hope so! American Blues has gotten more of a boost from the UK than perhaps any other single geographic in the world. We are ready to go there!

DA: Unfortunately, nothing is in the works right now, but we would love to play in the UK. Any promoters reading? Feel free to give Blue Mountain Artists a shout about us.

What are your future plans?

DA: Next year, it looks like we’ll be doing a lot more international work, which is really exciting. We’re also going to get back to doing more of our own shows in the U. S. after being mostly a support act for the last couple of years, which will be fun. The biggest thing is just to keep growing, both artistically and professionally.

AM: Future plans are to continue to take our brand of music to everyone who will listen.

http://www.morelandarbuckle.com/

Blues” with Brian Kramer

Israel Goodman Young is legendary for his contribution towards laying the foundation for the Folk movement that was started in New York’s Greenwich Village in the 50’s and 60’s. Names like Dave Van Ronk, Richie Havens, Phil Ochs, Tim Buckley, Joan Baez and of course Bob Dylan have been born out of the environment he’s cultivated at his original Folklore Center on MacDougal Street, and have all had personal relationships with Izzy. Yet hardly anyone ever inquires about his relationships with the Blues musicians and concerts he’s arranged at that time. Izzy absolutely does not consider himself to be a blues expert. His deep appreciation for this “traditional” music and respect for these artists led him to creating opportunities and befriending many great Blues songsters of the day like Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Leadbelly, Robert Pete Williams, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee, Skip James and many others at a fragile time years before racial integration was set in motion.

This exclusive, candid, mind-blowing conversation with Mr. Young is long over-due and shows him to be a witness to the blues, the musicians and the songs at a very influential period in the history and revival of this music. We met for this interview at his Folklore Center in Stockholm where he has resided since the 70’s. At 83 the man continues doing what he has always basically done; promoting Folk music, putting on concerts and tirelessly getting together his newsletter every month. Izzy has a vast archive and detailed month-by month documentation in notebooks leading back to the 50’s, however his memory and re-call are immaculate! This is just a sample of what he has to say.

BM:- Something that I’m very curious about;

…1965, the “Blues Bag” concert…

IY:- That was on Bleecker Street.

Café Au Go Go…

I was the, um, MC…

Did you arrange the concert as well?

Oh yeah! Well I didn’t arrange it all… Had to be managers and managers and managers…

This was with Big Joe Williams… Son House…

Bukka White…

Skip James, John Lee Hooker…

John Hammond, T-Bone Walker…

Wait, wait, wait your forgetting somebody… You see this is where my mind is today… Muddy Waters!

Muddy Waters was on there too?

‘Cause I was sitting back stage the whole time and I said to him; “Hey your group is playing right now, I think you should get on stage also?” He didn’t give a shit about it…

This must have been the first… I mean a blues festival type atmosphere.

As close as you can get…And I took it like nothing. I never asked anything of any of these players… Some of them lived with me.

Wow, like who?

Uh… Robert Pete Williams… He wasn’t at that concert I don’t think? There’s a good story I want to tell about him; He comes and he stays at my apartment, just sits in the corner, doesn’t move and he’s afraid and he plays a bit and I don’t worry about it. Then I take him to the Italian little delicatessen around the corner and I get breakfast for him and me so it’s like four or five dollars, which was a fair amount of money

back then. The next thing I know he’s pushing a dollar bill under the table, (laughing) he doesn’t know how to tip or whatever. Then I get him a job & he’s playing in Harlem… There’s a movie of that! That should be found… (Oscar winning, documentary film maker, Pierre Dominique Gaisseau, who died in 1997, filmed Robert Pete Williams performing a show and on the streets of Harlem in the late 50’s. It has never been revealed to the public).

A film of Robert Pete Williams actually playing in Harlem, wow!

That’s gotta be one of the things of the century! So anyway he made a bit of money playing up in Harlem, about 350 dollars… we go out for lunch or dinner again and this time he slips ten dollars or twenty dollars under the table, (laughing) he understood now that you don’t give out dollar bills in New York.

He picked up quick…

And that was fucking honest! Well, maybe the next time he would probably pick up the check…

But in 1965, this “Blues Bag” concert, all these artists like Son House and Skip James … It was certainly rare for all these artists to be seen in NY at that time what was the tone of that kind of event in the community?

Well there was very little sound system, just a plain microphone, no huge things all over the place like you see now. And there was no problem… and there was probably a hundred, hundred twenty five people in the crowd.

That must have been considered a big crowd back then? And it was a small venue… The Au Go Go on Bleecker street…

About your place; the original Folklore Center… Gary Davis played there.

Gary Davis? and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee?

At the…”Fifth Peg that I started which became Folk City. And I paid them like forty dollars a week which was what I paid. They played six nights… And even then they slept in separate hotels or something. They didn’t stay together.

When you first started putting on shows at the Folklore Center in the 50’s; Folk, Blues, Bluegrass, no one was doing this back then…

Bluegrass came later… I think you’re right because then we started the “Friends Of Old-time Music”.

Tell me about Reverend Gary Davis back then.

Well I met the Reverend Davis in his house once or twice, in Harlem… I liked him. I opened the store in 57’ and one of the first shows I put on was with him…. There were 30, 40 people… And I had my own rules; at that time if somebody was “traditional” I would guarantee them some money, whatever it was… a hundred dollars, but “whiteys” like you & me, they got half the door. Very often I would lose money on the traditional singers & make some money on the whiteys like us.

So you would guarantee more money to the “traditional” artists than someone like, what’s say… John Hammond?

Or Bob Dylan… What I was thinking was these guys, most of them are not gonna make money, real money. The other whiteys they have a chance… Some of them are gonna make it big.

That was very sympathetic on your part.

Call it what you want… I’m a good guy, I’m not a crook. I put on Elizabeth Cotten, her first concert in New

York. She was a maid for the grandfather of the… Seeger family, the grandfather or great grandfather... One day I’m sitting with her in Washington, I arranged a concert for her in Washington and 30 people came to a house party and people loved it. Before she died… in 87’ she got 5,000 dollars to sing someplace in upstate New York and I was happy! She made some money. She would sing the same songs and everybody liked that. That time in Washington she would show me she had a big key ring with like fifty keys on it and she would tell me; “you know Izzy, I go to white homes with these keys”. People somehow always trusted me. Robert Pete Williams, he had a job on a tractor getting eight dollars a day, even in those days it was nothin’. And here he was getting fifty, sixty dollars a job, in Harlem 300-350 dollars a job…

Who were amongst your favorites back then?

I can’t think of any blues guy I didn’t like… But Gary Davis, I put him in a theater in the Village. Like seventy or eighty people at 7:00 at night. He would do his songs and at one point fall asleep on stage… Not fall over or anything, just nod off. That happened once or twice. So anyway Reverend Gary Davis, he was blind, he was legally blind but he could see some things. So he would go up and reach for a banjo or something and say “what’s this?” he just takes it off the wall and he starts playing mountain music, Appalachian square dance tunes… The kids in the store are surprised and I said what are you talking about? He grew up there. Musicians don’t play just one kind of music, I said that even then.

Reverend Gary Davis was living then in the Bronx with Kenny Goldstein and he was the big Folklorist of the time. I met him through Dave Gahr, the great photographer… So, I used to have little parties at my apartment on Abington Square, 8th avenue a ten minute walk from the Folklore Center and Gary Davis would always be there… he would come to my parties and this thing happened two or three times, we were all having a good time & when he sees that everybody is having a real good time he would play “Death

Don’t Have No Mercy”, (laughs) a real party killer! (sings) “Come to your house, your mother will be gone, come to your house your sister will be gone…”

That’s one way to kill a mood…

Well, I got a better story now; I’m in Berkley ’68 and Taj Mahal is there playing. He’s got like 4-5-6,000 people listening to him in the amphitheater or whatever it is. And for some reason I’m sitting outside with… Gary Davis. So again he starts playing “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”, (chuckling) that’s his way of getting a crowd together & he’s sitting here playing for like eight people and I felt sorry for him.

This was at a Taj Mahal show?

No, no it was a festival… So that’s his way of getting even with them.

So how was electric blues perceived over acoustic blues at that time?

Well there was electric music goin’ on already. When Muddy Waters was playing they had electric. It never bothered me… Big Joe Williams, he had his own little thing (amplifier) and all he’d do all fucking day long was take screws out… in… he was always fiddling with that.

Tell me more about Terry & McGee?

They played for two weeks at a time at my club (The Fifth Peg), six nights a week. They were very happy to play for me. Maybe once I saw them somewhere else and one of them played a wrong note or something which really put the other guy off… And Brownie McGee was always with the Commies all the time.

I tell you, Jimi Hendrix used to come into the store? I would give him a pick or somethin’…

Jimi Hendrix? Guitar picks, and you would just give them to him… Did he play in the store?

No, no, no… He would just be… riffing.

Riffing with some Blues stuff?

I’m not sure if it was all blues but uh, he had his own ideas too.

Photo of Izzy by Erik Martinsson

He said; “Hey Izzy you don’t play the guitar?” No, I dance and all that… He’d say; “I saw someone come in yesterday and they showed a guitar (that they bought somewhere else, of course…) and they wanted to know what you thought of it… and you said; Well it sounds pretty good…” So he taught me a couple of riffs.

Jimi Hendrix… taught you… Really?

I should have remembered them, they just went up and down; da, da, da, da, da… la, la, la, la… (emulates major scale).

So Jimi volunteered to show you a few riffs?

I was forced to learn them because people want me to show them the guitars; they assumed this guy’s gotta know something about guitars.

Let’s go back to… Mississippi John Hurt?

Oh yeah, I knew him. He would come into the store… And he played for me a couple of times. He was a very nice, quiet guy, never spoke very much, but he was hanging in there.

His blues was probably the most emulated in the folk community…

Back then, not now… He played very quietly. I think every single time he played alone, I don’t remember him playing with anyone else… and he didn’t have such a big repertoire, as I remember it. He stuck to his repertoire. He always had a train of kids around him, listening to him, telling them stories.

…They all called me up on the phone! Jessie Fuller, he would call me up; “Izzy I’m in Chicago now, can we do a concert next Friday night?” and I never said no. I had a public that believed in me, that if Izzy Young puts on something, it’s very likely interesting.

I would say so… I wish I had a time capsule. What about Leadbelly?

Oh Leadbelly, we were friends. Well I first found out about the left wing Hootenanny’s. That was the only place you could hear folk music in those days, about 1942 or so… And I met Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, you know all the singers you could think of. And I met Leadbelly and I took a liking to him. It was probably the first time I spoke to a black person, Jewish kid from the Bronx, 15 years old… and I liked him. I heard him like five or six times in concerts and like ten times just singing with Pete Seeger and his group… So it was normal to be with him. I was in his house about three, four times… I would see him free basically when he would play at the American Square Dance group and it was mostly communists, except me… So Leadbelly would sing there and I would see him a bunch of times & I didn’t even think about it. I remember the last concert he did at the little hall… across the street from Carnegie, it was a very nice, small place maybe 200, 250 seats… In fact it was just before he died… 49’. He did the concert… beautiful, black, patent leather shoes… really shined and a nice suit, and a nice shirt when he was on stage. And I told Moe Ash about that, you know from “Folkways” and he said; “You know Izzy you don’t understand, everybody including musicians wants to dress nice when they perform”. The thing that I remember the most was… I’m not sure if it was an encore or the last song… He said “Well, when I was in New Orleans & I was eight years old and I’d pass by one of the rich people’s houses across the street, I could hear from the open window a young girl playing piano, taking a lesson…” then Leadbelly took an accordion and would play the same way the girl played on the piano… So the guy knew what the fuck he was doing… I have no idea what the girl was playing but he played it tentatively just the way an 8 year old girl would play it on the piano, taking a piano lesson. He did it perfectly. There’s no such thing as people only knowing one tradition… All these guys, they knew every fucking pop song there was… I never met anyone who didn’t know all the pop songs.

…So, the Hootenanny that’s where I first met Brownie McGee in the mid 40’s and he would

Izzy, Larry, Sam & Brian

play all these communist front things. He would deny it later on. And Josh White would also be at these things.

And what about the Blues today?

I don’t know anything about the Blues these days. What about your old friend Eric Bibb? You know him from way back…

I probably put on his first concert… When I had my first store (in Stockholm) way back when… He was very simple, very unpretentious. I think he still sings that way now, unpretentious. He was more like a crooner than a Blues musician. He just called me from Canada about writing liner notes for his new record… But I don’t do liner notes. He said he would stop in the next time he was in Stockholm, but you know what that means…

Tell me, what would you like to see in the Blues today that’s missing from the old days? Well the main thing I want is for people to sing in their own voice… I don’t think that’s easy to do. I mean people are influenced, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be influenced. But they shouldn’t deliberately… OK, Final question… trick question; who’s your favorite Blues player in Sweden right now? That’s a very tough question… I can’t really think of one off-hand that’s moved me that I remember…Oh, yeah… You take it easy a bit too sometimes. But you’re good but… um, you should cast some blood also. You’re very good, otherwise I wouldn’t have you in one of my concerts and you’ve played three concerts here? No one else has played three concerts here.

I love playing concerts here… Thank you for that advice. I will take no prisoners next time. No prisoners next time!

For more information about Izzy Young, just Google him! For more info about Brian Kramer & his music, check out briankramerblues.com

JUDGES: Jeff Beck

Tom Waits

Trombone Shorty

Black Francis (The Pixies)

James Cotton Mose Allison

Talk with Mark Cole

It was April 2005 when I first met the Myers brothers, Mike and Stevie Myers, in Clarksdale Mississippi. They regularly drive down to Mississippi to perform and have built a great reputation playing at various clubs in Clarksdale, Indianola and elsewhere in the Magnolia State. That year they were there performing at the Juke Joint Festival and I was there to catch up with friends I’d made when my band Sons of the Delta had played there the previous year. Mike and Stevie adopted me as their harp player and we had such a great time that they left me with an open invite to visit them in their home town of Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. In 2010 I eventually got round to accepting their invitation and spent a week in September gigging and recording with the Myers Brothers Band in Ontario and Quebec. Last October I returned for more gigs and to finish recording the album we had started a year earlier. One of the gigs was at Ottawa’s premier blues venue the Rainbow which has hosted some of the biggest names in blues music over the last thirty or so years. Between the soundcheck and the gig I started talking to Mike and Stevie about their history, the Ottawa blues scene, the new album and their plans to visit the UK this coming summer. Then, out at Mike’s lakeside cottage while we were in Quebec mixing their new album ‘Drive’, we concluded the conversation.

So guys, tell me how you got started.

Mike: I can recall clearly my need to play guitar. My first job was three bucks an hour shovelling snow for the Ottawa West Senior Citizens. I purchased a fifty watt Yamaha guitar amp. It weighed as much as I did and I brought it home from the store on my ten-speed bike! I had a cheap 1960s unknown guitar with a chrome pick guard. The neck was cracked on it. By the way, I still have that oinker at the Lake house. I have a picture of myself with that guitar and an amp that I put together using a Sears type amp. I had put some orange coloured rug on the plywood cabinet. My first big influence was Johnny Winter. Man, he played all kinds of stuff. Mostly covers of all of the blues greats.

Stevie: Our French-Canadian mother’s side of the family was very musical, so as kids we were always surrounded by music, especially around holidays where we’d gather at my mom’s family farmhouse. There, they’d be playing guitar, fiddle, mandolin, accordion - really just playing folk roots music and having a good time. As we got older, one of our closest cousins had older brothers who played in an electric trio and that caught our attention! We’d sometimes get to play their Fender guitar and bass, when they weren’t around of course. For my 12th birthday, I asked my parents for a bass (though I didn’t know it was called a bass) so they ending up buying me a lovely Eko Spanish guitar with nylon strings from Sears. I plucked the heck out of that thing let me tell you. My mother thought she’d send me to some lessons, but that only lasted one night, after I told her the instructors were drinking and telling dirty jokes - the lessons were in a barber shop after closing time! So I pretty much learned how to play by ear, listening to the radio, records and tapes etc. When I was seventeen or eighteen, I bought myself my first real bass guitar using money from an after school job - It was a P-Bass knock-off, but that got me started okay. At around that time we’d been listening to some rock players playing bluesy stuff and we thought that was kind of cool, so we began exploring the blues side of things.

How has your sound developed over the years?

Mike: For Me it has been a take everything that I learned and forget about it approach. The guitar amps are straight forward the guitars plain as toast and the style is to me just natural. I think our style appeals to mankind. It’s natural to the bone.

Stevie: By the late 80s we were playing blues only, and after going out to see a local blues band playing three straight sets of Stevie Ray Vaughan, we thought there had to be more to the blues than this, so we began putting together a blues combo, at first just jamming with different drummers and that. In the early 90s I happened to catch Robert Mugge’s blues documentary ‘Deep Blues’ on public television, so I taped it and played it to Mike. We were hooked! Later in that decade we started yearly pilgrimages to the Deep South, to places like Memphis TN, Clarksdale MS, Indianola MS, Helena AR searching out the sounds we’d heard in the documentary. That was the best teacher we could ever hire. From our first trip to the Delta, our sound took a dramatic shift. All of a sudden we were less concerned about chord changes and timing, and everything got a little more relaxed, less structured and more natural.

Has the local blues scene changed much over the years?

Stevie: Our local blues scene is no different than other places around Canada and the US. Sadly there are blues venues closing down, blues music watered down to pop-blues on the radio, blues festivals hiring rock bands.

Mark: Yes, one thing that I thought when I first came to Ottawa was how lucky you were to have your own dedicated FM blues radio show, DAWG FM. We don’t have a dedicated FM blues station for the country, let alone a local station. This year I noticed their scheduling does have a lot more rock in it than last year and a lot of the blues is very formulaic, for example SRV clones and very slickly produced. I hope they give your forthcoming CD the airplay it deserves as it seems to me you bring a real breath of fresh air to the scene there and it should really be appreciated.

Stevie: Yeah, over the last two decades we’ve captured a niche market in our local area blues scene, playing what we call electric juke joint (deep blues) and rockin’ boogie. Since our early days we’ve played all of Ottawa’s premier blues clubs as well as other non-blues venues. Across the provincial border, in the province of Quebec, we’ve captured the hearts and mojo of a Francophone population who have embraced our rhythmic style of boogie and blues. One area worth mentioning is Maniwaki in Quebec, a former logging town about an hour and a half north of Ottawa. We’ve been playing the same venue there going on thirteen years, three times a year, and every show has been a sell-out with appreciative audiences who like to get down to our music, dancing from the first chord to last, and partying whenever we play there.

Mark: It’s a fantastic venue. I’ve loved both the gigs I played with you there - from the first song they went

crazy. That kind of energy really fires up a band. This last gig Mike ended up on his back on the floor, playing guitar as he crawled across the room, and I was up on the tables blowing harp! The crowd fed our enthusiasm and we fed theirs – a closed loop of crazy fun, the way you wish it was at every gig! I know you guys have told me that you’d like to play up north a lot more because of the reception you get and I really hope that comes together for you. I’m sure the new CD will help with that.

Mike: We hope so too.

So let’s talk about the new CD, “Drive”. I was very honoured that you asked me to get involved with it both as a harp player and co-producer. It was a good fit as we have very similar approaches to recording, that is: capture as much of the song as you can live - with all band members playing at the same time in the same room.

Stevie: Exactly, and we didn’t want to be working in a sterile environment and have the pressure from being on-the-clock so-to-speak, so the laid-back environment at both MMOB and Pine Door Studios was exactly what we needed as a band for this recording to be successful. We’d done the off-the-floor recording before, but it was great having your input into the recording and producing process. Having that second set of ears and eyes really helped out especially on the vocal tracks, extra guitar work and mixing.

Mark: It was a pleasure and fun to be involved with, and the studios were great, especially Pine Door Studios. The location was fantastic, being by the lakeside and in the woods, pretty much miles from anywhere. Even though we did a lot of recording late at night you felt like no-one was being disturbed. You could have done it with all the doors open, really.

Mike: Yeah, even when we put my amp in the toilet outside the main studio room to get that great sound on my lead guitar parts!

Stevie: It’s great when you work somewhere that lets you try funky stuff like that. Also, the handyman who was there fixing something upstairs – we got him into the room and he sang along on what we call the rogue’s chorus on Talk About The Payback. That was funny and chaotic yet somehow it worked so well. We credit him on the CD! Martin, I think his name was (laughs).

Mike: The ‘Drive’ CD is just straight up music. I hope people like it. My biggest fear of recording is the stepping up to the microphone part.

I think you guys got a kick out of watching me lay the vocal tracks down.

Mark: You did a fantastic job, as anyone who listens to the CD will agree, but yes it was fun watching you sing because you put everything into it and even danced while you did it. I wish we’d captured it on video! Having been over to Ottawa twice now, I’m thrilled that you are planning on coming to the UK late July in 2012 to play dates over here. I know you will be playing a number of shows at the Gloucester Rhythm and Blues Festival and hopefully some other gigs in the area. Are you approachable to play other shows while you are here?

Mike: It makes sense to do as many dates as we can while we are here. I know the travel distances involved are less in the UK than here in Canada so I’m sure we can put together other dates. You can handle that, Mark (laughs)

Mark: Hey, I’m happy to co-ordinate that for you guys. That’s the least I can do for you for looking after me so well on my trips to Ottawa. Can’t wait, in fact – it’s going to be great fun!

Tony McPhee ‘turned pro’ nearly 50 years ago. Since then his band, The Groundhogs, have left an incredible musical legacy – from blues, to stoner blues, to synth prog, to country rock, to heavy rock and back again. The Groundhogs were championed by the great John Peel – releasing a brace of classic albums throughout the early 70’s. Their 1971 classic ‘Split’ was an amazing journey into psychedelic heavy blues that charted in the UK. They have thousands of fiercely loyal fans, including celebrities Captain Sensible, Queens of The Stone Age and Vic Reeves. Over the years, Tony has suffered at the hands of bad managers, psychotic horses and back-stabbing journalists. Recently, he had the third in a series of strokes that’s robbed him of his speech – but not his urge to make music. Defiantly, Tony continues to tour with a new lineup of the ‘Hogs – with his partner Joanne Deacon taking over his vocals until a full recovery takes place. An amazingly down-to-earth chap, Tony graciously accepted a lengthy Q&A session from Blues Matters, part one of which appears below. Typically modest, he was concerned that we mentioned the loss of Hubert Sumlin, who had died a few days previously, and wanted to pay his respects.

Your first band were called the Seneschals, this was way back in 1962. You played rock n’ roll standards, then your brother got you into the blues Ever think that you’d still be playing it 50 years later?

Never thought about the future back then so it doesn’t surprise me now!

Then there was a change of name… to the John Lee’s Groundhogs. Was the John Lee moniker a tribute to the bluesman that you ended up backing a few months later?

At first John Cruickshank called himself Lee Grant later that became John Lee, so it was a happy coincidence, really.

The ‘Hogs were one of the pioneers of British blues, along with the Pretty Things, The Stones and the Yardbirds. Did your paths ever cross?

We used to support Pretty Things, Downliners Sect, Alex Harvey Band, Animals, etc. at the 100 Club. I’d seen the Stones, but never supported them at this time. We went to The Star hotel in Croydon to see the Yardbirds, we knew Giogio Gomelsky, the promoter and he asked us to play some numbers while they had a break, they were using Kay guitars and the necks were so warped they were using capos, I played slide so warped necks didn’t matter. In one of the Clapton books it says they were £100 guitars no way! You could pick them up for a score! (£20)

You got your trademark Gibson SG at this time, what made you chose that brand and stick with it for so long?

My Gibson SG cost 175 Guineas, I chose that guitar because it had a side-action tremolo system and I liked to be different, it also had a wide, thin neck which was perfect for finger-style when I decided to copy Hooker later on, so it was perfect all the way through.

You got your first backing gig as Little Walter’s group. I’ve read that he wasn’t an easy man to work with… How’d you find him?

We met him at Portsmouth for a gig at the Guildhall and were rehearsing on-stage when he let go a fart that cleared us off-stage and we had to wait for the air to clear!!

In ‘64 John Lee Hooker toured the UK and you got the backing band gig. How did that come about?

Hooker had been backed by John Mayall’s Band for his UK tour and it went so well it was decided to lengthen it by a week, 6th -12th July, 1964 but Mayall had gigs already booked in so he couldn’t do it, fortunately Gerry Bron, who booked the tour knew We played Hooker stuff, so he asked us.

Touring with a hard-nosed old blues player when you were barely out of your teens could have been a disaster, but you worked with John Lee several times, so things must have worked out. How did you get on?

To use John’s own word “Tremendous!” We knew how he wanted to be backed and he enjoyed our company so much he asked for us to back him after that first week in July and travelled in our Commer van. He’d get his Epiphone guitar out and sing. There weren’t even any good cassette recorders available then!!

You got on TV for the first time, thanks to John Lee. It was on a show called ‘Beat Boom’, the clip on YouTube shows lots of groovy looking youngsters fruiting to ‘Boom, Boom’. Did you think, ‘This is it, I’m famous’?

At least that clip has been spared the BBC’s ‘re-use policy’, being film they couldn’t wipe it, as they did later on, I just felt proud to be on TV backing my hero.

John Lee was apparently fond of spitting, often getting his aim wrong. Were you ever on the receiving end of a Hooker spit?

No, he was pretty accurate. John sat on a single seat at the back of the van where there was a sliding window and

photo by Ken Ansted

every now and then I could feel a draught on the back of my neck when John opened it to spit. After a month on the road, the spit had hardened and Pete drew the short straw and had to chisel it off!!

I’ve also read that he pee’d on Pete Cruikshank’s shirt. True or myth?

True! Hooker used to drink a bottle of Whiskey a day but with lots of water, we were playing the Bure Country Club where the toilets were on the opposite wall from the dressing-room, we always played a couple of numbers then John Cruickshank introduced Hooker, obviously he was caught short and went in the corner of the dressing room, not realizing Pete had left his shirt there.

You finally got to cut a single with Hooker, called ‘Sake it’ for an American label. I’ve never come across a copy of it. Is it available anywhere?

Calvin Carter of VeeJay Records asked John to ‘talent-scout’ British bands while he was over here, of course he mentioned us (Calvin was actually looking for a Beatles). We recorded ‘Shake it’ actually it was our version of ‘Shake ‘em On Down’ by Fred McDowell and ‘Rock me, Baby’ like the BB King version, Calvin wanted ‘Rock me, Baby to be the ‘A’ side because he thought a bunch of white English guys playing Chicago Blues was strange!!! I have a promotional copy and there’s a copy on eBay for £79 ‘buy-it-now’, otherwise ‘Shake It’ is on YouTube.

Then came the John Lee Hooker LP, with the ‘Hogs backing him. It’s seen a lot of re-issues over the years, remixed and sometimes incorrectly credited. What do you think of it now, all these years later?

You mean the ‘...with John Mayall’ tag and the terrible brass parts. Yuk! I turned up for the recording and the ‘engineer’ turned the volume knob on my AC30 to zero then moved it a fraction and said ‘play at that volume’ of course it sounded like a banjo so I tried using slide which really didn’t work, I did not have a good time at that recording especially when Marianne Faithful turned up and buggered off with Micky Most who was supposed to be ‘producing’ it, so a certain amount of bitterness still exists.

Why did you retire the Groundhogs in 1966 and go solo?

Actually I went back to work so I could afford to go to venues with Jo Ann Kelly. Around this time, you were christened ‘TS’, what was the reason behind that? That was Mike Vernon he wanted me to record a few tracks for his ‘Purdah’ label. Mike had the use of Decca Studios on Saturday Mornings ostensibly to ‘audition’ new bands instead he recorded blues bands and released 999 copies so no ‘duty’ at 7/6d each. When Mike asked me he said he liked the idea of initials like JB Lenoir so he asked my middle name which is Charles so he said ‘TC’ I said that sounded like a cartoon cat so then he said: ‘How about TS?’ I said ‘fine...’

In ‘67 psychedelia was taking over. You launched another band, Herbal Mixture. Herbal Mixture embraced the looks and sounds of the times… I’ve seen some shots of you sporting granny and a great fur hat. Was the psychedelic look a way of making some money, or did you like the stuff?

Our manager, Roy Fisher was trying to get a gig at the Electric Garden, the promoter asked what was different about us and Roy remembered when we were at Jo Ann Kelly’s flat we wore some of the things in her wardrobe, so he said ‘They dress up!” He told us that AFTER he said we had a gig there! At first I was embarrassed but after a while I started to enjoy going round jumble sales looking for wighats etc.

You were still skint during HM’s run, so moved on to the safer offer of the John Dummer Band. That didn’t last long, why? There was always the understanding that if the ‘Hogs got together again that would be what

Blues

photo by Ken Ansted

I’d go for.

You reformed the Groundhogs in ‘68. What made this happen?

Roy Fisher had a photographic business and one day he walked into Liberty Records by chance and Andrew Lauder asked him “What happened to the Groundhogs” Roy told him we’d split and Andre said ‘If they reformed we’ll give them a record deal’ So…

The first Groundhogs LP – ‘Scratching the Surface’ had you all standing in a pond where was that taken? Hampstead Pond.

Whose idea was it to make you all lose the trousers and get soaked?

Andrew Lauder’s!

‘Scratching…’ was a blues album, but soon afterwards you moved into progressive rock music, albeit with a blues edge. What made this happen?

I wanted to write my own songs up to then, and then they were all derived.

The follow up to ‘Scratching…’ was called ‘Blues Obituary’. ‘Blues…’ had a great sleeve, with you dressed as a vicar and a dude in an open coffin being loaded into a hearse by drummer Ken and bassist Pete. Ever think, ‘this might stir up some trouble’?

With luck!

Did you get much publicity for that stunt?

We had a publicist who got his Secretary to phone News of the World and complain that we were on her Grannie’s grave.

John Peel was an early champion of the Groundhogs, he played ‘’Thank Christ for the Bomb’ (1970) songs on his show and you played sessions for him. Did your paths cross often in those days? He lent us £100 for our 1st LP. I’m pretty sure we paid him back!!

971 the Groundhogs released ‘Split’, a commercial success. ‘Split’ was also the LP that the fans love… the title track(s) were inspired by a panic attack. Was it cathartic for you to get one of your greatest musical moments out of such a horrible experience?

Martin Birch’ Our engineer on ‘Split’ (and ‘Thank...’) said he’d had a similar ‘Aberration’ and it helped a lot to share experiences.

‘Split’ charted as an LP and you got a slot on ‘Top of the Pops’, when they had a (short-lived) album slot. Did TOTP force you to mime?

I sang to a backing track. Trouble is, our drummer kept hitting his kit and putting me off!

When the follow-up to ‘Split’ came out – ‘Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Groundhogs! Touring ‘Who Will...’ in the States proved to be a disaster when you went horse riding. How did you end up breaking your wrist?

Our tour manager suggested we go to a nearby stable and do some horse riding, something I’d never done, so I said fine. I was on this huge horse called Senator who figured I was a total novice and shit-scared and he ended up bolting with me on its back, all I could think of as the branches whooshed past my head was the 4-lane Highway which I knew was nearby so I, decided to get off this beast so I Made my way backwards to its rump and jumped off, the snapping sound as my right hand hit the ground, fantastic!!!

Back in the UK recovering, you got into more production work… and synthesizers. When a lot of musicians felt threatened by synths you loved them and used them for many years. What was so special about the synth?

I’d seen Edgar Winter play an ARP2600 on our American tour and I’d got Tonto’s Expanding Head-Band Album, so I knew they were capable of more than just silly noises.

Your first solo LP – ‘The Two Sides of Tony TS McPhee’ was released in 1973. As the title suggests, that album is split into two halves – one of traditional blues numbers and a concept piece called ‘The Hunt’, played entirely on synths, it’s the most experimental piece of music that you have ever made. How did the record company react to it?

It was (manager) Wilf Pine’s idea to write about hunting and the blues was something I wanted to get back to (really to see if I could write ‘new’ blues). WWA was the management’s label and he was our manager – so we could do what I wanted and still keep my knee caps!

Then came ‘Solid’. You really nailed the combination of progressive/space/blues there. It must have been frustrating that, despite all the amazing, creative music that you were making certain members of the press were determined to slag you off. Is it true that you stopped talking to them by the mid 70’s?

Normally, at that time the press would build a band up just to knock them down later, but, because they couldn’t ‘pigeon-hole’ us. They didn’t know if we were Blues, Heavy Metal or Psychedelic. They just ignored us until Jeff Ward wrote something in Melody Maker which was Spiteful, hurtful and totally unnecessary.

The Groundhogs split in 1975, playing a farewell tour. You were planning a solo career, but came back a few months later with another line up of the band. What made you do that?

I was asked to by Richard Cowley of Chrysalis agency, who became our managers, but I was tired of being a 3-piece and wanted to try another guitarist in the band and play ‘Funkier.’

The four-piece Groundhogs had a more straightforward sound. The album ‘Crosscut Saw’ is more country rock than blues. Then came the final 70’s Groundhogs album, ‘Black Diamond’. It was a far bluesier affair. A case of giving the fans what they wanted?

Whatever came in my head, again, I think the track ‘Black Diamond’ is musically and lyrically up there with ‘Please Leave My Mind’ so I’ve gone almost full-circle!

Groundhogs carried on touring across the UK and Europe, finally calling it a day when the UK went punk and being in a blues-rock band no longer paid the bills. But, eight years later, they were back. Next issue we bring the story of Tony ‘TS’ McPhee up-to-date.

Who are these artists?

7 Musicians on stage

3 Hours of Blues

1 Terrific show blasting his way round Europe while taking no prisoners!

The Blues Explosion package will be touring in the Summer period 2012, from mid June to the middle of August. We will offer a full package of Blues with different styles; people can find a Texan guitar hero, a queen of Chicago blues and soul, and a veteran West Coast harmonica player.

• Blasting Texan guitarslinger Texas Slim, began playing in earnest in the 70s, and early on teamed up with the legendary pianist Alex Moore, who taught him a lot about the music. Slim was also inspired by Johnny Winter (take a listen to Texas classic ‘Boot Hill’), local artists such as Pops Carter, and Dallas blues regulars such as Little Joe Blue and Andrew ‘Jr. Boy’ Jones – and his tracks here reveal his ease with a wide range of influences. Slim says the blues is “about everyday life, about working class people letting go of their worries, frustrations and anxieties through music. Blues is the music of spontaneous expressions of pure emotion”. As he proves time and time again - and on the cooking tracks here - Slim is a man who has the Texas Blues in his DNA…

• “A Queen of Chicago Blues and Soul”, Vivian Vance Kelly does literally have the music in her DNA. Her father, with whom she honed her stage-craft, is Windy City blues guitarist Vance Kelly, a grandfather sang R&B, a grandmother recorded gospel way back, and she herself was brought up in church. She flirted with hip-hop as a youngster, but soon turned to the blues – which she defines as “an expression of life experiences of all mankind comforted in songs”. Listen to her tracks here and you will agree with the strap-line she uses: “Sweet soul ‘n’ groovy blues”.

• “Veteran West Coast harmonica player” Andy Just needs no introduction. Since he first recorded with Hi-Tide Harris back in 1976, he has appeared on dozens of blues albums, both in his own right and behind many legendary names, and he has become one of California’s best-known blues exports (and experts). Andy’s take on the blues is “Truth, hope, honesty and love through an American music art form. He offers hard-blowing harp-led blues at its best (listen to him close out this album) – “smokin’“ as one Feelin’ Good album puts it… and there’s no smoke without fire!

Show your interest and we’ll send a free CD for your consideration!

by Clive Rawlings

Singer/songwriter Will Johns has been playing his riffs across the globe for more than 15 years. Born in London in 1973 to actress/ model Paula Boyd (sister of Patti of Layla fame) and record producer/ engineer Andy Johns ( Stones, LedZep, Van Halen), he started playing guitar and singing aged fifteen. He was encouraged to play and was mentored by Eric Clapton, before going to study performing arts at Oxford. Will recorded with Clash frontman Joe Strummer and re-opened the famous ‘Crawdaddy Club’ in Richmond, where he held weekly jam sessions. During a stint in LA Will bumped into old friends Tramper Price and Jesse Wood. Together they formed ‘Glyda’ who wowed audiences internationally. After releasing an album and three EP’s, feeling the need to establish himself in his own right, Will began performing under the pseudonym ‘Willy Brown’ to try and gain some level of anonymity. He formed the ‘Psychedelic Blues Band’ and toured along the South coast of England. Now settled in Brighton, he has formed the Will Johns Band, Their first CD ‘Count on Me’ contains the Youtube favourite ‘ On my Back’ . Clive Rawlings (a fellow Brightonian) caught up with Will and compiled this interview for Blues Matters.

BM: You have an impressive biog , coming from such amazing ‘stock’ , your father and uncle being renowned record producers, were you ever around for any of the recordings ?

WJ: In the beginning, my earliest memories are of the smell of the studio, amplifiers and the sight of machines with millions of little lights on. Up until the age of three (when my Mum left my Dad and brought me back to England) I practically lived at the studio so although I can’t really remember; I know Andy (Dad) was working with some pretty heavy cats. (The Stones, Clapton, Free)

Being George Harrison’s nephew, have you any anecdotes of the great man?

Only that he was a lovely man, generous and kind.

My being of the generation that grew up listening to such great people you’ve hung around with, can you explain how Eric Clapton became your mentor?

During my youth, I would spend weekends with Pattie & Eric. I think that because they didn’t have kids of their own and the fact that they were able to give me back at the end of the week end, they could offer a lot of fun and enthusiasm. When I started messing round with the drum kit in the studio, Eric suggested I might try “a proper instrument” I knew what he was saying... When he played Ry Cooder’s ‘Get Rhythm’ album to me and I heard the opening licks to ‘I Can Tell By The Way You Smell’ I was hooked. I wanted to BE that sound. Eric would show me a riff or something but only the first bit, when I’d got that down I’d ask him to show me the next bit. That’s when he would tell me to go figure it out for myself. That was the lesson.

Are you still in touch with him? Yes!

Having been privileged to sit in on a couple of your band rehearsals, I detect Clapton influences in your music, bearing in mind a lot of bands read this magazine, are there any tips you can pass on ?

If you’re in a band? Look after each other. Enjoy yourselves and don’t forget the audience! They’re important too!

Photos of Will by Jimmy Laban Matasiwa Design 2011

How did the performance with Joe Strummer come about?

It was a recording session to create some music for a driving computer game. I was hired by this guy who ran the studio in Oxford. To be perfectly honest I had no idea who he was until after the session. I just knew him as Joe, we had a real blast writing some really crazy shit but I didn’t ever get to hear the finished tracks.

When you were in the States, you had a band called Glyda, one of the members was Jesse Wood, son of Ronnie, and how did that liaison come about?

Jesse and I are old pals we used to hang out in Richmond, Surrey. After I moved to the States, Jesse happened to be on tour with his dad and doing a show in Vegas. Another pal of mine was driving the truck for Jamiroquai who were gonna support the Stones at the MGM Grand. So I went to Vegas and bumped into Jesse and Ronnie in the casino, I was absorbed by their party of top notch nutters and GLYDA was born out of that wild weekend.

Fast forward to where you are now, you have your own Will Johns Band, with the CD ‘Count on Me’; tell us about the band and what it’s like playing in the Brighton area?

It is great to have a bunch of guys that make amazing music and are wonderful to hang out with too. Brighton seems to be experiencing somewhat of a blues resurgence. I’m seeing lots of young kids at the gigs as well as the vintage crew. Brighton is such a vibrant city, every gig is different and you never know who is gonna turn up out of the blues.

What guitars do you use?

Well, my main guitar is a Musicman - Eddie Van Halen which to me is basically like a souped up mini telecaster with fat pickups and a fancy trem. It was a present from my Dad, who was working with Edward (V H) at the time. Eddie’s Guitar tech noticed it was particularly well made and beautiful and had hidden it from him because he knew if he (Ed) got hold of it he would trash it. Some years later it was stolen and in the wilderness for years, eventually I got a call from Paula at Chandler Guitars in Richmond to say they had it and could buy it back! I slide on a Squire Tele custom and an old Gibson J45 acoustic and I have another Squire Telecaster.

Of all the people who have come in and out of your life, who’s influenced you most? Eric Clapton.

I can tell by listening to you play, Will, that you have a definite feel for the Blues, what does the future hold for Will Johns, where do you envisage being , musically, in say, five years?

Hopefully, touring the world and elsewhere! I’ll be making my third or fourth album by then… I will always play blues old and new and I hope I can write something that inspires people and “makes their big toe shoot up into their boot” as Little Richard once described.

Any plans for new material, if so, what can we expect?

Yes, I am working on songs for my second album with the band. I want to make something really special. I’m aiming straight for the heart this time! I am finding my second album much more fun to create than the first. That was literally like pulling teeth!

What do you listen to yourself?

Everything! But mostly Ry Cooder, Johnny Guitar Watson, Joe Bonamassa more Joe Bonamassa and a bit more Ry Cooder! I am also really liking, Virgil and the Accelerators. Great energy!

Same question I ask all my interviewees.. what’s your favourite biscuit?

Tunnocks Caramel or a chocolate Hob Nobs.

An Appreciation (1931 - 2011)

Its hit me like an icy blue hammer: Hubert Sumlin is dead. The brightest light in the blues guitar firmament has gone to his reward. He’s free at last! And it’s left a hole in my heart that will never be filled. Despite a bout with cancer that left him with only one lung… and a relentless road schedule that would exhaust any run- of-the- mill superhero, he made it to his eightieth birthday and leaves the world a much richer place. By way of memorial, I would like to share a few of my fondest memories of the man. And there were a lot of them. I believe this is an altogether appropriate way to celebrate the life of the guitar master who was my hero, my mentor and my friend. I’ll leave it to others to run through the dry autobiographical facts. Here is the flesh and blood man I knew.

It was only a little more than year and a half ago that he put his arm ‘round my shoulders and told me, “You can call me Uncle Hubert; We been kin a good long time now.” So typical of the man. Now, somehow, it seems like centuries ago. It was just prior to his 78th birthday, and he was tired. Yet, he was, if possible, even more open, and more at one with himself… more musically and philosophically centred in a word more Hubert!

Sumlin had just finished a fine set with our old friends The Nighthawks. Walking from the sweltering stage to the dressing room, he pointed one of his foot-long fingers in my direction and demanded “Why didn’t you come up and play one?”.

I said “Naw man, I came to see you play!” … and we both laughed. This night we had the longest heart-toheart I’d had with him ever. It was almost as if he was summing it all up, getting his affairs in order. (He’d stopped at Keith Richards’ house in Rhode Island before the show and arrived just prior to showtime.)

I brought him a copy of the interview with me published in BM! Where in I’d said insofar as I can play any blues guitar at all “I owe it all to the great Hubert Sumlin.” He was positively delighted and proudly showed it to every well-wisher, autograph-seeker and fan that came backstage to visit. “This is my picture”, he said… “And that’s his.”

Then he leaned over and whispered to me, “I’m proud of you, partner” as he sat and patiently signed

photos of Hubert by Arnie Goodman

a virtual mountain of CD’s, LP’s, photos, posters and assorted ephemera thrust at him by tons of folks anxious to share a moment with him. And true to form, he greeted every single one of them like long time friends. A spectacular display by a man struggling to catch his breath and bone-tired following a blistering performance.

That hot summer night was the last time I got to see him, but it was a profound experience. Despite his health, the man was a blues playing machine. Playing beautifully, magnificently and with such grace and charm that it all-of-a-sudden hit me: Hubert’s guitar playing is just an extension of his personality… quirky, funny, playful, deep. And that’s it, partner, as he’d say. That’s the reason nobody can play like him. Because nobody else IS him.

Whenever we supported Hubert, which was quite often, we always did a few numbers together—often just the two of us. And these were always my absolute favourite moments. One night in the mid-1980’s I was in the spacious dressing room of The Living Room in Providence, RI idly fingering my guitar whilst a few musicians and assorted hangers-on milled about. Naturally enough, I was running through a few of Sumlin’s classic riffs. Suddenly, I heard a familiar chuckle and looked up.

‘Don’t Laugh at Me’, Hubert,” I said, referencing one of Wolf’s big numbers. He let out another dry chuckle. “Man, you sho’ know your Hubert,” he told me.

At the end of the concert, as usual, Hubert invited me back onstage to do a couple of duets with him. I remember he always liked to do a tune called ‘I Did What I Could for You’ which he said Wolf had always wanted him to record. It’s a spectacular piece filled to the brim with all the brilliant Hubert-isms you could ever hope for...the gleeful whoops, the stuttering low notes, the screams of joy, the notes that no-one would ever expect but which nonetheless fit sublimely. Breathtaking!

This particular night he started telling stories to the crowd. One of my favourites concerned his first trip to an East Berlin recording studio where he said there “wasn’t nothin’ but men there…no women. So I said to one of the guys, you know what I’m talking about, I said...Where’s all the wimmens at? And they said “We is the wimmens. Oohh Lord…..I never knew there was wimmens. I really didn’t.”

Then he counted of “Hidden Charms”...and we were off into the stratosphere playing notes that simply don’t exist on anyone else’s guitar, an altogether terrifying, unique and riveting display of guitar wizardry. The man was the most unassuming genius ever.

Back in the ‘70’s I got to know Hubert pretty well when he was working with Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang alongside bassist Shorty Gilbert, drummer Chico Chism and either Big Moose Walker or, later, Detroit Junior on piano. Being generous to a fault as Hubert was, Detroit Junior wisely kept Hubert’s money in his boot for safekeeping. So one bitter cold wintry night prior to a show at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel we were all in line at a McDonald’s and Hubert says, “Hey Junior, give me my money, man.” Detroit thought it imprudent to remove his patent leather boot there in public and reveal his bankroll, so he declined. “C’mon man...gimme my money, muthaf**ka!!”

Finally, Hubert turned to me. “Partner, lend me a few dollars ‘til we get back to the club…and he can take his damn shoe off.” Damn, that was funny.

So...there are lots of stories to tell. About the time he failed to show up for a high visibility concert we were doing in Newport. And the television crews and reporters (not to mention a packed house of rabid fans) watched the door nervously. Or the time both of our guitars were so atrociously out of tune it wasn’t even funny. (Somehow he bent every note into tune on the fly!)

Or the time he told me he was going to play with ex-New York Doll Johnny Thunders. “Oooh,

Photo of Hubert with Bob Angell

Johnny’s showing me some stuff on that gee-tar, man.” That’s when I just knew Hubert was NOT going to actually do that show.

They’re all short insights into the man and the artist. He did what he wanted. He broke new ground. He soared to new heights musically. He inspired plectrists from Keef to Eric to Greeny to Rory to SRV et.al… Yet his greatest gift to the world was the actual man he was. A genius to be sure but also the most beautiful approachable guy in the whole world.

As I’ve said to so many people since his passing on December 4th, Hubert was on the “love trip” long before the hippies made it popular. He loved people. He loved music and I loved him right back. The bottom line is this: Somewhere Hubert Sumlin is re-united with his beloved Bea and his “Daddy” the Howlin’ Wolf. Making a joyful noise while the angels listen attentively. Sail on, Uncle Hubert. See you on the other side man.

By Bob Angell

It’s been said you should never meet your heroes…that’ll they’ll only disappoint you. In the instance of my meeting Hubert Sumlin, this saying was so very wrong. I’d been mesmerised by his inventive, intensely lyrical guitar playing since I was a kid listening to Howlin’ Wolf. Hubert’s playing was so interwoven into the fabric of the songs that it was impossible for me to think of Howlin’ Wolf without immediately thinking of Hubert too. I know that Wolf made plenty of recordings without Hubert, but my favourites were always the songs with Hubert on them. He seemed mythological & larger than life to me - both as a musician and as a man. Periodically I’ve gone through total Hubert worship phases and he’s always at the top of my list of favourite guitarists. Over the last few years I’d been asking players who’d met & worked with Hubert everything I could think of about him, and so when I was in Nashville this past August to start recording my new album, I found myself unable to stop thinking about getting him to guest on it. Thrilled, chuffed to bits, can’t sleep excited - I can’t really begin to describe how I felt when word came back that he wanted to do it. Doctor’s orders meant that the session would have to be near to him, so a flight was booked to JFK in late November 2011. The day before my flight Mick Taylor happened to be staying with me, so we called & spoke to Hubert. Hubert was so warm & gracious that any nerves I had about meeting him were quickly dispelled. Anticipation really kicked in when the plane left Heathrow - my mind was racing the entire flight. Wolf, who’d played with Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Pops Staples and Son House, had hand picked Hubert. Hubert played in Southern churches as a kid and was working with James Cotton when Wolf called him. He’d also done a couple of spells with Muddy Waters, worked with Willie Dixon a lot AND had performed on some Chuck Berry Chess recordings. That’s just for starters. Holy shit! Though he was obviously a true gentleman, what if he didn’t like the music?

To be honest, I would have flown over just to meet Hubert; the fact that he was going to appear on my next album seemed surreal. I arrived early at the studio (Barbershop Studios in New Jersey) with the tapes, got some coffee & waited for him. When he arrived I stood at the door to greet him and he immediately put me at ease with a bighearted welcome. I helped him walk down the stairs to the room we were to work in (he’d been on oxygen for years) and that human contact also helped break the ice.

Photo of Hubert by Arnie Goodman

I’d brought along my new Gibson SDP SG to show him. He sat down & I excitedly handed it to him. He looked the guitar over, played a couple of things and looked at me, troubled. “Why do you want me to sign this? It’s a beauty!”

“Hubert, I don’t want you to sign it, I want you to play it!” “Oh, OK!” Ten minutes later, as he was learning the first song, I asked him what he thought of the guitar. He said “Mine!” “Huh?” “ It’s going home with me! It’s so goood!” We all laughed. Even though he’d brought his own guitar, he only played mine that day. We started recording, Hubert adding guitar to “Get You Off”. I felt relieved and incredibly honoured after the second take when he told me that he loved the song, that he had a very good feeling about it’s prospects. He listed people who’s songs he’d played on by way of explaining his instincts. As if I needed proof! It’s often easier to communicate musically just by playing something on the guitar, so we were sat facing each other, a couple of feet apart, me with his guitar & he with mine. He’d been swaying with the music as he played. Then he started to really move with the phrases he played, totally absorbed, expressions changing on his face with each riff, just like he was onstage. He nailed it. Before the next song we ordered some food. Waiting, I asked him about joining Wolf’s band and being met by Otis Spann off the train in Chicago. It’d been Hubert’s first trip there. He started telling all sorts of stories, and then he talked about the upcoming star-studded show celebrating him at The Apollo in Harlem (24th Feb 2012). He was so excited about it; I was struck by how humble he was. “All for little ol’ me” he said. Then I felt sad when he said he wasn’t sure he’d live long enough to be there. We ate and I started to show him the next song. I wanted to do something that we’d play together, so I was going through the chord changes. Showing him where I thought his part would go, I said “and you’d be doing your thing here” and played some solo bits. A huge grin crossed his face. He’d liked what I played. I wanted to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Then he got serious & started talking to me quietly so that others in the studio wouldn’t hear. He gave me his blessing, his “seal of approval”. He wanted to make sure I knew how important it was that ‘the music’ continue and be played right. He was such a gentle spirit and I fell in love with him that day. In the end he was too tired to finish the song; when he left I recorded my part, planning to go to his house to record his solo part. Sadly that didn’t happen, so I’ve played the solo incorporating some of the things he did during the run troughs. The song is called ‘Hubert’s Blues’ and I feel so incredibly lucky, blessed and honored to have spent that day with him.

By Stephen Dale Petit

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ZOE SCHWARZ AND ROB KORAL - From ‘The Baddest Blues Band’

By The Bishop

Over the past five or six years a quiet revolution, or rather evolution, has been taking place on the south coast of England. The rise of The Baddest (i.e. Goodest) Blues Band is nothing short of phenomenal, with all six musicians contributing to high quality, original and inventive jazz and blues music. Two successful CDs, ‘Breakout’ and ‘Driving In The Rain’ were followed by a live DVD, with a third CD recorded recently. Apart from vocalist Zoe and guitarist Rob, the band comprises Si Genaro on harmonica and vocals, Pete Whittaker on Hammond organ, Paul Robinson, drums, and new member Rodney Teague playing bass. If talent, dedication and sincerity count for anything then the profile of these rising stars will continue to grow, with their music receiving the acclamation and recognition it deserves. You can check them out on www.baddestbluesband.com. When did your love of music first start and who were your early influences?

ZS: My mother is a musician, and we all played instruments and sang at home. I was sent to boarding school aged seven, and singing in the church schola was what kept me going, especially Latin masses and motets. It was not the religious aspect, but the music and being able to express myself through singing. My first spine chilling moment was being part of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, listening to, and being engulfed by the enormous sound of the organ in Downside Abbey, where our school did annual joint school choral works. The most significant moment in my teens was being given a Billie Holiday tape; I was blown away by the passion, pathos and tenderness. The apparent freedom of her use of notes and phrasing was so exciting, and the yearning quality of her voice so moving. In my free time at school I’d find a quiet space behind the stage and thrash out campfire chords on my guitar whilst wildly wailing to made-up words and double-dutch!

RK: I have the simplest answer to your question; it was the Cream farewell concert which was on telly as an Omnibus special on the BBC. I was at school at the time and it was then that I picked up a guitar for the first time… and by the way, they are still my favourite band of all time.

Zoe, how did a classically trained singer end up as a jazz and blues vocalist?

ZS: Singing Jazz and Blues suited my character. I can be expressive and creative, and I love the freedom to be able to interpret a song differently each time I sing it. I also believe that getting older has given my voice depth, and meeting and playing with Rob has given me the confidence to be expressive.

Can you talk us through your progression route from jazz to blues genres and their connections?

RK: I would say that the progression is the other way round; it’s more natural to start playing blues and then as you develop you may want to keep expanding your repertoire in terms of understanding music and chords etc. There is a natural place where the two overlap, perhaps; with The Baddest Blues Band we fall in to this area, although that is not intentional. I like to think that all the players are good enough to give that elastic band feel to the music whereby it can go in any particular direction on any given night. There are a few guitar players, like Robben Ford and Matt Schofield who also have this cross over feel and depth. When and how did the Zoe and Rob musical partnership come about, and how much have you influenced each other musically?

RK: We’ve influenced each other a great deal, and I think we are a perfect team in that our energies combine so well. This manifested itself firstly in song writing, and I take pride in the fact that this band features original music very prominently. We’re also good at problem solving and just getting the nuts and bolts of running a six-piece band sorted. The simple fact that we both have such different musical back grounds seems to work so well, I would say that Zoe is born to sing this music despite her more formal beginnings. I’m totally self-taught so I think I’ve brought out her natural earthy qualities.

ZS: We had both independently moved down from London to Dorset in 2000 and met in 2001 via a mutual friend when I was looking for an accompanist. We played our first gig within a week; our enthusiasm just rubbed off on each other and we’ve just kept the ball rolling.

What about the chemistry between you two, which is so evident from the recordings?

RK: Well, we’re now life partners as well and have a gorgeous five year old daughter Cassie and a wonderful family unit with Anton and Bonnie, Zoe’s other children.

You write memorable lyrics and tunes; can you give us some insights into the song writing process and what inspires you to write?

RK: The inspiration to write music is the same as playing music, to make a statement. Any genre would eventually die if we continued to play the same standard tunes forever. The process usually starts one of two ways, either the good old fashioned, tried and tested guitar riff or sequence appears, or Zoe comes up with an idea for a story or a lighter, whimsical observation. An example of this is our song ‘Too Darn Rich To Be Happy’….we would like to test the theory however! As it happens we are song-writing right now as we are just about to record our third album.

You have performed with such luminaries as Sting, Mose Allison and George Shearing. Tell us about these and other great artists you have played with and what you learned from them?

RK: Well the credit for the above names must go mainly go to our band mates, but we’ve all played with great players and this breed’s confidence which then helps you to continue to raise the bar. Who would you most like to perform with if you could include them in your dream line-up?

RK: I would love to play with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, myself on guitar and Zoe singing.

ZS: Surprisingly this is a hard one, and I don’t have a romantic answer for you. I consider myself lucky as I am. But I suppose to rub shoulders and share a stage with a living legend like Tom Jones would be a thrill. How did The Baddest Blues band get its name?

RK: The name was Malcolm Creese’s (the original bassist) idea pure and simple and is a play on musician’s speak for baddest meaning goodest but I promise not in an arrogant way.

I have just reviewed your excellent new live DVD. How close is this to the atmosphere generated by your stage act?

RK: Glad you like the DVD, that was a typical live performance and it’s pleasing for me to see how the songs evolve differently from gig to gig.

ZS: I like to think that our stage act is very exciting, not only because of the dynamic music but also due to

Zoe Schwarz

Rob Koral

the diverse personalities of the band members and the highly individual, animated and charismatic stage persona of Si.

Where does BBB fit in with the extensive solo and duo work, and gigs with Yellow Bus?

RK: Firstly we have to make a living but very importantly we don’t do any gigs we don’t enjoy. For example we don’t have a ‘function band’. We are serious about all these projects, and they have a positive knock on effect to each other.

After two highly acclaimed CDs and a DVD, what is your next major project?

RK: We are just about to record our third CD for The Baddest Blues Band and will also be touring with our Blue Commotion project in 2012. Will we see more appearances across the UK and abroad?

RK: I certainly hope so, ‘have guitar & PA will travel’. We have quite a few gigs in various towns and cities in the book for 2012. As for travelling abroad hopefully we’ll get the chance soon. Economics play a big part; The Baddest Blues Band is a big juggernaut of a six piece lineup.

Let us focus on the band. It must be disappointing that Malcolm is no longer with you given his drive behind the band’s formation?

RK: This is where it is a little bit controversial as this was our decision.

Tell us about the musical qualities of Pete and Paul, and also Malcolm’s replacement, Rodney?

RK: They simply have quality. We all understand each other really well and come from the same sort of musical world. Paul brings great experience and his personality always comes through his kit; his CV is literally like a ‘who’s who’ of popular music. Pete is a Hammond-organ player pure and simple, he is brilliant at understanding the dynamics of any given song and the six piece line-up. Rodney Teague, our bass player, has a great sound and feel and understands music harmony, and we’ve known him as friend for a long time. They all bring a commitment to trying to make good music and a cohesive band sound. Given his evasive biographical details, please tell us more about Si Genaro, his background and overall contribution to the band’s success?

RK: Si is the ‘wild card’ in the band, and a total ‘one off’. He’s an excellent harp player and a natural musician, and I think it’s a perfect marriage for him and us as we’ve given him a great vehicle for his extrovert performance which even sometimes includes ‘rapping’. He has also benefited from the discipline of playing with an organised professional band. We all love him; he is a very popular musician in his hometown of Bournemouth.

And finally, Zoe, do you regret not having fulfilled your ambition of being like Lulu?

ZS: I live in hope! Seriously though, I like to think I’m ‘living the dream’ in my own way. Who knows how far this journey will take us all. My original ambition was to play at Ronnie Scott’s, but having achieved that a few years ago there’s no shortage of musical goals.

And Rob, what is your ultimate musical goal?

RK: Well, the ultimate musical goal is to have one’s playing instantly recognisable, and then have the outlet to let it be heard.

Christine Moore has a craic with :

Grainne is an Irish singer songwriter from Castleblyney, Co. Monaghan, Ireland. She has described her music as a “powerhouse of soul and inspiration mixed with desire and passion” Her success in Ireland playing at the Blues ON The Bay Festival in Warrenpoint, has lead her to open for many major acts including Robben Ford, Dino Baptiste, Shaw Jones and the Yardbirds. She has also played 3 days on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury. Last year was a busy one for Grainne as she toured Norway where her music is becoming more popular and leading to more tours there. We caught here on a brief tour of the UK in Kendal at the ‘Bootleggers’ and we hope to see her again this year when she has another UK tour lined up.

BM: What, who or why were you influenced to take up guitar and what age were you when you started showing an interest in music.

D: Well my love of music started very young when I grew up listening to records on our family record player. We used to all get a record for Christmas and then we would take turns changing our records around - there were 7 children so that took a while so we had a lot of music to listen to including my Dads American country record collection which was a good influence on me as there was a lot of fine American singers there like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Linda Rondstat, Rebbe Mc Intyre and many others besides. But then in my early teens my sisters started bringing rock and blues music in to the house and soon my listening included many of my big influences such as The Rolling Stones, The Pretenders, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin. When I was around 15 or 16 I remember I heard Need Your Love So Bad by Fleetwood Mac and Peter Green’s playing on that track has stayed with me forever and I think that is what influenced me to start playing electric guitar as I had already started learning chords and songs on the acoustic. Then it was John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers The Beano album and the playing on that and other similar albums and players like B.B. King that kept my interest and kept me playing the guitar. Singers and song writing wise it was people like Aretha Franklin, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and The Stones who kept me listening and learning and loving music.

Who were or are the artists you admire and do they influence your playing?

Well one of my all time heroes is of course Keith Richards and his truly distinctive and beautiful feel for rhythm and chords and those amazing riffs of course. And in general his attitude to playing music and being a guitar legend and being creative. Of course there are so many other players I admire and have tried to listen and learn from like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt. And then there are so many talented modern artists like John Mayer and even other musicians like Alicia Keys who love to listen to and influence me in lots of different ways and keep me inspired.

You sound very like Bonnie Raitt and I see I am not the first person to point this out. Is this flattering or hard to live up to?

Well of course it is flattering as she is a musical legend and an amazing songwriter, musician and performer who I could only aspire to be anything like. But it is also a little daunting given all she has achieved. Yet I have my own musical vision and I hope people can appreciate that although it might be in a similar vein in some ways it is also different too.

Can you tell me about your first public appearance singing and playing, how did it happen and what were your feelings about it?

My first gig as such was with my sisters family band and I was playing in a local town. It was a very overwhelming feeling at the time as I was only around 14 years old and I just recall a lot of bright lights and people sitting staring at me and my 2 sisters - we were all fronting the band and my parents had came to the gigs too and I think they looked as scared as we did which made me even more unsettled but thankfully it didn’t put me off enough to stop!!! And I lived to tell the tale so it wasn’t that bad in the end.

Was there a strong music scene in Ireland in your home area?

Well the music was not really thriving in my local area. It was predominately a hangover from the Irish country show band scene and cover bands like my band with my sisters. Yet that was a great way for young people to get on stage and learn to play in front of a crowd which is so important. Thankfully there was and still is a very good local Blues festival once a year in September - Monaghan Harvest Time Blues

photos of Grainne by Christine Moore

All

Festival and it brought some great blues artists to my local area including my hero Peter Green and Gary Moore. So that was indeed a saving grace for me.

What or who influence you now?

Lots of things influence me now and I love to just keep listening as much as possible to a wide range of things. I love all kinds of bands and artists from The X-pensive Winos to Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan and Carole King and a mix of things like D’Angelo to Aretha Franklin and Etta James. I love songs and sometimes I might hear a particular song and I just love it and then I will listen to it over and over again. It really doesn’t matter to me who it is or what style it is in - if I like the feel of it then I will try to absorb that as much as possible. Music is music to me.

How often do you tour outside of Ireland, and how many times have you been to the UK?

Well I try to travel with my music as much as possible as I love playing and being on the road and bringing my music to new places so I travel quite a bit. I have been to Norway a lot and have built up a nice wee base there and I love touring there and I will be releasing the new album with a tour there in May. I have been lucky enough to have been to Svalbard in the Arctic Circle to play the Dark Season Festival. I have also toured in Belgium, Holland, Poland, Scotland, Isle of Man and the UK. I have been to the UK a few times playing in the past including 3 days at Glastonbury. This year tough I am looking forward to my album release in the UK and I will be travelling there a lot this year doing the clubs and festival circuit which I cannot wait to play. Also this year we will be travelling to Thailand in February and to Germany later in the year which I am really looking forward to and also we have some plans to do some dates in the States also with the new album being released this year so it will be lots of travelling and playing which I love but most of all.

Can we expect to see you again in the UK in 2012 and where?

Well in Feburary from 13th-16th we have some shows lined up which will include The Famous Monday Blues Club in Oxford on the 13th Feb, The Blues Kitchen in Camden London on the 15th Feb and The Forum in Hatfield Hertfordshire on the 16th Feb. I am really looking forward to these shows as we loved our last shows in the UK and the audiences were just great and so supportive and we had an amazing show in Dingwalls London supporting Beth Harte which was just great. Later in the year we will also be doing lots of festivals and clubs in the UK in May and again in June all of which will be up on my website www.grainneduffy.com. I am so excited about coming to the UK to play and build up a new audience as it is where so many of my biggest influences started off and played many of these clubs also. Which festivals do you play and which one would be a thrill for you to play?

Well I usually play in Ireland and abroad the blues and rock festival circuits and I have also had the great pleasure and experience of playing Glastonbury which was so amazing. I would love to just keep playing the kind of festivals where people come to hear music and there is that special atmosphere that you get in a packed room or tent where people just want to join in that amazing vibe that comes from a really special gig. There are so many great festivals I would love to take part in like Glastonbury again or Bonnaroo or Crossroads or Woodstock 1969 sure why not!!

Where and how did you get together with the band you have at the moment?

Well my band are a collection of musician I have known for quite a while. My guitar player Paul Sherry - I have known him for a long time now as he is from my local area and he and I starting playing music together first in different bands. Then when I started writing and playing my own music, encouraged by Paul, I meet Davy Watson my bass player and John Mc Cullough my keyboard player at gigs I went to in Belfast and we got talking and then I asked them to start doing some gigs with me. And my drummer Gerry Morgan

I also knew for quite a while before he played on my new record but he was in another band until recently and then I asked him also to do some gigs with me. I love these guys and they are all really fantastic players and I am so glad every night that I get to play with them because the most important thing for me is that they give each gig their all and that is what matters most. And we have also formed a really nice bond over the last few years gigging, touring and living together on the road and they have become a second family to me. They are great guys along with really fine stellar musicians. Is there any stories you can share with us about touring?

Well you know what they say what goes on tour stays on tour......but let’s just say this band could do some work for the fire service if ever needed. They are a dab hand with the old fire extinguishers!

What do you most enjoy about performing, or is it something that you find hard to do and it is just a medium to share your music and thoughts?

Well I live for performing. It is a very special thing for me as I am a passionate person and I love giving every show my all which can be draining and also I can be hard on myself sometimes if I feel I under perform. I don’t think the performing is hard it is all the other things around it like the travelling for hours or lack of sleep or gear letting you down that can be difficult but if music is in your soul and you love doing it then nothing will stop you no matter what gets thrown at you! I hope anyway!!!!! On that subject why do you write and sing is it a burning passion or is it easy? Where or what makes you want to write a song?

I love writing and playing. That is not to say I find it easy - some songs happen quite naturally others you have to toy with for a while until they start becoming what you want them to be. Or it can be a challenge to find a new guitar sound you like or style or new vibe on a song but I try to just keep listening and keep learning.

When can we expect a new CD from you, will it be different to the last two? Well I am just releasing my new album which is my 2nd Album ‘Test of Time’ this year in the UK which I am really excited about. My first album ‘Out of the Dark’ which I released in about 3 years ago was I suppose a collection of my influences when I started writing which were blues and rock and some country. With my new album I think I was starting to develop as a song writer and from being on the road touring and playing with the band I had an opportunity to develop my style. So with this album I think there is a mix of blues, rock, soul and pop my main influences. I am really enjoying playing these new songs with the band I can only hope that over the next year I can keep growing and developing as a singer, a writer and a player for my next album. I love writing and try to do it every week and at the moment have songs I am working on but who knows yet if they will be left on the cutting room floor or if they will make my next album! Early days yet.

Thanks for taking the time to talk, have you anything you would like to say to Blues Matter readers?

Thank you for having me and I would just like to say thank you to all you guys for supporting music and artists and going to gigs and buying new music and keeping the industry and us musicians working and playing and creating new music. Happy 2012 to you all and I hope you enjoy my music and I get to meet some of you at a gig soon. Thank you for reading this article and I hope it might inspire somebody out there to get inspired too!

THE BADDEST BLUES BAND - ‘LIVE’

The show opens with ‘Driving In The Rain,’ the title track of the band’s most recent CD, which sets the scene for a pulsating, high-octane up-tempo live performance interspersed with smoldering ballads. ‘Don’t Preach To Me’ is a typical Schwarz/Koral composition, beautifully arranged, catchy and yet heartfelt. Similarly, ‘The Waitress’ is autobiographical and soulful, reflecting upon harder times and also highlighting the chemistry which exists between Zoe and Rob. The enigmatic Si Genero is sensational throughout, his harmonica playing mesmeric on, ‘I’m Leaving You’, reminiscent of the late, great Norton Buffalo. The classic blues numbers, ‘Reconsider Baby’, ‘Blues Get Off My Shoulder’ and ‘Dimples’ benefit from fresh interpretations whilst Zoe ensures that her earthy blues vocals keep them immersed in the original genre. Drums and bass are tight and solid, providing the perfect platform for the intricate jazz guitar riffs and licks of Rob and the dynamic, creative Hammond organ solos and fills from Pete Whittaker. It is impossible and probably unnecessary to try and categorize The Baddest Blues Band due to their uniqueness. They are not a typical electric blues band with a guitarist playing at 100 mph; nor are they a cocktail jazz sextet, although they could be either if they wanted to. It is the eclectic mix which is the key to their success; brilliant harp playing, jump blues and rapping, slow burners dripping with emotion. All of this is underpinned by intelligent arrangements and held together by the most underrated singer in the UK today, Zoe Schwarz, except of course by the legion of fans known to her from an exhausting touring schedule.

The Bishop

ROADHOUSE - Get Ready To Rock

There can be no better occasion than a 20th anniversary and a packed festival stage to film a band in its pomp. And this DVD does the trick. Filmed simply as a one camera shoot of Roadhouse’s record breaking 8th appearance at the 2010 Skegness Rock & Blues Festival, ‘Centre Stage’ is a live document of one of the UK’s hardest working rock/blues band. The camera angle looks down over the front ranks of the packed crowd to catch the essential connection between the band and an enthusiastic crowd as Roadhouse work their way through the meat and potatoes of their current ‘Dark Angel’ album.

There’s a nice balance between the sparkling solos of the mighty Danny Gwilym stage left – who mixes his scintillating attack with dirt sounding slide – and Gary Boner, stage right, whose fiery licks kick start an impressive succession of self penned songs. And centre stage (no pun intended) is the three girlie triumvirate of Mandy Graham, Kelly Jo Hobbs and Suzie D, who during the course of a high octane performance, dance their way through a frisky routine while shifting between fine harmony singing and backing vocals to singing one lead vocal each.

And while the video provides plenty of slinky glamour and showcases a dependable festival band at their best, it is Gary Boner’s songs that hold sway. Most of the material comes from the current ‘Dark Angel’ album, of which ‘Too Tired To Pray’ features the sharply contrasting Boner vocal growl and the female bv’s, neatly offset by some beautifully nuanced slide from Danny

The following ‘Rainmaker’ is one of their very best efforts with Gary’s whispered vocals over a very strong melody and gospel style backing with a country hue. The slow burning title track ‘Dark Angel’ features an expansive solo from Gary but is ironically slightly hampered by some indifferent camera work.

Suzie D gets her chance to shine on the sleazy ‘Lying Game’, while Kelly shimmies up the mic to make the most of another Boner classic ‘The Big Easy’, complete with twin guitar lines. And just when you’re marvelling at the substance of several superbly arranged songs and great playing, up steps Mandy G to steal the limelight with a raucous version of ‘House of the Rising Sun’. It may not be the most original cover but she brings real raunch and an undoubted visceral edge to the song to grab the audience by their collective lapels and generate real excitement in the packed hall. It’s left Gary Boner to kick into start a big two song finale with more fiery licks on the dynamic call and response lines of ‘Tellin’ Lies’ and the Skynyrd meets Classic rock steal that is ‘Preacher Man’ ‘Centre stage’ is a fine limited run DVD for the fans but if it should fall into the hands of unsuspecting rock fans they won’t fail to be impressed by a fiercely independent band whose quality material, rock solid rhythm section, consummate playing and rock blues crossover style will surely win over many more festival audiences in the future. - DVD only available at - www.roadhouse.liveblues.info

©

Pete Feenstra www.getreadytorock.com

By Vicente & Roser Zúmel

Some years ago to I wrote to Blues Matters (see BM 8) an article about the blues in Spain from its beginnings to the 90’s. Much time has gone since then on and I think is good to update and explain the current status of this music in Spain. The blues still remains as a minoritary kind of music. Few people aged under 30 show a real interest for it. However, activity and different initiatives have grown tremendously and today you can find a blues band or blues music in almost every corner of Spain. There have appeared a number of cultural non profit associations which have diversified their initiatives in new fields of blues culture, apart from the common ones such as live performing, radio programs, records labels or festivals. Traditionally Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla have always been the most active sources of blues in Spain. They still are blues centers, but as I have just mentioned, you will also find new proposals in other parts of our country.

CATALUÑA

Barcelona and Catalonia area have a wide representation of artists and bands in active with CDs on the market, who play blues and rhythm & blues, both electric and acoustic, with an undoubted quality. Some of the most representative names are A Contrablues, Alex TNT, Amadeu Casas, Big Mama, Big Jamboree, Blas Picón & The Junk Express, Chino & The Big Bet, Cotton Roots, Lone Rhino Club, Midnight Rockets, Mr. Hurricane Band, Predicador Ramirez, The Suitcase Brothers (who represented Spain in the First European Blues Challenge organized by the European Bluers Union), The Walking Stick Man Blues Band, Tota Blues, Txus Blues & Jose Bluefingers, or piano blues and boogie-woogie players August Tharrats, Bernat Font Trio, Daniel Ventosa, David Giorcelli Trio, David Sam or Lluis Coloma Trio. All have published some CDs. As far as record stores, the one that offers a greatest blues catalogue undoubtedly is Disco 100 in Barcelona.

I can’t remember a local club in Spain which only schedules blues performances. Normally our blues bands work in jazz and rock clubs that devote some nights to blues music. To have specialized blues clubs is one of the unfinished business in our country. Anyway you can find some places that include a majority of blues performances. In Catalonia the most outstanding ones are Honky Tonk (always acoustic blues in weekends) in Barcelona, La Tia Felipa, Blues Bar and Piscina Montflorit in Cerdanyola del Valles (Barcelona). Mo Es Bar in Lliçà d’Amunt (Barcelona) or La Traviesa in Torredembarra (Tarragona). Other local clubs where blues can be heard sometimes are Bel.luna, Harlem Jazz Club, Jamboree, Jazzpetit, Milano, El Monasterio, Pipa Club, The Philharmonic or Rocksound in Barcelona, Crossroads, La Faktoria d’Arts and the legendary Jazz Cava in Terrassa (its legendary Jazz festival includes international blues shows), Café del Teatro in Lleida, El Pla dels Encants in Calella (Barcelona), El Raco de la Palma in Reus (Tarragona), Hot Blues in Igualada (Barcelona), La Bodegueta in Viladecans (Barcelona), Restaurant Moll Oest in Masnou (Barcelona), Sunset in Gerona. Some prestigious large rooms like Apolo, Bikini, Luz de Gas, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona and Salamandra in Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) sporadically include blues in their line up. Cultural centres of large municipalities use to have regularly live blues among their activities. Recently, luxury hotels like the Hotel Casa Fuster and the Gran Hotel Havana or museums like the Museo Europeo de Arte Moderno have open their rooms to cultural events, the ones devoted to music are usually of acoustic blues and traditional jazz. The most representative blues festival of this area are Reus Blues Festival (June) which together with the

Edu Manazas from Madrid at Cazorla Blues Festival

Festival Blues & Ritmes in Badalona (April / May), the Festival de Blues in Manresa (Barcelona) (August and with a schedule of local bands), the Festival de Blues de Cerdanyola (October) are the older ones in Catalonia. The last one is currently facing a most rock oriented program, but small clubs in the area include local blues bands throughout the festival dates and most of the year as well. Also mention the Festival de Blues de Barcelona held in September at the Nou Barris district, thanks to the efforts of Capibola Blues Association. New festivals have emerged recently, such as Festival de Blues de Tarragona (July), The Festival Elefants & Flors in Figueres (Girona) (May), The Festival Blues Besós in Sant Adrià de Besos (Barcelona) which try to consolidate among blues festivals.

Also important are other initiatives developed through the effort and tenacity of blues lovers and fans, like The Butifarra & Blues (May) which combines a great barbecue with live blues performances, the Blues & Boogie Reunion in the mythic Jazz Cava in Terrassa (Barcelona) (5 and 6 January), The Blues and Boogie series in Hospitalet (Barcelona) (November), The Blues in Masquefa or the Capibola Blues Nights (Barcelona) that offers a regular schedule of local blues along the year.

The radio has always been very important to the dissemination of the blues. The most legendary and pioneer program, “La Hora del Blues” by Vicente Zúmel, is weekly broadcasted in Barcelona since November 1981. The website of La Hora del Blues presents a schedule of blues live shows around Spain as well as over 2.000 blues records reviews, internationally renowned, as well as blues news, articles, columns, interviews, pictures... La Hora del Blues, through Roser Zúmel, belongs to the board of the European Blues Union and is also member of the Blues Foundation in Memphis. Other specialized in blues radio programs are “T’agrada el Blues” broadcasted throughout Catalonia and in a local level, ‘Red Hot Blues’ by Josep Palmada in Radio Vilafant (Gerona), ‘Born To Be Bad’ by Manuel Marin in Radio Sant Boi, ‘El Corralon del Blues’ by Jose Luis de Palma in Radio Granollers or ‘Just Blues’ in Sant Just Desvern.

The local station Radio Hospitalet, in cooperation with Com Radio and local television net of Catalonia, broadcast ‘Bad Music Blues’ hosted by Joan Ventosa and Manuel Lopez Poy and produced by José Luis Martín of Bad Music Productions, primarily devoted to national blues. This program has two versions: a weekly radio show and a monthly TV one, in the local television network in Catalonia. They have also filmed the documentary “Barnablues, the history of blues in Barcelona” and every year they publish a yearbook about blues in Spain. They also promote conferences, exhibitions, master classes and so on, all related to the blues.

Other new proposals have recently appeared in Catalonia.

The Barcelona Blues Society was founded in 2005, a non-profit organization whose main objective is to promote the blues, thanks to the idea of Mike Shannon and the support of people involved in the blues as Vicente and Roser Zúmel, Joan Ventosa, Manuel López Poy or Xavier Pallares who, for four years, led this project. Today the society remains active in its efforts to promote the blues. It also belongs the European Blues Union.

ince 2008 Capibola Blues Association has founded and leads the Blues School of Barcelona. This school aims to teach blues dynamically and enables students to participate in or set up their own combos. They also organize the Barcelona Blues Festival Nou Barris.

Thanks to the initiative of Joan Ventosa and with the initial collaboration of Vicente and Roser Zúmel, Tecla Sala Public Library in Hospitalet opened an specialized blues section in 2006. The Library devotes a small budget for the purchase of printed and phonographic material. Thanks to the selfless contribution of fans, this space has grown in quantity and quality. Now it also collects all the information about the European blues Union.

Recently it has appeared an original project done by Jordi Llaurens & Pat: The Blues Bus. It is a real English double decker bus that has been

Lluis Coloma

decorated as a dazzling travelling blues club. The ground floor has an entrance marquee, followed by a stage for acoustic live shows. The upper floor is has a DJ booth, an exhibition hall and a private dressing room. The outside part of bus can become a stage for electric live shows with two giant screens, sound equipment and lights. It can be said it is the first itinerant blues club in the world. One of the activities initiated by the first board of the Barcelona Blues Society of Barcelona, was the creation of a contest for new emerging blues bands. Recently this initiative has started again, sponsored by Budweiser and with the support of the Barcelona Blues Society and Bad Music.

It is also important to mention other cultural projects organized around blues, like the lectures with blues (Manuel López Poy/David Giorcelli, ML Poy/Hernán “Chino” Senra, Julio Vallejo/Banoit Poison, blues in schools (Big Mama/Joan Pau Cumellas), blues pictures exhibitions and documentaries and films related to blues, that are regularly offered in festivals, cultural and local associations.

NORTHERN SPAIN

Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country also present interesting proposals related to blues. Legendary musicians like Marcos Coll, Adrián Costa and Victor Aneiros share their love to blues with the new high-level bands like Belceblues, Blues & Decker, Doctor Blues Band, Miky Nervio & The Bluesmakers, White Towels Blues Band, The Reverends or Travelling Brothers (they will travel to Memphis to represent Spain at the International Blues Challenge organized by the Blues Foundation). The most renowned clubs and bars where you can find regularly blues are the legendary Clavicémbalo in Lugo, Café Antzokia in Bilbao and Eibar, El Paso in Cudillero (Asturias) or Jazz Vides in La Coruña. Other places that can be mentioned are Capitol in Santiago de Compostela, Ambigu in Leoia (Vizcaya), Barucu in Gijon (Asturias), Blue Note in Baracaldo (Vizcaya), Contrabajo in Vigo (Pontevedra), Monkey Club in Gijon, Forum Celticum in Culleredo (La Coruña), Garufa in La Coruña, Jarrock Café in Bilbao, Jimmy Jazz in Vitoria, La Tortuga, Petak or Duendes in Torrelavega (Cantabria), Muddy’s Radio Bar in Gijon (Asturias), Residence in Bilbao, Restaurant El Castillo in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria), Rock Star in Baracaldo and Bilbao, Rockpublica in Gijón, Sweet Home Rock Bar in Oviedo, Swing Jazz Blues Cafe in Oviedo, Vegalume in Salvatella de Miño (Pontevedra) or Xancara Jazz in Vigo. Theaters and Cultural Centers like Centro Torrente Ballester in Ferrol, Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Teatro Jofre in La Coruña, Teatro Principal in Orense Senior, Teatro Torrente Ballester in Ferrol also offer from time to time blues live shows. Different cultural associations and public cultural centres schedule blues shows, like Pepe Bocanegra in Asturias, Cultural Association of Ermua, Lebiano Gunea (Vizcaya) or Leoia Cultural Association (Vizcaya).

In recent years and thanks to the initiative of great fans there have appeared blues festivals in this area that keep the blues flame alive. Bluesnosil Festival in El Barco de Valldeorras (Orense), The Blues Festival of Vilagarcia de Arosa, Crossroads in Gijon, Jazz and Blues Elorrio (Vizcaya). Also in Vizcaya the blues festivals of Bermeo, Tolosa, Zizurkil or Sanbar in Leoia. A very special mention for the International Blues Festival of Getxo (the pioneer blues festival in the area) and of course the International Blues Festival of Hondarribia (Guipuzcoa). This festival has become in just six years one of the largest and most prestigious ones around the world, nationally and internationally recognized, thanks to the enormous work of Carlos Malles and his team. Getxo and Honarribia festivals are members of the European Blues Union.

Also highlight the work of some radio shows and colleagues like Iñigo Martin and especially the tireless record label Gaztelupeko Hotsak based in Soraluce (Guipuzcoa), who publish the major number of Spanish blues records.

Chino & The Big Bet

Tonky De La Peña

CASTILLA - CENTRAL AREA AND MADRID.

Madrid and its surroundings offer a varied blues landscape. Also some areas of Castilla and the center of Spain have interesting activities.

Among the big names in the Madrid scene stand out Edu Manazas and his band The Whiskey Train, Fede Aguado & Osi Martinez, Juan Scotch, Juan Bourbon & Juan Beer, the legendary harmónica player Ñaco Goñi, guitar and singer Tonky de la Peña, Red House, Canadian musician Smiling Jack Smith or Xulian Freire. Besides there are new and interesting musicians and bands such as David Garcia & Vladi Olmos, Downtown Alligators, 44 Dealers, Blu Tones, King Bee, Forty Nighters, Fritos Blues Connection, Gatos Bizcos, Smoked Cotton Blues Band, The Blind Lemons, The Cool Benders, The Street Pickers, or Violante Blues. Outside Madrid area there are also very interesting names as Bluedays in the area of Valladolid or Rafa Sideburns Band in Guadalajara.

The one and only oldest blues club that only books blues shows is the legendary La Coquette, in the heart of Madrid. Other locations in the capital of Spain who regularly bet on the blues are Beethoven Blues Bar (in a reopening process), Clamores, Contraclub, El Junco, Elephant Guin, Finn’s, Gruta 77, Honky Tonk, Irish Rover, La Boca del Lobo, Moe, Populart, Second Jazz, Soul Station, Taberna Alabanda, The Cavern or Thirty Three Irish Tavern.

Also a special mention for clubs like La Alquitara in Bejar (Salamanca) that besides a blues club, actively participates in the International Blues Festival of Bejar and the surprising Taberna del Blues in Viñuelas (Guadalajara), which thanks to the tenacity of its owners Rafael and Laura, presents an attractive line up of quality live blues. Other places to be mentioned are Alive and Pirata’s in Alcorcón (Madrid), Café El Corrillo in Salamanca, Contrapunto Jazz Café in Aranjuez (Madrid), Café Croche and Regina in San Lorenzo del Escorial (Madrid), Café del Infante in Villaviciosa de Odón (Madrid), Derry’s in Leganes (Madrid), Dublinia in Paracuellos del Jarama (Madrid), El Mirador in Tomelloso (Ciudad Real), Grand Café in Leon, Kiosko Recreativo del Jarama in Talamanca (Madrid), Ambigu, Porta Coeli and Restaurante Llanten in Valladolid, Reciclaje in Guadarrama (Madrid), Restaurante Alfoli de la Sal in Torrelaguna (Madrid), Sensorama in Coslada (Madrid), Shamrock in Galapagar (Madrid), Temple in Alcala de Henares (Madrid) or Avalon and La Cueva del Jazz in Zamora.

Despite the efforts of Crossroads Association, Madrid does not have a blues festival. Some clubs organize small blues cycles like mini-festivals and during the summer Madrid autonomous government do a huge festival, Los Veranos de la Villa, that usually include a renowned international blues name. Undoubtedly the greatest festival in the center or Spain is El Festival Internacional de Blues de Castilla y Leon in Bejar (Salamanca), which has already reached its ninth edition. Other festivals have recently appeared thanks to the initiative and efforts of particular organizers like el Festival de Blues de Hontecillas in Cuenca. Also mention Festival Enclave de Agua in Soria with an eclectic line up that includes at least a blues show. Madrid has always had blues radio shown of recognized prestige. The always remembered and worshipped program El Tren 3 led by Jorge Muñoz, has been replaced in Radio Nacional Radio 3 by Route 61 hosted by Justin Coe. Another legendary local show is Blanco y Negro hosted by blues expert Eugenio Moiron in Onda Latina. Through the Internet you can listen to Crossroads hosted by writer Mariano Muniesa and Yolanda Jimenez. In Segovia you can listen to Blues Syndicate by Carlos Díez Escribano. During the summer months Spanish television TV2, early in the morning broadcasts live blues recordings of most important international Spanish blues festivals like Hondarribia, Cazorla, San Javier, or the jazz ones Vitoria and San Sebastian

Through Crossroads Association, Mariano Muniesa and Yolanda Jiménez have launched several initiatives such as Festival Lunas de Blues, the online magazine Crossroads, a blues on-line show sponsored by the legendary rocker Mariskal and major campaigns against the prohibition of music in the streets, dignifying musicians work or educational blues shows for children.

Latest talk is about a new project of a constitution of a non-profit blues association in Madrid

*Next issue will have part 2 talking about the blues in other parts of Spain. www.lahoradelblues.com

Lolo Ortega

STEVE ROUX & THE BRASS KNUCKLE BLUES BAND

In 1993, Steve Roux was signed to Virgin/EMI’s ‘Point Blank’ label. This prestigious label featured a number of top American blues artists including Albert Collins, Johnny Winters, John Lee Hooker and Pop Staples. He also signed a publishing deal with Sony Music. The all original album ‘Steve Roux’ was recorded at Kiva Studios in Memphis with Bernie Fox on drums. TV, radio and festivals followed. Bernie toured with Jimmy Witherspoon, Sherman Robertson, also appeared on TV and recorded with Eric Bibb. Steve gigged with his band, Josh Phillips on Hammond organ, Dave Bronze on bass and Henry Spinetti on drums. He shared the stage with Albert Collins, Robben Ford, John Hammond and Pop Staples and in 1995 Steve played in Gary Brooker’s band at Blues on the Farm. 1996 saw Steve, Bernie plus Rob Vick on bass form ‘The White Knuckle Blues Band’ they played continuously but with Steve’s ever expanding family, the band stayed close to home. During this time he worked with Damon Hill’s ‘The Conrods’ and ‘The Six Pistons’ to raise money on behalf of ‘The Down’s Syndrome Society’ playing gigs across Europe including twice at the Albert Hall. During one memorable gig George Harrison joined the band on stage, borrowed one of Steve’s guitars and they played a selection of Beatles songs… nice moment. In 2009, they augmented the knuckles band with ‘The Brass Knuckle Horns’ featuring Steve Grainger - alto sax, Jon Gooding - tenor sax and Tom Edwards - trumpet. Steve Grainger had toured with Jimmy Witherspoon. Along with the return of Josh Phillips on keyboard duties this was the birth of ‘Steve Roux & The Brass Knuckle Blues Band’. Having fallen out of the loop this effectively became a ‘new band’ which meant starting over again. They apologies to the numerous promoters, agents and clubs for bombarding them with emails, phone calls, DVDs, CDs, and press packs, but this hasn’t been without success. Since 2010 they have played clubs and festival gigs including in 2011, ‘Blues On The Farm’. Next year is looking good with festivals and clubs supporting the band, big thanks. There is a new CD entitled ‘It Just Might Be Too Late’ by Steve Roux, Bernie Fox and Rob Vick. Comprising of 12 tracks, the band put their own twist on some of their favorite’s tunes and include a couple of originals. A CD with the ‘Brass Knuckles’ is almost complete and will be available in 2012.

Finally big thanks to Alan and all at Blues Matters for their support.

Please see our website for more information including live festival footage and CD tracks at www.bkblues.com

FROM THE USA • BLUES/ROCK LIKE YOU WON’T BELIEVE!

WT FEASTER BAND

NEW ALBUM OUT MARCH 2012 - MYSTIC RECORDS

The boys are back in the UK to launch their eagerly awaited and explosive third album“Juggling Dynamite!”

1st The F lowerpot Derby

2nd Keighley Blues Club

3rd O2 Academy 2, Newcastle upon Tyne

4th Backstage.Green Hotel, Kinross

8th The New Adelphi, Hull

10th Camerons Club Hartlepool

11th The Beaverwood, Chislehurst

12th Art Centre, Pontardawe (Walter Trout)

13th The Glee Club, Cardiff (Walter Trout)

14th Robin 2, Wolverhampton (Walter Trout)

15 th The Tunnels, Bristol (Walter Trout)

16 th The Wharf, Tavistock (Walter Trout)

Additional dates to be posted at: www.wtfeasterband.com

“Incendiary guitar solos…….. hallmark axe wizardry …….. maestro in his own right” - Blues Matters

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A few BM issues back, I contributed an article on the emerging Blues Jive style of dancing and encouraged readers to give Blues Jive dancing a go as part of their Blues participation. From the earliest roots of the Blues, dancing was part of the whole scene – an opportunity to party and a release from the tedium of slavery. Given that not much has changed given the current conditions of employment, it is as relevant today as it was back then! In fact it is now, with a recession predicted echoing the 1920’s that I suggest that the elements are there to revive the Blues movement. I digress.

Modern jive as opposed to the old fashion rock and roll jive is less

demanding physically, especially for the ladies, as it is gentler and integrated with Latin American moves and grooves. There are a wide variety of set moves, which is up to the guy as the leader to memorise, then to mix and match them to whatever level he’s comfortable with. Blues Jive is slow tempo version that more easily allows interpretation of the music of both lyrics and arrangement. It is also a great way to socialise. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=VqD41yhEdQk. Or simply Google; You Tube, Nigel and Nina, as an example of the genre (Music by Popa Chubby: Sweat). This link got left out my last article unfortunately, but a gives you a feel for the style. You will also find other examples on the sidebar. These guys, Nigel and Nina, are National Champions and top of their game and regularly teach it, but there are simpler forms of the moves.

My previous article evoked a response from one blues musician who opined that it was more inspirational for a musician to play in front of an audience that danced, than one which merely sat or stood there in a mute and studied assimilation. This is not something new, in that I found this opinion was replicated when I cleared my loft recently and I came across some dusty Jazz Journals circa late 50’s early 60’s, (yes I’m that old and still dancing!). The magazine had a series where a musician was asked for his impromptu response to a series of tracks played to him from other musicians’ recent offerings. (Hint Mr Editor?)

Photos supplied by Mike Owens

JP Kirstin

Tim & Heather

The Sequel by Mike Owens

He was played a track from a live performance recording and he also responded that live performance recordings inevitably inspired music with more atmosphere, free of the sterility of the studio and that it was further enhanced whenever there were audiences dancing.

However, this does beg the question; how many current blues venues have the space for dancing? Pubs in the main provide the opportunities for the majority of bands to perform in this country and a dancing floor/space is not it would seem, high on their agenda.

Sadly, ambulance-chasing lawyers’ litigations have even prompted Health and Safety /insurers to ban a dancing floor at one Festival of late - God help us. Let’s hope the current government’s move to curtail the nanny state kicks in soon. It would be interesting to get some promoters’ response to this, i.e. is providing space to dance in their thought process or do they think there is insufficient need? Are there economic reasons? Do BM readers wish for space to dance? I so often see frustrated hips gyrating within the cramped confines of some pubs, would they use dance space if provided? Certainly there also seems to be a gender issue involved as more ladies than gents will occupy the floor when the opportunity arises.

Now this puzzles me. Why is there reluctance amongst a good many males to dance? What’s the problem?

Is it fear of looking stupid or some overweening lack of machismo? We all have to go through a learning process whatever the pastime and what caring female is going to object? At one festival I witnessed two guys standing resolutely in the centre of a dance floor and impeding dancers whilst watching the band. Was it some kind of protest? If so, for what reason? Shouldn’t there be room for both listeners and dancers?

In my previous article I gave links to organisations that teach jive and blues jive. The latter is geared towards slow blues and to a degree that the ladies decree, the sensuality that goes with it. I was at a Blues Jive weekender recently, organised by the Ceroc Organisation, (www.ceroc.uk.com/) and compared to last year’s event the numbers appear to be increasing for this dance style and local jive clubs are beginning to include more sessions in their schedules.

Ceroc is not the only jive instruction provider. There is also LeRoc (www.leroc.org.uk/) and many independent clubs. Simply Google: ‘Jive, your local area’ and a club near you is bound to turn up in your search. With ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ fever endemic again, now’s your chance, especially the guys.

If Robbie Savage and Audley Harrison can do it fellas – so can you! The ladies will love you for it –guaranteed!

Greg Urch & Raechel Adams

JP Kirstin

Part 3 - ‘Write Me A Few Short Lines’ copyright Michael Messer

For this third and final article about Blues slide ‘bottleneck’ guitar, I am trying to uncover the story of Blues slide guitar in Britain. The research I am currently doing on the history of British Blues slide guitar is not yet complete, and so this article is a work in progress and new information is still coming in. Even as I send this to be printed, I am having to add information and change some of the things I have written.

It is very hard to trace the exact first moment that Blues slide guitar was played by a British musician. There is a story that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was playing Blues slide guitar in the late 1950s in Cheltenham, which if the theory that nobody played Blues slide guitar in this country before the late 50s is true, puts him as one of the first, or the first Blues slide guitarist in Britain. The other contenders as the first people to be playing Blues slide guitar in Britain, are Alexis Korner and Brian Knight. Hawaiian steel guitar was very popular in Britain in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, but apart from Sam Mitchell, whose father, Sammy Mitchell, played Hawaiian guitar with Felix Mendelssohn’s Hawaiian Serenaders, and Mike Cooper, who learnt some Hawaiian guitar from an American living in his hometown, Reading, I don’t think there is much of a connection between British Blues slide guitar and Hawaiian steel guitar. That is not the case in the USA, where Hawaiian steel guitar and Blues slide guitar were very closely connected, as was discussed in depth in my first article of this series.

In this article I am going to focus on a handful of people who I believe were the British pioneers of playing Blues slide guitar, but before I do that I am going to talk about three African-American Blues slide players, Muddy Waters, Son House and Mississippi Fred McDowell, who visited these shores and influenced some of our most important musicians. Of these three, Muddy Waters was the first to play in Britain. He toured in 1958 with Chris Barber’s Jazz Band and in the tour programme, which in those days featured a set list, songs played with electric slide guitar included: Honey Bee, Long Distance Call, I Can’t Be Satisfied and Louisiana Blues. This is a very important moment in the history of British Blues and in the history of British Blues slide guitar playing.

It is documented that two of the people I believe to be Britain’s first Blues slide guitarists, Alexis Korner and Brian Knight, saw Muddy Waters on that tour. They were certainly among the first wave of British Blues musicians playing in the Muddy Waters style. While Alexis Korner did play a few slide licks using a ring (possibly his wedding ring) as a slide, it is not known exactly when he was first doing that. Many people seem to think it was early 60s, but Ron Gould (musician and authority on Skiffle in Britain) told me that he remembers seeing Alexis playing slide guitar at the Roundhouse in London in the ‘latish’ 1950s. Although Alexis Korner was not primarily known as a slide player, it is possible that he was the first person playing Blues slide guitar in Britain. Alexis Korner was born in 1928, and is often referred to as the Founding Father of British Blues. His legendary career has been documented extensively elsewhere. Alexis Korner died in 1984.

It is still not known which of the two Brians came first to Blues slide guitar, Brian Knight or Brian Jones, but I do know that Brian Jones was playing slide guitar in London in 1962. Alexis Korner, Brian Jones and Brian Knight, are no longer with us and it is proving very difficult to research this particular area, which is so important to the story of British Blues slide guitar.

Brian Knight was born in North London in 1940 and may well have been the first Blues slide guitarist in Britain. In 1955 Brian Knight joined the merchant navy and spent two years in the USA. He returned to London in 1957 and played his first gig in that same year in Southall at the White Hart pub. Brian Knight was a friend of Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and in 1958 at their club, The Blues & Barrelhouse Club in London, Brian Knight saw Muddy Waters play. In the early 1960s Brian Knight met Brian Jones and they formed a band together with Ian Stewart on piano, Dick Taylor on bass, and Geoff Bradford on guitar. At

that time Brian Jones, who was born in Cheltenham in 1942, favoured Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, and Brian Knight was a Muddy Waters disciple, and as often happens with musical differences....the band split up and the two musicians went their separate ways. Brian Jones formed the Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and Brian Knight formed Blues By Six, with Charlie Watts on drums. Blues By Six were popular and had two London residencies at the 100 Club and the Marquee, where they were often supported by the Rolling Stones. Even if Brian Knight wasn’t the first, he is very important because he influenced some of our greatest guitarists. Among others, Ronnie Wood, Peter Green and Eric Clapton have all mentioned Brian Knight as an early influence. Brian Jones died in 1970, and Brian Knight died in 2001.

On the acoustic Blues scene, all the early British players seem to stem from a Blues slide guitar family tree which was started by Mississippi Fred McDowell, Son House and British musician, Tony McPhee. Fred McDowell first toured Britain in 1965, and Son House first toured here in 1967, and it was their slide playing, more than anyone else’s, that had such an impact on the British acoustic blues and folk musicians. Fred McDowell left an indelible impression on the people who played and spent time with him. He is still remembered by the British musicians who knew him, as a charming man and the greatest Blues slide guitarist of all. Son House also left his mark on these shores and his slide guitar playing, his performance style, and his shiny National guitar, made an impression on British musicians that will last for generations. Mississippi Fred McDowell and Son House’s intensity and deep old-style Delta Blues slide playing was so influential in Britain that it would take a whole chapter of a book to really investigate and talk about properly.

As far as I can tell at the time of writing this article, Tony McPhee was the first British musician specializing in the acoustic slide repertoire of people like Robert Johnson, Fred McDowell and Son House, and it is from Tony McPhee that two of our earliest and most influential acoustic Blues slide players, Jo Ann Kelly and Dave Kelly, were introduced to playing Blues slide guitar.

Tony McPhee was born in 1944, and inspired by seeing the Cyril Davies All-stars at the Marquee in London, started playing Blues in the early 60s and formed his band, the Groundhogs in 1963. I have heard from Graham Hine, a fine slide guitarist, founder member of Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts, and friend of Tony McPhee’s, that Tony learnt about open G tuning from John Lee Hooker and figured out the slide part for himself. At the time of writing this article I have still not actually spoken with Tony McPhee. The story will become a lot clearer when I do. Tony McPhee is a major figure in the history of British Blues slide guitar and although in 2009 he had a stroke, he is still playing regularly.

Dave Kelly was born in Streatham in 1947 and has consistently been at the forefront of the British & European Blues scene since the mid 1960s. The first slide player that Dave recalls seeing was Brian Jones in London in 1962. Then in 1963 from reading the sleeve notes on The Freewheelin‘ Bob Dylan album, he tried to play slide guitar like Dylan did with a lipstick tube, but according to Dave...’it didn’t work’. Dave Kelly met Tony McPhee in 1964 and it was from Tony that Dave Kelly learnt to play Blues slide guitar. Jo Ann and Dave Kelly were very influential among the early British acoustic Blues players, and more than anyone else, Dave Kelly’s name is mentioned as an early slide guitar influence on the acoustic Blues scene of the time. Jo Ann Kelly died in 1990. Dave Kelly plays in the Blues Band, Paul Jones & Dave Kelly, Maggie Bell & Dave Kelly, and as a solo artist. For almost fifty years, Dave Kelly’s superb acoustic and electric slide playing has influenced countless British and European Blues guitarists.

Ian Anderson was born in 1947. He started playing Blues guitar in his teens after hearing a Muddy Waters EP, and was inspired to play in public by seeing Spider John Koerner perform. In 1965, Ian saw Mississippi Fred McDowell play at the Colston Hall in Bristol, and with no assistance or knowledge of other players doing it, he went home, cut a piece off his brass curtain rail

and stayed up all night trying to play Delta Blues slide guitar and work out open tunings. From 1965 into the late 70s, Ian Anderson was a prominent figure on the British and European acoustic Blues and Folk scene, and through his live performances and recordings, he has turned many people on to playing Blues slide guitar. In 1979 Ian Anderson started the magazine, Southern Rag, which later became Folk Roots, and is now called fRoots. Ian Anderson is still playing Blues slide guitar, but very rarely performs in public.

Mike Cooper was born in 1942, started playing guitar in 1958 and formed his first Blues band in 1962. By 1965 Mike Cooper, as a solo artist, was becoming a well known name in the Folk and Blues clubs and from all accounts appears to have started playing Blues slide guitar on his National Triplate in 1966/67. When I met Mike Cooper in 1983 I had been playing acoustic Blues slide on National guitars for six years and our similar taste in guitars, Blues, repertoire, and approach to playing slide guitar, led to us working together on various tours and projects through the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1984 I made my recording debut on the Mike Cooper and Ian Anderson album called ‘The Continuous Preaching Blues’, which was produced by Dave Peabody. Mike Cooper’s Blues slide playing is influenced by among others: Fred McDowell, Son House, Jo Ann Kelly and Dave Kelly. Mike Cooper is still performing, recording and playing slide guitar. He plays mostly lap steel in an avant-garde style, but still incorporates his knowledge of Blues slide guitar into his music. Sam Mitchell was born in Liverpool in 1950, his father, Sammy Mitchell, played Hawaiian guitar with Felix Mendelssohn’s Hawaiian Serenaders, and at some point in his early teens, mostly inspired by hearing Robert Johnson records, Sam taught himself to play acoustic Blues, Ragtime, and Blues slide guitar. He played around the Liverpool folk clubs for a while and then at seventeen years old moved to Brighton where he shared a flat with another great British Blues musician and slide guitarist, Roger Hubbard. Roger recalls that when he met Sam in 1967 he was already a brilliant player with an amazing technique and knowledge of pre-war Blues. Sam Mitchell moved to London in 68/69 and met up with Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry. There are various stories about Sam’s involvement with Rod Stewart’s solo albums, Gasoline Alley and Every Picture Tells A Story, but according to Roger Hubbard (a close friend of Sam’s at the time), Sam played the beautiful solo acoustic slide piece, Amazing Grace, on Every Picture Tells A Story, and that was his only contribution to those records. According to the Faces official website, Sam Mitchell played guitar on Gasoline Alley, and guitar and slide guitar on Every Picture Tells A Story. Amazing Grace is definitely Sam, but it is difficult to spot his playing in the other tracks on those albums. Sam Mitchell was an incredible musician and his Blues slide guitar playing, through his involvement with Stefan Grossman’s Kicking Mule record label and guitar tuition books in the 1970s, has influenced countless students of slide guitar ever since. Sam Mitchell died in 2006.

Jeremy Spencer was born in 1948 and was the slide guitarist in the original Fleetwood Mac. His covers of Elmore James and his own songs written in the Elmore James style, that appeared on the first Fleetwood Mac album in 1968 are very important, and as well as turning the world on to Elmore James, Jeremy’s electric slide playing influenced

guitarists in Britain and all over the world. Jeremy Spencer taught himself to play slide guitar in the mid 60s. He had no knowledge of open tunings or what made the sliding sound, but with trial and error and a lot of dedication, he discovered open D tuning, got himself fixed up with a slide and worked out pretty much note for note most of Elmore’s repertoire. Jeremy Spencer is still playing slide guitar. Just type ‘Jeremy Spencer - It Hurts Me Too’ into YouTube to see and hear Jeremy’s wonderful tone and touch.

Another person I should mention in this history and continuing story of British Blues slide guitar, is actually an American, but he has become very much a part of the British music scene. Through his appearances on British TV and at Rock festivals, playing Blues slide on diddley-bows, cigar box and electric guitars, and a 1930s National Triolian, Seasick Steve, has turned a whole new generation on to Blues slide guitar. Slide guitar has played an important part in the story of British Blues, and because this article cannot fill the whole of this month’s magazine, I have to wind up by listing some British players who have contributed to the world of British Blues slide guitar, that I have not been able to include in this article: Roger Hubbard, Graham Hine, Gordon Smith, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Martin Simpson, Chris Rea, Steve Phillips, Kevin Brown, Dave Peabody, Ian Siegal and Eddie Martin.

I believe this is the first time anyone has attempted to document the history of Blues slide guitar in Britain. I have tried to get the facts correct and put the story into some kind of chronological order, but it will take a lot of research to get all the dates correct and get everything in place. It is as I said in the opening paragraph - a work in progress, and if anybody reading this can provide any information about those early days of British Blues slide guitar playing, or has any other information that would help me with this research, I would be very interested to hear from you.

by Brian Kramer

It’s always encouraging to see a younger generation appreciating the roots. To understand that Blues is the source on an intellectual level is common knowledge, but to decide to set aside pop culture, what is “in” and explore the deep language of the Blues for teens and twenty year olds is rare. However I am starting to notice more and more interest in this genre by youngsters, relating to the eternal “coolness” and unstoppable grooves which gave birth to a thousand hit songs and music icons. I am speaking with five such youth, gathered at the popular Stockholm Club Stampen in Stockholm.

Ida Bang; 20 years - One of the fine young women gigging around Stockholm and sings with the conviction and gusto of a blues diva from the 30’s.

Joey Belmondo; 20 years - Already getting much acclaim and being awarded here in Sweden and although he is a ringer for a young “Jimi”, he already has the blues chops fit for a King. Jessie Öberg (Walker); 16 years - Fearless on stage and you don’t want to be “messin’ with this kid”. Not too many at this age will give you a lesson on Tampa Red or Robert Johnson.

Peter Granström; 19 years - Is putting out his second album with group ‘Pohn Jettri’ and can fill a room with kids grooving to their mix of original, rootsy music that has a timeless, contagious twang.

Robert Hill; 19 years - Can easily have made a name for himself in New York’s Greenwich Village coffee house scene in the early 60’s. He can sing a line that will move you to actually fire up some brain cells, while picking a riff that could have been personally pried from Reverend Gary Davis or Lightnin’ Hopkins fingers.

This conversation is a refreshing glimpse into the mindset of a younger generation inspired to go way back and dig deep.

So, I wanted to get you guys together because to me you represent a renewed culture of young people who are interested in roots & blues music. I’ve met you all individually and I played with you all so let’s just have a little talk about what the music means to you. I want to start with this Blues Camp that was here in Sweden, first of its kind. Some of you were a part of that and also part of workshops?

Peter Granström: I had a workshop there and it felt kind of weird when Clas Yngström (Swedish guitar icon) has been there talking about guitar playing, and I’m supposed to talk about guitar playing? So we didn’t talk about guitar playing. We talked about more like song writing and stuff with the kids because it felt weird to have a workshop when there’s guitar heroes there.

Robert, you were at this Blues Camp. What was your roll in this camp?

Robert Hill: My roll? Well I got a scholarship… The Jenny Bohman ‘Blues for Life’ Scholarship.

Ida Bang: Oh, nice!

Robert: It was nice. And the thing that happened to me during the camp was I got to know these young blues players like Jessie and Joey, I never met them before. It was a big social thing like I came there to meet some musician friends. When I came there I felt like I was a part of something like you said; a “new wave” of blues musicians in Sweden.

Well, let me ask you, who are your heroes?

Ida: My heroes? It’s Bonnie Raitt, Jonny Lang and Susan Tedeschi. That’s like my favourites but I really

Joey, Robert, Peter & Ida

like Copeland and Freddie King of course…

Shemekia Copeland, she’s great. You know who her dad is; Johnny Clyde Copeland?

Ida: Yeah, I haven’t heard his music but, I’ve heard of him

He was one of my favourites in the 80’s, early 90’s and I got to meet him a couple of times and hang out. I know most of her band from New York way back...

Have you listened to some of the older women singers from the 20’s & 30’s & 40’s like Bessie Smith or Ma Rainey?

Ida: Not really that much, I’ve heard the names but I’m more into the modern music and bands… Etta James though, I forgot to mention, she’s one of my fav’s.

How about you Jessie?

Jessie Walker: I’d say Johnny Winter of course, and Tampa Red and T-Bone Walker and I’d say Arnold Swartzenegger.

Arnold Swartzenegger? A very underrated Blues hero!

Robert: Yeah, he could bend those strings

Well he certainly gave California the Blues… and his wife. Jessie, didn’t you just have a chance to meet Johnny Winter recently? What was that like?

Ida: You did! Wow…

Jessie: What was that like? It was… heaven. He was a nice guy, it was cool. I got to talk with him for a while.

Ida: Did you get nervous? Because sometimes you can get so nervous you get like; ughhh, ughhh, ughhh…

Jessie: Felt like my balls were about to pop out and run away or something. Yeah, Johnny’s still got it though…

And Mr. Peter, who are your heroes?

Peter: When it comes to old blues, Reverend Gary Davis and Skip James because they’re not only blues guitarists and singers, they’re really songwriters as well and that’s for me an important part. And then Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, he’s one of the coolest guitarists and Peter Green… And I also like country musicians like Hank Williams. They’re very important for the roots of the music cause that the cool thing about the Blues… Even if it’s modern it should still be like, rootsy style a bit.

Robert Hill, your turn.

Robert: All right, my heroes ok let’s start with the big ones and that’s Woody Guthrie and Mr. Reverend Gary Davis. I think Woody Guthrie is the biggest folk musician ever and Reverend Gary Davis is the most interesting “blues” musician that I know because he played a different kind of style and use what they call this “old timey” finger picking. I like it! Then the second generation; Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan… all those Greenwich Village guys and let’s not forget Jack Kerouac. He inspired me to live my life in a different way. He’s the one that first started me writing…

Joey: I heard Hendrix when I was eight and then from Hendrix I back-tracked and got into BB King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Freddy King to John Lee Hooker… Lightnin’; Lightnin’ Hopkins, he’s my favourite acoustic blues guy! And then that guy Robert showed me; Reverend Gary Davis. Even though it’s a more folky style, I still love that too. But I would say my biggest Blues hero; it’s got to be Lightnin’.

I told you I got to meet him? I can still feel my hand tingle when I shook his hand… I was just about your age. (Various oohs & ahhhs from the room…)

Joey: He has a really “happy” spirit. You can feel some sort of pain or sadness at times but he always has an optimistic spirit in his music. He always freestyles everything ‘especially the words right on the spot and he’s very spontaneous, and when he’s playing with a group, like a drummer & bass player, he’ll just change whenever he wants and they’ll kinda stumble and try to follow him. So he was always doin’ his own thing…

Jessie

You grew in a very active musical family… You started listening to Hendrix when you were eight, that’s pretty young. Your mom (Elisabeth Kontomanou) is an amazing jazz singer.

Joey: My mom was pregnant with me when she was doing concerts. So I guess I was on stage since I was in her stomach. That’s like the real beginning! And then my dad was also a professional musician. They were only together till I was four but during that time they were always listening to jazz records. I guess during my childhood I heard a lot of really good jazz & a lot of different types of music. But then I discovered the blues on my own and that was kind of my own thing on the side. They weren’t really listening to the blues but it was just always there.

What is it about the Blues that makes you want to explore it, what gets you excited about it?

Ida: Good question… I grew up with it; my father was a big Blues fan. It’s been in my family since I was very, very little. I’ve always listened to it and it’s like… yeah, so much feeling. It’s so real!

Joey: …Probably the freedom of it. It gives me a feeling and makes me happy. Just makes me want to take my guitar and play along.

Peter: First in the beginning everybody said that Blues is the root of all music & Rock-n-Roll. Then I wanted to go back and see the pattern. But now it’s more… It’s so pure a music, the real old Blues it’s so genuine! It’s not about the ‘12 Bar Blues’ going round and round. The true Blues is a feeling.

Robert: Like Peter said the Blue is the feeling. You know we all get the Blues sometimes; the Monday Blues, the Tuesday Blues, the Wednesday Blues…

Hmmm? That sounds like a song. Oh it’s been done, sorry (laughter).

Ida: It’s so much more than just a 12 bar rule.

Peter: Still many people seem to think it’s about this 12 bars goin’ round and round, not about this roots feeling, this genuine part of the Blues.

The communication…

Ida: Exactly!

Robert: I think that Blues and old folk music is essentially the same thing. It’s like communication, passed from the families.

Most people give in to the stereotype of the “old bluesman”, but when all the musicians we admire were gigging and recording in their prime; they were about your age… We think about Son House or Reverend Gary Davis or Lightnin’ Hopkins in the latter years of their life, cause that was when they were photographed most, after the revival. But they were very active and very popular on the scene in their youth. Robert Johnson had his shit together and recorded all those tracks when he was in his mid 20’s & he’s considered one of the greatest Delta Bluesmen to live. All these guys… Do you think that the youth today should be interested in the roots and Blues?

Joey: Oh I’m not even gonna go there man… If I go there, I’m not gonna stop! Yes, I think they definitely should. The simplest thing in music is like when it’s a man or a woman… their voice, their guitar. It’s like Son House when he sings John The Revelator. But nowadays they don’t know how to sing so they have to

Peter & Joey, with Brian Kramer

use “auto-tune” for their voice.

Sure, you can love music but you have to know what came before you if you’re gonna make something good, because without those people we wouldn’t be here!

Robert: Yeah, it’s coming back. Music goes up and down all the time. It’s like fashion, old classic stuff is coming back, I think that’s happening with the music as well.

Jessie: I think young people should listen to the blues… And play the blues, but only if they’re respectful to the music. You gotta know what you’re doing before you start talking.

I see you guys and I’ve listened to you… played with you & I see you’re potential. What would you like to see happen or where do you see yourselves in the next ten years?

Ida: I would like to play music as a living. Travel more ‘cause I like travelling too so that would be great.

Joey: Let’s see, I would be 30? I just want to keep practicing and to progress, to be able to live off my own music, always. And travel… I want to buy a bus, go on tour. I know that one day I’ll get there but I just have to be patient. In 2020 I want to be able to play like John Coltrane on my guitar, but always, always, always… never forget the blues. Have that with me always.

Robert: Ten years? If I’m not in a mental institution I’ll be doin’ my music. I don’t think I’m ever gonna get famous, but if I get the message across, maybe inspire some people to realize what’s happenin’ and to be more involved in, you know… everything. That’s the goal for me.

Joey: Well, you inspired me man, to play more acoustic.

Robert: That’s one, that’s one!

Peter: The most super nice thing is to write songs and I would really just like to break even… with the money. I have no ambition to spread no message or anything. I just want to write music and break even.

Jessie: As long as I have a good time, play guitar whenever I want to… You know, as long as the world aint perfect, we will always have the Blues but when the world is perfect, what will we sing about?

The Blues will live on forever even if it changes to the point that I don’t know if Robert Johnson would recognize the Blues if you shoved it up his ass!

(Silence & looks of awe and shock from the others)

Well… I think we got what we need here, thank you all. Anything else anyone wants to add?

Robert: It takes a worried man… to sing a worried song.

FESTIVALFEVER

EVENTS THAT HAVE HELPED SHOWCASE THE BLUES

CARLISLE BLUES FESTIVAL, Swallow Hilltop Hotel, 11/11/201113/11/2011

In a mere five years the Carlisle Blues Festival has come from being the new kid on the block to one of the top blues festivals in the UK. While many festivals divide their audience between different stages in disparate locations, the strength of Carlisle is that it provides a consistently high standard with a varied range of artists on the one stage. The audience, even if unfamiliar with the artists, has gained the confidence that each act will be worthy of their attention. The festival maintained its impressive high attendance figures of previous years with a combination of established British blues acts and an increasing

number of American musicians. This fact is testimony to how far word has spread about the event. Yet it is more than just the quality of the acts that makes Carlisle Blues Festival such a special event. There are the seamless changeovers and natural flow between acts; and the general friendly atmosphere, where musicians can mingle freely with the fans. An event organised and aided by those that really know their blues music. So it was little surprise to see that by the 24 Pesos’ second song, ‘Waiting at The Station’ there was standing room only left in the main hall. The band’s lyrics refer heavily to the blues imagery of the past, yet paradoxically their music is an upbeat funk groove with a heavy Hammond sound courtesy of Moz Gamble.

‘Give Me Some Love’ was an expansive track which saw Julian Burdon stretch out on electric lead guitar. Then taking it back to source he performed Robert Johnson’s ‘Walking Blues’ unplugged on steel guitar, before the band joined him for ‘Ain’t Gonna Beg No More.’ The Revolutionaires’ mix of Rhythm & Blues and Rock N Roll is perfect for the larger festival crowds. From opener ‘Shake It’ onwards the ever active Ed Stephenson led the band through a high energy set which culminated in the medley of ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ and ‘Shake Your Hips’.

Inspired by a different style and era, Larry Miller’s appearance added a rush of excitement to proceedings. ‘Outlaw Blues’ was an early highlight and, where there was flair there was also finesse, most notably on the melodic ‘Delilah’. In his self-deprecating style Miller referred to ‘Gamblers Hill’ as his hit, as broadcast by Paul Jones. He minimised the rock element of his play with the appropriately titled ‘As Blue As It Gets’ before a run through Rory Gallagher’s ‘Shadow Play’, featuring powerful drumming from Graham Walker. Having circled the globe twice this year, Eugene Hideaway Bridges was in emotional form on his final date of 2011 with The Big Band, which included a trumpet and sax ensemble. A class act, he delighted the crowd with the endearing ‘She Wants To Dance With Me’ disguising his heavy cold. Later he took us stylistically to Houston, Texas for ‘I’m A Bluesman’. Once they had ended the crowd moved to the Fairfield bar to see Robin Bibi play Stevie Ray Vaughan inspired material into the early hours. The audience had returned to their places by

Gregg Wright

Earl Thomas & Paddy Milner s & The Big Sound on Walkabout

noon for Blues Band stalwart Gary Fletcher. Favouring an acoustic guitar and lead vocals, he handed bass playing duties to his son Jack. Together his four piece band played a collection of songs from his “Human Spirit” album, easing us into the afternoon. ‘You Are True’ found some more urgency before a spirited take of Willie Dixon’s ‘The Same Thing’. Pianist Dale Storr was next up, with a repertoire of New Orleans soul, jazz and rhythm and blues. An Allen Toussaint style instrumental preceded Fat Domino’s ‘Whatcha Gonna Do’. His material was perhaps unfamiliar to many, but his piano playing and vocals were striking. With Dave Raeburn on the drums and the talented saxophone player Kimberly Mahew, numbers such as the funky ‘Quantify’ certainly got an enthusiastic applause. Next was the demonstrative Patrick Sweany, from Ohio. He made an impact with a collection of strongly composed originals which blurred the boundaries between genres. ‘The Edges’ preceded the soulful number ‘The Same Thing’. With a rough edge he sang with conviction the dynamic ‘Police Car Blues’. Here he stepped aside to share the spotlight with Matt Beeble on bass and drummer Craig Bacon. Lastly ‘These Shoes’ was a trance blues with a strong melody. Gregg Wright displayed his technical prowess immediately with some early guitar pyrotechnics and an excellent tone.

Leading bassist Spencer Lee Horton and drummer Marty Prior through ‘Catfish Blues,’ he also displayed a vocal resemblance to Hendrix. He displayed his stage presence during the twelve bar ‘Cry Myself A River’, however his song choice included too many predictable standards, such as ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ and ‘Crossroads.’

The early evening slot belonged to solo guitarist Chris James, whose style harked back to the Delta. ‘Dust My Broom’ and ‘Statesboro Blues’ were a couple of early choice highlights before the crowd listened intently to his take of the Rev Gary Davis gem ‘Hesitation Blues’. James’s own material was notably mellower. He worked hard and departed after engaging the room in a singalong to the spiritual ‘Jesus Is On The Mainline.’ There was less verbal interaction with the crowd from The Deadstring Brothers, yet they engaged all with their opener ‘Are You Feeling Alright’. Their style of country tinged rock and soul inevitably recalls the halcyon days of the Rolling Stones most productive period, with Kurt Marschke’s drawl at times resembling heavily that of Mick Jagger. Other comparisons could be made to The Band and the Black Crowes. Their material was strong, catchy and entirely self-composed. Those familiar with the songs had an advantage over the rest of us, which many took to rectify buying their albums. With their hillbilly attire hopefully as authentic as the music, their standout song was the uplifting ‘Sacred Heart’. What is sometimes overlooked is that while artists such as the Deadstring Brothers and Patrick Sweany were playing other dates in the UK, it was their advance bookings at Carlisle that had allowed them to arrange additional shows. This was the case for Jim Suhler and Monkeybeat, who returned after an absence of several years. Their extended introduction was puzzling, and the use of the accordion on early tracks such as ‘Boulder Rock’ blunted their early impact. Suhler became notably more assertive during the tender ballad ‘Years of Tears.’ His slide guitar playing came to the fore on their early signature tune ‘Shake’ before an excellent tribute to Gallagher in ‘Restless Soul’ which segued to ‘Bullfrog Blues’.

The first returning headliner to Carlisle was Earl Thomas with Paddy Milner and the Big Sounds. The band line-up including Milner on keys, guitarists Randal Breneman and Marcus Bonfanti, with rhythm section Scott Wiber, Alex Reeves and three horn players clicked from the

Eugene Hideaway Bridges

Kurt Marschke

outset on ‘My Baby Doesn’t Love Me.’ Thomas was the charismatic focal point which held the band together and their performance was exceptional. The infectious groove ran through the body of the material with through ‘Same Old Blues’ and ‘All The Same’ to Freddie King’s ‘Pack It Up.’ Naturally the pace had to settle and Thomas moved to the centre of the room to sing ‘The Day The Light Will Come’ to silence even those at the back of the hall. A superb show ended with the band leading a procession to the merchandise stall. The late night jam saw Bibi and Sweany rock the crowd before the recently arrived Marcus Malone charmed them with ‘To Love Somebody’. We even got a glimpse into the future with confident cameos by a local boy Tom Hamilton, 14, on guitar and fellow teenager Chloe Christmas on vocals. With no female vocalists amongst the booked acts, Maggie Ross staked a more immediate claim for future inclusion with a great vocal contribution.

Following the script we got an acoustic introduction to Sunday with Al Hughes. The Lights Out After Nine front man is an expressive storyteller in a solo setting, opening with the country blues of ‘Gravity Shoes’. ‘Comes Out Blues’ from his ‘Heart & Soul’ album preceded the ragtime of ‘Can’t Shake Off The Blues.’ The finale was the raw blues power of Rev Robert Wilkin’s ‘That’s No Way To Get Along.’ Sunday’s best showing was that of Marcus Malone, whose marvellous band of Stuart Dixon, Chris Nugent and Johan Buys delighted those in attendance with a range of material spanning Malone’s albums. ‘Hear My Train’ showcased the band’s panache for rocking blues with soul. The tight funky ‘Back To Paradise’ gave a nod towards Prince as inspiration, before the heavy power chords signalled ‘Crawling’. The heartfelt ‘Would It Matter’ featured Malone’s finest phrasing and some strong descending chords. Dixon then stretching out his superb guitar lines on ‘Going Back To Detroit’. Following Malone on this form was no easy task, even for pros like Paul Lamb and The Kingsnakes. Their appearance passed pretty quickly and without the band really appearing to hit their highest gear, although special mention should go to Ryan Lamb who is so integrated in the band he can no longer be considered the new boy. His father’s harp playing while extensive in range did come over as quite shrill though the PA. Familiarity preceded the intrigue of new outfit King Mo. This comprised of the senior talents of guitarist Chris Spedding, bassist Glen Matlock, and drummer Martin Chambers along with vocalist Stephen W Parsons and younger guitarist Sixteen. While their CVs didn’t suggest they’d be particularly bluesy, their opening number ‘Lover of High Renown’ derived from a Bo Diddley riff. Their catchiest number was the bouncy ‘Va Va Voom’. They were an interesting diversion, and received a rewarding response although stylistically they did stand out. On far more familiar ground, King King gave a fitting send off to the festival with a selection of their high energy blues rock power, interspersed with the more tender moments such as ‘Feels Like Rain’ and ‘Old Love.’ While Nimmo and Coulson pen the band’s material, the driving force live was keyboardist Bennett Holland whose enthusiasm and joy of playing was a spur on to the rest of the band, including drummer Jamie Little as they thundered through ‘Gravy Train’ and ‘Highway Man’. This was a truly great weekend, with many memorable performances from the excellent raft of artists on show, which did cover the musical spectrum of music broad classed as blues. Carlisle was just about all that you’d want and expect from a Blues festival. Indeed it exceeded my expectations. One might hope for some female artists next year, and perhaps one or two of the younger emerging acts might just widen the audience demographic slightly. My advice - mark the 2012 event into those new diaries now!

Duncan Beattie

PLUMPTON BEER ‘N’ BLUES FESTIVAL 3rd/4th September.

Back in the early 70’s when I was a resident of Plumpton, they held the precursor to what is now the Reading Festival on the famous racecourse here in rural East Sussex. Bravely Rob and Jo, landlords of the Plough Inn, have rekindled the memories, holding this two-dayer in a field behind the pub. By the time of my tardy arrival on the Saturday afternoon, Papa George was on stage, complete with popular and well accomplished sidemen Pete Stroud on bass and Sam Kelly on drums. Rattling through his originals ranging from ‘Flooding in Texas’, ‘Cleansing my Soul’, ‘Deadline Blues’ and the extended closer a cover

Jim Suhler

of ‘Oh Well’ he had the sparse audience in the palm of his hand. There then followed a two-hour hiatus on the main stage between acts, although live music continued in the beer tent, but not all of it strictly following the ‘Blues’ tag. If I’m super critical, it has to be said that the organisers missed a trick, with the main stage standing empty and no merchandise stands there was a general lack of entertainment. At 7pm Todd Sharpville took to the stage and what a set he gave us! His own compositions reflect, like every good bluesman, his own hardships - ‘Lousy Husband (but a real good Dad)’ and politics ‘Can’t Stand the Crook’, which, like most of his set, come from the recent Porchlight CD. The highlight for me though was ‘I Think I’m Blind’, from the Meaning of Life album. On the album vocals were done by Leo Sayer and an interesting conversation ensued about the original blues influence on his career. Another day perhaps. To close the day, we were treated to the wonderful Deborah Bonham Band. Ably led by other half Peter Bullick on guitar and mandolin, the tight band has a new addition in the shape of former Steve Marriot and Alvin Lee drummer, Rich Newman. What is it they say about nutty drummers? He’s one of the best I’ve seen and has added real impetus to the rhythm section, not that it was required, perhaps, it could be argued, but sometimes a change is as good as a rest. With most of her material coming from the Old Hyde and Duchess CDs, I, personally never tire of hearing her. From the heart-rending ‘Old Hyde’ to ‘Stay with me Baby’ to the finale ‘Rock and Roll ‘ (yes, that one!) the whole band deserve a big pat on the back. Only the crazy 10pm curfew intervened, bringing the set to a premature end. With a new album around the corner, the band will go from strength to strength. Sunday started where we left off. Elephant Shelf had stand-in keyboard player Dave Lennox (Blodwyn Pig) for Diana Stone. This is without doubt the best set I’ve seen Shelf do, (no offence Di !) but it all seemed to click. Relying mainly on new material from the ‘upcoming’ ‘forthcoming’ CD there is definitely a bluesier feel to them, with excellent slide from Vicky’s new guitar. Rosie comes to her own, with percussion and a beautifully stunning ‘That’s Alright Mama’ .The show stealer for me was the new ‘Can’t take away my Rock ‘n ‘Roll’. I await the new CD with great anticipation. Like Todd Sharpville on the Saturday, the appearance of 24 Pesos on the Sunday was a mind-blowing experience. Ably led by Julian Burdock on guitar/harp and vocals, Silas on bass, Moz on keyboards and Mike on drums they serve up perfectly synchronized blues/rock in its original form. Through in a heady mix of funk and soul (Julian and Silas did work with Geno Washington in a previous life!), and you get exactly what it says on the tin. From the opening ‘Never Saw The Devil’ to the closing ‘Slide Jam’ these lads were impeccable. Stand out for me was the funky take on the old standard ‘Red House’, completely different rhythm, beautifully crafted. Special mention must go to the flock of geese which flew over in a quieter moment of the set, couldn’t have choreographed it better! Having stood in the crowd watching the Pesos, Dennis Greaves closed the weekend with his superb Nine Below Zero. What can I say that has not already been said about this phenomenon? Rattling through the back catalogue, ‘Riding on the L&M’ etc, the beer tent vacated and everyone had a good old knees up. All in all, a great weekend, with an ambitious array of bookings, just a shame that with many a debut festival, a lack of punters contributed to a general lack of atmosphere. The stag party from Yorkshire went away happy, as did all of us. Good luck to Rob and Jo, perhaps next year make more use of the fantastic stage and the other half of the field?

Clive Rawlings

BLUES IN TOWN – J’s Hospice

J’s Hospice is no ordinary hospice. Nick Garner is no ordinary fund raiser. Put Nick in charge of a music day and you have no ordinary event. Blues in Town was that event and as far as this writer is concerned one of the music events of the year.

J’s Hospice provides hospice and respite care and bereavement support for 18-40 year olds with life limiting conditions in their own home for the patients their families and carers from across Essex and is the only service of its kind in the UK. It costs £1660 a day which is equal to £606,000 a year to provide its services and run the charity for its patients, families and carers and events like Blues in Town are vital for its survival. Over the last 12 months, Nick has been trawling the blues clubs of Essex in order to bring the best possible line up to the Chelmsford Social Club and it was a privilege to see so many great acts on the same line up.

Ben Poole

FESTIVAL FEVER

To complement the event, the incomparable Sue Marchant from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire hosted the event and gave invaluable support to all the acts that played.

The day kicked off with the John Cook Blues Band. A powerhouse rocking blues band who had the misfortune to play in front of a small crowd at the beginning. This didn’t put them off and they delivered a cracking thirty minute opening set.

Next up was the Jamie Williams Roots Collective. Jamie has veered away from his blues roots over the last couple of years to play music with a more Americana feel and it seems to have reinvigorated him. Indeed, the opening number was I’m a Blues Man with a distinctive country feel and although it sounded somewhat different it became a surprisingly uplifting number. Nick got up to play harp on a couple of numbers, but the highlight for me was the duet with Lizzie B. Both voices blended to provide some wonderful harmonies. It wasn’t blues but it was thoroughly entertaining nonetheless.

The Mighty Boss Cats followed. I’d recently seen some of the band play a cracking acoustic set at the New Crawdaddy Club and was expecting more of the same. However, we were treated to an excellent electric set. Featuring material from their new album Old New Borrowed and Blues, Richard Townend sounds like a cross between Mark Knopfler and Chris Rea and played some sumptuous laid back guitar. Not to be outdone, Terry Hiscock is no mean player either. I would have liked to have seen a longer set from these guys but unfortunately time constraints prevented otherwise.

The Timmy Moore Trio arrived just in time to produce a set that was surprisingly varied. They started with a number that had a real Latin feel to it. Son of the legendary vocalist Nicky Moore, Timmy has a virtuosity about his playing and was a real joy to watch. Halfway through his set, Nicky Moore jnr came on to provide vocals and was certainly a chip off the old block. A great start for the guitar heroes in the audience. Back Porch certainly lived up to their name. An acoustic quartet featuring 12 string guitar, guitar, harp, vocals and percussion, this band would have been equally at home playing in your front room. They certainly endeared themselves to the audience with a wonderful number about poisoning your tea. Be sure to catch these guys at a venue near you. They really are terrific entertainment.

The Ben Poole Band, featuring...surprisingly enough..Ben Poole was brilliant. These three young men have been storming through the UK like a whirlwind and causing a real sensation with their festival appearances. Today was no different, the rhythm section of Alan Taylor (drums) and Barry Pethers (bass) the perfect foil for some fine guitar playing for a youngster destined for the top. The highlight for me was an outstanding

Back Porch

Larry Miller

version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ but that was before the finale which saw Ben walking into the audience and standing on the tables at the other end of the hall. A showman in the makingForget the X-Factor this was real genuine talent.

Automatic Slim made a rare appearance and gave us 40 minutes of high octane rhythm and blues. This legendary outfit have certainly grown old disgracefully and it was a real delight to see them on stage again. A manic performance saw Tim Aves and Howard J Bills charging around the stage like their lives depended on it. Marvellous stuff!! Once again, it was over too soon.

The Heaters played a rare set outside of the New Crawdaddy Club where they are the house band. The first band to feature keyboards, the band played a highly eclectic set. Boasting a rhythm section of Paul Reynolds (drums) and Chris Patching (bass), Paul Milligan (guitar/vocals) Dave Milligan (guitar) and Paul Dean (keys) they really did save the best till last with a superb take on Woman Cross The River which featured some fine soloing from all three lead instruments. If you want to see more of this fine band, get yourself down to the New Crawdaddy Club on a Thursday night.

Arriving direct from Blues At The Farm, The Roy Mette Band played their second gig of the day. Suitably warmed up from the afternoon session, Roy, Andy and Wayne played a full on blues rock set and the only all original set of the night. Leaning heavily on their last two albums, highlights for me were the Saturday Night Boys and Mississippi Sweet, two powerful numbers showing different facets of Roy’s guitar playing. This was a terrific set from one of Essex’s top blues acts and one of our more original songwriters. Catch them when you can.

North London based Californian Guy Tortora bought his Americana flavoured blues to the event and went down a storm. Playing without a keyboard player tonight, Guy played a more electric set than usual and it was certainly well appreciated by the audience. Guy is a songwriter of some note and this really shone though on ‘When Cotton Was King,’ an atmospheric and haunting number of a bygone age. Truly magical; they closed with ‘Honky Tonk Women’ and the first real audience participation of the day.

Bad Influence are a band with some pedigree. Val Cowell is one of the finest female vocalists in the country and possibly the best rhythm guitarist for good measure. Richard Hayes is a superb yet underrated guitarist and a brilliant slide player. Rhythm section, Harry James (drums) usually plays with prog rockers Magnum, whilst Pete Stroud currently spars with Buddy Whittington and occasionally Micky Moody (former Whitesnake guitarist).

Michael Messer Resonator Guitars

With over thirty years experience of playing and collecting resonator guitars behind me, I have been working with a small guitar workshop to create what I believe are the most authentic and playable metal-bodied resonator guitars at a realistic price.

With no frills or unnecessary design features, these are properly built affordable musical instruments for working musicians. Based on original 1930s designs, these guitars are hand-built in a small workshop under my control to my own specifications. I have done everything possible to get an authentic sounding hands at a realistic price. Each guitar is serial numbered by hand. If Blues Matters! readers would like to ask me questions about MM guitars, please visit the forum on my website.

Shine on Michael Messer

Michael Messer BLUES (Painted steel body)

Michael Messer LIGHTNING (Nickel-plated brass body)

Louisiana Red playing a Michael Messer LIGHTNING

FESTIVAL FEVER

The set was an absolute blinder. Val’s vocals were particularly outstanding on ‘I’d Rather Go Blind,’ and the set closed with a stunning version of Tom Petty’s ‘Running Down A Dream.’

Headliner Larry Miller has been going from strength to strength over the last 2-3 years. A showman of some renown, Larry has been receiving rave review after rave review and on tonight’s performance it’s easy to see why. Simon Baker (drums) and Derek White (bass) provided a water tight rhythm section and Ian Salisbury’s keyboards added some deft undertones. Featuring mainly material from the excellent Unfinished Business album, this was blues rock at its best, finishing up with a real tour de force in ‘I’m A Bluesman’ which featured snippets from Larry’s own heroes, Hendrix, Clapton, Page and of course Rory Gallagher. A real rousing finish to a truly remarkable event. 12 bands and not a duffer in sight. Fantastic. Of course, events like this don’t run themselves. Nick would like to thank the following for their services over the course of the day, The Chelmsford Social Club,Laurence Catering, Blues CD Store.com, I’m Famous Photography, Professional Carpets, Event Sound and Light, Sue Marchant, Chris Jones and his sound team, Mike Lightfoot, Reprohouse, Mark Hughes (InterCanvas) and The New Crawdaddy Blues Club. Also my wonderful team of volunteers and helpers and all the artists without whom none of this would have been possible. To find out more about the J’s Hospice and the work they do visit www.thejshospice. org.uk or call 01245 351514

Mike Lightfoot

CAMBRIDGE ROCK FESTIVAL. Sunday 7th August.

I have to start my review with a regret; I only went for the one day! Having found the venue easily just off the M11, I was cheerily greeted by the staff (a theme for the day). I located Adrian Phillips, rushing around Stage 2, the smaller of the two marquees, housing the Blues. The day was in full swing already, catching the tail-end of BlackWebb’s set, a trio from Essex. The sound was superb, the marquee rocking. With strict military precision, like a well-oiled machine, The Ben Poole Band were next up. Ben, Alan and Gary (making his farewell appearance on bass) certainly know how to rock at the same time as getting their audience involved. From the opening ‘Everything You Want’ to the standout closer ‘Me and the Devil Blues’, including the obligatory walkabout, they exude confidence. Their set may be tried and tested, but rumours of a forthcoming album should broaden the repertoire; keep an eye on their progress. Again a quick turnaround and the Mustangs were on stage. With a new cd ‘Shaman & The Monkey’ to promote, they treated us to an all-round perfect set in their own inimitable style. They have endeared themselves to festival-goers by sheer hard graft and professionalism. I particularly like the middle part of the set where Adam ‘goes acoustic’, the band rejoining him for a thunderous finale. As with most young bands around at the moment, they actually look like they enjoy each others’ company, and this transfers to the

Timmy Moore Trio with Nicky Moore Jr

The Mustangs

audience. Husband and wife team Val and Richard Hayes, bassist Pete Stroud and wonder drummer Harry James, collectively Bad Influence, received a great welcome. I have to confess to not having heard or seen this band until earlier this year (blame my ten year monastic sojourn in France!), but I am completely blown away the more I see of them, as well as them being all round good eggs! Their set mostly showcased the ‘Carousel’ cd, but it was the well chosen covers like ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’, ‘Shakey Ground’ and ‘Running Down a Dream’ that do it for me. It could be argued that with band members of such pedigree they should be tight as a unit, that they are and well worth searching out. Elephant Shelf brought their unique style of blues’n’roots to the party next. Led by the charismatic Vicky Martin on vocals and guitar, backed up by ‘Princess’ Di Stone on keyboards/fiddle and ably supported by Rosie (percussion/vocals, Terry (drums) and Robbie on bass, their set, like others before them, drew from an upcoming cd. All original material, I am drawn to Vicky’s guitar work, be it on slide or Resonator, skill abounds both musically and lyrically, where Rosie excels as a back-up vocalist. Di is no slouch either when called upon vocally. I’ve hinted already about their lyrics, to me this is their trump card, in that listening to the likes of ‘Devil on the Street’ and ‘Morning Letter’, they are not only amusing, but have tongue firmly in cheek. They were well received and rightly so, for their music and songs are quality. What I like about festivals is the diversity of the music and bands. What followed was a full-on twin guitar assault, as close to Southern Boogie as you can get north of the Thames Delta! I am referring, of course, to Gary Boner’s Roadhouse, complete with old mucker Danny Gwilym on the other side of the stage. Add Mandy G on vocals, Bill Hobley on bass and Roger Hunt on drums into the mix, you have a stunning set of all original material, save the amazing rendition of ‘RoadHouse Blues’. Logistics meant that Mandy carried the weight of vocal duties, but, as she told me, it gave her a rare chance to take the limelight and she did not let herself or the band down, especially on her ‘House of the Rising Sun’. Gary introduces each of his own songs in an almost apologetic manner, as they mostly deal with death, disease, voodoo and the devil; that’s the Blues I suppose! But you can see the band enjoy every minute, smiles in abundance. Showcasing material from the recent ‘Dark Angel’ release, their set is mind-blowing, amongst other plaudits, but to me above all, they entertain- a lesson other bands could learn. Unfortunately for the two ‘headline’ acts, Three Piece Suite and Mr. Pink, they had to follow such a rousing set, akin to after the Lord Mayor’s Show. The former did a fair stab at covers, the latter? I don’t know what they did to be honest! Perhaps something for Adrian to bear in mind for next year - quit while you’re ahead. I drove back to the south coast a very happy bunny indeed.

Clive Rawlings.

RAMON GOOSE Uptown Blues Blues Boulevard

Ramon Goose is a rulebreaker. His first band, Nu Blues, dared to mix hip-hop with traditional sounds – upsetting a few purists on the way, but bringing a whole new audience to the genre. Roadwork and production duties with the likes of Eric Bibb and legend Boo Boo Davis followed, before Goose pushed the boundaries again – this time a collaboration with Senegalese kora player Diabel Cissokho. Now Goose has finally delivered his debut ‘solo’ CD, albeit with a ten-piece band along for the ride. ‘Uptown…’ is a bit of a head-scratcher, considering its maker’s risk-taking reputation. Nine originals rub shoulders with three covers. The Goose songs, such as ‘Uptown Shuffle’ and ‘Sookie Stomp’ are more jazz than blues – mellow, swing affairs, straight from the David Letterman show. All the numbers are washed-down with Goose’s fluid, Hendrixstyle guitar. In fact Hendrix number ‘Little Wing’ is one of the trio of inspired re-worked songs that grace ‘Uptown…’ It’s a jazzy, cooled-down take on the number – a nice little surprise. Isley Brothers number ‘Testify’ (another song that the Seattle axehero originally played on) gets the instrumental jam-band treatment. Then Goose tackles the Hound Dog Taylor oddity ‘Give Me Back My Wig’ – standout tracks on an otherwise very mellow collection of originals. The CD ends with two full band, ‘unplugged’ numbers – ‘Reality’ and ‘Say it Ain’t So’, Goose songs from a few years back given the acoustic treatment. Very, very chilled. That’s not to say that ‘Uptown…’ is a bland affair. The playing is blinding, the production sharp as a pin… its just a very laid-back CD from an otherwise master of surprise.

Martin Cooke

still has a huge following in the Netherlands. I must contradict the sleeve notes that say he was able to take the Blues to a new level without sounding white, because that is what he most certainly does sound like. What is not arguable is the ability and work rate of his accompanying band members. This is an extremely busy and full release, but sadly the vocals seem drowned in many places. With a mixture of 8 original and 8 classic covers, there is plenty to admire on the playing side, and the quality of the originals sits well with the classics that have been covered. The real bonus here though is the three live tracks. Each one comes in at over six minutes each and the quality sounds better to my ears. Billy Boy Arnold’s ‘I Wish You Would’ is a great pounding rampage through that song with an incessant drum beat powering the whole. Butler blows his harp creating a mood over the menacing wall of sound. Dr Isaiah Ross’s ‘Boogie Disease’ has Butler wailing over a seemingly never ending boogie rhythm. There’s no let up as the band swing into the final track, ‘So Mean To Me’. Yet another relentless harp boogie that showcases what a fine musician both Butler and the band 13 were.

ANDY STEELE

Night Fishing

Talking Elephant

Merv Osborne

13 Featuring Lester Butler

Retroworld/Float

First released in 1997, the band 13 was formed by harmonibca player Lester Butler after his previous band, The Red Devils, disbanded. Sadly however, this was their only release as Lester Butler died the following year in 1998. There are an additional three live tracks included here, from the Tamines Festival in France in 1997. Europe was where Lester made his greatest impact and to this day he

Oh wow! This is a tough one as, to be honest, it sits so far out from what I would call a Blues record that it would be better suited perhaps to a folk/country/old time magazine. Still we are all dealt a particular hand of new releases so I have to get on with it. Ten cuts that I have to assume are all self penned as I don’t recognise any of the titles or indeed that tunes. It is a nice album, and I really don’t want that to sound at all condescending, for that is exactly what it is. I have no idea if it is selfproduced or if he played all the instrumentation himself. There’s lots of acoustic things going on with guitars, banjos, piano and violins etc. One thing is certain and that is that Andy has multitracked his vocals to good effect but there is no detail as to line-up etc as all that came with the album is a track listing. Even that had errors in the order with an untitled instrumental at track 6. Those slight gripes apart, on the whole, I liked this body of work. It flows easy and gentle on the ears.

It is ideal for curling up in front of a warm fire with a hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night. Look out for ‘Are You Ready For The Night?’, ‘Walking In The Rain’, ‘This Years Summer Progress’ and ‘The Devil I Know’. The latter has a particular ethereal quality to the longish instrumental lead in, which tips its hat towards ‘Wish You Were Here’ once the sax kicks in. Interesting album but certainly not a Blues one.

Graeme Scott

BIG PETE Choice Cuts

Delta Groove Music

Peter ‘Big Pete’ van der Pluijm hails from Holland. Peter’s been playing the blues on his home turf since his teens, building up quite a following. Crossing the Atlantic in 2010 he’s already made quite an impact on the US blues scene, joining LA blues Legends The Red Devils after the premature demise of their front man Lester Butler.‘Choice Cuts’ may be Pete’s first solo album, but it’s an all-star affair... Guests include fellow harpists Kim Wilson and Al Blake, along with blistering lead from Shawn Pittman and rockabilly dynamo Kid Ramos. This album is a big city affair, with 40s and 50s-era rock and blues filtered through one of the LOUDEST production jobs I’ve heard in my life. Wake the neighbours up with opener ‘Driftin’ (written by Lester Butler) a mean blast of the rawest harp you’ve ever heard and basslines that will loosen fillings at 100 yards. Things don’t slow down on ‘Choice...’, ‘I Got My Eyes On You’ is an Otis Smothers number from the 60’s given the Pluijm supercharge treatment. Even traditional ‘Hey Lawdy Mama’ rock and rolls like a Chess Records classic. The vocals from Johnny Dyer on ‘Left Me With A Broken Heart’ ease things off a little, making that number the closest thing on ‘Choice...’ to a ballad, though its as ballsy as the rest of the album. ‘Cuts’ ends with instrumental swing ‘Chromatic Crumbs’, followed by Willie Dixon’s mission statement ‘I’m a Business Man’, a non-too subtle number about... well, buy it and hear it for yourself. An amazing debut from a real Dutch master.

Martin Cooke

or relatively unknown the dedication to the rendition and arrangement of classic Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Pop, Blues and all points in between remains constant despite the revolving door nature of the line-ups. This nine piece band includes former Dr Hook singer Dennis Locorriere, whose rendition of ‘Louisiana 1927’ has all the gritty charm of Richard Manuel at his best. Consummate guitar stylist Albert Lee is also present, and his unmistakable breakneck twang is best heard in Leiber & Stoller’s ‘That Is Rock & Roll’. Beverley Skeete is a great vocalist and her contributions include the timeless ‘Unchain My Heart’, ‘Drown In My Own Tears’, Joe Tex’s ‘Show Me’, Ashford & Simpson’s ‘I Don’ t Need No Doctor’ and she duets the best version ever of the quintessential Bob & Earl classic ‘Harlem Shuffle’. I did not expect to like the over-played and clichéd Chuck Berry standard ‘Johnny B Goode’, but this slick and funky new arrangement completely rejuvenates it. The audience has not been allowed to interfere with the performance at all, and is restricted to polite and often faded intertrack applause. The final song, ‘Crying In The Rain’ again is a match for the better known Everly’s version. Sheer class!

Noggin

ARTHUR ‘BIG BOY’ CRUDUP

My Baby Left Me: The Definitive Collection. Fantastic Voyage 2CD set

BILL WYMAN’S RHYTHM KINGS Live

Communication

Repertoire Records

This is a 2008 live recording, captured at The Dorking Halls, England. Bill Wyman’s work with the Rhythm Kings boasts in high quality musicianship and genuine excitement, everything that is compromised in the Rolling Stones corporate entertainment machine. The Rhythm Kings has for many years been the meeting place for like-minded and talented musicians, and whether famous

The history of rock and roll is packed with commercial cruelty, yet the tragedy of Arthur Crudup (Sometimes referred to as “The Father of Rock and Roll”, a title he bore with some bemusement) remains as the flagship of music biz unfairness. Consider that three of the tracks he penned, included here, That’s All Right, My Baby Left Me and So Glad You’re Mine were all multimillion sellers for Elvis Presley, then look at the other titles such as Mean Old Frisco or Help Me to Bear This Heavy Load, then imagine that just from the Presley copies alone, Crudup might have lived high on the hog and driven a Cadillac. Well, he didn’t. When he died in March 1974 he was as poor as the proverbial church mouse. This 50 track collection covers his early work with the Bluebird and Victor labels – and let’s not forget he scored up six top ten hits between 1945-51- and takes us through his 1950s cuts for Champion, Checker, Trumpet and Groove. In every way, Crudup was a big guy, an uncomplicated player with a great voice whose work inspired a broad swathe of performers in the first white wave of rock. Like Wolf, Muddy

and other southerners he was a son of the soil; as adept with a shovel or behind the wheel of a tractor as he was in front of a microphone. And it was this rural simplicity, his honest labourer’s innocence, which gave the music moguls their green light to ignore those bits of his contracts which mentioned anything connected to royalties. Thanks to the sterling efforts of blues aficionados like Dick Waterman, since Crudup’s death the industry has been made to pay out – Arthur’s family have had their millions. What a pity he never enjoyed a few bucks whilst he still lived. But don’t buy this collection for charity – buy it for its greatness. They didn’t give him that ‘Father’ title for nothing.

Roy Bainton

BRICK FIELDS

Gospel Blue Fields of Sound Publishing

This release highlights what can be achieved by self producing and releasing your own albums, Larry & Rachel Brick besides being husband and wife

are the leaders of this original band from the rural backwoods of Arkansas, who have created a gospel blues style album that has been beautifully recorded, with some strong material written by the husband and wife team. Rachel has a very pure vocal pitch that carries the songs beautifully; she just lets the notes flow gracefully, supported by some very low key playing by the band, particular mentions to sax player Casey Terry and her husband Terry, who delivers some tasty acoustic and lead guitar work. All but one track is self written, the cover being ‘Amazing Grace’ which concludes the album although I would not have recognised the song if I had not seen the title, the pick of the self written material is ‘Cryin’ which is a lengthy fairly sparse slow blues track. An excellent album that is definitely an album to relax too, it has an authentic rural ‘family’ feel to it that can only have been achieved by the band working and playing together.

BLUES BAND Few Short Lines Repertoire Records

Adrian Blacklee

If ever a band summed up the seemingly chronic neglect of this most honest of genres it is our own Blues Band. Five talented musicians in their own rights, Gary Fletcher, Paul Jones, Dave Kelly,

Tom McGuinness and Rob Townsend, could each lead their own band, (and in some cases do), also regularly combine for live and less frequently recorded work. This fusion is the epitome of the old sum of the parts argument. Whoever takes the lead vocals, the backing is always sympathetic, and the aim is to provide authentic renditions of others’ tunes or illuminate their own contemporary tunes. Guests include Mike Sanchez, Al Kooper, Southside Johnny, Maggie Bell and Linda Lewis appear on this album. Lewis duets with Paul on ‘Sway With Me’ a McGuinness original, but which sounds like something from the Great American Songbook. An example of where the Blues Band excels is in Gary Fletcher’s original ‘You Are True’, when Southside Johnny’s gravelly voice is in contrast to Jones’ lively harmonica and Kelly’s slide solos. Elsewhere the occasional lead vocals of McGuiness, for example in the mournful ‘Living With The Blues’, Fletcher in ‘That’s My Way’ and of course the guests offer variety and contrast to the excellent work of the main two singers Paul and Dave. One can even excuse the humorously intended but cringe-worth lyrics of the occasional throw-away items like ‘Suddenly I Like it’ and ‘My Toot Toot’. A band which is low on gimmicks and pretense but high on song-selection and quality playing, this will rarely disappoint. Paul Jones assiduously eschews self-promotion, but someone else needs to give this some radio play.

Noggin

BLUESFREAK

New Roots

Bluesfreak Records

Paul Corry, under the pseudonym Bluesfreak, himself states “Let’s get one thing straight-I’m Not American, I’m from London and I’m not going to put on a phoney accent to convince myself it sounds more authentic”. Well said that man. I for one am delighted that he is being true to himself and this is all the better an album for the lack of phoney embellishments. Has he created an authentic Blues album? The answer is most certainly yes, albeit a very British one. Fifteen selfpenned tracks and one cover mostly delivered with an uncluttered approach in respect of production. ‘Alright Again’ gets us underway with almost a touch of Reggae influence that surfaces again on ‘Make It Hard’. Along with ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ all deal with life’s ups and downs. However by the time we reach ‘Credit Crunch’ & ‘History Hates You’ we are getting into deeper waters. The latter presented a message sent back in time as if from several decades in the future. Very clever stuff and indeed thought provoking as is ‘Murder The Blues’ where he attacks the idea that one should not live just by living for only the old time Blues. I particularly enjoyed ‘The Outcast’ and the simply

constructed ‘Worried Mind’. The sole cover, ‘Don’t Think Twice’ features Roy Wood on backing vocals, cello, drums and strings and it works very well if a little at odds with the rest of the album. So overall I liked this album, as Paul was not afraid to push at the boundaries of the genre and shove on through to the other side whist keeping a very British feel.

Graeme Scott

DOWNTOWN

MYSTIC Standing Still AGR Television Records

It has to be said that this is not Blues, it is however a very listenable and appealing release of fourteen tracks over fifty minutes. Robert Allen, of whom I know absolutely nothing, is the inspiration here, with totally self penned material and undertaking vocals, various guitars and piano. The fact that he is joined on one track by Gary Tallent and Max Weinberg of the E Street Band, and drummer Steve Holley’s CV includes Paul McCartney and Wings, is testimony to the quality on offer. An eclectic range of material from Country to Rock

‘N’ Roll, Singer Songwriter to AOR, is expertly executed musically and while Robert does not possess the greatest vocal talent in the world, his voice is pleasantly suited to the material and is always within its comfort zone. The first couple of tracks are country rock with good catchy lyrics and the third ‘Hard Enough’ is unsurprisingly Springsteenesque (see above). The title track is slower paced with simple evocative lyrics before the pace lifts again on Modern Ways’, a paean to the pressures of today with a Status Quo type riff. Some lighter rocky pop material then gives way to

‘Shade of White’ with its rocking boogie and slide guitar work followed by ‘Losing My Mind’ which is very redolent of Joe Walsh. ‘History’ talks about the 1950’s music explosion while ‘Rise and Fall’ is soft AOR with a catchy chorus. The final track

‘Shade Of White Bluegrass’ is a quirky favourite with a lyrical description of an abstract painting embellished with mandolin and banjo. The only weakness here for me is on the singer songwriter material where the vocal falls short of range or emotional depth but all in all this is a really nice and rewarding listen for those with eclectic tastes.

Bob Chaffey

DICKY JAMES & THE BLUE FLAMES Hard Rain

“Hard Rain” features 11 tracks listed on the packaging plus a hidden instrumental, (the 12th track) called ‘Roll The Credits’, a great instrumental closer for the album. Opening with ‘A Real Good Blues’, this smooth rolling song allows the listener to pick up on the main players in the band. Dicky James on guitar, Bob “Icehouse” Freeze on some great harmonica and “Lightning Boy“ Beeson on Hammond, who provides a solid wash of keyboard behind the other players. ‘Hard Rain’ follows and the song is filled out with a horn section, making this a beefy but solid piece of funk/ Blues. Great guitar solo before the song ends in a clap of thunder and a downpour of rain. The first of two covers here is ‘Rock Me’ performed to a slow and somewhat pedestrian beat, not the best version of this classic song. ‘Bulldog Talkin’’ returns to the mould and swaggers a chunky beat with some great dobro playing. Throughout, “Icehouse” blows his harp to great effect. Opening with dirty laughter, ‘It’s All True’ is a smoldering slow Blues with some great ‘Green Onions’ style Hammond from “Lightning Boy”. The second cover, ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ fares better than ‘Rock Me’, stripped of unnecessary playing and following the Cream version of the same, it’s standard offering. ‘Low Down Dirty Dog Blues’ has a wonderful blend of guitar, harp and Hammond in the opening to this tremendous slow Blues, and James’ singing here is the best on the album. ‘Icehouse Shuffle’ is an harp instrumental that must prove to be a song that crowds get up to and dance their Blues away. Although I prefer the band’s original material to the classics covered here, this is a very good and honest album

Merv Osborne

DAVE O’GRADY

Dirty Little Secret

Guardian Angel

With his hair, tattoos and cool pose, Dave looks pretty much like some 80s California soft- rocker on the sleeve of this release, but don’t judge a book – or CD rather – by its cover in this case. This Dublinborn singer and acoustic guitarist is now based in Liverpool and has a folky singer-songwriter style, though with some definite Americana and blues tinges. The latter are most evident on ‘Bones’, with its slide guitar and stomping rhythm, but careful listening to the other four tracks of his debut CD EP reveals some subtle blues inflections (try ‘End Of The Line’ with its harmonica solo) as well as the impact of Bob

Dylan, Neil Young, Christy Moore and Tom Waits on his music. If that list intrigues you, do check this release out by all means

Norman Darwen

EARL GREEN & THE RIGHT TIME

Live At The Bronte Blues Club

Independent

Recorded live at Bronte Blues Club, in the Pennine village of Laycock, Yorkshire, this recording is excellent keep sake of Earl Green & The Right Time’s vibrant live performances. One time Otis Grand and Paul Lamb frontman, Green has assembled an excellent ensemble of musicians, who tackle this collection of blues standards in a way which is both reverential to the originals yet also provide a contemporary twist which makes each worth hearing and enjoying on its own merits. Long term collaborators Ron Warshow and Les Back swap guitar lick on T-Bone Walker’s ‘T-Bone Shuffle’, with some measured fills from one time Jools Holland member, Mike Paice on saxophone. Green’s superb vocals was made for material such as this and it lights up the songs throughout, particularly on Percy Mayfield’s ‘Danger Zone’ and the Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland classic ‘Ask Me About Nothin’ But The Blues’. The rhythm section of Emil Emgstrom and one time Kingsnake drummer Daniel Stritmatter don’t miss a beat throughout the set and their swinging backbeat is a notable feature of this disc. While the audience response is captured within the sound, they hold back their applause until the end of each song, and the recordings are enhanced by it. ‘No More Dogging’ features some playful guitar interplay before one of the more contemporary songs; Rick Estrin’s ‘Living Hand To Mouth’. A song previously unknown to this reviewer, it features Paice on harp, and perhaps is my pick of the collection. Smooth, soulful and at no stage indulgent ‘Live At The Bronte Club’ is highly recommended and certainly helps to fill that fix until their next live performance comes around.

Duncan Beattie

next review, because there isn’t really much for you here, but people who like Eric Roche, Wes Montgomery, John Abercrombie and others of their ilk, will find a lot to enjoy here. Having said that, a few of the tunes do pass you by in a blur of BBC Natural History Unit soundtrack to a film about alpaca crias, but that’s always a danger when it comes to minimalist, acoustic instrumentals. But when he gets things right, as he does on ‘Technomantra’, a tune written in Thailand, and on ‘Sun Spirit’, which reminisces about his days as a busker in London, then it’s well worth a listen. The most enjoyable number for me was ‘Sea Shapes’, which really did bring about a feeling of standing alone, staring out to sea, feeling the salt spray on your face (something I spend a lot of time doing). It’s certainly not the blues, but it’s definitely interesting.

Stuart A Hamilton

FILLIGAR

The Nerve Independent Filligar are an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2000 by brothers Johnny, Teddy and Pete Mathias and their childhood friend Casey Gibson. Since then they’ve whapped out an album every year and a half, building to this. They’re basically a roots rock band, although there are times when they seem to have an overwhelming desire to turn into an alt-rock band. So this is very much an album of two halves. The first half is rather good, as the songs have a definable bluesrock edge, and you can see a lineage that runs through the Black Keys to the Black Crowes, all the way back to the Rolling Stones. So songs like ‘Robbery (Shocking Love)’, ‘Health’ and ‘Guilty Good Intentions’ are a rollicking good listen. But then you remember that they also cite Radiohead and Pink Floyd as influences, something that sees things go a wee bit pear shaped in the second half of the record. Once you reach ‘La Revanche’ you start to wonder whether you’re listening to the same band, and by the time you get to ‘Architect’, you’re cursing the name of My Morning Jacket for doing this to such a fine band. There is definitely a good band in here trying to get out, but after the initial burst of pleasure, you’d be hard pushed to find them later on.

Stuart A Hamilton

DAVID YOUNGS Transcience

Independent

David Youngs, one time jazz drummer and bass player, is now getting on with the business of turning himself into a singer / songwriter, but one with jazz sensibilities, arrangements and all round fiddly bits. Now before we go on further, blues purists should really pack up and move on to the

FIONA BOYES

Blues For The Hard Times

Blue Empress Records

Australian Blues veteran Fiona recorded this latest release in Austin Texas and the sixteen tracks over 52 minutes are a very worthwhile listen. This is a themed set of essentially traditional Country Blues, some acoustic and some with an accompanying laid back ensemble. The idea is

an interesting one with all the songs about typical Blues themes, namely the myriad vicissitudes of life, and all with an associated story detailed on her website fionaboyes.com. This idea even extends to the cover where all the depicted objects are likewise linked to people or places. There are a handful of covers but the bulk are self penned timeless originals that sit more than comfortably with the rest of the material. The instrumentation and arrangements are excellent with highlights ‘Baptized In Muddy’s Sweat’ featuring some tasty slide from Bob Margolin and ‘High Time’ with lovely harp from Kaz Kazanoff. JB Lenoir’s ‘Grandma’s Advice’ is the only unconvincing cover paling as it does in my view to the wonderful rendition by the late lamented Sean Costello. The solo pieces feature fine work on acoustic and resonator guitars with her voice strong and clear in her natural higher pitch albeit with a mildly disconcerting rasp adopted to achieve a deeper timbre. A tribute to Memphis Minnie ‘She Could Play That Thing’ is a typically fine example as is ‘Maybe I Could Be Your Girl’. Worthy of note also are ‘Drink To Your Health’…’till I ruin my own!’ and ‘God And The Devil’ with a compulsive riff on a sweet baritone guitar. A thoroughly recommended and surprisingly upbeat and uplifting listen particularly for lovers of Country Blues.

Bob Chaffey

some good musicianship from a collection of fine instrumentalists, despite the length of the songs, they really never get a chance to make their mark due to the dominance of those vocals. Maybe this album was a cathartic release for Emily O’Halloran, yet I’m afraid I found it a real endurance and certainly not entertaining. Indeed I cannot envisage a time when it would be appropriate listening material, certainly not while socialising and absolutely not on a long car journey.

FREEBO

Something To Believe

Poppabo

Duncan Beattie

EMILY O’HALLORAN

Morphine & Cupcakes

Tear Stained Records

Those who know little of the genre as sad music, while for some recordings that may be the case, there is usually an uplifting element to the genre often describe the blues. Sadly this is not the case for “Morphine& Cupcakes” which is not remotely bluesy, it would probably slot vaguely under the title Americana,.” The mood is downbeat from the outset on ‘Kindness’and never really picks up. Personally I did not find appeal in O’Halloran’s ‘Smokey’ vocals and the vocal style chances little from track to track. It’s not bad singing by any means, but I did not find it of appeal. While I persevered looking for some light relief from the angst and tales of lost love, it was hard to find. There was a little in the track ‘Free Man’, yet the happiness referred to, is that reserved for a third party, the former partner. The 11 songs on the CD are self-penned with the exception of a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Billy’. Of these 8 are over 6 minutes long, 3 are in excess of 7 minutes, with a further 5 over 6 minutes and I do feel many have been drawn out too long. While there is

Freebo played bass on Bonnie Raitt’s early blues recordings and has also played with John Mayall, Neil Young, Crosby Stiils Nash, Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr, The Muppets and Spinal Tap. Quite a wide ranging CV in fact. Subsequently he has carved out a solo career with his thoughtful, classy, often introspective songs. This latest self - penned and self -released album contains 11 songs in a range of styles that is excellent and often inspirational featuring Freebo on acoustic guitar and, of course, his trademark fretless bass with superb backing musicians. Opening track ‘Standing Ovation’ is a real tour-de-force and possibly the highlight of the album featuring a keening French Horn and introspective lyrics allied to a pretty melody. Folksy accordion touches from Chris Gage adorn ‘When There’s No Place Like Home’ along with Freebo’s trademark fretless bass. The humorous lyrics of ‘She Loves My Dog More Than Me’ are sung to a rocking backdrop including electric guitars and trumpets. There are many guest appearances from Freebo’s friends on the American music scene and the playing and production are superb throughout. Title track ‘Something To Believe’ is a beautiful song about looking for the meaning of life. ‘If Not Now When’ is a rocker with touches of blues and country featuring splendid slide guitar from Jeff Pevar. Funky fuzz guitar from Fuzzbee Morse adds R&B touches to ‘In The Afternoon Heat’. The music here is very varied with a mixture of sounds and rhythms that come together well and make for a beguiling and pleasing album. The closing track ‘Sometimes It’s For Nothin’’ is a singalong rocker fuelled by Hammond organ and country guitar licks from Albert Lee. This is a classy and enjoyable album which should have wide ranging appeal.

Dave Drury

GAVIN ADAM WOOD

Souls Apart

Banana Records

Singer-songwriter Wood has garnered quite a

bit of praise for his debut album and it is a deliberate and determined collection of astral folk. Harmonies abound across ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ and ‘Breath And Blow Of The Breeze’. Guitar picking is intricate and accurate in the wistful ‘Whispering Wind’ (written way back in 1991) and a profound emotive stance is evident in the ballad-cumanthem ‘I Only See You In My Dreams’ where strings and keyboards accentuate the romance. That’s its best description, a romantic’s album. Coming together when Wood spent time on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge explains the candle glow. Good for him. Sadness, loss and love, but there is only the marginalia of Blues here. There’s a great guitar solo at the end of ‘I Only See You In My Dreams’. That’s not enough for the usual readers of Blues Matters to invest in this, competent and convivial as it is.

Gareth Hayes

JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND Want More Bloodshot Records

GORDON BONHAM Soon In The Morning Way Gone Records

Well this release was a long time in the waiting,1997 being his last dated release, but very much worth the wait. The album itself was finished in three days and comprises of ten self penned songs, and one written by his wife, the lyrical ‘Get Back Jezabel’. Mixing all blues types from the Delta to Chicago then mixing Texas shuffles and west coast swing this release should please all blues music lovers. His vocals and guitar playing are a heady mix of blues sounds, subtle and gentle at times. Like Mr Bonham his other musicians are also from Indiana and with a new addition to the band talented keyboard player, Kevin Anker. The steady rollin’ rhythm section of David Murray (bass) and Jeff Chapin (drums.) and uptown shuffles, low down blues, and rockin’ numbers make this release a must have. ‘Outta Sight’, ‘Soon in the Morning’, ‘Used to be Lovers’ exemplify the tone and texture of this release. There is also an instantly foot tapping tribute to, James ‘Yank’ Rachell called ‘The Mule Song’ one of this releases highlights, but for me, the organ playing and bass notes make ‘Everything But You’ the stand out track. ‘Don’t Let The Man Get Your Money’, appears quite a prophetic tune, that gives in effect some realistic lyrics for all musicians to learn and live by. Altogether a great release by a consummate professional.

Colin Campbell.

A curious marriage of a post-punk, revisionist blues band and a sweat-drenched, charismatic style vocalist, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound were formed in 2007 in the Uptown area of Chicago. ‘Want More’ is the band’s third album, and the one that could launch them into the stratosphere. The album’s title track is a distillation of the JC...’s sound - an R’n’B sensibility with an experimental twist. ‘I Got High’ is a life-affirming slice of soul, and very much reminiscent of B.B King’s ‘Ain’t Nobody Home’. JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound have only one tempo: Swing. But for a band “guaranteed to make you dance”, this no bad thing. The band was originally set-up as a vehicle for JC Brooks, and the singer is some talent. A modern-day Al Green, Brooks has a remarkable voice, soulful and versatile. His falsetto on ‘To Love Someone’ is exquisite, and very much evocative of the 70s Motown sound that is the band’s milieu. ‘I Can See Everything’ too is a hit in the waiting. They may have been formed as a vehicle for their eponymous frontman, but JC & The Uptown Sound have now surpassed these contrived beginnings to become a truly cohesive unit with an organic sound all of their won. Want more? Yes please.

Adam Bates

JIM STAPLEY Live Upstart Crow

Starting off your recording career with a live album and DVD is taking a chance. There is a lot less room to hide, and unless you’re Judas Priest, not enough studio time to wipe off all the mistakes. But Jim Stapley, despite being just a young buck of twenty five, has had plenty of live experience, as he’s the vocalist of choice for former Faces / Who drummer, Kenney Jones in the Jones Gang, performing with the likes of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. You won’t be surprised to hear that young Jim is a chip off the old Paul Rodgers block, given that he’s specialising in that area of blues meets soul exemplified by Free, back in the day. What might surprise you is just how blooming good he is. Along with his band - Joe Corbin on guitar, Tommy Heap on bass and James Drohan on bass - he’s put together a fine set of originals which run from the rocking ‘Without You’ through the soul sound of ‘Let Me Down Easily’, with even some jazz licks popping up now and then to brighten an arrangement. Recorded in the glamorous

surroundings of The Bedford in the heart of the Balham Delta, there is no doubt that the early seventies would have seen young Master Stapley turning into a big name. Those days may have gone, but if you have a hankering for the days of the Faces, Bad Company and Humble Pie, then this is the sort of record that you really need.

Stuart A Hamilton

JIMMY BURNS BAND

Stuck In The Middle

VelRone Records

Jimmy Burns was born 1943 in Dublin, Mississippi and later migrated to Chicago. He gravitated towards the Windy City’s mainly white North Side, and his influences were established black recording artists as varied as Nat King Cole, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Burns’ style is an amalgam of many parts; ingredients of pop, gospel, soul, rock ‘n’ roll and mostly gritty Illinois Blues abound. Having been obliged to mix his love of music with the need to make a living he was for many years a part-time player, until he finally signed to Delmark in the mid-1990s. Despite his mature years, the most striking aspect of this excellent new recording is the tuneful and youthful quality of his vocals. The album marks a sad time in his personal life, namely the untimely passing of his wife Dorothy in 2010 after 44 years of marriage. Understandably, temporarily losing his motivation to write, he turned instead to songs by writers whom he loved and respected to record some brilliant covers, especially the acoustic and moving tribute to his late wife, ‘Reach For The Sky’, actually written in tribute to Sean Costello, but fitting his situation perfectly. The backing is sympathetic throughout, sometimes quite brilliant, and the selection of material ensures a great variety and almost exuberant feel to the album. There are plenty of Blues numbers, but the surprises are wonderful covers of well known songs like Stealers Wheel’s ‘Stuck In The Middle’, the Beatles’ ‘Get Back’, Foreigner’s ‘Cold As Ice’ and best of all John Hiatt’s ‘Feels Like Rain’. The last mentioned has been covered by luminaries such as Bonnie Raitt and Buddy Guy, but this version stands up with them all. Highly recommended.

Noggin

cover is George Harrison’s ‘Don’t Bother Me,’ the rest have been written by Kami since she decided to dip her toes into the music business in two thousand and six; when she accepted an invitation to tour with ‘Bonnie Prince Billy,’ (Will Oldham) since then she has worked as a solo artist and also with her brother Teddy, Sean Lennon and Rufus and Martha Wainright. Kami’s liltingly lifting and melancholy vocals surf over the music as if disembodied from her surroundings, which creates an almost surreal experience. Her father Richard subtly delivers a stunning solo on the first number ‘Little Boy Blue,’ a jaunty little optimistic tale of romance across the ocean. Sadly, the high spirits soon nosedive with the though impeccably played “four thousand Miles,” yet we bounce back with ‘Nice Cars,’ a lovely and amusing tale of women and what happens when they drive expensive cars. The rest of the numbers continue to emotionally see-saw like this throughout the album, sad tales, false hopes and lonely people. Whilst the content here is without doubt enjoyable and possibly valid material for the Blues, it isn’t, It, I would say, sits more comfortably in the world of transatlantic Folk Rock.

Brian Harman

JOHNNY OTIS

Midnight At The Barrelhouse 1945-57 Ace Records

KAMI THOMPSON

Love Lies

Warner Music

Kamila Thompson is the youngest daughter of the world famous folk duo Richard and Linda Thompson and yes, she also has an almost uncanny rapport with the bleaker and more morose emotions found in this modern world, whilst at the same time seemingly able to keep a stiff upper-lip. Of the ten numbers found on this album the only

Johnny Otis has always been one of those artists that I have had an awareness of but I have never really had any opportunity to sit down and listen to his music, this CD landing on my desk has now given me the opportunity to appraise him, my first piece of education was that besides being a band leader his instrument of choice was the Drums. This compilation collection covers the big band era of the late 1940’s through to the 50’s and is predominately pure Rhythm & Blues, Johnny handles some of the vocals but is supported by several artists including Little Esther, the stand out musician for me though is guitarist Pete’Guitar’Lewis, you can hear him literally bending the notes on his guitar and he has to have been the forerunner for today’s guitar wizards. There are twenty five tracks on this album in chronological order, which covers the start of the Johnny Otis story, with his early recordings on the Savoy label; I understand Ace Records will be releasing a volume two which will cover his continuing musical output with the Capitol label into the 1960’s. For anyone who wants

an introduction to Johnny Otis, this beautifully produced and packaged CD is a must, the album finishes with the track ‘Willie & The Hand Drive’, written by Johnny and released in 1958, this is a much copied track but this original version is still so fresh and highlights why Johnny is such a well respected musician.

Adrian Blacklee

MARIELLA TIROTTO & THE BLUES FEDERATION

Dare To Stand Out

Stemra

Dare To Stand Out is an album born of tragedy. With two of the Blues Federation losing parents before its recording, Tirotto and co’s second album drips with raw emotion – as evinced by the powerful guitar solo on ‘Marked for Life’, and Tirotto’s haunting vocals and harp playing on the moody delta blues of ‘Lover’s Dance’ Whilst being considered the best blues band in the Netherlands is an perhaps an accolade similar to Alan Partridge’s claims to be the most popular DJ in the North Norfolk area, there can be no doubting there is something quite extraordinary and unique about Mariella Tirotto & the Blues Federation. Extended tracks, lengthy guitar solos and some quite epic riffery, the band brings a prog rock sensibility to its blues, with Mariella Tirotto’s Grace Slick-style vocals adding some Jefferson Airplane psychedelia to the mix. There is much for the blues purist here too, however: the piano ballads ‘Black Coffee’ and ‘Lover’ see Tirotto slip as effortlessly into chanteuse mode as she does rock force of nature throughout the rest of the album. At times self-indulgent, and not entirely coherent, Dare To Stand Out is nevertheless a blues album unlike any other, from one of the few truly original bands on the circuit today.

Adam Bates

Jim Gaines respectively. National and international plaudits were on the rise when family tragedies caused the breakup of the band in 2004. The singer also suffered a stroke, so this is a testimony to what sadly is probably the sum of their recorded work. Throughout there is a strong emphasis on the lyrics, which can be split into two distinct categories, social commentary and relationships - both the very essence of the Blues, but with a modern twist. So for example protest songs take on the legal system ‘Lone Star Justice’ and ‘Texas Justice – Billy’s Story’, financial shenanigans

‘Enron Field’, war ‘Stop The Killing’ and a city’s whole culture ‘Lord Save Me From L.A.’. The human condition is described in tunes whose titles are self-explanatory; ‘Junk Blues’, ‘Hey Big Boy’, conversely ‘Big Bad Girl’, ‘Cheater’ and ‘Love Me Baby’. The non-chronological nature of the collection unfortunately emphasizes the different recording and production techniques. Kay Kay has a strong voice, perhaps lacking the subtleties of some of her influences, but the album is a pleasing testimony to this solid soul and Blues band.

L. R. PHOENIX

The Hollow Log Of Capt. Richard Wolfe Independent

Noggin

KAY KAY AND THE RAYS

The Best Of Kay Kay And The Rays

Catfood Records

The Abner Burnett Blues Band were formed in Odessa, Texas in 1997 by Abner Burnett and Bob Trenchard. They soon employed a local powerful gospel singer and adopted the memorable name Kay Kay & The Rays. The eight-piece band including four horns backed Kay Kay. Burnett left for Mexico and Trenchard became the band leader and main songwriter. This album culls tracks from their major releases “Texas Justice” (2001) and “Big Bad Girl” (2003) produced by Johnny Rawls and

Mr Phoenix may be currently based in Finland and originally from Britain, but his sound is strongly Mississippi–based and more specifically, rooted in the sound of that state’s hill-country. The opener has a hypnotic groove, just guitar with percussion whilst L.R.s vocals are in a big, aggressive, and wild, Howling Wolf bag. ‘Bedroom’ has a band that includes fine harp blower Indrek Tiisel (as do a couple of other numbers), and it hits a boogie riff right from the off, staying in the pocket throughout and challenging your feet to stay still - you won’t manage it! The solo ‘Crying’ has echoes of Blind Willie Johnson… so now you get the idea, hopefully. Huge, tradition-based grooves pitched somewhere between R. L. Burnside and The North Mississippi All-Stars, add a dash of alt-blues attitude and plenty of whining slide guitar, topped off with ferocious vocals – try the cover of Skip James’ ‘Cypress Grove’ which is (refreshingly) given an individual cover that does also manage to keep some of the eerie feel of the original, or Burnside’s ‘Down South’ which kind of references Sam Cooke’s ‘Chain Gang’ and Tuvan throat singing!

Norman Darwen

MATT ANDERSEN

Coal Mining Blues

Busted Flat Records

‘Coal Mining Blues’ is the latest collection from the singer songwriter Matt Andersen. Across its twelve tracks he and his crack band play elements

of blues, pop and gospel, with Andersen’s gospel influenced vocals to the fore. With a vocal style that is part Tom Jones, part Keb Mo and part Robert Cray, he leads the band from the front, usually on acoustic guitar. The sound palette on the album uses acoustic and electric guitars, Hammond organs and piano, fine drumming and backing vocals to tell Andersen’s tales of life. From the love songs of ‘Fired Up’ and ‘Baby I’ll be’ to the affecting title track ‘Coal Mining Blues’ all life is here. All in all, this is really a gospel album, with traces of blues, rock and funk throughout. A lot of care has been given to vocals, and harmony vocals, which is the greatest strength of this album. The narrative storytelling of ‘Willie’s Diamond Joe’ is powered along by acoustic guitar and mandolin, and the minimalist instrumental support allows the story to breathe. The album closer of Charlie Rich’s ‘Feel like Going Home’ is a quiet reverie for Andersen’s lifeworn vocals and John Sheard’s sympathetic and supportive piano. A fine release.

Ben Macnair

unhurried pacing of the enticingly played music gives each number a sharper, sweeter, but not cloying edge. Such numbers as ‘The Devil’s Den of Sin,’ oozes a swingin’ and footappin’ Credence Clearwater Revival feel, While the sorrowful and heavy-hearted ‘When an Old Freight Train Rolls Right over You,’ contains more than a hint of the unhappiness found in the music of Blind Willie Johnson. A jolly and jaunty ‘Married by the Gospel and Divorced by the Law,’ describes the pitfalls of lustily and blindly rushing into marriage. Michael is seemingly moving in the same area as artists such as Dave Alvin and Brian Setzer, but with a keener emphasis on the Country side and that is certainly fine by me.

Brian Harman

MICHAEL AND THE LONESOME PLAYBOYS

Last Of The Honky

Tonks

Blackwater Records

Michael who resides in Orange County, California has been playing and recording for over ten years now, sometimes solo sometimes in various line-ups but the overriding and strongly held thread that runs through his musical philosophy is to keep the faith with tradition and not settle for the easy option of studio fixes and trickery; he feels that any snap crackle or pop in the making of the music should stay in the mix and burn out of the speakers with heartfelt belief and sincerity. So, with this creed in mind he and the Lonesome Playboys who are; Gary Brandin; pedal steel guitar and electric Dobro, Dog House Jerry; bass, with Mickey Sticks Wieland and Rob Klonel supplying drums and Michael taking lead vocals and playing guitars and Resonator Bottleneck Guitar, play with a genuine gusto and conviction. Together they have achieved a greater level of authenticity by playing all of the numbers live and recording only on analogue equipment. The influences found throughout the album are predominantly by artists such as; Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzel, Robert Johnson and Charlie Patton and thus they together have created a beautifully moving sound which is a conglomeration of Country, Honky Tonk and Blues, the subtle understated vocals and the sparing but effective use of Pedal Steel combined with an

MIKE de VELTA

Whiskey in the Mornin’ Independent.

London-born Mike de Velta re-located to Australia at age thirteen, settling on the west coast. It must be the Aussie blood in me, but I’m a sucker for the ‘Blues’n’Roots’ they serve up over there. ‘Whiskey in the Mornin’ is a couple of years in the making, and, in my opinion, is well worth the effort. All ten tracks are self-penned and with the exception of Dean Wuksta on drums, Mike plays all the instruments and is on vocals. I’ll elaborate on that, he plays electric/acoustic guitar, lap steel, ukulele, bass, harmonica, then harmonises his own vocals! Recorded in his home studio, this is a collection of blues-infused songs, from the wailing harp opening on the title track, to opener ‘Nicotine Stain’ and ‘Mud and Grime Blues’. Mike can do a good ballad as well, as ‘Pretty White Lies’ testifies. ‘The Wedding Song ‘ would be a good substitute as a wedding march. The love theme continues on ‘This Great Love’ and the instrumental closer ‘Doorstep to my Heart’. Then there’s the calypso rhythms of ‘Island In The Sun’, with the message that it might be idyllic, but the realities of life still exist! All in all, then, this is a fair representation of blues songs, credit also goes to Mike (is there anything he doesn’t do!) and Paul Yarrow for the artwork/ design. I’m glad to have made contact with Mike, you can as well by visiting www.mikedevelta.com.

Clive Rawlings

MIGHTY MO RODGERS

Cadillac Jack

Tin Drum Music

This is the fifth release in his blues odyssey, settling down to look at the years from 1959 to ’63. Taking us there on the Route 66, where according to the sleeve notes blues became rock and roll, probably a contentious statement but opinions of music always change. Nostalgic in the extreme,

but with fifteen songs mostly self penned; this is an example of what a talent he is and can turn his hand to any music forms. The title track relates to a fishtail feature to this particular popular car, some would say best in the world back then and songs like ‘See America First’ and ‘Motor City Blues’ typify the American psyche. With such a history awash in different music styles, it is not surprising also that he has written a soulful stax like production ‘Slow dance with me’, with a relaxed voice tone. The melodic and easy going ‘Black Coffee and Cigarettes’ flows along gracefully like the first stop on the journey, bluesing it up nicely on ‘Boogie To My Baby’ .Another slow and gospelly tune mixes the blues together with Dick Aven playing a haunting flute an instrument not exactly prominent in blues music! Summing up, a roller coaster trip down the blues highway with everyone enjoying the ride and moving on, a classic in the making. Just wondering what the next stage in the series will be.

Colin Campbell

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE

Live At The Summer Of Love

Floating World Records

Arriving in the mid sixties, Quicksilver Messenger Service was acknowledged as the third of the big San Francisco bands alongside Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. However they never made it as big as the two aforementioned bands and eventually disappeared into legend. I had always hoped to see them during my formative years in London, and as the myth around them grew their relevance and importance to the scene expanded accordingly. With “Live At The Summer Of Love”, a double live release, I felt my chance to experience the myth was about to happen, but sadly, the bubble of myth and legend has been burst. Recorded at a number of venues in San Francisco, but predominantly the Fillmore West, they use the Blues and R&B as the backbone to their forays into extended psychedelic jams, many of which ramble aimlessly. Johnson’s ‘Walking Blues’, The Wolf and Willie Dixon’s ‘Back Door Man’ and Bo Diddley’s ‘Who Do You Love’, which clocks in at twelve minutes, are three covers that sadly fail to ignite interest, guitars sound out of tune and in many instances the vocals are well wide of the mark. The opening track on disc 2, ‘The Fool’ is a fourteen minute free guitar jam that in comparison to the standards of today is very tame. Even when compared to Cream and their explosive

guitar jams happening at about the same time, this fails to reach the mark and I suspect is the reason why they never made the grade outside of San Francisco. I guess this release will have relevance to students of the sixties, but sadly, there is little for the true lover of music today. Of course, If I had been stoned and wrote this whilst sat in front of them listening, it may well have been a different story.

Merv Osborne

PAUL LIDDELL Milestones and Motorways Independent

I do like it when an album exceeds my expectations and this one does by quite a long chalk. All the songs are written by Paul Liddell, the instruments were played by him and the production/recording/arrangements are down to him as well – in short a true solo album. But from the very first notes of ‘A Means To An End’ all my expectations of an ego tripping soloist went out of the window. This is, in my opinion, more in the folk tradition than Blues but he plays guitar well and his voice is earnest and meaningful. His lyrics are occasionally acid and harsh but he doesn’t just spit bile, rather he has a message and carries it well. ‘Kill-O-Gram’ has a really hard a jagged edge to the lyrics but ‘Footprints’ softens the mood a little as he sings about love and kisses and a love affair gone right while the title number actually carries over the feeling of being an itinerant musician –constantly om the road and ‘enjoying’ the constant round of motorways and rest stops. The songs cover a wide variety of styles and on ‘Christmas’ has actually has a song that could be a worthy Xmas chart number, taking both the sense of the traveller arriving for the holidays and the reverence for the season that seems to go with it. His accent is generically ‘Northern’ and this seems to make his themes more honest and genuine but he doesn’t overplay it. All around this is one of those rare self issued albums that is worthy of your time and mine. At least half a dozen crackers.

Andy Snipper

MORELAND & ARBUCKLE Just A Dream Telarc

A successful formula is worth sticking with, providing the quality is good enough to keep the listeners interest. Rather than go for a radical change in sound, Moreland & Arbuckle have taken all the components that have made up their sound, to

produce their strongest release to date. The songs being just that bit more memorable, sonically too it’s their best sounding which captures their live vocal, harp and guitar interplay. As on ‘1861’ and Telarc debut, ‘Flood’ Dustin Arbuckle and Aaron Moreland were joined by now departed drummer Brad Horner and regular studio contributor Chris Wiser on keyboards. The subtle differences are apparent from track 1,‘The Brown Bomber’ which has a catchy and repetitive chorus. The title track opens to the sweet sound of Arbuckle’s harmonica. ‘Purgatory’ steps up the pace. Moreland’s cigar box guitar playing features heavily, yet with a recognisable vocal refrain, it’s a song to come back to time and again. There is less of a country blues influence on ‘Just A Dream’ with an emphasis is on harder hitting tracks. Primary amongst these is ‘Troll’ which has a grinding riff from Moreland, which quietens for the verses and then returns in a triple attack with harp and organ. The expansive ‘Shadow Never Changes’ has a melodic beginning which places the focus on Arbuckle’s fine vocals, which impress throughout this disc. The Mississippi Hill Country sound comes to the fore through ‘So Low’ that originally featured on 2007’s “Floyd’s Market.” Here it is improved, sounding clearer and better paced. Steve Cropper wrote ‘White Lightening’ for the band and turns up to add a distinctive solo to the closing track. There are also a couple of reworked covers, Mel London’s ‘Who’ll Be Next’ and Screaming Jay Hawkin’s ‘Heart Attack& Vine.’ This album will please existing fans, but perhaps more importantly it’s an excellent starting point for those yet to encounter this band’s brilliance.

PIGNOSE

Old Town Blues

Pignose Production

Duncan Beattie

Well here we are an absolute gem of a release. From the downtown Deep South (West) Swindon delta comes a new trio of players. Heavily influenced by the Mississippi swamp scene they are a very talented band. A local lad Pete Cousins shares the vocals with Anish-Noble Harrison; this lady can really play the blues. They combine to make a true personal take on the genre, with a side order of gospel to boot. There are so many influences and styles that on such songs as ‘Get Right Church’, you feel there is a spiritual awareness and a celebration of life and its complexities. True blues it is with no frills added, ‘Handclap’ starts us off on the Wiltshire swamp trail, a song that blends gritty vocals with a bongo backbeat, works brilliantly and sets an almost ethereal scene for what is to come. Vocalists are teamed up on the melodic ‘Bohemian Grove’. A highlight amongst great tunes exemplified in a

blues rock type genre is Captain X. Gospel sounds are intermingled with the excellent voodoo like haunted vocals on ‘Down in the Hole’, the at times fierce vocals on ’Sweetheart Don’t Cry’, are equalled by the mystical moody wailing blues call by Anish. Cannot praise this debut release enough a must for any collection, once bought never forgotten. Very talented musicians and should get more recognition and deserved praised.

Colin Campbell

POOR BILLY Brother Wake Up Independent

Poor Billy are a Danish roots-rock band with plenty of raw energy and enthusiasm who are attempting to “build a bridge between past and present and American and European musical tradition”. The material is self-penned and opener ‘Union Carbide’ appears to be about the way big companies are bent on making huge profits at the expense of the environment and detriment to the human race generally.The lyrics are interesting as they seem to be of the cut-up and paste school and have possibly lost some coherence in translation. The material is all original and penned by Karsten Olesen who sings and plays harmonica and the excellent backing band features guitars, banjo, dobro, lap steel and pump organ which contributes to the rootsy and bluesy feel. Olesen sings in a declamatory style which sometimes borders on rap as he spits out the lyrics. Their influences include Captain Beefheart (no bad thing in my book) and that is especiaally noticeable on the ferocious ‘Corn On My Plate’ which features a fierce, ragged harp solo from Olesen over a dense backdrop of skewed guitars. Title track ‘Brother Wake Up’ is also a belting Beefheart rip but, although Olesen’s vocals are powerful, they don’t carry the same growl and viciousness of The Captain. By contrast ‘Electric Fields’ is a gentle, haunting piece but more of those odd lyrics are evident on the slide guitar driven ‘Shut Up Baby Please’ which reminded me of Frank Zappa and indeed references his “Sheik Yerbouti” album. ‘Drifter’s Wife’ is a gentle, Gothic tale in the manner of Nick Cave which features atmospheric lap steel/ slide effects from Peter Sandegaard. Any torpor is quickly forgotten with the crushing blues/rock of ‘No That Devil’ before the album closes with the strains of the pump organ on ‘By

The Door

Of Hell’ another dark Gothic tale. This is certainly

not a straight-ahead blues album but I enjoyed it immensely.

Dave Drury

NEIL TAYLOR

No Self Control Hypertension

Records

Neil Taylor’s latest release covers a range of genres, from the acoustic based singer songwriter genre, to the big sound made famous by U2 and the Waterboys, to Funk, blues, and rock. He is a talented singer, and multiinstrumentalist, and the album is a fetching hotch potch of sounds. ‘Everybody Seems To Know My Name’ borrows the guitar and vocal refrain of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Salisbury Hill’ to good effect, whilst the slide guitar opening of ‘Cocaine Blues’ cops the opening lick of ‘Layla’. Hip hop beats are also used to good effect, such as the delicate ‘Here it comes’ which is from the same template as Sting’s ‘The Shape Of My Heart’. As you can probably tell, this is not a blues album, although it does contain some fine blues and funk based playing, and the effective guitar solos in the title track ‘No Self Control’ with its punk aesthetic and pounding backbeat, or in ‘Dream Machine’ which has a definite techno sound. All in all, this is fine release. The fact that it cannot be easily pigeonholed maybe a problem for the marketing men, but is one of the album’s strengths, alongside its songs and sound which deserve repeated listening.

RAIE

Earthbound

Independent

Ben Macnair

Scots-born, London-based, Raie is one of life’s trip-me-up revelations. A purveyor of pin-me-tothe wall, beautiful life-enhancing soul music. A sweet, certain surprise… ‘Earthbound’ is her first release – a neat little seven track EP CD that mixes soul, bossa-nova and gospel Raie has paid her dues playing live for many years – slipping through the net commercially, making astounding music. Chances are, Raie is playing somewhere in London right now and a select few are having their ears flipped over by her incredible voice. The sad state of the record industry is such that she hasn’t got a contract. A real stinker, when you hear this self-financed primer. There’s a host of internationally-recognised musicians backing Raie on this EP – from guitarist Elliott Randall (ex-Doobie Brother), to Jon Klein (ex- Siouxie and

the Banshees) help move things along, but the fact of the matter is that Raie is the star - this CD is lead by her astonishing voice and incredible, lyrics. Opener ‘Wax N Wane’ is lyrically amazing: ‘I remember a glass of wine you promised in better circumstances’ – romance meets reality, in fact, the whole of the ‘Earthbound’ CD is an unsettling mixture of sweet music, mixed with world-weary lyrics The standout title track is phenomenal – a minimalist piano-lead ballad that builds up to one of the most soul-enhancing music that you’ll ever hear – sad/happy/euphoric – the mind of emotive switchback lyricism that John Martyn nailed in the 80’s. In fact, fans of the JM, Des’Ree, Jill Scott and late-period Aretha Franklin should check ‘Earthbound’ out. It’s a great piece of genuinely heart-felt music that deserves to be heard. Raie is online pledging for support to get her full-length CD out. Anyone who wants to help, please contact www.raiemusic.com

Martin Cooke

RICHARD TOWNEND AND FRIENDS We Are Where We Are Independent

A graduate of the Leeds College of Music, anything conventional about Richard Townend’s musical journey ended with his studies. In a thirty-year career, guitarist has played for artists as diverse as the playwright Alan Ayckbourn, crooner Tony Christie, and even Ronnie Corbett. After several abortive attempts at forming his own band, Townend hung up his six-string for a brief period, before being inspired to come out of retirement by the vibrant music scene in his Essex home town. And thank god he did, because with several members of this scene, Townend formed the Mighty Boss Cats - the friends in the title – and recorded this excellent album. Stellar contributions from the Mighty Boss Cats - including a wonderful saxophone solo on the title track – and Townend’s smoky voice and heartfelt guitar playing enrich the sometimes pedestrian songs here, and are a fine tribute to a musician who perhaps hasn’t achieved the degree of recognition his talents deserves. Nine of the songs on this album – all save blues standard ‘Little Red Rooster’ – are self-penned, and they, including the exceptional and exceptionally atmospheric ‘Hang An Innocent Man’, prove Townend is an great writer as well as musician. We are where we are could read as a statement of weary resignation to an unfulfilled career, but this would be wrong: Townend’s career and talents are worth celebrating, and ‘We Are Where We Are’ does exactly that.

SHAUN MURPHY

Live At Callahan’s Music Hall

Vision Wall

Adam Bates

Hearing someone who you haven’t heard before then immediately wanting to dip into their back catalogue is a great feeling. This live set from Shaun Murphy is a rollickin’ affair that begins with the funkiest cover of Koko Taylor’s ‘I Can Love You Like A Woman’. It’s delivered so much in the zone that it suggests that the gig was already half way through when they flicked the recording switch. The momentum continues in ‘Mississippi Water’ with the suitably exploitative guitar of Larry Knight and keys of Larry Van Loon. The feel good nature of ‘Come To Mama’ releases so much Etta-energy that it’s impossible not to smile. The instrumental ‘Amazing Grace’ once more allows the two Larrys to shine but it’s really a collective record helmed by the robust vocal chimes of Murphy. She really hollers out in gutsy homage to Koko Taylor, Etta James et al. There is not a single dud track here, whether it be for up tempo Blues that sneaks in on almost every number and is ramped up with the Motor City Horns at full tilt on ‘Gonna Buy Me A Mule’ or for the draining slow soul of the album’s closer ‘Feels Like Rain’. It’s a masterly piece, albeit unremarkable, of fun Blues and well worth investigation!!

Gareth Hayes

Blues rock singer with an interesting story to tell over her two decades of performing, and a curious capital X in the middle of her name. The Blue Cats are her band who have been around since 2004 and who live up to their alley billing of hip and honky, laid back hypnotic smoky Blues. Their own ‘Blue Cats Strut’ and ‘Lotus Elise Blues’ add to the humble stereotype and we soon rest easy in a floating mood of comfort. Even the Willie Dixon number ‘Built For Comfort’ is injected with pleasant narcotic. Fitting with the ambience yet dubiously associated with the Blues is Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’. Perhaps it’s a band favourite but ‘Oh Well’ or ‘Man Of The World’ may have been better choices. Still, it’s an interesting cover. The mood is restored by the time ends with their lounge jazz of ‘Blue Cats Boogie’.

Gareth Hayes

ROXI & THE BLUE CATS

RoXi & The Blue Cats

Electric Blues Club

The clue is in the title. The band is led by RoXi, a

SIMON ELVNAS

Words Unspoken

NCB

Elvnas is a singer and songwriter from Sweden. Having been raised by his father into a musical

environment, initially on drums, Elvnas found his true talent was his own singing voice. His guitar playing and song writing were to follow, culminating in this collection of self-composed songs; his first recorded works at the age of 37 years. Produced and mixed with Glen Scott, who has in the past worked with Eric Bibb, Ron Sexsmith and Sarah Finer, each of the songs features Elvnas on vocals and either acoustic guitar or piano. The addition of a number of Sweden’s best backing musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Kalle Hedeqvist, helps layer the songs and helps give each a distinct identify. Elvnas has a strong talent for melody and his smooth vocals make songs such as ‘Your Naked Soul’ and ‘Mistaken For A Man’ a pleasant listening experience. There are also a couple of duets with Irma Schultz and most notably Frida Ohrn on the enchanting ‘I Will Change It All’. A tender version of Pete Seeger’s ‘Water Is Wide’ clocks in as the longest song on the disc. While the material is rarely bluesy, it would probably be best characterised as folk, it would find appeal to those with a broad music taste and love of acoustic music.

Duncan Beattie ROBINSON

Beneath The Ballroom

Palawan

Andy Robinson is a multi-instrumentalist from Worcester who names Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and John Martyn among his influences and tells tales of life with his pop songs which are full of catchy melodies and harmonies. He has received airplay on Radio 2 and supported A-Ha at the Royal Albert Hall (some people may have preferred to keep quiet about that one). The music is catchy and the songs are like little picture postcards with guitar, piano, sax and clarinet among the instruments used. Opener ‘Mr Popular’ has a slightly eastern feel to it with Robinson’s light poppy vocals painting the pictures. ‘Without Love’ features a catchy melody fuelled by sax and clarinet as Robinson tells of his ill luck in the romantic stakes. There are no credits shown on the album cover so presumably he plays all the instruments himself and the arrangements and production are very good. The lyrics of ‘Anyone You Want’ are delivered in sweet, clear, soul inflected tones as they proclaim “you can be anyone you want”. If only! Keening violin introduces the harrowing ‘Nightmares’ featuring half-spoken lyrics and a musically chaotic climax before fading gently away

into the ether. The super catchy ‘That Girl’ features jaunty fiddle and scat vocals and is also issued as a single. It is the sort of number that could be picked up by someone like Wogan and made into a hit. The gentle ‘I Can’t Change’ featuring acoustic guitar, cello and violin is a beautiful reflective ballad tinged with sadness. ‘Receipt For My Heart’ is a fiddle fuelled eastern style rave up as Robinson spits out the words of the title. There is no Blues influence here but this is an interesting and well made album with lots of catchy melodies, quirky lyrics, and good playing and I found it very pleasing indeed.

Dave Drury

SLEEPY EYES NELSON Where The Town Ends Cheapwine Records

This is a tasty vignette of a timeless Country Blues EP really at only 26 minutes for the ten tracks. Recorded in the artist’s home, all but two tracks are self penned and elemental in nature with Sleepy on guitar, basic stomp percussion and a pleasant and effective conversational style vocal. The lyrics are sometimes humourous, as in ‘Fried Chicken Blues’, but it has to be said mostly depressing like, ‘Dying Rodent Blues’ with it’s bleak vision of “dying rats in the walls of my house”. However the overall effect, in part due to the lovely resonant twanging guitar sound is strangely hypnotic, uplifting and affecting. You begin to empathise if not identify, with the sentiments expressed, as in ‘I Like To Drink On My Own’ “come evening time” and begin to wonder if the songs are truly autobiographical. ‘Worried Blues On My Mind’ says he “tried to leave the house but could not go” conjuring up the thoughts of an agoraphobia sufferer. Echoes of this too in ‘St Vincent Street Blues’ with it’s strange background rhythm using a grating noise like grinding cogs. The two tracks not written by Sleepy have seemingly been written for him as ‘Preacher Man Blues’ sees him “digging my grave all my life”, and ‘Laughing Mortician Blues’ has his baby just “cryin and lyin”. Although you have to wonder how he gets the opportunity for romantic dalliance! The final track ‘Postman’s Blues’ also strikes a sadly familiar chord with “letters filled with dread”. Don’t be put off though, this is a truly engaging and rewarding listen for lovers of Country Blues and I would love to learn more about this intriguing troubadour.

Bob Chaffey

SARAH MACDOUGALL The Greatest Ones Alive Independent

Second album from Swedish/Canadian rootsy singer/songwriter is packed full of thoughtful, melodic songs about life, death and the universe.

She has already received international recognition for her alt. country/folky songs and has performed live on the Bob Harris show. Opener ‘Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win’ is a catchy, gentle rocker featuring acoustic guitar and sweet vocals from MacDougall and rootsy touches of Weissenborn slide guitar from Tim Tweedale. MacDougall is a storyteller and title track ‘The Greatest Ones Alive’ is a song about growing up and sometimes losing touch with friends and your roots. Centrepiece of the album is the touching ‘It’s A Storm! (What’s Going On?)’ featuring a small string section as MacDougall negotiates her way through life’s choppy waters. The uptempo ‘Song # 43’ is a country rocker featuring pedal steel from Tim Tweedale and some Duane Eddy style twangy guitar from Matt Rogers. Longest track on the album at 6.43 is the gently rolling ‘Cold Night’ a moving tale of a lost love who never truly believed. The album closes with the heartfelt ‘We’re All Gonna Blow Away’ which features lovely harmonium from Annie Avery giving the song a traditional and churchy feel. This is a very fine album full of passion and honest emotions which should appeal to the folk club crowd.

Dave Drury

recorded with the likes of Nina Hagen, Thomas Dolby, Lene Lovich amongst others. ‘Why Did You Do It’ is there again, along with ‘Flames’, plus inventive versions of ‘I Live The Life I Love’ ‘Can’t You Feel It’ and ‘Down In The Bottom’. Both albums go to prove that Stretch has integrity and craft in bucketloads. They are an astonishing band with a classy repertoire. In the words of Johnny Winter, they are ‘still alive and well’, do get a copy of one or the other, and re-live a great and historic period in British Blues and R’n’B

Clive Rawlings

COTT RAMMINGER

Crawstickers

Arbor Lane Music

STRETCH

‘That’s the way the Wind Blows’ (A Collection) / ‘Unfinished Business’ Repertoire.

A double whammy for me, two albums containing much the same material on each, perhaps the former shading it as it has a Jazz Mix of the classic ‘Why Did you Do It?’. For us older members of the readership, Stretch were a phenomena back in the 70’s, led by Elmer Gantry and Kirby Gregory. They famously supported Rainbow on their 1976 ‘Rising’ tour and it was generally acknowledged that Stretch blew the main act aside. They were, in their day, regarded by some critics, as being the greatest blues/rock outfit of all time. ‘That’s The Way The Wind Blows’ is a twenty track compilation and is a classic lesson in the history of a great band. All the gems are there, through ‘Fixin’ To Die’, ‘Showbiz Blues’ ,’Rock and Roll Hoochie-Coo’, plus a bonus EP disc containing the aforementioned ‘Why Did You Do It?’. Special mention goes to the informative booklet included, a real bonus for all of us anoraks! ‘Unfinished Business’ contains new recordings of Elmer and Kirby’s classic hits and was recorded in 2010. The new line-up includes Justin Hildreth (drums) and Jim Scadding (bass) who have performed and

What a treat this album is. Instead of a guitar based format, Scott Ramminger, singer/ songwriter and band leader is a saxophonist, playing tenor, baritone and alto sax throughout. And what a joy to hear Ramminger strutting his stuff through eleven original songs that veer from slow Blues, boogie woogie and shuffle to the Mardi Gras groove of ‘Real Fine Gumbo’. This track captures the excitement of New Orleans, the atmosphere recreating the street party feel with fine trumpet throughout and some great piano playing. Following this is a country Blues, ‘Three Dollar Beer’ that opens with some natty accordion playing, whilst ‘Give A Pencil To A Fish’ is a swinging romp with some fine soloing from Scott, and with cheeky trumpet retorts. ‘There Must Be Something Wrong With You’ sees the first of two fine duets, here with Mary Ann Redmond. The setting could again be New Orleans and there is some excellent muted trumpet playing. ‘Fast And Loud’ is a pure up-tempo rocker with boogie woogie piano and belting vocals from Mary Ann. ‘I Dreamed I Met Jesus’ recreates the gospel sound in a great slow song as Scott met Jesus” in a bar having salad and an Amstel Lite”. Rammingers baritone sax suits the low end of this song perfectly. Changing style again, ‘That Rumba Beat’ introduces a Latin rhythm with bongo’s underpinning the beat and an almost Santana feel to the guitar solo. This is unpretentious music, from a band that sounds as if they are thoroughly enjoying themselves. I loved the instrumentation here, a great variance from the norm. Scott Ramminger defines ‘crawstickers’ as “things that stick in the mind” and that’s a perfect way to define the music on this album.

Merv Osborne

THE DEADLY GENTLEMEN Carry Me To Home

www.deadlygentlemen.com

There are Hillbillies hiding under my bed, jabbering

away like chickens pecking. Bad thoughts and tales of murder and drunken selfdoubt. Boograss. Imagine a parallel universe where Nick Cave writes lyrics for the Charlie Daniels Band. After an amphetamine binge. Well, you’re about half way there. ‘Carry Me To Home’ is the product of The Gently Gentlemen – five old heads on very young shoulders from Boston, USA. The Gentlemen play what they describe as ‘epic folk and grasscore’, songs of death, obsession and drinking. Wonderful stuff that bends the Bluegrass genre to snapping point and is a joy to behold. Tires you out, though. Things do slow down sometimes, the title track is a mournful beauty of a song, all regrets and mandolin melancholy. ‘The Road Is Rocky’ is a contemporary take on a Bill Monroe classic and a real beauty. Then we get the scary stuff. ‘Police’ is a tale of gun-waving horror and paranoia. Album standout ‘Sadie’ is five minutes of cat-scrape violin, a bullett-by-bullett account of stalking, obsession, murder and hiding bodies, told from the darkest prison cell. ‘Bullet In My Shoulder’ is the tale of a wanted man, waiting for his final breath...‘shackled chained strangled, dangling while they stone my face in.’ This is a dark, enjoyable ride. According to their website, The Deadly Gentlemen will come to your home to teach you how to play ‘infinite velocity banjo’ and ‘raging fiddle improvisation’ technique. But would you dare let them in?

Martin Cooke

less) as on the harrowing ‘Brakeman’, he is equally impressive. This is a fine set then - and it would be good to hear what Son could achieve with some big label backing...

Norman Darwen

RUSSELL MORGAN Surrender Rayrecordings

Although this 8 track CD runs to 37 minutes and is thus longer than some album releases, Russell’s website describes this, his debut release, as an “EP”. Cheshire-based Russell has an eclectic list of influences, from acoustic ace John Martyn to jazz legend John Coltrane, and the songs here are equally diverse, from folky ditties like the opener and the Mississippi blues-inflected title track to the hard blues-rocking, heavy riffing, psychedeliatinged ‘Push It Up’. Russell has a very distinctive singing voice, his acoustic playing is individual but occasionally bearing traces of Mississippi John Hurt and the 60s folk and folk-blues revivalists, and his song-writing strongly individual – which all together makes for a very interesting release.

THE JANKS Hands Of Time Sprouted Records

Norman Darwen

SON ROBERTS Tell That Story Gate

A couple of decades ago, we’d have called quite a number of the tracks on this CD “high-energy blues” - rock-influenced blues without actually being blues-rock, I guess. Canadian singer/ blues harp player/ songwriter Son works firmly within a blues format but his music tends towards an attractive, lively sound with some contemporary touches, a very accessible style and a general good-time feel. He is a strong singer and writes interesting material that does indeed “tell stories”. He can fit his harp playing into funky numbersreminding me of Little Sonny in places - or good old rocking blues. The accompanying musicians add appropriate touches of soul, funk, jazz, or rock whilst maintaining the blues base throughout, and although all are more than adept, co-composer and guitarist John Crosbie deserves special praise for his contributions from start to finish. And then when Son does go for a straight-ahead blues (more or

More roots rock for me, as this month seems to be bringing in a lot of bands who want to be the Band. The Janks from California are the latest, and if I was writing for a mainstream magazine I would be flinging the name Fleet Foxes around in an attempt to seem hip and with it. But I’m neither of those, so will stick to my true and tested seventies musical references. When The Janks are good, they’re very good, with ‘Dead Man’ a ringer for the aforementioned Band. Elsewhere they get a bit more up to date with ‘Drama King’s Ball’ a tune that would sit happily on a Mercury Rev record. Brothers Zack and Dylan Zmed, along with their mate Garth Herberg (blimey, even the names are straight out of Laurel Canyon) are all capable musicians, and for a young band have a mature handle on their material. There’s a wee bit too much jingle jangle for my own tastes, but they’re a new band, and have the time to toughen up a bit. I was really taken with the harder hitting ‘Demon Dance’, and that’s a road that I’d like to see them explore a bit more. The album ends on a bit of a downer, with a surfeit of ballads, so different sequencing might have made a difference. Nearly but not quite.

Stuart A Hamilton

STEVE GERARD & THE NATIONAL DEBONAIRES Featuring JAMES “ROCK” GRAY

Voodoo Workin’

Blue Edge Records

It is a strange world sometimes! Here we have a very fine album indeed featuring some really strong musicians Greg Demchuk harp, Mike Sedovic keyboards, Preston Hubbard bass, Doug James horns, Dwight Ross drums, Steve Gerard guitar along with vocals from James Gray. Now this seventy-one year old man had never been in a studio before in his life. Why? His vocals are weathered with age but he slides those around the instruments with consummate skill. Based for most of his life, I think, in Jackson Mississippi he is a super find. This is a terrific album of down-home Blues that just gets totally inside you. For sure it can be argued that this is Blues from the past and does not carry the genre forward. I say who cares? When music is this good it is still very relevant. The title track kicks things off with James growling his way through way is a fairly short but succinct cut. James really hits his stride on a fabulously rich version of Willie Mabon’s ‘Michelle’ has a nice late 1950’s feel reminiscent of Fats Domino, wailing sax included, before we get to the first Gray original, ‘One Of These Days’. There is a lovely Hammond B3 playing throughout this including on the lead break. Has there ever been such an evocative sound? Big Joe Turner’s ‘TV Mama’ is covered effectively as indeed is the previously mentioned Fats D’s belter ‘My Girl Josephine’. There is not a bad cut on this album but the highlight for me his the self penned slow Blues ‘Sweet Little Woman’. The album has a lovely fifties feel throughout and it just works on every level and I love it.

SUGAR RAY & THE BLUETONES

Evening

Severn Records

Graeme Scott

You only need to look at these guys and before you press ‘play’ you realise it’s going to be good. If there’s a standard image for mature, blue-eyed urban blues, then The Bluetones have it – it’s The Sopranos with instruments. There are very few bands outside America who can duplicate the gasoline-flavoured raunch of Chicago. Paul Lamb and The King Snakes came close, but for the likes of Sugar Ray, featured here, Jimmie Vaughan, Duke Robillard or The Fabulous Thunderbirds, it’s that cultural osmosis of actually being there, constantly travelling the USA’s highways, the all-enveloping blues past and present seeping into your pores which produces records like this. Sugar Ray sings plays and writes from his heart. The harp playing is thick, meaty, and straight off the Illinois stockyards. The Bluetones’ version of

Johnny Young’s I’m Having A Ball, is terrific, as is their reading of Otis Rush’s You Know My Love likewise, and as composers, their original tracks always deliver with grit and authenticity. They also have the glory of guitarist Monster Mike Welch, and the production on this 12-track set leaves you feeling as if you’ve consumed a rack of the best barbecued ribs around. It all swings, bounces, pokes you in the heart, and makes you realise how healthy true American blues still is. If you want to know how the city sounds – this is essential listening.

Roy Bainton

TOMMY EMMANUEL All I Want For Christmas

Favoured Nations

Acoustic Records

Tommy is, without doubt, one of the finest, or indeed the finest, acoustic player in the world today. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him once and been astounded and mesmerised by his skill twice more in concert but I find myself at a loss as to how to effectively review this album. For example I am at heart a pretty romantic soppy kind of guy who loves the whole Christmas thing so when faced with eleven classic and well loved perennial favourites and one new, to me, tune I’m already onboard. Throughout Tommy is accompanied by another master craftsman, John Knowles and as you would expect the playing is simply exquisite. The captured sound is superb and the whole thing just flows around you like warm milk with chestnuts roasting on an open fire (yes that track is also included). Were it not for the seasonal music the interaction between the players reminds me of the joy to be found listening to the Chester & Lester albums. You know what I mean where the music has a gentle swing throughout as it touches the edges of Blues, Country, Jazz and Old Time and the players are just enjoying bouncing licks off each other. The arrangements are at one of the same time both traditional and also original. Melodies remain intact but there is also so much room in there for interpretation as well. Apart from a little scatting on ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ it is vocal free so sit back relax and let any the stresses of Christmas shopping and preparations just felt away. This is an album of pure bliss for any lover of both the season and wonderful playing.

TOM MORIARTY

Fire In The Dolls House Driftwood

Graeme Scott

I really wanted to love this album. I am a sucker for a dark and smoky voice over an acoustic guitar and Mr Moriarty possesses a cracker. He writes songs that should be full of dark emotions and captivating hooks and it just doesn’t catch a fire. When he should be blowing me away with a huge passion and deep emotions he gets trite and clever and when he moves into a more poppy form he sounds like a bad seventies throwback. The title track starts just right with his voice almost cracking with his righteous anger but it never explodes and when he sings “there’s a fire in the dolls house – let it burn, let it burn” it feels as though he has given up on his rebellion rather than setting the fire itself.

‘Smile If you Wanna Get High’ bubbles along nicely, developing into a tasty piece of white soul/ light rock and ‘Where Are You Now’ has a lovely sixties pop feel to it – Mary Hopkin would have done it real justice – and west coast tambourine as well. But I found myself reaching for the nexttrack switch too often, it felt as though I had heard all there was to tell me early on in each track and

that is probably the heart of the problem – he isn’t doing anything very different or new. The quality of the playing is excellent and the recording quality just as you would expect from an album recorded at Abbey Road but people won’t be queuing up to cross the road in memory of this album. He has a great voice and is nearly a terrific songwriter – just not this time.

Andy Snipper

THE BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG

Handel It Independent

It seems that the Blues Gang are essentially Kari Liston, on lead vocals, kazoo, whistle and percussion. and Jeremy Segel-Moss on guitar and vocals. Virtually all the material is self penned and they are supplemented throughout by numerous other musicians on a miscellany of instruments. Although based in St Louis, it appears from the sleeve notes that the gang refers to the various geographically dispersed members allowing the core artists an itinerant life style. With ten tracks over 48 minutes, this is an interesting release with very well written material covered in a mixture of retro styles. ‘South Broadway Blues has boogie piano and a strident nasal country style vocal from Kari. ‘First Of May’ is a ‘Jeeves & Wooster’ type piece featuring kazoo. ‘New World Blues’

TOP 20

1. Various; Barbecue Any Old Time- Blues From The Pit 1927-1942 (Old Hat CD)

2. Johnny Winter: Roots (Megafore CD)

3. Various: The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973 (Kent 3CD)

4. Big Maceo: Complete Sides 1941-1950 (JSP 2CD)

5. Little Joe Ayers: Backatchya (Devildown CD)

6. Barbara Lynn: A Good Woman - Complete Tribe And Jetstream Singles 1966-1979 (Kent CD)

7. Various: This May Be My Last Time Singing - Raw African-American Gospel On 45RPM 1957-1982 (Tompkins Square 2CD)

8. Gospel Alive- Sacred Recordings Made In The Field (JSP 3CD)

9. Louisiana Red & Little Victor: Memphis Mojo (Ruf CD)

10. Muddy Waters: Electric Mud/After The Rain (BGO 2CD)

11. Howlin’ Wolf: Smokestack Lightnin’ - Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 (Hip-O Select 4CD)

12. John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers: In The Shadow Of Legends (Blues Boulevard 2CD)

13. Little Milton: Grits Aint Groceries (Concord/Stax CD)

14. Ligtnin’Hopkins: The Houston Hurricane (Properbox 4CD)

15, Jo-Ann Kelly: Key To The Highway (Superbird CD)

16. Jimi Hendrix: Hendrix

In The West (Sony CD)

17. Eric Clapton & Wynton Marsalis: Play The BluesLive From Jazz At Lincoln Centre (Rhino CD & DVD)

18. Ana Popovic: Unconditional (Electo Groove CD)

19. Jay Tamkin: Alibi (Rokoko CD)

20. The Blues Band: Few Short Lines (Repertoire CD)

is a rather discordant protest song about Big Brother with some good work on harp and there is also some jazzy stuff here with various brass instruments including my bete noire, the trumpet. ’If Only’, a haunting loved and lost ballad with spartan guitar work is the highlight for me. The downside is the lack of tonal light and shade in the lead vocal, working well on ‘Stop Tellin’ Me What To Do’ a Country Blues with clever conversational vocal interplay, but lacking the depth and empathy to blend with or enhance the other varying styles on offer. The sole cover of Ray Charles’ ‘Drown In My Own Tears’ has some lovely fluid guitar from the late Bennie Smith, but the Eartha Kitt style vocal grates. A Dylanesque ‘Quick Fix For Livin’’ with its clever lyric is marred again by the strident nasal atonal vocal. Well worth a listen for lovers of rootsy Americana and New Orleans Blues, I am sure their music would be done better justice in an intimate live setting.

Bob Chaffey

TOBY WALKER

Shake Mama Shake

Band In The Hand Records

Toby Walker was born in the Suffolk county town of Islip, Brentwood Long Island in nineteen fifty-six and his first exposure to the blues was as a teenager from the records of the Rolling Stones, then through the good auspices of a neighbour he was introduced to the music of Buddy Guy. From that moment on he was completely hooked and determined to find the roots of this wonderful music for himself so, three days after his graduation from high school he went on the road for the next two years or so travelling across the U.S. in search of the music and the people that played it. Consequently during the last twenty years or so he has listened to, played with and generally been with such blues luminaries as; Wade Walton, James ‘Son’ Thomas, Eugene Powell, Jack Owens, Turner Foddrell, R.L. Burnside and Etta Baker. From his time with them he has completely immersed himself in the many forms of acoustic blues to such an extent that he is now highly adept at many forms, including Piedmont, Ragtime, Delta, Texas and Chicago blues, his splendid renditions are as infectious and mellow as a warm richly glowing summer’s afternoon, while his extremely intricate and dexterous fingerpickin’ is as scorching and blazing as the midday sun. His commanding brusque vocals are enticing and fruity yet, at times contain an edge of world weariness, which adds a greater level of depth and texture to the atmosphere of the music which can only be

described as ‘sweet, ripe and juicy as a Summer peach. A note of thanks here, should go Toby’s wife Carol for the splendid bass playing. This album of sixteen covers features such classics as a swirling rendition of Mance Lipscomb’s ‘Shake Mama Shake.’ While Blind Willie McTell’s ‘Mama Tain’t Long For The Day’ contains a beautifully mournful slide and ‘Broke Down Engine,’ simply oozes remorse. Toby infuses a wonderful period feel to his playing by selecting and using only vintage guitars, some of which are; a nineteen hundred Colmbia Parlor, a nineteen thirty National Triolian and a nineteen thirty-five Gibson L-00. He also brings numbers like ‘Crazy’Bout An Automobile,’ back to their original freshness and footappin’ lustre while the urgency of Huddie Ledbetter’s ‘Midnight Special,’ is certainly not lost in the mix of time. These versions are as fresh and meaningful as the day they were originally recorded.

Brian Harman

TIM AVES & WOLFPACK

The WOLFPACK Burnham Sessions Square One Records

Square

From the ashes of the bands Automatic Slim and The Rockin’ Armadillos Tim Aves in the latter party of two-thousand and nine put together The WOLFPACK, a band that primarily exists to make music in the tradition, spirit, ethos and muscularity of ‘Howlin’ Wolf.’ A man whose recordings and performances were to say the least, chillingly and resonantly primeval, sweepingly other-worldly and to some downright scary! Assisting Tim who takes lead vocals, harmonica and guitar, are; Paul Lester; drums, Rob ‘Tank’ Barry; bass and Joel Fisk; guitar and providing piano where needed is Dale Starr. A sparkling and toe-tapping mixture of thirteen spirited numbers are featured, Willie Dixon’s “Down In The Bottom,” kick starts the proceedings with Tim growling and snarling in a manner not too dissimilar to Lee Brileaux of Dr. Feelgood, the equally harsh twisting and curling guitars of Tim and Joel combine to emulate the stupendous guitar work of the recently departed Hubert Sumlin. Their enjoyable entwined playing can also be heard on other numbers such as; ‘Killing Floor,’ ‘Do The Do’ and ‘Tail Dragger’. Robert Johnson’s ‘Kind Hearted Woman,’ is played as a very pleasant, almost jaunty slow sweeping shuffle. Tim’s only original number on the album is ‘Walking In Robert Johnson’s’ Shoes,’ which is an undiluted white hot offering to Robert Johnson; visceral guitar, screaming slide ridden passages, backed by a stomping bass, definitely bone-jarring rockin’. One can only imagine the scene, heads down and teeth bared, blurred fret board, this

number takes no prisoners. Lastly there is a Tim’s own offering to Howlin’ Wolf, a fourteen minute live epic version of ‘Smokestack Lightnin’’ that weeps, wails, weaves, speeds slows and grabs you down to the toes. Together the band combine to ensure that the enduring appeal of these legendary bluesmen continues while at the same time adding a modern day feel, thus, ensuring that what they play does not merely constitute a tribute act. Well worth a listen!

Brian Harman

STEVE ROUX & THE WHITE KNUCKLE BLUES BAND

It Might Just Be Too Late Independent-sample only

Unfortunately no track listings were available for this valid release from WKBB, the sleevenotes and artwork being mislaid by the postman. Sometimes this can be an advantage to reviewing as preconceptions are absent. This is a genuinely interesting Blues outfit that mix old with new, hip with traditional, as they oscillate with a sound that conjures both barroom and studio image. First impressions suggest a lighter Tinsley Ellis. In every respect it is a cracking album and the average reader of this journal will lap it up. There’s enough reinvention here to make the most straightforward of covers appear innovative. Anyone wanting Blues in the background will like this. Anyone wanting Blues in their face will like this. Just twiddle with the volume knob. Look out for track seven and every positive memory of every blues guitar hero will be rekindled with sufficient magic and mystery. The whole album is a sweet reflection on the Blues. Then – KAPOW! An internet search reveals that WKBB is led by Steve Roux. Remember him? He released a fantastic Blues album nearly twenty years ago, then has popped up infrequently with this outfit and the companion band The Brass Knuckle Blues Band. Essential and deserving of greater acclaim.

Gareth Hayes

depth to them. The two cover tracks covered on the album perfectly demonstrate Trent’s abilities and knowledge of blues dimensions; he moves from some searing electric guitar work on the classic rocking ‘Going Down Slow’, supported by a full band compliment, to performing an acoustic Country Blues version of Big Bill Bronzy’s ‘Key to the Highway’. Trent performs with a lot of freedom and incorporates other musical influences into his material, the final track ‘Hey Now’ breaks the trend of artists rocking out and is an acoustic song with Reggae type choruses. For an artist so young this is a very promising debut album, he has immersed himself into the Blues and I will watch his development with interest.

Adrian Blacklee

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The Flash Records Story

Ace

TRENT ROMENS Aware New Folk Records

Trent Romens is only 19 years of age but on this album he demonstrates his prowess for both the Acoustic & Electric guitar, as well as writing some excellent material, ranging from traditional country blues to more aggressive rocking blues. He is already virtually a complete artist, his vocals are fine although I am sure they will improve with age and gain some

I am almost embarrassed to admit that Flash Records is a label that I have never heard of in the past but this superbly packaged and presented 2CD set has opened my eyes – and ears. This is around 2 hours of the best of the second division and there is no shortage of music here that deserves space on any collectors shelves. The fascinatingly named b Brown and his McVouts lead the 1st Cd off with ‘Good Woman Blues’: 2 minutes 38 of rollicking Blues tinged rock n roll with some excellent guitar over boogie woogie piano. Haskell Sadler is up next on what sounds suspiciously like the same track but with added harmonica. The frantic ‘Mambo For Dancers’ is the second from the McVouts but the first real star track is the doo wop of The JayHawks, ‘Counting My Teardrops’ –lead singer James Johnson from Brooklyn has a strange, strangulated falsetto with added vibrato nd they feature here on another eight or so tracks. The Emanon ‘4’ give yet more flavour to the mix with the sultry ‘Blues for Monday’ and the rocking ‘Oh! That Girl’. This is one of the biggest problems with this set though and I suggest maybe with Flash Record themselves – they couldn’t settle on anything that could be called a house style and the bands were pushed into playing in multiple forms rather than developing a sound of their own. Flash was born from an entrepreneurial mission to back up a record store with their own acts – if one of their acts failed to sell enough they would find their singles packaged as a freebie with a hit single of the day – and never really had the musical nous or understanding of the scene to break any of their acts nationwide. There are some real gems in here – Sheryl Crowley should have been a superstar as could James Curry and their collaboration on ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ is electrifying. All told a fascinating listen and well worth a punt – another Ace!

Andy Snipper

VARIOUS Blues News Sampler

MIG Records CD

As it blows on the trade winds across the Atlantic, the blues often picks up modifications and transforms itself for the European market. This ten track sampler CD from MiG (Made in Germany) will give you a firm idea of what you might raise your stein to in Deutschland and neighbouring Euro enclaves, and it encompasses some powerful, guitar-centric brews. These are tracks, often from live sets, which allow the artists full rein to show off their musical prowess. They’re not all European acts, though; for example, there’s a 13 minute outing from Johnny Winter, that old rockin’ favourite, Susie Q, the late, lamented Telecaster maestro Roy Buchanan playing a heartfelt ‘Wayfaring Pilgrim’, and no less than the Jon Lord Blues Project. The latter serve up a moody, five+ minute version of ‘When A Blind Man Cries’, and if you’re a 70s rock fan, check out this line-up – Ian Paice, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, and Richie Blackmore!. As to whether said Blackmore is still wearing his pointy wizard hat is not mentioned here. And there’s more bluesy stardom; the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band with Rick Veto interpreting Peter Green’s brilliant ‘Black Magic Woman’. However, I found the less familiar acts of much more interest; Lance Lopez, Dudley Taft, Papaslide and Todd Sharpville all add their own stirring magic to this heady mix – and I almost forget to mention Miller Anderson. This is a cracking little sampler which confirms that whatever mess the Euro might be in, music in the EEC is still a blue chip commodity.

VARIOUS – HEAVY SUGAR

Roy Bainton

More Pure Essence of New Orleans R&B

Fantastic Voyage 3CD set

75 tracks. Count ’em! Seventy five! Rhythm and Blues are just two words, yet they cover so many categories of unrestrained joy. If you’re pop fan under 35 you’ll no doubt have been sold that pig in a poke that ‘R&B’ means the video output of Beyonce, Rihanna or R Kelly; all gold lame thrusting buttocks, hair extensions and bling. Well, if that makes you happy, read no further. Real rhythm and blues, wherever it came from, California, New York, or Detroit, has more shapely legs that a centipede on steroids, but its creative genes are in New Orleans. After all, that’s where jazz came from. When you receive a 75 chapter Bible of the stuff such as Heavy Sugar, you realise how much of a disciple you’ve always been. It

kicks off with the Reverend Penniman himself, Little Richard singing the title song of probably the best rock’n’roll movie ever made – The Girl Can’t Help It. Anyone who has managed to watch the recent 2 series of HBO’s exquisite New Orleans series, Treme, is going to love this 3 record set. All the great New Orleans names feature here; Professor Longhair, Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry, the velvet-smooth Charles Brown, Fats Domino, Amos Milburn, Smiley Lewis, the list goes on and on. There’s also a couple of offerings from the often overlooked Bobby Marchan, a kind of Louisiana R&B Eddie Izzard, who spent as much time in a dress as he did in pants – if you’ve never heard of him, Slade’s first UK hit ‘Get Down And Get With It’ was a Marchan composition. There are tracks by the ebullient Frankie Ford, Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and his Clowns and a stirring Get Out of My Life from Aaron Neville. This set is your very own Mardi Gras in a box, the perfect Bayou antidote to the dank misery of a European winter. Make yourself a big pan of Gumbo, get some beer in the icebox and put your Christmas Nintendo Wiis and I-phones away for the night. Clear away the furniture and annoy the neighbours – forget Rihanna for the time being – this is proper R&B –the real deal!

Roy Bainton

WHITEBOY JAMES AND THE BLUES EXPRESS

Extreme Makeover Ripcat Records

You know how it is. You listen to an album once, and you listen to the quality of the recording, the musicianship, the interplay, the genres, and it passes muster. Then you listen to it again. You really listen to it, and you realise that it is not what you thought. Although it is called ‘Extreme Makeover’ there is nothing of the sort. This is the aural equivalent of Jim Davidson or Bernard Manning put to a musical backing. There is ‘Big Butted Woman’ which is one of those fun time boogie pieces for distorted guitar and harmonica, but which is simply a list of what the singer looks for in women. It would not pass muster as a bonus track on most albums. Here it starts the album. In other songs, the band condone murder, and although it proclaims to be a good time album, it is not really one for anyone who believes in equality. On the plus side, the playing is of a uniformly high standard in that punky blues way that is so popular these days, and the tracks are generally fun. A cover of Willie Dixon’s perennial favourite ‘I’m Ready’ is a fine reading, and the excursions into jazz make for an attractive few songs. The group has a fine guitarist in their ranks, a good rhythm section and an effective vocalist in Whiteboy James himself. Let’s hope that the next album sees a bit more sensitivity in the lyric writing though.

BARE BONES BOOGIE BAND

Bare Bones Boogie Band

Independent

Ben Macnair

Ah, at last the second album from this fabulous quartet of Helen –of the raucous vocal, Iain-of the riffy/driving guitar, Trev-of the solid bass lines and Andy-no mean side kick in the skins. After their great debut album this most certainly takes a step forward and will enhance their reputation. This disc shows better production and sound use (the first was a little flat on dynamics somehow though still a superb debut). There’s more variety here on the menu too. ‘Fallin’ For Foolin’’ eases you in with slow riffs then Helen’s sultry tones implore you to get in deeper and hold your attention while Iain spreads the chords on the bottom layer of rhythm and Helen provides the rich topping yes indeed this could well be the recipe for their success. Subtle guitar lines weave over the easy rhythm and you get a full 6.55 for an opener, you

guessed, I’m hooked! ..and there’s nine more tracks to go! ‘Mean Old Man’ finds Helen in gentle mood vocally and there is some lovely playing from Iain on this easy number. She seems to have enjoyed the mellow and continues the vein on the very next rack ‘Wings’ which winds up toward the end. But brace yourselves coz the boogie comes back on ‘Second-Hand Hand-Me-Downs’ but in an easy way. The more I listen the more I hear Stone The Crows but different, and that is meant as a compliment as if there ever was a band that deserved to be huge it was STC. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see Maggie Bell get on stage with BBBB and hear the girls together. This album sees another Stones’ song covered in ‘Love In Vain’ which features highly charged vocal over relaxed guitar. ‘Travellin’ Light’ pumps up somewhat as the penultimate rendition and the album closes with the cheekily titled ‘My Man Loves My Van’ to complete a joyful hearing of a damn good follow up album (often the hardest one to do) that should see the band move up another notch or two or more.......

Frank Leigh

D’MAR & GILL

Real Good Friend

Airtight

The two musicians Derrick “D’Mar” Martin and Chris Gill who form this unique band play drums and guitar respectively & before playing the album I was very sceptical how these two musicians could deliver a blues album with this instrumentation but I needn’t have worried, this is a very strong blues album, full of authentic style country blues music. The majority of the material is self written although the duo do a fine version of ‘My Babe’, where some African style drumming provides the rhythm base, the majority of the vocals on the album are handled by Chris, who also plays some slick National Steel guitar; as indicated the duo follow a traditional Country blues path and conjure up some similarities to artist like Tampa Red and Skip James. D’Mar uses a wide range of drumming equipment throughout the album and it is good to hear the use of the conga, definitely an under used instrument in current blues music, his partner has a great vocal style that fits perfectly with the raw and stripped bare music being played, the final track on the album is an instrumental called ‘International Blues Stomp’ and has a very similar vibe to ‘Where Am I’ a short song from Savoy Brown’s 1969 album a Step Further. This

album comes highly recommended and provides a strong case for supporting the ‘Drummers Union’ as after listening to Derrick plying his trade I now understand how much variety there is to ‘Drumming’

Adrian Blacklee

GRAINNE DUFFY Out Of The Dark Independent

The first thing that hits you about Grainne’s voice is it’s mixture of Bonnie Raitt, Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow which in my books can’t be a bad thing. As you may have gathered from the opening sentence this CD is a mix of Blues/Rock/Country, Grainne has mixed all these genre’s in this album, great listening. Hailing from Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, Ireland you may not have seen her perform much in the UK, then it’s no surprise that you may not have heard of her. Take my advice and if you get the chance definitely check her and the band out, we did this year and you won’t be disappointed. Not only does Grainne sing but she also writes and plays guitar. All of the songs on the album are self penned apart from ‘Rather Go Blind’ and ‘Thrill Is Gone’. The title track ‘Out Of The Dark’ is an instrumental which Grainne plays. Her band credits on the album are guitarist Paul Sherry, Ronnie O’Flynn Electric bass drums and percussion, Richard nelson Lap Steel Redal & Dobro, John McCullagh Piano Hammond & Wurlitzer Ian Sands and Charlie Arkins Harmonica. Stand out tracks for me are ‘Each and Every Time’, ‘Bring It All Together’, ‘Bad To Worse’ and for complete contrast the ballad ‘Waiting For You’. This album will please anyone who loves heartfelt vocals, great music with raunchy interludes. Definitely one for the collection.

LANCE LOPEZ

Handmade Music

Made In Germany Music

Christine Moore

Predominantly this is a Blues/ Rock release, following on from previous albums, Lance shows he can rock like any other virtuosos giving the nod to other such guitarists e.g. Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B.King. The former having an album produced by same luminary who has produced this release,

Jim Gaines who recorded it at Ardent Studios in Memphis. From the off with his in your face song ‘Black Cat Moan’ the listener knows what they are going to get and he delivers with style and panache with his own signature. Mixing slower blues numbers ‘Dream Away’ in particular, he expresses a mellower side to both his guitar playing and softer vocal range. Wheras on rockier numbers such as ‘Get Out And Work’ he has a more powerful gritty vocal. At times this release has the impetus and drive of a live take such is the quality of production. It seems more traditional texas blues based and shows his songwriting is improving as he is maturing, his already well known in your face fretworking. It is his guitar playing that resonates throughout the album as techniques shown on the instrumental ‘Vaya Con Dios’. His band has changed since his last acclaimed release ‘Salvation From Sundown’ and are a very tight powerhouse. Also his playing is ever improving, shown in arguably the best track ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’ emphasising what a master of this blues phenomenon is.

Colin Campbell

Rock’n’Reel is now

The UK’s best-selling, most eclectic bi-monthly music magazine is now called R2. Of course, we continue to offer vibrant, full-colour pages packed with folk, roots, blues, rock, singer-songwriter and world music coverage. Our extensive, authoritative review section and fascinating, insightful interview features plus FREE cover-mounted Un-Herd CD (every issue) will keep you informed and entertained. From those classic acts of the ‘60s and ‘70s to the next Next Big Thing, we’ve got it covered.

R2 is available at WH Smith and from your local newsagent (or if it’s sold out, ask them to order you a copy – we’re distributed by Comag). You can also find us in Virgin, HMV, Barnes & Noble and numerous independent record and music stores across the UK and around the world.

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GOT LIVE

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Koko London 07/11@ Roadrunner

Kenny Wayne Shepherd makes very few excursions to these shores so the chance to see him at Koko on Monday night was not one to be passed up and a very healthy crowd packed the place out to agree with me. After a good set from the very pleasant Instant People we were greeted with a screen descending from the heavens and three aborted attempts to show a DVD of Kenny cavorting in Clarksdale and with Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan’s old band) but the screen finally lifted and we were knocked back on our heels by over an hour of ferocious Texas Blues & Rock by a band of top class. Opening up with a selection from the excellent new album ‘How I Go’ Shepherd showed exactly why so many rate him as one of the most exciting guitarists on the scene today. He played with real power and verve, very much in the vein of his heroes Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins, but with a touch of subtlety, too, when the music called for it. Vocalist Noah Hunt was in full bellow and the communication between Shepherd and Hunt was obvious – playing together for 14 years will do that for you. Together with Chris Layton (from Double Trouble) on drums, Tony Franklin on fretless bass and Reverend Riley Osbourn on B-3 & keys they make for a fine and very experienced band. The show was slick but not so much that it lost passion and it was obvious that Shepherd and the band love what they do and aren’t just another slickly oiled machine churning out the hits but they don’t take too many risks and I can’t put it up there as one of those ‘I was there’ moments. However, in full flight they do make a superb noise and the audience was going crazy for them from the off (along with yours truly). Encore of ‘Blue on Black’ and ‘King Bee’ saw us into the night and looking forward to the next visit – hopefully not another 5 years.

Andy Snipper

JOHN MAYALL BAND / OLI BROWN BAND - Live @ Cadogan Hall, London

The veteran bluesman and band leader always manages to pull something special out of the bag for his visits to the capital and tonight’s Eve-of-Halloween performance had magic and quality in equal measures. Stepping out to announce his opening band for the evening in the shape of the Oli Brown Band, Mayall mused aloud whether any of the audience might be ‘ interested in guitar players...’ - the ultimate tease for the London blues fans as sharp six-string work is a guaranteed feature of any Mayall show.

Oli Brown and his two cohorts took the stage and take a stealthy slink into their first offering ‘I Can Make Your Day’. I recognised the snare drum work immediately as that of Wayne Proctor, band and session man par excellence and of course as any modern blues enthusiast will know a kingpin of the admirable band Amor, tall man John Amor’s group project after the first incarnation of The Hoax. With bassist Ron Sayer aboard, not much could go wrong in the engine room with this well-chosen support slot. Ron and Wayne also sing, which brings another dimension to certain parts of the arrangements. Looking like Albert Lee’s shock-haired nephew, Brown sings and plays with a crisp mixture of abandon and precision and more to the point with his ensemble not sounding particularly like other trios past or present. One reason for this is the wide range of songs he selects. He steers his white Tele through ‘Mr Wilson’, then veers into a Robin Trower mode for a languid solo that purrs and bites. ‘Devil In Me’ has a choppy swing and emphatic vocal. Then he does justice to a song from the late great Donny Hathaway’s ‘Extension Of A Man’ album - ‘ Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’, singing like an angel and playing with a clipped fervour. One of the best moments of the whole night. The three players sing during the funked-up fun of ‘No Diggity’ then a Johnny Winterish closer wraps up the set. Just right.

When the star attraction takes the stage, the audience is well and truly warmed up and ready to savour the songs. Mayall blends crowd pleasers and nods to his original influences – especially Rice Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson 11 - plus some of his superior originals.

Rightly renowned for bringing fabulous line-ups out on tour, John Mayall has really found the cream in the Chicago rhythm section of drummer Jay Davenport and fusion bassist Greg Rzab. Davenport sound uncannily like an early Butterfield Blues Band sticksman a lot of the time as he rattles out breaks and rolls

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

but at other times it’s as if ‘Spectrum’ era Billy Cobham is sitting in. When Rzab solos as Mayall often encourages him to do, the Stanley Clarke influence is manifest but deftly aimed to complement the mood of the material. The crowd take to his lively outings, as he makes the bass strings sing and sound akin to high-flying birds or even at one point a pterodactyl being evicted from a nightclub by Robocop.

As for Texan axeman Rocky Athas and his red Les Paul, he makes his mark in his usual subtle way. With years of experience framing the gritty vocals of Larry the singer in the Rocky Athas Band, this guitar ace has nothing to learn about playing in a band. The guitar tone is kept on the edge-of-feedback level but at comfortable volume, enabling Athas lines to sing and swoop; and whilst others solo, he keeps up a sonic thread of chords, chugs and fills. Tonight’s events keep him on his toes, but knowing Rocky as I do, he always welcomes the challenge to bring the right dynamics to the set.

As for Mayall, I have seen several Bluesbreakers line-ups including ‘Crusade’, the Bath Festival all-star grouping with Peter Green and (at the Royal Albert Hall) the ‘USA Union” group ( with my hero Harvey Mandel and the late Don ‘Sugarcane’ Harris) and I have never heard John play better than tonight. He is truly inspired, upbeat and fluid and cannot disguise his delight at the quality of his players, name checking them when he feels appropriate. His harp work is authentic and effective, his keyboard stints organically solid and very musical and his use of his customised guitar his best ever, even taking in a variant of tapping that sound fine against the agile Gibson lines of Athas. To see him on such form thrills the audience, it is an exciting show and not the plodding visit to the blues museum some may have feared.

From the solo set starter ‘Another Man Done Gone’ with just longform ‘G’ harp for accompaniment, Mayall drives things along, taking in Otis Rush gem ‘All Your Love’, SBJ’s ‘Help Me’, the lament ‘Blues For The Lost Days’ complete with scorching Rocky solo, a bustling ‘Parchment Farm’ and a reflective but smoking ‘Nothing To Do With Love’ from his ‘Tough’ release. Some neat unison harp and piano livens up ‘Early In The Morning’ and the familiar ‘I Wish You Would’ tempo of ‘Room To Move’ works pretty well.

Anything can happen in a John Mayall show and the audience whoops at the arrival for encores of the teddy bear figure of former JMB guitarist and ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor and his gold Les Paul. Mick seems happy as Larry to be aboard as he flicks out sharp fills and then produces a slide for some eerie figures during the moody ‘California’, this evening given an airy Steely Dan touch. The evening ends with a voodoo stomp through ‘Congo Square’ but for this writer the earlier dynamite version of Mayall’s ‘Mail Order Mystic’ had alone justified the trip to the metropolis. Audiences throughout the country will find much to enjoy when these two outfits arrive and perform

Pete Sargeant www.fairhearing.co.uk

HENRIK FREISCHLADER @The Beaverwood Club. September 15th. Drawing inspiration from Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Peter Green and Rory Gallagher, to name a few, Henrik is his own man. Making his London debut and promoting his new Still Frame Replay CD you can easily see that he has forged his own blues/rock style as a virtuoso guitarist with a sonorous, gravelly voice, but above all, a real love of the blues. From the opening ‘The Blues’ onwards you can see he has a firmly defined identity and mood. His vocals are clear, soulful and devoid of clichés. The almost comical ‘What’s My Name’ had the decent crowd joining in the chorus with gusto! Then the whole mood changes for Peter Green’s ‘Loved Another Woman’ and an elongated ‘Bad Dreams’ a personal favourite. After the break, the treat continued in the same vein. Credit must go, at this stage, to the talented band members, Moritz on keyboards, Theo on bass and Bjorn on drums. Standouts for me and the audience were the beautiful ‘Memory Of Our Love’ a delve into Hendrix territory with ‘Foxy Lady’, before closing with the phenomenal Roy Buchanan’s ‘Messiah Will Come Again’ perhaps made more famous by the late Gary Moore, to whom Henrik dedicated it. It was possible to hear a pin drop in the quieter moments, wonderful! What we all witnessed was a first rate, accomplished, blues-based guitar hero, who possesses strong compositional skills complete with outstanding soulful vocals. He certainly sets a new standard for bluesy heavy guitar. Check him out, I guarantee you’ll love him and his music!

Clive Rawlings

Henrik Freischlader

REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND: @ Cluny Newcastle: 3rd November

It is a little over a year since the Reverend was here last. In that time the band has graduated to the main Cluny venue. They have lost nothing of the urgency and excitement of their music and gained a following of fun-loving post-punks in the meantime.

Slinging on one of his beat-up Nationals, the first number set the tone for the whole gig, with slide moving up and down the frets at breakneck pace. Breezy kept up a rhythmic accompaniment on washboard while Aaron sang along as he mashed the drum-kit and thrashed the cymbals. The number was finished off with a cymbal kick from Breezy’s red cowboy boot. Essentially much the same set as last year the songs have gained a confidence which comes from being toured. My Burden Down saw a washboard solo, drum break and bucket solo, and the Reverend playing guitar behind his head! Peter Gunn received an airing for an exhibition of the ‘thumb-bass line / melody finger picked’ playing style. Slowing it down for ‘Feels Like Rain’ Peyton stroked sounds out of the guitar neck with his slide. Then he worked the audience up with a “kick-ass” ‘Bad and You Know It,’ which had us alternately clapping, stomping and screaming to the chorus. There were two numbers from the recently released Patton tribute cd with ‘Elder Greene’ featuring Breezy on vocals. The stomp-dancers had been front of stage all night, rushing at each other and bumping about, but with the last number ‘Bottle of Wine’ there was an en-masse mosh from the punk contingent! The presence of three local papers and the student press shows the spread of interest in the Reverends music. The Cluny was packed for a Thursday gig, the band played with an energy which was reflected by the audience response. Spread the word!

Mel Wallace

THE STRAITS @ Concorde 2, Brighton 20th September

I realise they are not Blues, but a lot of readers would have spent their formative years listening to them. This gig was a warm-up for the band’s October nationwide tour, so they were probably concentrating on fine-tuning. It is a tricky situation they find themselves in. Reforming after twenty years without their mercurial leader, only playing a back catalogue, are they any more than just a glorified tribute band?

Musically the Straits, including original Dire Straits keyboard player Alan Clark, sax player Chris White, plus guitarist Phil Palmer, who appeared on the 1991 album ‘On Every Street’, were on the money. New frontman, Mozambique born Terence Reis, has the virtuosity to recreate those distinctive Knopfler riffs. From the opening ‘Private Investigations’ through ‘Portebello Belle’ to the rocking ‘Tunnel Of Love’, they were tight, together and driven. With his deeper, somewhat drier voice, Reis wisely doesn’t try to emulate Knopfler, but he has kept much of his phrasing, evidenced on such as ‘Communique’ and a superb ‘Brother In Arms’ whilst I found ‘Walk Of Life’ literally, a step too far! Only the aforementioned White appeared to be enjoying himself, although Reis mellowed as the evening progressed. I couldn’t see Steve Ferrone on drums to give an opinion. All the enthusiastic audience got for their money, apart from the music, was ‘thank you very much, goodnight’. Maybe the shadow of Knopfler means that they feel like a tribute band, but they might like to take a leaf out of their inspiring guest, Jon Allen’s book and communicate. Fans do care; the goodwill cannot only be one way!

Clive Rawlings

IMELDA MAY@ Middlesbrough Empire: 27th November

The Empire is a beautiful old theatre with golden cherubs, boxes and neck craning ‘gods’. It also has great sound-techs because both vocals and instruments were clear and bright for this Sunday night sell-out. Support act Big Boy Bloater and the Limits played a set of R & B with a Latin flavour which also crossed into Rock ‘n Roll. The music set the mood for the night with favourites ‘Big Fat Trap’ and ‘Man or Monkey.’ It was clear from the response to these that parts of the audience were here for the support band as much as the headliners.

After a short interval, while the stage was set up, the intro music of ‘Lady May’ was piped through the P.A. The band took their places and as the house lights came up Imelda took centre stage to a huge roar from

Reverend Peyton

the crowd. What followed was a great night of entertainment from a singer and band that keep reaching higher levels of excellence!

We heard old favourites ‘Love Tattoo,’ ‘Big Bad Handsome Man’ and ‘Mayhem’ delivered in Imelda’s unique style. There was a dip into the blues for a great version of ‘Spoonful’ the Wolf-way, and lots of Rockabilly with ‘Tear it Up’ being a stand out. A poignant version of ‘Kentish Town Waltz’ showed one of her more gentle vocals While Imelda moved around the stage in her high-high heels, bat print dress and juju beads the band were behind providing musical support. They complement each other and show a musical telepathy that comes from touring and being grounded in the same roots. Bass-face Al Gare can slap and pluck those big resonant notes or provide a beat that hangs in the background. Steve Rushton keeps up a steady beat until let go on a mad ‘Animal’ solo. The brass and rhythm guitar of Dave Priseman add so much, with his infectious horn playing haunting the slower numbers. Darrel Higham provides superb guitar runs which hold everything together and again add to the overall sound.

After the main set Imelda sang ‘Baby I Love You’ sat on Al’s side down Double-bass with Al accompanying her on ukulele. ‘Tainted Love’ with audience call and response closed the show. That Imelda has come so far and is breaking new ground abroad is a great advert for the Blues and music in general.

Mel Wallace

ROBIN TROWER @ Kendal Brewery Arts Centre 17th September

Standing only in the packed Malt Room for this gig in a very wet Kendal.

Virgil & the Accelerators opened with a powerful set of extended numbers at breakneck speed. This young band are an old-style power trio with guitarist Virgil McMahon possessing possibly the strongest and definitely the fastest rhythm hand I’ve seen. While brother Gabriel (drums) and Jack Timmis (bass), held the line Virgil arched his back and produced one searing solo after another interspaced with manic rhythm playing. A short but electrifying support hampered only by the muddy sound of the vocals. Robin Trower cut three defining albums in the early Seventies which moved between full-on blues-rock, psychedelic wig-outs and beautifully fluid seductive Strat sounds that took the listener to another place. Tonight was very much a reprise of this – a set list of old friends greatly appreciated by his obvious loyal following. We were treated to ‘Twice Removed,’ ‘Bridge of Sighs,’ ‘Too Rollin’ Stoned,’ ‘Little Bit of Sympathy,’ ‘Fool and Me’ and ‘Daydream.’ It was clear that Robin enjoyed playing, and bass and drums were focused, although the vocals again needed bringing up. The songs were good the music was great... And although the songs were good and the music was great it felt that he has been in a holding pattern for the 35 years since I saw him last - hoeing that same row. The loss of Jimmy Dewar, the soul inflected smoky blues voice of Trower, has obviously had a serious effect on the music. It was not just the guitar that made their sound unique.

That said, Robin and the band played a set of crowd pleasers and certainly seemed to enjoy the limelight. A consummate guitarist, he made it all look so effortless. Only the trade-mark contorted facial expressions showing the energy put into producing the sounds. Shouts for ‘Daydream’ started third song in. It was dusted off as the final number in a set full of nostalgia that left the audience shouting for more.

Mel Wallace

ERJA LYYTINEN @ The Beaverwood Club, Chislehurst, 25/10/11

Erja Lyytinen’s website describes her as playing “ferocious slide guitar Blues/Rock”, but based on her performance at Chislehurst’s Beaverwood Club, what this lady is most about is fun. As she tuned up, we were treated to her singing ‘Amazing Grace’, interspersed with dialogue with her band in Finnish. Fun. The set? Sheer Blues entertainment; with a dash of slower tunes from her new album ‘Voracious Love’. Highlights included “Not a good girl”, which thudded to a beat reminiscent of Muddy Waters. The tearjerker, ‘Can’t Fall In Love’ made the most of Erja’s powerful, emotional voice and beautifully crafted guitar solos. A well-paced and sexy cover of ‘Steamy Windows’, inset with an excursion into ‘Like a Virgin’, ended with glorious, screaming slide work. The solid beat alongside the squeals of her slide guitar in “Crowes At Your Door”. Song after song played with a smile, ending with her standing and playing in the crowd on a handy chair.

There was time to ask Erja a couple of questions:

What do you like about playing the Blues in the UK?

It’s nice to feel supported here and see the same faces. The UK is the capital of music, with a great history, and we’re using our roots in John Mayall and Eric Clapton and going to play in the places they played.

What advice would you give to a Blues artist starting out?

Know your music and your tradition and listen to other stuff – have a big ear for it. Practice, practice, practice and play with as many people as possible. Also, there was no promotion at first in Finland, so good marketing is important.

Yes, Erja is fun. What fun can be had from the Erja Lyytinen branded red thongs on sale at her gigs, I leave to others to decide.

Read who Erja named as a favourite British Blues artist in the Blog of the Blues http://blogoftheblues. blogspot.com

Daryl Weale

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR @ Fibbers, York: 26/11/11

An opening set by Paul Lamb and Detroit Breakdown blasted into action with the solid drumming of Layla Hall and boogie bass of Joey Spina. Motor City main-man Paul Lamb provided some hard riffing against this backing that strayed into heavy-metal once or twice. But this was not only an engine-room that provided power but harmony vocals too. A premium support act. This was borne out when Joanne Shaw Taylor took the stage for the headline set. Paul moved to bass while Layla stayed behind her kit. The set exploded with ‘Going Home’, Joanne almost setting the frets of fire with her guitar work, her long hair falling first over one shoulder then the other as she postured with her guitar.

There followed songs from both White Sugar and Diamonds in the Dirt. Outstanding were Just Another Word and the afore said Diamonds, in which her soul tinged vocals are used to good effect. Big chunky break chords move the songs into different areas to riff and show off her technique.

That she is a dazzling exponent of guitar pyrotechnics is not in doubt, it is if you think every song should include these. If you enjoy noodling for the sake then her extended version of Jimi’s ‘Manic Depression’ would have blown you away. She made a good fist of the song but it appeared to be just a vehicle to introduce another detached solo.

So much better was main set closer, the Don Nix classic ‘Going Down’ which featured some blinding guitar breaks and fret-work. It also had an amazing drum solo of epic proportions by Layla Hall, spinning her sticks before handing them to Paul Lamb and using her palms.

The Venue had a turn-out of a hundred plus for a Saturday night. It was the end of the tour and while it was a great night of live music sometimes it’s the holes between the notes that make the song stand out.

Mel Wallace

Erja Lyytinen

THE DAVE JACKSON BAND & THE STONE ELECTRIC @ Beaverwood Club, Chislehurst 29 November 2011

The Stone Electric and The Dave Jackson Band play loud, and rock with a capital Grrr. And they appreciate each other, as shown when Noni, the Stone Electric’s feisty singer, danced and clapped during The Dave Jackson’s Band’s set. Dave led off with his self-descriptive ‘Born Again Bluesman’, the first track off his new album, DJB. Dave has a great, Robert Plant-like voice. He sings face raised, intent, into his mike. His guitar work is slick and strong, and he is backed by bass player and wife Jan, whose speedy playing is as fascinating to watch as it is good to hear, and a drummer who lays down an insistent beat. Dave, by his own admission, ad libs his song selection. This gig’s surprise for both band and audience was his playing, unaccompanied, George Harrison’s ‘Here Comes The Sun’, a fitting tribute 10 years on from his passing. Indeed, Dave’s set was like listening to a return to the era of Cream, Zeppelin and Hendrix, minus the LSD, and plus some strong, original songs. Dave clearly enjoys playing with pace, as he did on tracks like ‘Lover Man’. Even in a ballad he can’t help but rev the thing up, as he did with ‘Long Enough To Sing The Blues’. The Stone Electric are a rare brother sister partnership between Noni and Austyn Crow. Melanie sings with the explosiveness and tone of Tina Turner, as she bounces around the stage and stares menacingly at the crowd (between smiles). Austyn brings fierce, head banging guitar. Yet just as the banging head is nicely into its pendulum motion, he eases into solos with a Pink Floyd-like dreamy quality or Robert Cray coolness. And it works. Evidence ‘BFM’, so strong it made me want to sit rapt in my chair to take it in. Evidence ‘Rock me baby’, which lived up to the name. And the glimpse of a future album with the unrelenting rocker ‘Helter Skelter’. Two bands. One great night. Read Dave Jackson’s Blues story and an upcoming exclusive interview with The Stone Electric in the Blog of the Blues http://blogoftheblues.blogspot.com http://www.wix.com/ davejacksonband/djb http://www.thestoneelectric.com

MAYFIELD’S RHYTHM RATS @ The Queen’s Head, Monmouth, Nov. 20TH 2011

Darren Weale

After two frantic and intense w/e at festivals and a few rocking gigs in Cardiff and Ebbw Vale it’s nice to get out again only this time to a far lower key – you could say chugging pace- for some dirty down -home back porch swampy laid horizontal (but far from comatised) Blues, Cajun even Reggae. I’m in the County town of Monmouth and historic (and some say most haunted) C.16th pub The Queen’s Head. Playing this evening is local legend Chris Mayfield and his friends The (Rhythm) RATS - (local yes – but he’s very well known in Blues Circles in Britain, Europe and good ol’ USA) Chris takes lead and vocals, Jane Pearl vocals Kazoo, Ukulele and harp whilst Thaddeus Kelly plays steady drivin’ bass to perfection. Les Morgan drums with aplomb as someone with his experience and music history can and new to me saxophonist Kevin Figes (deputising for Mike Paice) sighs swings and slides succinctly and dare I say it? Sexily into the general slow low keyed ambience engendered by The Rhythm Rats! They start with Walking with Frankie (not as I call it the Lordy Lord song!) followed by a delightful Mississippi Magic. Jane takes the next two numbers (her own creation) and then thrills us all with Sippie Wallace’s Keep Your Mouth Shut. Chris then growls and gnashes his way through It Should Have Been Me (with that real fine girl) throwing some super snarling guitar work in his own inimitable style. Jane sings perhaps my favourite of the night Percy Sledge’s ‘If Lovin’ You is Wrong’ (I don’t want to be Right). The audience has reach melt down by the end. All the way through Sax man Kevin plays beautiful interludes that enhance the songs and impressed us all as he is, after all, depping for Mike and not a regular with these guys. The second set gets under a way with Jane singing ‘Built For Comfort’ (not for speed) and after Chris does a Reggae version of Lennons’ ‘Jealous Guy’. Jane comes back with a perfect sultry sensual version of Etta James ‘Mine at Last’ with Kevin producing a delicate sax solo to compliment this fine voice and beautiful melody Les and Thad (rhythm

Dave Jackson Band

section) keep reminding us all snuggled into the Queen’s front bar what pedigrees they have and it shines through in all the numbers played keeping at bay the cold damp foggy November night that lays in wait for us outside when we leave! The gig ended with Chris leading on Hard Times and as they have overrun there was no encore alas!! It was a much needed chill out session for me after two hectic weeks running around the country to flash brash festivals – just before the Xmas season starts in earnest!

Diane Gillard Sister Feelgood

LARRY MILLER @ Beaufort Theatre, Beaufort. 17/12/2011

This was a gig that lifted your spirits and got you rocking towards Christmas. Larry was his usually ebullient self full of chat and ready for a good time combined with some skilful and awesomely good guitar playing and his voice was in tip top form. As ever Larry was loud and brash and played old favourites such as ‘Outlaw Blues’ and new numbers from his latest CD ‘Unfinished Business’; with tracks such as ‘Deliah’ and ‘Gamblers Hill’ supported by his excellent band, who many recognise as the core element of ‘Storm Warning’ including Derek White (Bass) & Ian Salisbury (Keys). The whole band pleased the audience this was rocky blues at its best, and Larry as ever bought the riffs and magical playing associated with the late great Rory Gallagher. What a great night out, proving once again that live music is unbeatable and the energy produced by Larry and his band left everyone upbeat and energised.

Liz Aiken

JOE BONAMASSA @ BEACON THEATER, NY. NOVEMBER 4th 2011

The first of two nights at the Beacon Theater in NYC for Rochester New York’s own Joe Bonamassa was a neat and tidy event. Looking cool and calm with his slicked back hair, tuxedo jacket, white shirt and sunglasses, Joe and his band began the evening by ripping into “Slow Train” from his “Dust Bowl” album, the first of twenty songs to be performed that night, many of which with special guests. This was followed by Rory Gallagher’s “Cradle Rock”, proving to us Joe is a dedicated Rory fan. On through the set he went, displaying tasty guitar licks. Joe’s lead guitar playing sounds like many other players, yet at the same time like nobody else. He attacks with melodic flurries of notes combined with single notes that stand out loud and clear. He’s an outstanding slide player too, as demonstrated on the sixth song of the night, “The River”. It was nice to see blues singer Beth Hart appear on stage to give us soulful renditions of “I’ll Take Care of You”, and “Sinner’s Prayer”, featured on the recently issued “Don’t Explain” album Joe and Beth recorded together. To change the pace just a little, the next surprise guest was John Hiatt, who performed “Down Around My Place” and “I Know A Place” with Joe and the band. A strange pairing you’d think, but Joe and John worked together previously, collaborating on the “Dust Bowl” album. Shortly after was the next surprise guest, the one and only Paul Rodgers, whose mere appearance brought the crowd to its feet and lifted the energy level of the theater up a few notches. Paul’s performances of “Fire and Water”, and “Walk In My Shadows” had Joe doing his best Paul Kossoff to the crowd’s delight. oe used quite an array of guitars from his huge collection for this show. We spotted his signature Gibson “Bonaburst” Les Paul, his signature Les Paul Gold Top, a black Music Man, and a double neck Gibson, among others. The crowd in attendance enjoyed every minute of the performance, though it seemed they weren’t very hip to Joe’s repertoire or had even a casual knowledge of the blues. Taking that one step further, at one point during the evening a middle aged man needed to ask me “Do you know who John Hiatt is?” A fine evening of good music it was, and you’ll get to see it soon yourself as this evening was filmed for an early 2012 DVD release.

Barry Fisch

Larry Miller by Liz Aiken

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PETE HARRIS BLUES BAND @ The Platform Tavern, Southampton 24/11/11

This is a smashing City Centre bar and this gig was part of their Blues & Brews festival with a fantastic turnout for a chiily Thursday evening. The guys in this band are hugely experienced having individually played with The Producers, Yardbirds, Bob Pearce, Phil Guy, Lowell Fulson, Mojo Buford etc. The atmosphere was crackling and the crowd were lapping up songs like ‘All Your Loving’ and ‘Further On Up The Road’ with Harris on guitar and vocals, Hugh Budden on harmonica and shirt plus Steve Groves on drums and Bob Manley on bass..The material is mostly familiar and both punters and band were clearly enjoying themselves. One of the highlights of the evening came with a lengthy and superb version of BB King’s wonderful ‘It’s My Own Fault Baby’ featuring Harris singing soulfully and soloing brilliantly on guiiar with superb harp fills from Budden. As always ‘Red House’ proved to be a crowd pleaser and then came Budden’s moment in the spotlight with ‘Scratch My Back’ as the lovely Amanda was invited on stage to jiggle her maraccas with the band. In addition to singing and playing well Budden milked this number, for all it was worth, much to the amusement of all concerned. As the audience got rowdier Harris switched to slide guitar for a rocking cover of Elmore’s ‘Fine Little Mama which eventually morphed into ‘Talk To Me Baby’ complete with audience participation. A really enjoyable evening for everyone and if you’re in the deep South (of England) then this is the bar to search out and the band to see.

Dave Drury

NIMMO BROTHERS @ The Prince of Wales, Ledbury (Herefordshire) October 16th 2011 (4pm)

After watching the bikers Hog the Bridge (1st Severn Crossing) and invade Chepstow for the day and revelling in all that noise, mayhem, leather, chrome and rock bands we (Jean and me) left for the delightful run up to Ledbury. We drove through the autumnal splendour of the lower Wye Valley and into Hereford bound for the equally picturesque town of Black and White timbered listed and often listing buildings of this lovely historic part of the county.

In Church Lane - an ancient cobbled street leading up to the parish church of St Michael and All Angel - is The Prince of Wales (the pub, not Charlie). Each Sunday afternoon about 4pm they have some excellent bands /duos /solo artists play. So along with the friendly locals and landlord not to mention a succinct but beautiful collection of real ales and ciders you are guaranteed a good time! It doesn’t get much better other than when like this particular Sunday we had The Nimmos to have a real good time with! Unplugged and uninhibited they set loose to their vocals and acoustic guitars and some of the finest truly emotional set of blues and soul I have heard in ages.

Steve and Alan gave good account of themselves with beautiful clear vocals with real tasty guitar artistry. Their programme was varied as they chose to play several songs from Nimmo albums and King King’s (Alan’s own band).They included the finest rendition of ‘Feels Like Rain’ I’ve ever heard, along with the orgasmic ‘Old Love.’ Thrown in for excellent enjoyment were the likes of ‘A comeback for the Blues’, ‘If You Need Me Just Call Out My Name’, ‘Ain’t Gonna Be Your Fool Anymore’. They included their own‘political’ song ‘Perpetual Blues Machine’ - written whilst travelling down through Georgia USA. Their awesome version of ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ very nigh brought the house down. The whole audience gathered in the small bar and only marginally wider lounge enjoyed everything they did especially a notable The World Keep on Turning and returning to their last Nimmo Bros album If I could ‘See Through Your Eyes’. A brilliant afternoon finished off with an encore or two for good measure!

Diane Gillard (Sister Feelgood)

Peter Harris Blues Band

BEFORE WE FORGET CYRIL DAVIES

by Kevin Wharton

Cyril Davies, together with his contemporary Alexis Korner was truly an integral part of the development of the Blues in the UK. Whilst Davies’ recordings are very few, his vocals, 12 string guitar and banjo. His tragic death at a very young age robbed us all of a great talent.

Kevin Wharton explores the contribution of Cyril “The Squirrel” to British Blues .

It’s unusual for me to be writing about a British white latter day musician in this series, but a piece on Cyril Davies is essential to an understanding of how British Blues developed. Davies was born in Denham, Buckinghamshire to William Albert Davies, a labourer, and his wife Margaret Mary (née Jones). The Davies family is believed to have come from Wales. Whilst still working as a panel beater, Davies musical career started in the early 1950s playing with Steve Lane’s Southern Stompers. It kicked off 1955 when he formed an acoustic skiffle and Blues group with Alexis Korner. His role in the group was as a banjo and 12-string guitar player. Legend tells us that after hearing Little Walter he turned himself into a Chicago-style blues harmonica player. Before meeting Korner, Davies ran an unsuccessful skiffle club, and then he opened a Rhythm and Blues club in London with Korner entitled ‘England’s Firstest and Bestest Skiffle Club’. This was rechristened the ‘London Blues and Barrelhouse Club’. Popular with other musicians, the club hosted gigs by Blues giants such as Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Memphis Slim.

During this period Davies and Korner worked as session musicians, and often worked with Chris Barber’s band. This necessitated using amplified instruments for the first time –an unpopular move with their Blues purist audiences. The closing their club led to Davies and Korner parting, and, influenced by the electric sound of Muddy Waters, Davies formed his own electric blues band. In 1962 Davies and Korner joined forces again, and opened the Ealing Club in London. The club became a platform for their band. Renaming the band Blues Incorporated, they added bassist Jack Bruce, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Charlie Watts. Long John Baldry and Art Woods (brother of Ronnie) also joined the band occasionally. Many young musicians visited Davies’ club and guested with Blues Incorporated, including Rod Stewart, Paul Jones, Keith Richards, Eric Burdon, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Ginger Baker.

At this time Cyril Davies, along with Alexis Korner were part of a small group of young British musicians who were hugely engaged by the music form we know as Blues and it is impressive to note the musicians who went on to help define

Cyril Davies

the fine array of Blues we have now. Clearly, Davies was a key player in its development. As a Blues purist however, his future in Blues Incorporated was limited. By October 1962 there was a split in the band as some members wanted to play crowd pleasers such as Chuck Berry songs while Davies and others members wanted to play what they saw as only genuine Chicago-style R&B.

Davies departed Blues Incorporated in October 1962 to form the Cyril Davies All-Stars in November 1962. The original AllStars line-up was largely recruited from Screaming Lord Sutch’s Savages, and featured both Long John Baldry together with Davies on vocals to give Davies room to play harmonica. It included Nicky Hopkins on piano, Ricky Brown on bass, and Carlo Little on drums. They quickly recorded a successful single, ‘Country Line Special’ driven by Davies wailing harp and vocals. The music sounded so much like authentic Blues, it was placed in the Pye Records catalogue alongside the recordings of people like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Their second single, ‘Preachin’ The Blues’ followed the departure of Watson and Brown and the joining of Jeff Bradford and Cliff Barton on guitar and bass and enjoyed a measure of success. For a time it looked as if the All-Stars were heading to be a major force in the burgeoning R’n’B scene in the UK. However, in 1963 Cyril Davis collapsed late in 1963 and was diagnosed with leukemia. He died in January 1964 at the tragically young age of 31years. The core of the All-Stars was taken over by Long John Baldry and formed the basis of his ‘Hoochie Coochie Men’. The Cyril Davies All-Stars are an impressive part, but nonetheless just a footnote in the history of UK Blues as they had very little chance to commit their talent to recordings. They never recorded an album, but their songs appear on several anthologies including ‘A Shot Of Rhythm and Blues (Sequel Records), ‘Stroll On’ (Sony Music) and ’Dealing With The Devil (Sony Music). In ‘The Legendary Cyril Davies’ (Folklore, 1970) you can listen to some early acoustic sides laid down by Davies and Korner. This work is too early to be fully representative of Davies’ work and a more representative set can be found on ‘R’n’B From The Marquee’ released by Decca in 1971.

“Deeper In The Well” has been recorded in Louisiana, a place where the old styles survive and thrive and new sounds are born. Eric gathered exceptional Louisiana musicians as well as the legendary Jerry Douglas, top dobro country guitar player in the US who also contributed to the common project.

“Thusly assembled, in beautiful, not-too-hot, bayou weather, the seven of us, brothers of varying hue, came to record a celebration of our shared Americana heritage: ‘Deeper In The Well’.”

Eric Bibb, October,2011

Alexis Korner

What’s coming up in Blues Matters?

Blues Matters 65 - Loaded with features and interviews with great acts and great people!

Interviews – Joe Louis Walker, Steve Roux, JJ Grey, MO Blues, Oli Brown, Charles Shaar Murray, Paul Rogers and more!

Features - Blues In Spain (Part 2), Pawn-Shop Guitars by Dave Stone, A look in the History of Dixie Frog, The Blues Cruise and many more.

Red Lick:- Top 20 Chart

Plus the Magazine regulars: News, Feedback, CD Reviews, Gig Reviews, Festival Reviews, Blues Blood and more!

Winners of the competitions in BM63 are:

SAVOY BROWN CDs – David Asbury, Nottingham

GARY MOORE DVD – Robert Keenan, Dumfries.

Congratulations to you both and enjoy the CDs and DVD which have been posted

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A: Steve Jobs and the Apple Consortium

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Walter Trout