BLUES WITH FRIENDS
132 PAGES OF PURE BLUES
INTERVIEWS | FEATURES | REVIEWS
Courtesy of brilliant new albums by two of todays’ most acclaimed virtuosos on the piano
putting it together to give you a perfect picture of some of the Blues out there. So satisfying! Praise the team.
Maybe you’ve been reflecting on life, work, family etc and digging back into your record, CD and DVD collections playing and watching old favourites. Some of you may have needed the distraction from having so much time at home.
We can all hope that the world will become a better, more caring, careful and considerate place and that everyone remembers some of the lessons that have been learnt in cleanliness in particular - which we should have been doing anyway.
So how is everybody? The world is in an unknown place with this ‘new’ virus which is a part of the flu family we are told. So much yet to be confirmed and noted for future reference and to thank all of our health professionals around the world. A big cheer to you all wherever you are.
So just what have you all been up to during ‘lockdown’?
Putting together this new issue has continued as usual really as we all do our thing from our homes. So no issues with getting to the office for us. It’s like getting all the pieces of a jigsaw from different places and
Someone said to me “hey a gallon of petrol sure is lasting longer during lockdown!”
We’ve thought about readers around the world who cannot get out for their shop bought copies and so if you want our digital issues we’ve got an offer online of reduced digital subscription to £19.99 so you can read us wherever you are on your devices.
I’ll leave you all to read on to the meaty part of your Blues Matters! coz I’ll only ramble… Ramble On, mm going to play that now...
Enjoy!
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Contributing Photographers:
Arnie Goodman, Jennifer Noble, others credited on page. COVER IMAGE BY Allison Michael Orenstein.
Original material in this magazine is © the authors. Reproduction may only be made with prior Editor consent and provided that acknowledgement is given of source and copy sent to the editorial address. Care is taken to ensure 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.
BY DAVID DANN
This first comprehensive biography of the late, great Michael Bloomfield brings to life a dazzling electric-guitar virtuoso who transformed rock ’n’ roll in the 1960s and made a lasting impact on the blues genre.
Hardcover $39.95
The
The
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42 |
48 |
52 |
56 |
64 |
72 |
BETHO IEESUS
Blues battles from Brazil
BRANDON SANTINI
A man with harps, vocals, lyrics and soul
RORY BLOCK
From her Mentor series to Power Women of Blues
ROBERT JON & THE WRECK
Southern rockin’ blues spiced with country soul
WHITNEY SHAY
Talks Stand Up and Ruf’s Blues Caravan
DION - COVER STORY
Blues With Friends and so much more
ROY ROBERTS
The North Carolina bluesman looking over his career
WADDY WACHTEL & DANNY KORTCHMAR
Finally making it on their own
From rock chick to blues chick and Rebel Moon Blues
ZAKIYA HOOKER
ERJA LYYTINEN
A perfect Finnish from the slide guitar goddess
It’s was a bold venture to put on a music festival just when the country was getting ready for the pandemic that is Covid-19 which has now decimated our live music scene in general.
Fortunately, though, Dumfries and Galloway, was a region that at that time was unaffected by the virus. However, ticket numbers were lower than anticipated and as the weekend progressed the attendance figures decreased. It was a shame because this was a really great festival enjoyed by all who came, and the calibre of acts was of a very high quality. The venue was superb, large room with great acoustics and enough room for the audience to dance their blues away on a particularly cold and dank wet weekend. Not specifically a Blues festival but something for any music lover of any generation. Sound quality and lighting was excellent, so let’s get on with the review.
Friday, saw the first act to play at this new
festival, a daunting prospect but local Dumfries singer-songwriter Stoney Broke (AKA Jake Scott) took to the stage and played a mixed set of originals on his acoustic guitar with the use of pedals and at one point it sounded like he was playing two guitars! This Love Is Too Hot, the opener including a very good guitar solo. What About Those Flowers? a new song that had an Americana feel to it. Some good fret work and subtle key changes made Caroline a highlight of the set. He introduced his songs with funny narratives but also sang with great emotion, Nothing But The Truth, was delivered well. A very good set.
Connie Lush Band were next and having heard their soundcheck which was terrific and continued through her set. In recent years Connie’s vocals seem to be improving and taking on songs like Love Me Like A Man, Twenty Four Hour Blues, No Regrets and newer tunes like Blame (It All On Me) dedicated to her mother really enforced
WORDS & PICTURES: Colin Campbellwhat a levelled vocal range she has and she still has that humour and drive to be a pure entertainer and wonderful bandleader. It was the drummer Colin Lamont’s first gig with this line up and he added a lot. Crowd reaction was good on the likes of Dog and Mannish Boy. Rolling And Tumbling was particularly good with the band really got into a groove, Steve Wright jammed well. A great performance by a truly talented and professional, tight unit.
Last on bill at night was The Stevie Nimmo Trio, who rocked the joint and the noise level on stage, certainly got cranked up. He did a couple of numbers before the “noisy ones appeared”. Coming On Home To You was a joy to behold. Stevie has such a great stage presence and his vocal range is so succinct and melodic, he really has all the charisma of a great showman. He played songs from the latest release, The Morse Code Sessions where, Change was a particular highlight. For a threesome they make a big sound and Good Day For The Blues brought the tempo down but it soon lifted again during Hurricane and the wonderful, Drowning In A River Of Tears. Finishing with a snarling guttural version of Going Down, it brought a standing ovation from an appreciative audience.
Saturday afternoon session saw the introduction of Cumbrian duo Jon Bowie & Phil
Saunders. A multi-instrumentalist duo, they gave an uplifting tuneful set again adding humour and personality to it. Starting with an elongated, Baby Please Don’t Go, they went into a cover of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues with some fine finger picking guitar techniques. Chuck Berry’s Nadine was given a stripped down Delta blues feel. Their own, Maximum Wage had very intelligent lyrics, mixing with harmonica by Phil, this time with Jon on guitar. They got into a jamming zone with John Lee Hooker Repetition Blues, it was mesmeric at times, very competent blues men, much appreciated.
Next was a band from Dumfries, The Dogz, an amazing trio playing rockabilly style punk blues with attitude and even merging in a couple of AC/DC tracks, best being Let There Be Rock. Lead singer Andy McMillan playing double bass was manic but only mirrored by guitarist, Anza and Colin on drums. An explosive set with People Are Strange, Devil Went Down To Georgia and a Stray Cats cover, Rock This Town. They also did Be Bop A Lula, a crowd favourite. A fun band with really in your face entertainment, another tight outfit.
Shiverin Sheiks from Glasgow did a highly polished set full of wonderful songs to get your feet tapping and the audience dancing. Their set included rock and roll, gospel, blues and lots of Doo Wop full of power.
Enigmatic lead singer Dave’s vocals were superb and the group’s stage persona made for great entertainment. Cadillac, was superb, as was their version of Lipstick, Powder And Paint, harmonies were stunning.16 Tons was a particular favourite, very slick arrangement. Mess Around was a great dance tune. They mixed it with slower tunes like, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, but it’s the band’s enthusiasm to keep this music style going that is the key. They even did a medley that included The Can Can, what’s not to like.
Matt Long from Catfish did an early evening Jam Session which included Rod McKay on bass from Redfish as a late replacement, much respect for this he even stayed on for the later session, more to follow, but Got My Mojo Working went down well.
After the audience ate, they were then
was epic from the visceral start of Hard To Make A Living, with the energy level increasing with each song. Two Time Lover, had a great shuffle to it. Gerry the frontman and guitarist poured his all into playing and singing. Peter did walkabout with his harmonica. They even did Black Rain, a slow blues number. Lewis, the drummer started singing on Somebody, and then the band took it to another level. Trouble With The Blues was also outstanding, a really great set.
Dr Feelgood were on next to finish the night, and with yet another scintillating set of rhythm and blues classics. They played all the hits, I Can Tell, All Through The City, Down To The Doctors, Milk And Alcohol, She Does It Right, just timeless classics played to perfection. Steve Walwyn played slide guitar on Dust My Broom keeping a good tempo. This led to a great version of
entertained by the Gerry Jablonski & The Electric Band, and they have it all, great showmanship by all members, a vibrancy to beat no others and Lewis the drummer is a sensation. Genre defying in their musicality, to see them in their live habitat is just such a good experience; they gave a 100% on each song and left their mark on a rapt audience who mostly had not seen them before. This
Rolling And Tumbling, with Robert Kane coming in on harmonica here. Last song was Give Me One More Shot before the audience was treated to encores of Badman Blues, Route 66 and a storming version of Great Balls Of Fire.
In the Solway Suite there was a jam session of incredible calibre. Gerry Jablonski band
members joined Matt Long, Sandy Sweetman, backstage crew, Rod McKay and bassist from Dr Feelgood, Phil Mitchell. But it was a fifteen-year-old guitarist Stewart McMillan who went down well with the listeners, just a great session.
Sunday opening act was Dumfries based Strumsum Blues Band who played an infectious mix of mainly blues covers. A five piece band with lead singer and guitarist Fraser Milligan orchestrating things with a charm and humour. Kansas City was well appreciated, moving on to Bessie Smith’s In The House Blues. Keyboard player Fraser Black was phenomenal; he also plays with Redfish a great talent. Let’s Work Together had a driving bass by Jack Anderson. Watch Yourself was catchy and last song Sweet Home Chicago hit the right note, a very accomplished band.
John Verity was next on and played a lot of tracks from his latest release called Passion. Full on classic rock, five decades in the business and John still has the dulcet tones to cover Hold Your Head Up and God Gave Rock And Roll To You and kept the audience spellbound by his intricate guitar playing, along with bass man Roger Innes. Where’s The Love was a slow tune, Passion was up-tempo. Cocaine was full of guitar riffs and great techniques all lapped up by the crowd. At the end there was time for a homage to Jimi Hendrix including a blistering Purple Haze.
The Stumble took centre stage next and gave a fantastic performance full of up-tempo feel-good tunes in the main. Just Stop, got things started, then Be My Slave had Paul singing to the gallery. Then mix in a
bit of B.B. King for measure, You Upset Me was divine. The tune New Orleans had the dancers moving and even onstage during the song 360 Degrees. This Is My Life was the highlight; Simon’s saxophone riding a top of Colin Black’s searing guitar shreds. I Don’t Want Much, was also a highlight, a very good set.
Paul from The Stumble also joined Matt Long for a Jam Session after and the highlight here was the song Louise, very well delivered.
The festival finished with another local band called The Mary Barclay Band who played some original material but mostly rock covers that were very well appreciated. They are a four piece with Mary on vocals and Douglas Carrol on lead guitar, with Fraser Graham on drums and Kenny Urquhart on guitar. They rocked with, Be Good To Yourself and Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart. Feel Like Making Love was done to perfection with a soaring guitar solo from Douglas. Mary’s vocals were great on I Just Wanna Make Love To You and Black Velvet. There was even time for covering Led Zeppelin’s Rock And Roll, before finishing with Purple Haze.
A great weekend, much praise goes to the organisers for keeping this on and hopefully they’ll be back again next year.
John Angus Blues Band are a hot new prospect on the UK blues scene.
Their album It’s About Time was self-released in 2019, gaining radio play with both the BBC and IBBA radio stations across the UK and are proving popular with audiences at venues and festivals.
In 2020 this rocking blues band are set to rocket.
John Angus and the band aim for credibility as UK blues artists and with an album two years in the making and a Vinyl LP, John is fulfilling his dreams by investing in the band’s future. He says, “I really hope that I’ve not left it too late, but I know this is something I believe in and so does my band. Recording and performing original blues-rock is what we want to do, and we’re
encouraged by what we have achieved so far.”
John has just returned from recording at the world-famous Sun Studios in Memphis, where he cut two songs. He explained “the plan was to record a unique blues-rock version of Heartbreak Hotel as a cover/ tribute to the legend, Elvis. The original was recorded at Nashville in 1956, the year of my birth and released on RCA Victor. It turns out that Sony Publishing and Universal feel my version is a derivative having made it very different to the original. I believe if you want to do a tribute to a legend with such an iconic song, you have to try something new and original. So, we are waiting for publishing rights before we can release anything,” he added, “I’ve already presented a demo and now have a fully finished single waiting,
for what will be amazing for us, if all goes well. The experience alone, recording at Sun where the legends in blues, country, and rock have gone before makes it all a privilege and worthwhile”
John wanted to give his version of Heartbreak Hotel Blues the ‘Sun Studio Sound’ and now he knows first-hand how this is achieved, working with engineers, Daniel Crocket Hall and Erick Parrish. The unique ‘Slapback’ delay sound being added to the dry vocal after recording, using three vocal mics at the same time to capture a wide range of tone including the famous mic, used on many recordings “in the round”.
The visit wasn’t only about a cover however as John had penned a new song called “I’ve Got Your Number” which will be released as a part of an EP this year and features more guitar work showing his chops as a blues/ rock guitarist. “My first album included a broad mix of blues genres and styles inspired by my heroes, Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, and Billy Gibbons. The songs tell of my own life’s experiences and I’m sure
people will recognise theirs too. I feel that my new material will have more of our own sound and style, I like to play the songs as close to recording live.”
“The session at Sun Studios just flew by” said John, who had pre-recorded backing tracks at his regular UK studio, Prism Studios in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent, who’s owner/ producer, Shaun Lowe worked with him to make it all run smoothly.
John added, “Lead vocals and some extra guitar tracks were added using Scotty Moore’s Gold Gibson ES 295, that was a real bonus! The list of famous musicians who’ve recorded at Sun is too long to list and I feel blessed to have been able to step in their very big shoes.” He admits it was a thrill but also a bit nervy when the red light went on and he hoped the end result would show his passion for creating blues-rock music that audiences will love.
He also visited New Orleans, Memphis, and Nashville and was made very welcome by
some major blues personalities. A trip to the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum resulted in a chance meeting with Joe Chambers, founder, owner, and former CBS A&R executive. John was amazed that Joe, a personal friend of B.B. King, Chet Atkins and many more major artists took him to the display cabinet featuring one of B.B.’s Lucille guitars, he opened the locked door and handed John the guitar. Who said the Thrill is Gone?
John is currently arranging gigs for the band to promote their new album. These include headlining their own regional ticketed gigs and support slots for artists already established on the blues circuit.
“Everyone knows that it’s hard for an unknown original act to break into music as the competition for festivals is so great. I believe that you have to be different to stand out, which is why we are working on our music, performance, and show just as importantly as recording songs”
John said “Ideally I would prefer to release
with a label and promoter in place to make it easier, but I realise that it takes time and effort to attract the right people and they have to believe in me and the band”
The band line-up includes, John on guitar and vocals, Steve Bell on guitar, Pete Hopkins on drums, Trevor Upton on harmonica and Tim Hopkins on bass. They are currently auditioning a new keyboard player who will be ready for their first major festival of the year at the Nantwich Jazz, Blues & Music Festival where they will perform at The Crown Hotel.
www.johangusbluesband.co.uk
WORDS:
American rhythm and blues singer Margie Hendrix was best known for her performances as leader of the vocal group the Raelettes, who famously backed Ray Charles. Despite having a voice that could give Tina Turner and Etta James a run for their money, as a solo artist Margie failed to get the recognition that she deserved.
Sadly, her fantastic musical talent would become eclipsed by her drug addiction. This is Margie Hendrix’s story:
Margie Hendrix, the daughter of Kattie and Renzy Hendrix, was born in 1935 in a small town called Register in Georgia. Her passion for music became clear throughout her childhood and by her teens she was directing her local church choir whilst singing and playing piano.
In the early 1950’s Margie decided it was time to chase after her dream career; she took a leap of faith and moved to New York City. It did not take long for her gritty powerhouse voice to start turning heads. In 1954 she signed to the Lamp record label and made her first record entitled “Everything”. Although this was not a landmark recording, it allowed Margie to begin to build a fan base, to hone her craft and to network within the New York music industry.
Two years later, she was invited to join all-female vocal group ‘The Cookies’. The group soon signed to Atlantic records and Margie
got her first taste of success with their song “In Paradise” which hit #9 on the RnB Chart. The Cookies also began to work as session musicians at Atlantic, providing back up vocal harmonies for many acts on the Atlantic roster, including LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown and Joe Turner; and then they were introduced to Ray Charles.
Ray met Margie and The Cookies 1956 in Philadelphia, where Chuck Willis was performing accompanied by the girls. Ray was immediately hooked on the sound of their blended harmonies. He had already recorded Drown In My Own Tears with Mary Ann Fisher and two other female session singers, and had decided that he wanted to make female backing vocals an on-going part of his sound.
Ray Charles spoke with Margie Hendrix and invited her and the Cookies to a recording session with Mary Anne Fisher in New York, where they taped Lonely Avenue, I Want To Know and Leave My Woman Alone.
At the session, Ray was moved by the sincere emotion and sheer power of Margie’s voice and the fantastic vocal harmonies the women delivered. They fused the spirituality of gospel with the grittier, sexualised, Rhythm and Blues.
Margie Hendrix would later explain the name change from “Cookies” to Raelettes: “Since we became an integrated part of Ray Charles’
orchestra, it would have been perfectly stupid to continue using the ‘Cookies’ name. On a nice morning Ray tackled the problem, and came to the conclusion that only two names were possible: the ‘Silver Bells’ or the ‘Raelettes’. I immediately rejected the ‘Silver Bells’ - that name appeared ridiculous to me - and that’s how we called ourselves the Raelettes. We’ve never been the ‘Ray-lettes’: that name would be an error. In American English ‘Ray’ is for men, and ‘Rae’ is for the ladies.”
The rumour goes that Ray chose the name Raelettes as a dark joke, in that to be a ‘Raelette’, you had to ‘let Ray’; a hint to Charles’ infidelities. Ray is rumoured to have had affairs with many of the Raelettes as the line-up changed over the years. His hit song “Oh Mary Anne” was a sexual blues song about his adultery with his back up vocalist Mary Anne Fisher who left the group when Ray invited The Raelettes on tour in 1958. That same year, Ray Charles and his Raelettes recorded ‘Night Time Is The Right Time’ which would reach #5 on the R&B chart the following year. For many of her fans, this song represents the moment they discovered ‘Margie Hendrix’. Ray allowed 23 year old Margie to step up as a lead vocalist for a short section of the track where she gives her absolute all to the lyrics “tease me, squeeze me, please me, oh don’t leave me”. The begging and pleading quality to her voice is beautifully painful as she hammers home the deepest of emotions with grit, power and integrity. You can’t listen to that Ray Charles song without thinking “Wow, who is that girl? And what a voice!”
Ray Charles said of Margie, “Aretha, Gladys, Etta James — these gals are all bad, but on any given night, Margie will scare you to death.”
Early on, Raelettes members Pay Lyles and
Earl-Jean McRea chose to leave the group. They were replaced by Darlene McRae and Ray Charles’ wife Della Bea Robinson. The Raelettes were a key feature on many successful Ray Charles recordings in the late 50’s and early 60’s including ‘What’d I say’, ‘Unchain my heart’ and ‘Hit the road Jack’ which again showcased Margie Hendrix as a lead vocalist duetting with Charles. As a vocalist, Ray had met his match with Margie and musically they spurred each other on to reach emotional and vocal peaks within their performances. With that, the sexual tension between Margie Hendrix and Ray Charles built on stage each night.
In 1962 the Raelettes were featured on Ray Charles’ ‘Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music; with the hit single ‘I can’t stop loving you’ topping the pop charts for five weeks that same year. The Raelettes huge contributions to these records are undeniable; and by fusing stereotypically ‘black’ and ‘white’ genres of music, this record helped to break down colour barriers during America’s civil rights movement.
When Ray’s wife Della Bea Robinson took maternity leave from the group to have their third child, Margie and Ray grew close and began an affair. Margie quite quickly fell pregnant, and their son Charles Wayne was born in October 1959. However, when Margie was on her maternity leave, Ray soon struck up a relationship with Margie’s replacement Mae Mosely. Ray would eventually father a total of 12 children with ten different women.
The following five years became Margie’s downfall. Having borne Ray’s child, Margie Hendrix re-joined the Raelettes only to find she had been replaced in Ray’s affections. To the fans, Margie appeared to have it all: She was the star vocalist of the Raelettes, touring the world with ‘The Genius’ and performing
fantastic music in sold out theatres. She was making good money; but her mostly flawless public facade masked private despair. Both Ray and Margie developed serious addictions to alcohol and heroin.
In 1964, Margie recorded a solo single on Ray’s Tangerine record label. It was called ‘A Lovers Blues’ and I highly recommend you check this song out. All of the hurt she had been feeling having been rejected by Ray along with her losing battle with drink and drugs fuels this deeply heartfelt vocal performance. It has an Ike and Tina feel to it. Margie’s despair is evident as she sings “Sometimes you abuse me, but it’s alright, and all of my friends accuse me, but it’s alright” as if she is desperately holding onto the hope that life will get better. More and more, Margie was arguing with Ray and that same year, a final argument led to her being fired from The Raelettes.
Margie Hendrix was keen to show that she could be a successful solo artist in her own right. She soon signed a solo artist deal with Mercury Records. The first two singles on Mercury were released in 1965 entitled ‘Now The Hurts On You’ and ‘Baby’.
Baby is one of my most favourite Margie Hendrix songs. It’s a take on a slow minor blues. Her vocal on it is just phenomenal. She has all the gritty power of a Koko Taylor in her blues belt, but she is also very dynamic, and it’s this light and shade in her vocal tone that adds that crucial emotion. Margie loses herself in the message of the song and you can’t help but wonder if all that hurt that you hear in her voice is still aimed at Ray.
In 1967 Margie moved to Memphis to record ‘Restless’ and ‘Nothin’ But A Tramp’ with orchestral arrangements by producer Gene “Bowlegs” Miller. There is a strong Otis Redding influence on these two upbeat
Memphis Soul tracks. Despite delivering some wonderfully soulful vocals, these singles didn’t receive a whole lot of attention and so Margie found herself once more turning to drink and drugs.
Margie’s final recordings were released by the Sound Stage 7 label in 1969. My most favourite of her songs from this period is a track called ‘Do right baby’ which wasn’t issued on a 45, instead coming out on a compilation LP entitled ‘Southern soul sisters’. Here she fuses that Memphis soul sound with Slow Minor Blues and Gospel influences. Once again, it is her sincerity and emotional commitment to the vocal delivery that makes this a truly magical performance. “I work hard for you baby, down to the bone, so stop it baby, this doing me wrong,” she sings with utter despair, literally screaming out her pain by the end of the track.
It really is incredible that Margie’s solo work failed to chart. Her lack of commercial success certainly has nothing to do with the quality of her recordings. Her records are outstanding. As Ray Charles once sang: “My little Margie. After all is said and done there is really only one and that’s Margie, Margie it’s you.” She was an amazingly talented young vocalist; one of a kind.
Having failed to ignite her solo career, Margie Hendrix fell into obscurity. It is rumoured she was living in poverty in her final years, spending the last of her earnings on her drug habit. Margie Hendrix died in New York on July 14, 1973, aged 38 of a heroin overdose.
Be sure to check out these great Margie Hendrix songs:
• A Lover’s Blues
• Baby
• Restless
• Nothin’ But A Tramp
• Do Right Baby
WORDS: Iain Patience PICTURES: Supplied
Finland is often called the land of the midnight sun, for good reason. Others think of it as the land of Santa Claus and Reindeers, thickly blanketed in snow through most of the winter festive season.
For others, however, it’s known for its music, with blues playing a core part of the thriving music scene. One band, more than any other, in the land, has pushed the country to the fore. I phoned Wentus Blues Band’s bassman and self-promoter, Robban Hagnas, to ask just why this should be the case
Now, like most of the world’s musicians in lockdown, Robban laughs as he explains how Spring had at last arrived in Finland this
Easter weekend, but Easter Sunday brought yet another dump and covering of snow to the town of Kokkola, where the band originated and remain rooted. Now together for over thirty years, he confirms that the band plan to do a 35th Anniversary bash, hopefully, next year to celebrate the milestone: “We first got together in 1986. I was sixteen at the time and Niko (Riippa – lead guitarist) was only fourteen. We were actually taking part in a singing and pop music camp and got together. Back then we had another second guitarist, Kim Vikman, and I brought along a drummer friend, Axel. We got our first gig and had no name! We come from an area of town called Wentus, so we just said, as a bit of a joke really at the time, we’re the Wentus… and added blues band, because we played a couple of blues songs, ‘Stormy Monday’ and one other. It all just started from that!”
At the time, Finland was largely in thrall to heavy rock and heavy metal music, with countless cover bands doing their thing playing Iron Maiden covers and such like. But, as luck would have it, there was an established small-venue blues club scene throughout the country and the Nordic region generally. Outlets that soon became the regular stomping-ground for the fledgling band and its growing bunch of blues followers: “The Heavy Metal bands all lost their gigs for some reason. But we didn’t. We got more, we kept growing, getting gigs that eventually took in more cities and Helsinki, then Stockholm in Sweden. At the time we were still doing other things, studying and whatever but there was recession in Finland, and we thought it over and thought to ourselves ‘let’s give the band a shot. Let’s see what can be made of it.’ We took a chance and it paid off, I guess, you could say,” Hagnas chuckles at the memory of events now three decades past.
And the band’s success continued when they hit on the idea of ‘inviting’ US bluesmen to join them on-stage. For some time, the band had a monthly slot at a near-legendary Swedish club, Faschings. Known for its blues and jazz excellence throughout
the region, Hagnas remembers that Wentus began to invite other international and local bluesmen to join in the fun: “We asked guests to come and play with us. Initially, mostly Finnish artists, all well-known, and in Finland. Then we moved on taking that same concept and idea to Sweden. Our first real US bluesman was Louisiana Red. We played with him and became his sort-of support band, taking on further gigs afterwards and recording with him.”
The Wentus Blues Band soon found its feet, playing up to 180 gigs a year and being pretty much constantly in demand throughout the region, playing with many other visiting US bluesmen as the years passed: “Red told us we should try hooking up with Eddie Kirkland. I got in touch and he agreed. He had a crazy promoter guy and I remember it was just after 9/11 and all flights from USA were cancelled. I asked if it was going to happen and he said “Don’t worry, he’ll be there!’ It seemed unlikely but Eddie turned up on the first flight out of USA to Finland. He was a character, great fun. We all got on really well, had a great time touring and working with him. We were supposed to go out to the States to play with him. Somebody warned us off, telling us Eddie played all these rough joints where we might get killed. We laughed at the thought but never made it over and it was a real shock when we learned he’d passed in a car accident!”
Other players who hit the Nordics and worked with Wentus include Lazy Lester, Omar and the Howlers, Dick Hextall Smith, Carey Bell, Mick Taylor, Barrence Whitfield, Eric Bibb (another guy with US-Scandinavian links having lived many years in the region) and one of Louisiana’s finest pickers, Duke Robillard, a guy that the band now count as a good friend and often record and tour together with. Indeed, around now, they should have been
working again with Robillard following the success of their last joint album, ‘Too Much Mustard.’ “We’ve known Duke many years now. The album was great and we should have been touring again this summer with him. But everything’s cancelled right now, of course.”
“We did a 20th Anniversary album with many of these old friends on Ruf Records label. It was a celebration for us and also a film documentary was released that was nominated for a major award,” Hagnas recalls. “At the time we were really inspired by the Band’s famous wind-up film, The Last Waltz, and wanted to do something similar for ourselves.”
Hagnas also looks back with pleasure at time spent working with Florida blues harp-man, Rock Bottom: “We did a tour of Sweden and Finland with Rock. He was a great harp player. He wanted us to go out and play with him in Florida but sadly he passed with a heart-attack before we could get out there.”
Perhaps the most lasting development, and one that has clearly shaped the Wentus Blues Band’s own shape and performance down the decades is their true blues roots and rootedness. Hagnas explains it this way: “We’ve been lucky to play with many great old bluesmen, old guys that are the blues. It’s been a university of blues for us. We hear their amazing stories, about their lives, what the music is all about and, really, what blues actually is! We’re so thankful for what it has given us. It’s not simply something you can study or learn. It’s something that’s in the air, when you’re with these guys and you can breath that same air! It’s always sad when these guys pass on, but they were our teachers and mentors. They have given us the keys to do it our way, but always in the tradition that they came from.”
And it doesn’t end there either. The Wentus Blues Band are keepers of the transient, passing blues flame, happy and always willing to
pass on the knowledge to a new generation of players and fans: “It’s a heritage and we can pass it on to the next generation. There’s a lot of young players out there keen to learn. It’s important that we work with them too, and pass on that musical heritage. I think the love of blues music in the Nordic region owes its roots to the 1980s when many touring US artists could be seen playing, mostly in Sweden at first. Many blues societies and magazines, like Sweden’s Jefferson and our own (Finland’s) Blues News, and Norway’s Blues News magazine, grew out of those founders first seeing the old black bluesmen play. They’ve kept the tradition strong. Here in Finland we still have a national radio Blues
show every week. That’s also played its part.”
As we part company, Robban Hagnas adds that Wentus is lucky to have a very good international publicist in the USA, with Frank Roszack always going the extra mile to help push the band ahead. Looking forward, Wentus Blues Band has traditionally been the hardest working band in Scandinavia, averaging over 150 gigs a year.
Now, with a global lockdown, he is hopeful that gigs will gradually resurface, with smaller club venues initially re-opening for blues business and maybe festivals again in Spring and Summer 2121. A sentiment we can all relate to, I’m sure!
Well, I really hope you are all safe and well out there in these scary times.
We are all stuck in our homes, glued to the news, going stir crazy and trying our best to follow government directions. It is in times like these that we turn to our love of music. We can no longer go out and see our favourite bands and artists in concert, so cranking up the tunes at home has become as important now as ever. For me, it brings me back to my youth, when music was my best friend and listening to new albums was an incredible exploration, listening to my favourite tried and tested albums was my therapy.
As blues artists down under, we have been hit with the same restrictions on concerts and gigs as are most other countries and it is fair to say it has had a major impact. I’m very lucky to have an ‘essential worker’ job to do right now, but many of my friends from the industry are having to line up for government support to pay the bills. For most of us, it is a time to practice, write new songs, connect with our audience through video and think of new ways to do this thing we call music.
So, how do we continue to connect with you, the listener, and how can we support each other to keep this industry alive?
Writer: Matty T Wall
Spotify and Apple Music have come a very long way in the last 5 years, and it is fair to say that streaming is now the most popular way to listen to music at home. Although sometimes, I am not a fan of the sound quality and would much rather pop on a vinyl album and turn it right up, but the access to new music that streaming gives you is absolutely revolutionary. Spotify in particular has amazing programs and algorithms in the background that introduce you to new artists with sounds and songs in styles that you are attracted to, and the more you use it, the better it gets at this. So, how does streaming help artists? We have probably all seen the reports that streaming services are ripping off artists and such, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that streaming is the new radio. I can tell you 100%, without a shadow of a doubt, that worldwide and particularly in places as isolated as Australia, that artists are increasingly relying on payments from streaming for paying the bills. So, this is absolutely one of the major ways in which to help your favourite artists and filling your house with non-stop blues morning to night is the way to go.
Of course, I am writing about the Aussie music industry, so it would be remiss of me not to mention some artists here who are carving up Spotify with great music. If you want to explore Aussie blues on streaming platforms, check out some of these major hitters:
The Teskey Brothers / Fiona Boyes / Lloyd Speigel / Owen Campbell / Ash Grunwald
Now, some artists do this thing particularly well, matching t-shirts with coffee mugs and stubbie holders.
(wait – don’t know what a stubbie holder is? Totally necessary device for Australian summers in 35C to 40C heat, keeping beer the right temperature to cool you right down. Drinking beer in Australia is the internal version of air conditioning, haha!) …but I digress. Merch done well is an artform in itself. And we usually pick up merch when we are at a show, gig, concert or something like this. I did mention streaming earlier, and whilst it can be a regular pay, it is far from the ability to pay all the bills. When artists are on tour, it is actually the MERCH that makes the whole tour financially viable. So right, now, us artists aren’t touring, aren’t doing concerts, so therefore we are not selling any merch to help pay the rent. So, how can you help? Something I have noticed is that clothing/fashion stores have pretty much shut down, so, need another t-shirt? Well, no need to jump on Amazon and help Jeff Bezos earn more pennies… how about ordering a t-shirt from your favourite artist.
I can guarantee you will still get the feeling of having picked it up at a concert. There is something about band t-shirts that do that – keep you connected to your youth and to music. Down here in Australia, there are some artists that are amazing at merch. I have to mention one of my favourite purveyors of fine merch –Eightball Aitken. He is a fine guitarist, singer and songwriter, but is supremely talented in coming up with new lines of merch. Some really cool designs here. From Beach Towels to Tea Towels, from Tote Bags to T-shirts, caps and bandanas, check out www.8ballaitken.com I also need to mention the amazing guitar player Geoff Achison, one of my fave guitarists here, who also does the merch thing very well. Check him out.
Personally, I separate music from merch, so to me, CDs and Vinyl are different from ‘merch’. Vinyl has seen a huge resurgence over the last 5 years, similar to the rise in streaming and many people are either coming back to the glorious sound of vinyl or listening to it for the first time. How do you purchase vinyl? The favourite for me is second-hand vinyl stores, or indie record stores. But, did you know you can purchase vinyl direct from indie blues artists? My second album, mixed by the legendary Bob Clearmountain, titled ‘Sidewinder’ was mastered by Sterling Sound in New York onto lacquer, specifically for vinyl printing, and it sounds incredible – I just love the tone of the drums on this vinyl print. You can pick it up from my mattytwall. com site, but, what other Aussie artists have special vinyl for you to pick up?
One of the runaway success stories of the last few years has been the incredible Teskey Brothers with a sound that is supremely suited to the turntable – their new album ‘Run Home Slow’. You can pick it up directly from their website, even signed copies, like you get at a show.
There are so many ways in which you can help out artists, find new albums and songs, even get a new wardrobe during these tough times. We need to think differently, think of the ‘little guy’, help out small businesses and indie artists, because this is what makes the world a more interesting and diverse place. We all love music, we love the sonic colours and images that music paints for us and although we can’t go out and see a gig, we can still connect directly to the source.
Until next time, stay safe, stay inside, listen to the blues and listen to what Australia has got going on.
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I started playing bass when I was a teenager. Growing up in Sweden, I had lots of exposure to rock (and what’s now called “classic rock”) and I played in a bunch of different bands doing mostly covers.
I didn’t really discover my love for Blues until sometime in the ‘80s, when I met this guy who was a real dedicated blues fan and blues guitar player. He turned me on to a world of people who really changed my musical outlook; heavyweights like John Lee Hooker, Hound Dog Taylor and Elmore James and also newer (but no less important to me) players like Jeremy Spencer from the original Fleetwood Mac. Once I was exposed to that world I knew where I wanted to be and never really looked back. That was also when I started playing guitar and, shortly after that, slide guitar - which I really fell in love with.
WORDS & PICTURES: Supplied
All along I’d always been co-writing with people in the bands I’d been in, but once I made guitar (and slide) my primary instrument I really started writing my own songs and developing my own style both as a songwriter and a musician.
I moved to the States almost 16 years ago and, after playing in other bands and just jamming with people for years, I finally found the combo of the right people to make a band I could lead and call my own. I started Marie Martens & The Messarounds in 2015 here in the Milwaukee-Chicago axis, and we recorded and released our first album, Travelled, in 2019. We went to a studio in Brooklyn (Excello Recording), which is owned by an old friend of mine, Hugh Pool, who I played with in Sweden 25 years ago.
I hooked up with him via Facebook and after all these years he still plays slide and resonator, but his studio has all old sorts of vintage gear and he gets great sounds. I knew he could bring out
exactly what I wanted, plus I really wanted to make this record using old gear to get the sound I heard in my head, and he did it. What you hear on Travelled is exactly what I was going for. Aside from being a great engineer, Hugh was also really great to work with as far as sort of coaching us to do the right thing that each track needed. I think all of the guitar playing was one-take, that was relatively easy because we’ve been doing most of these songs for some time now - it was just a matter of getting the right tones. But when we started mixing was when he was absolutely invaluable. He wove in things he had just incidentally caught on tape, and they really changed the impact of some of the songs, and now we play them that way because those changes made them better. It’s more of a rock approach.
Even though the Blues is where I’ve made my home, it’s where I’m most comfortable, I can’t ignore my rock and roll roots.
WORDS: Steve Yourglivch & Rachel Bennett
Raie is a name that might be familiar to longterm BM readers, we gave her previous release, Earthbound, a glowing review.
Now Raie has released a fully formed album, This Music Thing, with an album launch at The Lexington, one of London’s premier venues. After showing early musical ambition and with a single out at 9-years-old, life then got in the way for a bit but the music was always going to win through.
Here’s her story in her own words...
It’s taken me a long time to realise my music, but I was always gonna get here! My first 45 single, when I was 9 years old, was Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone and from that point on I knew music was gonna be a big part of my life and that I had something to say, I was always singing around the house and to neighbours or relatives at gatherings.
I left home at 16 and was a single parent by the time I was 19 years old, lots of life experience and fuel for song material but times were tough. I started my adult education late, I attended Rose Bruford drama school at aged 29, when my son was 10 years old, old enough to get the shopping in or walk the dog. I went from drama school into a career of writing for and performing in shows, memorable moments include MD work for a national tour with Black Theatre Co-operative’s Paper and Stone and songwriting work with Connectingvibes* (Irie Dance Theatre).
I have always loved soul music, and country and blues are so much a part of my culture they are ‘in me’ I think my love of words, lyrics and poetry comes from listening to Dylan, John Mayall, Joni and Leonard Cohen as a teen, and getting to Greens Playhouse in Glasgow as often as I could!
I began Raie as a duo with a lovely guitarist, Dan Cochrane and moved through various influences with great musicians until I gave Wes Maebe the green light to produce my work; since then he
PICTURES: Alex Waespi
has brought some amazing players and people on board who feel just right, Chris Bell (Specimen, Gene Loves Jezebel, Spear Of Destiny, Thompson Twins, Hugh Cornwell) and Jon Klein (Specimen, The Banshees, Sinead O’Connor).
Every hour spent in the studio with Wes and the musicians and singers on this album has been wonderful; it’s been a massive learning curve, even at this later stage in life; I have collaborated with Wes and Jon Klein on some songs, it’s a new approach for my writing, it’s been so much fun and so rewarding that we three are already writing new material for the second album!
www.raiemusic.com
WORDS & PICTURE: Supplied
The challenges of forming a band mean that most split up before they even leave the practise room. True Strays met in a sandpit when they were 4 years old and have seen many a great band fall by the wayside since.
But despite many previous band break ups and hard knocks, we (Joe James and James Cameron) are using these personal experiences to fuel our latest endeavour with greater urgency and honesty than ever. Life’s too short to hide yourself away and give up on your dreams. Based on friendship, honesty and hard work True Strays are the culmination of a life-times ambition.
True Strays make sounds for an America that didn’t quite exist. Although we are quite definitely Americana Roots Rock, our Influences are laid by the early foundations of Charlie Patton, the country blues of Lead Belly, the songwriting of Willie Dixon, the slide work of Muddy Waters and the energy and prowess of Sista Rosetta Tharpe. We take these early influences
and combine them with the calls for justice of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, the dirt of Queens of the Stone Age and the sonic brilliance of Alabama Shakes. We aim to honour the late greats through our sound but with an aim to push our songwriting and style in a forward momentum.
Not just brainless rockers, the music is concerned with zero-hour contracts, the destruction of the National Health Service, climate chaos and the mental health epidemic. These issues to us are our modern blues. True Strays are using the rights and wrongs of the past to paint a brighter hope filled future. Writing songs and creating a sound that is believable, real and authentic is at the heart of what we do. The shows are always melting barriers between audience and band, and end in a riotous crowd singing hoedown.
We have been the soundtrack for late night lock-ins, pool party break-ins, festival headline mayhem, Sofar Sessions, ceilidhs, crowd surfing and Extinction Rebellion occupations. From sand pit beginnings, the band have completed countless UK tours winning fans old and new, supported bands as diverse as My Baby and Elles Bailey, been jump started by Keith Allen, played by BBC Introducing and BBC Radio, played their first European dates, survived 70+ festival shows at prestigious festivals like Green Man, Boom Town, Larmer Tree and Shambala, been featured on the Spotify Nu-Blue & Modern Blues Rock playlist, and even curated their own venue for 5 years at the now legendary west country Fieldview Festival.
facebook.com/truestrays
WORDS: Alan Pearce PICTURE: Supplied
Ron Addison is a soulful bluesman who is enjoying the culmination of a music filled life that is now getting to shine. His voice can be deeply resonant and rich or can forcefully growl and drive with a hot southern rock edge.
His original music can excite a room, mellow it out, and bring people clapping and singing along back to their feet! His newly released debut album Testify has been a long time coming and is proving to be well worth the wait. It shows his vocal versatility, his unique perspectives and how well he delivers many styles of blues.
his music in “Crayons in Heaven” that listeners find relatable.
“I’ve been to the UK many times but never to play music. The next time I visit, I want to tell my wife that I’m working, but it won’t be work knowing that I’m playing and having the best time of my life”
Ron is currently recording his next single and writing songs for his next album. He and his band are bringing this enjoyable mix of blues to a growing listening audience worldwide.
Check out his website: ronaddison.com and Instagram account: ronaddisonmusic
Testify can be found on all downloading sites
and Spotify.
country artists like Merle Haggard and Johnny
After a career in the military as a helicopter pilot and a Virginia State Trooper, Ron Addison went from the long arm of the law to the outstretched arms of the blues, his first love. His career paths gave him much life experience and thematic material for blues ideas, tunes, stories and lyrics. “I started playing guitar when I was about seven,” he recalls. “My dad taught all of us to play an instrument. I grew up in rural Southwest VA on country artists like Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. When I was a teenager, I found Elvis, Chuck Berry, and the bands of the British invasion. About that same time the sounds of B.B. King, Ray Charles, and a handful of blues singers took my love for music into another world. A lot of music was influenced by the blues and I always feel the best when I’m singing or playing the blues.”
A lot of music was influenced by the blues and I Tomcats, play a mix of his originals, but you may also hear an old Sister Rosetta Tharpe
His current band, Ron Addison and the Tomcats, play a mix of his originals, but you may also hear an old Sister Rosetta Tharpe song followed by an Eric Clapton or Tab Benoit song. Each song is meant to bring out some type of emotion.
The album Testify, includes rockabilly flavored upbeat songs and the passionate angst filled No Damn Good. Title track Testify shows off a rockin’ side, driving vocal abilities, zeal and energy. You’ll also find a contemplative side to
WORDS: Iain Patience
Bourbon Street clearly takes its name from the famed New Orleans thoroughfare beloved of blues music revelers globally.
But this is no US band, they’re from France, a country that Louisiana shares much of its DNA with. From its inception back in 1992, the band has now produced five albums and a DVD, played over 1000 gigs and established itself as one of France’s most assured blues outfits. With a new album just released, the thirteen-track Stop and Listen, band frontman, founder and guitarist, Eric Vacherat explains how Bourbon Street got together and immersed itself in blues.
“It was English players that first interested me when I was young: Alexis Korner, Eric Clapton, even some Beatles. Back then, I thought ZZ Top was the best blues band. Then I heard more music and saw Champion Jack Dupree at Brive with the Englishman, Dave Kelly. I started listening to more and more old records, slowing down the turntable to find out how to play the music
– maybe some Rory Gallagher! Cyril plays more slide guitar, with a Danelectric. He loves those older guys like Tampa Red. We were lucky with a ‘Hot Club’ for jazz and blues music in Limoges. Bill Broonzy played there before I was born, but it gave the band a chance when we started out.”
The new album is a mix of traditional, well-known and much loved classics like Rev Robert Wilkins’ That’s No Way To Get Along, JB Lenoir’s Down in Mississippi and Sittin’ On Top of the World, and self penned numbers rooted in the US southern blues tradition, with some searing harp-work from band regular, Laurent Cagnan, and always cool slide work from founding co-member, Cyril Menet. Over the years Borbon Street has visited the southern US states that so inspired them and their music, Clarkesdale, Mississippi, New Orleans, swampy Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee. With the new album dedicated to the memory of New Orleans picker, the late Spencer Bohren. With so many professional gigs under their belt, Eric Vacherat confirms the band has shared stages with Little Jimmy Reed, Otis Grand, Monster Mike Walsh and French harp virtuoso, Jean Jaques Milteau, among others as well as working the Chicago Blues Festival and opening for many acts including, John Primer, Louisiana Red, Peter Green’s Band, Magic Slim, Larry Garner and countless others. Now in lockdown, like the rest of us, Vacherat is spending his time picking guitar and looking ahead hopefully to the release of lockdown tensions and getting back out on the road to promote the new album again whenever possible.
WORDS: Eddy Bonte PICTURES: Supplied
Although realizing that the Blues is being performed all over the world, it did come as a bit of a surprise when Betho Ieesus from Brazil sent me his first full blues cd, ‘Pretty Woman’ two years ago.
I was instantly struck by his deep emotional voice, often underlined by a slice of Dobro or an equally deep-down guitar rumble, but also by his ability to use musical idioms to capture grave problems such as poverty, violence and inequality - while not giving in once to the blues template. A biography mentioning his mastering of a vast array of instruments, production work with stars like of Mariah Carey and classical musical studies made me wonder why such a career path had led to the blues. After listening to
his second full blues cd, 2019’s ‘Bodacious Blues Bazaar’, I thought it was time for a few questions….
What was your first instrument and how did it come about?
My grandfather, Albino Adriano, was a hero in the revolution of 1912 which implemented the Republic of Portugal. He travelled from village to village with his guitar, playing and singing during campaigns for the Republic. He taught me my first chords and that’s how I became a guitar player. I have dual Brazilian and Portuguese nationality, but went to school in Brazil. I studied classical guitar with the great Brazilian teacher Henrique Pinto, himself a
pupil of guitar maestros like Andres Segovia, Isaias Savio and Abel Carlevaro. He taught me music and, above all, musical logic, culture and the skill of clean, precise finger-picking. Strangely, I lost my fear of playing other instruments - just like a child who has many colouring pencils at his disposal. So, yes I was classically trained and played concerts in my youth, but the pressure to survive led me to popular genres. In Brazil, an erudite musician has to consider living in Europe or becoming a teacher of his instrument. I also studied arrangement and composition and all this made me a better musician. Everyone should study classical music, regardless of their favourite genre or country of origin.
You have your own studio, Sun Trip in São Paulo, and produced stars as diverse as Mariah Carey and Jimmy Cliff. Which comes first: the musician or the producer?
It is difficult to find musicians specialized in a particular genre here, but on the other hand there is a plethora of drummers, guitarists, bass-players and keyboardists playing all kinds of music. Since no musical education is taught at schools, things happen in the studio. I go into the studio and make it happen - but not without having studied what must be done first. When writing my bio, I stressed my ‘star’ curriculum to get some visibility, but in my studio I have worked with most Brazilian musicians. It is a very small market here, so you either do a little bit of everything or you don’t make any progress. It is a country with a lot of wealth and hardships at the same time. Everything said and done: I´m a musician first.
Now, can you explain why such a background eventually led to the blues and two full blues albums in two years?
I have always listened to the blues greats,
especially Muddy Waters, B.B. King (who was really famous in Brazil), Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Robert Johnson… but eventually the rock of Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones showed me the way to the blues. They opened the gates to the treasure trove. In my case, I went wild when hearing Steve Ray Vaughan’s ‘Tin Pan Alley’. From that moment onwards, my dream was to make a blues CD. In 2000, I launched an album through Road Runner which received a lot of praise in Europe - but nothing happened. A lazy record company isn’t exactly uplifting. Today, the internet allows me to introduce my music to the world – and it works. You must keep in mind there is no market for the blues in Brazil. Blues venues are common in the USA and Europe, but they simply do not exist here.
Can we say that the blues had laid dormant for many years before you started writing your own blues songs?
To me, there are three types of music: erudite, Asian and the Blues. Blues is of African origin and got mixed with the predominant European culture in the USA. The same thing happened in Brazil and became Samba or Bossa Nova. Blues is everywhere, I use it all time. One way or another, all modern occidental music comes from the Blues. Today, I play the blues only. I only produce things that I find musically interesting. Playing the blues makes me evolve constantly, because the creative possibilities are limitless.
Do you pursue real success or is the making of a blues album more a matter of ‘fun’, a field where you can do whatever you like as Betho Ieesus the musician and not just the producer who has to deliver a ‘product’ for someone else and make sure it becomes a success?
To launch a blues CD is my life, just like playing the blues. Blues drives my soul. It’s my identity, my musical dream. I have always been able to live off my music and I wouldn’t want to change that. I have received several queries for shows in Europe and the USA, but the venues suggested are too far apart. I have to get my work out there to enable excursions outside Brazil. I am now negotiating several theatre shows over here. In the meantime, I keep doing instrumental tracks and productions – not just for artists, but equally for TV and the theatre – a world where I landed a few successful jobs actually. My work is played throughout Brazil, but mainly on segmented and niche radio stations. A poor, uneducated country like mine does not leverage an audience, but I am very well known in the market.
What sets you apart as a blues performer?
I believe it is creativity and originality, like writing my own lyrics. I keep listening to the roots of the blues and try to be in constant harmony with this world. I have used popular themes in my lyrics to this day, but I’ll change that for my next work. I want to discuss global issues. I think I am ready for it now and so is my public. The corona virus is the alarm bell, the password to a profound questioning of a failed and evil global economic model. Music has to be relevant again in this questioning. In the song ‘Maria Eduarda do Brasil’, I question the death of children by stray bullets, a common thing in Rio de Janeiro. I usually sing in English, but this one is in Portuguese since it is a message for my fellow countrymen. I studied singing for many years and I have an extensive vocal range which allows me to even sing lyrically. Robert Plant’s singing in ‘Houses Of The Holy’ opened my eyes and I always think about changing my voice from tune to tune my way: a deep bass is my
main feature. The Dobro certainly is part of this search for deep emotion. I love Dobro and slide.
May we expect your next effort to be socially committed?
For a start, the roots of the blues reflect a reality of suffering and many current mismatches in society. My song ‘Edu Loved the Blues’ is a real story: I witnessed the violent death of a young man who has his bike stolen. It can happen anywhere in the world, but in Brazil it is a social disease. Ours is a violent country. Call it a protest song. I have these concerns because as a student leader I fought the dictatorship in Brazil. As my work progresses, I think I will be able to master this narrative musically and do so on a level that does not make it too heavy or boring, so that people can still have fun at the show, sing and dance… I want everyone to feel happy without losing the ability to question reality ... a happy world is not a world without questions.
As we were discussing your social commitment, you stated ’Blues is musical resistance, a revolutionary attitude’.
The blues emerged from the fields of slavery and triggered an incredible body of work that had remained virtually intact when it hit the record market in the 1960s. To cut a long story short: the blues is a primordial intact cell of the legitimate feelings of freedom and humanity. It has become the musical element of resistance, because it was forged by a history of poverty and deprived freedom, which is nothing more than what we are going through today, beaten as we are by the advancement of pure digital materialism, slaves in the face of globalization and the precariousness of jobs. The blues probes, protests, seeks the lost love of humanity through its humanity.
We speak of sad and serious things, but we can also rejoice because we have the Blues as a means of resistance against the trivialization of art, against ‘McDonald Music’, because we hold the revolutionary proposal of always questioning the system and its frivolous decisions on our lives, which only favours the rich. Long live the blues! Long live creative freedom detached from the market: we do what we love and can share it with the world.
www.bethoieesus.com.br
“roots of the blues reflect a reality of suffering”
WORDS: Tim Arnold PICTURES: Aigars Lapsa
Brandon Santini is set to rule with his harp, his vocals, his writing, and his soul.
A bunch of years ago Brandon Santini takes his barely-legal young self and a bag of harps on the road to Memphis, leaving behind pretty much everything back in ‘Carolina, where,’ as he sings it many gigs later, ‘I was born, and people, I was raised in a lion’s den ‘(This Time Another Year, 2015 Vizztone/ OLM Entertainment).
Everything except his mojo for the blues, he takes that with him, whatever it was back then, his band goes with him. Delta Highway. A prophecy.
Back when he was 15 years old, he catches The Blues Traveler on the radio, and some dude whammin’ and jammin’ on a harmonica, making it sound almost like a guitar: “Mom take me down to the music store. I got to have one of those!” and that was it. He’s on Highway 61, but it’ll be some years and miles before he hits those crossroads.
I caught up with Santini at the Clearwater Sea Blues Festival where he owned it on the Saturday evening, and blew the joint away with his harp and vocals. His newly-formed band, Tennessee Redemption, features Timo Arthur on guitar and background vocals, and Jeff Jensen on acoustic guitar and vocals,
both are on his latest album: The Longshot (American Showplace Music), released March 15th, 2019, nearly five years after his last one and it immediately hit #7 on the Billboard Blues Chart.
The studio band in Jersey that he records this fifth album with also includes Jed Potts on acoustic axe, drummer Reid Muchow, and Chuck Combs on bass. He’s got Greg Bumpel playing slide on three tracks; Jimmy Bennett on guitar for one; Michael Bram and Doug Hinrichs add percussion to five cuts and John Ginty is on just about everything else you hear on these tracks.
‘So, where did that 15-year-old kid find that feeling?’ I ask him. “I didn’t have it as a kid,” he tells me. “I grew up poor, with a single mom who never let me know we were, in fact, sometimes she’d forego eating just so I could. Pain was there but nowhere near the pain and suffering lots of black folks were going through. No wonder they were connected to the blues all along. Anyway, I guess I had some kinda blues, I just didn’t know what to call it.”
It didn’t matter. ‘He’s got that boogie-woogie. It’s in him and it got to come out,’ like Hook sang (“Boogie Chillun,” John Lee Hooker, 1944).
It turns out that whammer-jammer on the radio, in The Blues Travelers, is John Popper, who remains to this day as Santini’s go-to guy for the rhythm that is his blues. So Santini gets the album, and then he learns about these guys he never heard of that Popper says are his influences: Paul Butterfield, James Cotton, Little Walter.
He wasn’t hearing any of their stuff on the radio, but he fixed that right quick with more records and trying to play some of that along with classic rock, and the blues keep pulling him in. He’s on the proverbial highway, and soon enough he’s on the road to Memphis. He came to the right place, Memphis. In1934, a community leader named George Washington Lee published Beale Street: Where the Blues Began - the first book by a black author advertised in the Book of the Month Club News (Sewell, George A; Dwight, Margaret L. (1977) Mississippi Black History Makers, University Press of Mississippi). And Congress declared it the
Home of the Blues. It was already an official US National Landmark.
When Santini gets to Memphis, in 2003, Beale Street is jumpin’. Joints, clubs, bars, restaurants, and a vintage record store. Up and down its 1.8 miles, starting down by the Mississippi River and the Beale Street Landing, on up past B.B. King Blvd and Rufus Thomas Blvd to the park, there was live music, every night. Some places are open until 3am.
B.B. King opened his Blues club on a Beale Street corner in 1991 and was playing there a couple of times a year when Brandon got there.
There’s plenty of kick-ass blues outside of town too including Wild Bill’s Juke Joint, out on Vollintine Avenue where a killer house band cranks it up and you never know who’s gonna be sittin’ in.
Gibson were also crafting their hollowbody guitars in Memphis for 60 years until
they moved all that back to Nashville a year ago, but they still have their spectacular store next to Beale Street. And, there’s the historic Stax Records, their museum, and Soulsville Foundation sits out on East McLemore.
All part of the Memphis mojo.
Soon Santini and the band are jammin’ up and down Beale Street, feelin’ it, like all the players that came there before him. Like B.B., and Albert, Muddy, and Robert Johnson. Minnie Pearl and Rufus Thomas. And now they’re getting regular gigs and record a first album which gets them a Blues Music Award nomination for Best New Artist Debut.
Before too long Santini’s getting hard-earned recognition and goes on the road with some 100 gigs a year in and out of Memphis.
Along the way he plays next to Buddy Guy, trades licks with Charlie Musselwhite and
performs with Gary Clarke, Jr. and is finally being recognised as one of the best blues harp players out there, anywhere, and receives more industry-wide blues awards nominations, including Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, Male Blues Artist, Instrumentalist - Harmonica, Live Blues Album et al.
His 2014 nomination for Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica put him alongside Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, Rick Estrin and James Cotton, right where he belongs.
Since its release, The Longshot, after debuting at #7 on the Billboard Blues Chart has also charted at #4 on iTunes Blues Chart, #2 on the Top 50 Blues Album Charts, #1 for Contemporary Blues Album, and #2, #4, and #8 on the Top 50 Blues Song Chart for songs with Don’t Come Around Here, Drive You Off My Mind, and Going Home on the Roots Music Reports (Atlas Music Publishing).
It includes a range of original composi-
tions, six of which Santini wrote, the rest he co-wrote. In fact, the only cover on it is Willie Dixon’s Evil (Is Going On).
His range will twist your heart up all kinds of ways, then think about it, pump it back up and take it dancin’. There’s some James Cotton in it with a touch of acoustic country. He pulls on Credence, and the Stones, and the Allman Brothers, and washes it all down with some Muddy, and Wolf.
All of it movin’ and shakin’ with the rest of the plugged-in players. The Longshot’s got some backup vocals on it, and some keys, the Hammond organ, added percussion. All of it new territory.
Santini puts it this way, “Got this yearning inside me. Always wanting to paint another part of the canvas.” Somewhere between subway graffiti and Modernism. “Yeah, I’m stretchin’ it. Got to grow to survive. For my own personal good. Got this yearning inside me,” he says, which is totally not necessary, ‘cause it’s so obvious.
He’s mixing rock up with some classic blues harp, call it blues rock, all the way back to his man, James Popper. Feelin’ it, all of it. So, will you. He tells me there’s another Brandon Santini album coming out later this year. He’s writing all the time.
“I’ve got words in my head,” he’s saying. “I play a little acoustic guitar and play some licks along with some of the words. And I’ll get down in my little basement studio, well, not exactly a studio but I’ve got Garage Band set up so I can lay down some chords, some bass licks, multi-track it, and later even lay down some of those words.
“I fall in and out of love with my songs all the time. They sit there in my head. One of my favourites from this last album, One More Day, was sittin around since like 2014
before I recorded it.”
The man’s got more than 30 harps, some minor keys, some that go super loud. He’s been an endorser for Hohner Harmonicas since 2013 and he fills his harp case with 24 of them for a gig.
“I usually use about five of them, but hey, boys got to be ready.”
He typically sticks with his Bullet mic, a ‘60’s Shure 707, that: “gives me a good, fat sound, and no, I can’t read music,” says he, in response to my question, like virtually every other blues dude out there. Don’t matter. He doesn’t need to. He just feels it.
Santini’s got an interesting take on that feeling, that ultimate blues feeling. ‘Where’s that come from?’ I ask him. And after a one-bar pause to think about it, he calls it: “lost… elevating… levitating… I get lost in the band’s sounds, sometimes I’m sucking and blowing so big I forget I gotta sing.”
And this guy has definitely got both kinds of pipes: “we get into some slow, 12-bar E thing, mic’s fat, amp’s sounding great… and it’s like some big weight’s bein’ lifted off my shoulders.”
Damn straight. Put on The Longshot. Crank it up. Your gonna levitate, too. Get lost in it. Till you remember you just got to dance to this stuff.
Rory Block is a US acoustic blues great. Now in her sixties, Block has been travelling the world, toting her guitar, picking the blues and always with her trademark slide to hand for more years than even she wants to remember.
We managed to squeeze in some time with her as she came off the road from a US tour disrupted by COVID-19 shutdowns and with a new album on Canadian label Stony Plain, ‘Prove It On Me,’ about to hit the streets.
In recent years Block has turned out a series of truly inspired albums, themed around the great traditional blues players that inspired, influenced and impressed her as a youngster and as a performer. Artists covered included the likes of Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Son House, many guys she herself met and players she considered as mentors.
Now, a few years on, she has moved from the ‘Mentor’ series of remarkable recordings to the latest project, the Power Women of Blues series. Block’s debut release in
the series featured the music and work of Bessie Smith, an album that picked up positively rave reviews generally. The second in the run, ‘Prove It On Me,’ highlights many lesser-known blues women but is equally likely to wow the blues-loving public. This is music from artists like Arizona Dranes, Elvie Thomas, Helen Humes and peppered with a few revered blues names including Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie.
So, where did the stimulus, the concept for the new series come from, I ask, and where did she find these largely overlooked ladies:: “When I did my mentor series, it was based on six males, all guys I’d known and met. Just the way it was. But I knew there were all these great women out there too. So I thought I must do this new series of power women in blues.
The first, Bessie Smith, was a certainty, a no-brainer to ignore. Then when it came to the next, ‘Prove It On Me,’ I was interested in the unknowns, and there are just so many of them. An old buddy, guitar builder and blues singer Marc Silber, in California, said I should check out Arizona Dranes. ‘Who? I said.’ I’d never heard of her. But with YouTube these days it’s possible to find so much and there she was. I loved it. So, I began researching, looking and studying these other players. I
actually found one that blew me away but I didn’t take a note of her name thinking I’d find her again. But when I went back, despite trying so many times, I’ve not found her yet!”
Asked why she thinks these women were ignored and overlooked by the resurgence of interest in blues back in the 1960s in the USA, Rory is quick to explain the conundrum: “With women back in the 20s and 30s, it was a different world. It was difficult, maybe even near-impossible for them to just go out on the road. They couldn’t jump a freight-train and turn up to play at a Juke Joint without being criticized and labeled as some kind of low-down woman back then. It was a big issue. Sure, a few did go
out and take it on…Bessie Smith, Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey… they made it in their own way. But it was no easy choice if, say, they had a home, a family and kids. I was lucky when I started out in New York. I met all these great blues players who were being rediscovered. John Hurt – a real sweetie, one of the nicest people I ever met – Fred McDowell – he used a little, single knuckle slide - Reverend Gary Davis - some spend their whole lives trying to play like him - Bukka White, Skip James, Son House - he was always quiet and shy. But at that time it was all males. So this series is a statement of love to those great women of blues.”
But with so many true greats of acoustic blues music already in her personal mix, who does she think is, or was, the greatest? Without a second’s hesitation, Rory fires back:
“Robert Johnson is top of the mountain! There are lots of other styles but Johnson was in a league of his own. Others played some great slide, there’s always Willie Johnson who had a very strident style, and Skip James; Gary Davis, never – though I was told he would at home sometimes and some heard him, Stefan (Grossman) heard it –Mississippi John Hurt didn’t play much slide. But Johnson was the best. It’s that simple, for me anyway.”
But surprisingly, perhaps, the slide style didn’t come easily. Block tried various ways of playing before she hit the slide method after listening in the studio one day to a friend, Bonnie Raitt, playing through the speakers: “I started playing when I was about ten, you can do the math,” she quips with a laugh. “I stopped for a while but basically it’s been guitar and me for my life really. I went through many stages, all types of picking. I heard Tommy Johnson and that was a style that worked for a while with that sort of strumming bass sound. Then I had to
adapt to another style, to analyse it – Son House – playing slide.”
“At first I’d overshoot the fret and notes, then I’d undershoot it. It was so frustrating. It was just never like that perfect tennis back-hand really! But Bonnie was on an album and I was listening to speakers in the studio. I’d asked her how she did it but I still found it a battle at times. I was just way too tense., so it was hard to always get the right fret! I heard that Bonnie was relaxed, she took what I now call ‘a stroll up the neck.’ I could hear that Bonnie was relaxed and funky, so I relaxed into it. I teach this at workshops and with my students now!”
And she recalls a meeting with a UK picker that also helped move her on, pushing her own developing talent ever further ahead: “I had a visit from Brendan Croker of the Notting Hillbillies, a guy who plays with Mark Knopfler. Again, he was a great slide player. I could see that he played up then down, playing with the slide in another way. It was a revelation! I play with bare fingers, I only used a thumb-pick on the Reverend Gary Davis album (Mentor Series) because you must use one to get anywhere near that bass sound he had. You really need a thumb-pick for that Reverend Gary Davis attack. His style has an edge related to the thumb-pick.”
Returning to the theme of power women in blues, Rory inevitably mentions Memphis Minnie with a cover of her track, ‘In My Girlish Days,’ included in the new album: Of course Memphis Minnie is another of those women who we all know and love. She was great. And of course she was also a guitarist. She’s impossible to ignore, the only difficulty was in choosing which track to include,” she laughs.
We joke about the strange idea that she
might be nearing retirement, a theme we touched on when we last spoke together a few years ago: “It just didn’t take! I’m totally immersed in the music, I think. Whatever the explanation might be it’s sure gonna be difficult! And I have my own studio and so much more I want to do. I still enjoy being on-stage playing. I’m now on my fourth roadbus. I got tired of driving over the Rockies, maybe getting to Denver then the old bus would break down and I’d be in a rental car!”
As her latest release ‘Prove It On Me’ hits the streets, Rory confirms that she is planning a six-disc set of Power Women in Blues, to mirror her Mentor set: “Six is a good number, could make a nice box-set size,” she confirms and adds, when prompted ”I honestly don’t know what the next will be, who it will feature. I just haven’t got it yet. There are just so many great, strong blues women out there to discover.”
Before we part, Rory emphasises her appreciation for the blues music world generally: “I’ve had such wonderful support from the entire blues community over the years. It’s always welcome to have the support. Awards, for example, are always welcome too. The whole blues community is like a great family, a blues family. That’s important always!”
www.roryblock.com
They might be based in California, but the music is pure Southern rockin’ blues spiced with just enough country soul.
Led by the charismatic Robert Jon Burrison, this is the band that are making waves in all the right places even if that was on board during the recent Joe Bonamassa blues cruise. The planned European tour this year is another victim of the coronavirus, but rest assured the band will be invading our shores at the first possible opportunity, spreading the love and
the vibe. New album, Last Light On The Highway, will be out as scheduled and it continues the band’s rise to prominence. I was thrilled to catch up with Robert via phone.
Hi Robert, how you doing?
Hey man, good to hear from you. I’m doing alright.
That’s good to hear, these are weird times
we’re going through.
Just a little bit, I guess we’re all coping OK and trying to figure out how to get through every day.
I want to talk to you about the new album, it must be really hard having to promote it under these circumstances. You have built a lot of your reputation through live performances.
Yeah, it’s definitely harder, and we are a live band who really enjoy performing onstage all the time. Not being able to do that for several weeks now has been tough but we still wanted to release the record. I think maybe this is a good time because people might wanna hear something new. Something to help you forget about what’s going on.
Yes, that’s true. It would be very easy to just put everything on hold.
You know, if we can’t play live at least we can release some new music for everyone to listen to and to let people know stuff is still happening and the world hasn’t stopped completely.
The first Robert Jon & The Wreck album I picked up on was the self-titled one that I think came out about two to three years ago. The follow up, Take Me Higher, I really enjoyed too; you’ve been prolific in writing and releasing new material and I feel this one takes you to a higher level do you all feel the same?
You know when you’re in the room working on it, you don’t realise it, it’s not until you hear the finished product. During the writing and recording process it felt like this had a bit more to say, and its louder than ever.
You guys are based in California, but the music has a very Southern rock vibe although this album is more bluesy and soulful. Where do you pick that inspiration from?
Ha, we hear that a lot. You know, we’re influenced by everything not just the music from around here. You know we are influenced by people like The Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Young and Nash, we do a lot of vocal harmonies and that sort of thing. You get attached and drawn to certain sorts of music and that’s where our hearts went, kinda into that Southern rock thing.
You’ve captured the traditional feeling and integrity of that music on this, but you’ve added a really contemporary edge and you can sense other influences being mixed in there. How does the writing work, are you the main lyricist?
Yeah, we’re all songwriters in the band, every single one of us. There’s not a single writer dominating the record, we all pitched ideas and created things together in the room, we flush them out together and we find what best fits together whether it’s musically or lyrically. We all feel a couple of extra pairs of ears on something is good.
You mentioned harmonies earlier and that was something I picked up listening, not just vocally but musically too. You can really feel the harmony between the guitars, it creates a feel-good factor even if lyrically they might not be happy songs. The songs all feel positive.
Yeah, that’s what we were going for.
I mean like on Work It Out, you’ve got a horn section and backing singers giving it a Detroit feel.
That song was real fun to put together. It might seem like a bit of a departure from what we’ve done in the past but when we were in the room putting it together and then when we heard the horns and the backing singers it just felt good.
I still love to play albums through from start
to finish and this holds up as a well-constructed piece of work, it flows. It’s not just a collection of songs.
Well, thank you, that is what we went for. Can’t Stand It, is another track that I was enjoying, then these amazing backing singers came in and took it to a completely amazing place. I thought, wow! And then realised Mahalia Barnes is on there, that’s some coup.
Yeah, yeah, it was really exciting for us to work with them because they’re over in Australia, but we met them on Joe Bonamassa’s cruise and became friends, so we asked if they would become part of the album. They were keen and excited, so it worked out really well, we were excited to have them.
That cruise was a great thing to be a part of. Would you say that’s helped open up doors for you and get you playing in front of the right people?
It’s certainly played a big part in where the band was and where we are now. We were put in the position of being able to play with these great artists. We became friends and we took the opportunity to show what we can do and also learn from them. See what they do at that level. Meeting and learning from people, was just a great experience.
There seems to be a real buzz around the band just now. I mentioned earlier that I got to know your music through your self-titled album, but I know you’ve been playing and recording a good while prior to that.
That’s right, the band as a band has been together since 2011. We’ve had some line-up changes because, you know, not everyone has the same passion for the same thing. Touring schedules and such.
I wanted to mention Henry (James), he brings such a lot to the band, we already talked about the guitar harmonies.
Oh yes, very much so. He’s an incredible player and an incredible artist in general. He brings a little bit more of that Jimi Hendrix vibe to what we’re doing. It’s been amazing to work with him. And of course, the rest of the guys. Warren
Murrel, our bass player, came in at the same time Henry did, so the camaraderie has been in place now for about two and a half years. As well as me, Steve Maggiora and Andrew Espantman having been together since the beginning. They came in and the train just kept moving, it didn’t stop at all.
Looking down at the track list, Don’t Let Me Go, that’s probably the most out and out rock song, another terrific tune.
I would say if you’re used to what we’ve done in the past you would say, yeah, they still have that rocking out in there.
I also love what Henry brings to the table on One Last Time.
That one was really fun to write and compose together as a group. We did a lot of moving pieces with that. It turned out pretty epic.
The title track, Last Light On The Highway is quite epic too.
In the past we’ve done a lot of instrumental pieces because we love those Allman Brothers jams so this was our version of that, but we also wanted to have a lyrical component to it.
Gold is great too, sometimes it’s brave to try a ballad like that but this one really works.
Sometimes those break up songs are too sugar coated. I think that is an honest track for anyone whose gone through anything like that. That honesty is so important, the blues is about as honest as you can get sometimes. I really started out listening to gospel music and then at school a friend got me into classic rock, The Eagles, Black Sabbath all of that stuff. As a band we’ve crossed into all sorts of stuff, even played in punk bands. There’s a lot of diversity in us growing up together. It wasn’t until later on that I realised everything derived from the old-style blues. I’m just happy that I found my way into the blues at some point.
I’m sure I read somewhere that you started out as a drummer.
Yeah, I was a drummer in a 5th grade band. I was a drummer long before I was ever a singer or guitar player. All through high school I was in bands as a drummer, guitar just became a side thing that I enjoyed doing, actually our whole band is full of drummers. Out bass player used to be a drummer and Henry was a drummer too when I first met him. We used to jam with Henry and Warren for years before they joined the band.
Like everyone, live touring is on hold right now. Do you have any idea what might be happening on that front?
We’re just waiting to hear. It’s so uncertain all over the globe. As soon as we know everyone will know. It’s out of our hands.
The official release date remains in May.
Yes, May 8th. Whatever is happening on May 8th everyone will be able to listen to the whole record. It can be ordered online from us and there’s a white vinyl version too.
Good luck with it all, thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
It’s a pleasure. Thanks, so much for the call. Robert Jon & The Wreck’s new album “Last Light On
WORDS: Colin Campbell PICTURES: Andy King Photography
No stranger to a stage, Whitney Shay has been entertaining audiences since she was three years old. Whether in a big band, duo, jazz, or a blues outfit, Whitney is a hardworking frontwoman.
She is a singer-songwriter who has just released her new album Stand Up on the Ruf Records label. She is also part of Ruf’s Blues Caravan Tour with Jeremiah Johnson and Ryan Perry. I managed to catch up with her via video link...
fully the venues will still exist after all this. The Arts industry is really struggling!
So, how do you keep your vocal cords sharp when you’re not doing concerts?
In my home in San Diego South California, this is my abode. I have a recording studio in my bedroom. It’s been good to spend time at home and set this up with software as well. I’ve never produced stuff on my own before, so this is a good time to learn.
How are you coping with the present lockdown/quarantine situation?
It’s been a bit of a struggle because there’s been such momentum for the record and the tour. I was supposed to be leaving to tour Europe yesterday! We were going until May time and it looks like all the UK dates for the Blues Caravan tour are getting rescheduled to September this year. Hope-
Actually, to be honest, my vocals have been extra fresh because I haven’t been abusing them as much! So, my voice sounds much higher than it normally does. I’m usually so full on doing music, I don’t get a chance to breathe, it’s nice to take a step away for a moment. When I do get the chance to sing again that makes it more special, it makes you appreciate this at a deeper level. You don’t take anything for granted no more, you can’t!
Do you do any live streams or have any plans to in the near future?
I like them but I’ve not done any yet. I’m a perfectionist so I’m worried that something won’t be perfect. But there is something to be said about living in the moment and connecting with people. People need something to get them out of their daily lives. I’m working on a video collaboration at the moment.
You are in so many bands, can you talk about this and about working with Ryan Perry and Jeremiah Johnson on the Blues Caravan 2020 tour?
So, when I work at home, I’m lucky that in San Diego there are so many opportunities for doing different types of music. So, I have a jazz quartet I sing with sometimes. I also have a five-piece rhythm and blues band and we do my original material and some 50’s and 60’s R&B. I am in a fourteen-piece big band and sing with them occasionally. I occasionally get hired for corporate work and session work also. This year was supposed to be different…you’re always adapting as an artist. Comments about the Blues Caravan tour have been positive, things like it’s a real band feeling, and we seem to get on well with each other. We all allow each other to shine in our own moment as well.
What’s the weirdest concert or event that you’ve played?
A few years back, I did a gig at an Asian grocery store next to the frozen food section. It was the opening of their bakery. It was a jazz gig and I sang jazz standards next to the frozen fish! I also got hired once to jump out of a birthday cake and sing “Happy Birthday”.
Tell us about your musical influences and what made you want to become a professional musician?
My first trip to Europe was when I was three and I was with my mother and grandmother. As a kid I loved sitting through plays. They took me to see the Wizard of Oz which was my favourite movie at that time. They asked me what I thought later, and I said, “well I liked it, but I thought I was going to get on the stage”. My mum then found a theatre company that would take me at three and a half years old! My first show was Annie it was a children’s theatre show. Then there was a transitional period from theatre to music in 2009. I moved to Colorado and
graduated from college and then came back to San Diego, but what was I going to do, I was twenty-two. I found an advert about a duo and joined that. I did swing dancing about then also which was some of our first live concerts. I saw another advert for a Speakeasy Bar, we auditioned and played four times a week. My first gigs were playing three nights a week there as a duo. I had to learn to get pretty good, quick!
I prefer playing with a band, with a full rhythm section, bass and guitar. But there’s also something special about playing as a duo. You use different paintbrushes should I say to do that kind of gig. Etta James is my favourite singer. They talk about the qualities of different singers and they talk about the honesty of Etta James. That’s what I love, she is genuine, and you believe her. Something I have learned is to be yourself and commit. Bonnie Raitt’s honesty I like, also Eva Cassidy. But it’s Little Richard who was the best entertainer, also Jackie Wilson, I would like to emulate those singers. Sam Cooke, Otis Redding. I was told not to sing anything that I didn’t love, because people will know.
Let’s talk about your newest release, “Stand Up”, how did this come about, production and band? You wrote most of the songs as well?
I went to Austin, Texas, it’s so musically inspiring. The people there, drip blues out of their pores. I met Thomas Ruf at the Grammy Awards in L.A. and he sent me a lot of records, the one I liked the production on the most was Ina Forsman’s. My friend Laura Chavez who played on that record talked to me about playing for Kaz Kazanov. He had produced a record for Candy Kayne. Adam, my songwriting partner and myself started writing for this record six months before
recording. We went to Kaz with demos and he helped so much that when the demos were done it was nearly finalised into tracks. The players are all heavyweight session musicians. Red Young is a genius on organ, I saw him play the Continental Club in Austin, wow! Chris Maresh on bass is incredible and Brannen Temple who is on drums just won three Grammys with Gary Clark Junior. We had one day rehearsing then just jumped
What music did you listen to when you were growing up?
I did not get my musical interest currently from people I listened to in my childhood! I grew up listening to the Country music that my mum listened to. I listened to Christina Aquilaria and NSYNC! I didn’t know about jazz and blues until I befriended some blues musicians. I took guitar lessons and found out about Elmore James and Bessie
in and started recorded things. We left the horns and overdubbed my vocals at the end. I got to bring Marcia Ball, Kaz knows her very well, she lives in Austin, and she plays on, ”Boy Sit Down” and Derek O’Brien plays slide on “Equal Ground”. Gigs don’t pay so well in Austin because there are so many good musicians there. It is just so inspiring to have these musicians around you!
On your last album you played with Kid Anderson what was that like?
Kid is brilliant and Jim Pugh. I wouldn’t be on Ruf Records if it wasn’t for working with them. A good friend of mine said you should make a record at Greaseland, Kid Anderson’s house. Jim and Kid liked the record so much they put me on the label. I did the release party with Igor Prado and a promoter from Germany was there, he told Thomas Ruf about me and there you go, it’s funny how it all worked out.
Smith and Memphis Minnie. Once I started listening to it, it was like a treasure trove of discovery. I’ve always loved BIG woman’s voices! I’ve been trying to learn to play resonator guitar in my free time.
What’s the best musical advice you have had and from whom?
One of my acting teachers always said, “learn how to do everything because that’s only going to make you more marketable”. I feel that I have brought this into my singing now I write original music, I keep to this feeling. I didn’t feel I had my original voice up until recently, that was the thing that was so important to me doing this record. It’s all original music I’m writing and that’s so important. It feels like I am an artist.
Have you a certain song writing technique, does the vocal come first or a chord?
My friend Adam and I write 50/50. We schedule two days a week for writing. We
sometimes come with a lick or a melody or a theme. Sometimes it’s a hook, we’ll usually come up with a line, then a melody and that’s the focus. When you look at catalogues of songs that people love, they love songs that stick in your head. It’s all fine to write a ballad that’s deep and personal
There are so many ways of selling music and listening to it, how do you approach this?
Ruf is an old-fashioned label and they sell a lot of vinyl. Thomas Ruf says his business is still mostly physical sales. It’s good to be on this type of label. I don’t have an answer to utilise social media to sell music. You have to look at other ways of learning how to deal with everything including the music business. If you don’t have focus and drive to market yourself, you won’t survive.
but if it doesn’t connect to someone else, people won’t understand it. To me our job is to entertain. Music lets people forget for a moment what’s going on around them.
Do you have any favourite venues that you like playing?
In San Diego, The Belly-Up Tavern, is wonderful. They have an elevator they call the Ettavator. They put the elevator in to get to the stage for Etta James because she couldn’t reach the stage. It’s very intimate.
Is your persona off stage similar to onstage or are they similar?
Pretty much the same, on stage my energy levels increase. I’ve been on the stage for so long now it’s second nature to me.
If you were not a musician what would you be?
Our business is always uncertain and even people at the top can have all their tours cancelled. I thought of being a Therapist, people have always come to me with their issues. I also once thought about being a Lawyer.
Tell us something about yourself that people would not know about you, if you can?
I’ve always loved Art. Especially sculpture I could have been a sculptor! My favourite thing to do in cities is to go to Art Galleries.
Any plans for the future?
To play more in Europe. One of our favourite gigs was playing on a Monday in Bavaria, it was great, but Scotland will beat that! A lot of festivals are getting cancelled and this might mean the Blues Caravan may go on to 2021. I’m an optimist I believe in the power of positive thinking. The thing is not to take anything for granted. We can only survive by sticking together!
Thank you, it’s been great talking with you.
You too, bye!
For more details see website: www.whitneyshay.com
Blues With Friends is the title of the legendary New Yorkers new album and what a list of friends! An ‘A’ list of some of the best guitarists and vocalists around today, including Bonamassa, Springsteen, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Billy Gibbons, and more. All happy to perform with an artist who has been an inspiration to them all in some way.
It’s hard to believe that Dion recorded his first hit in 1958 with The Belmonts, a track called I Wonder Why, before achieving global success with songs like Runaround Sue and The Wanderer. He is still looking the part though and still being creative. This is a record of new material, great songs in the true sense. Resisting rehashing old standards Blues With Friends stands up as one of the best albums of the year so far. Dion splits his time these days between New York and Florida, where he was in lockdown when I phoned him.
Can we talk about the new album?
I’m loving it.
Thank you, you’ve heard it already?
Yes, it would’ve been very easy to have just recorded a load of blues standards, re-interpreting them with all the guests you
have. So, it’s fantastic that you’ve recorded all-new original material.
You know Steve, I wish I could say I planned it. I was working on this project in the studio for the last four years, and I’d written these 14 songs, wherever I was, like in hotel rooms, I’d just get out the guitar and work on them. I think I’m becoming a better songwriter. I knew Wayne Hood, and I’d heard his work as a producer and thought I’d like to work with him, so we got into the studio and I cut all the songs with my guitar in three days with a great bass player and drummer. Joe Bonamassa’s manager lives right next to me, so anyway, Joe hears one of the songs and says he wants to play on it. So, he plays on this song, Blues Comin’ On. He just took it to another level and beyond. That gave me the idea to give these songs to great artists who could contribute a vision of what they hear because I’m limited. For instance, on Hymn For Him, I thought Patti Sciafa would sound amazing on that, I could hear that soulful voice of hers, you know that tremolo, vibrato. So, I almost started casting, sending songs out to people that I’d heard. One of the biggest surprises to me was Samantha Fish, I knew
“I’m so fortunate all these people said yes”
she was good, I love the way she sings, just her sensibilities. I sent her a song called What If I Told You, and Steve, well when that came back, I couldn’t believe what the hell she did to it! She used a cigar box guitar and told me it’s the Mississippi rhythm she put on it. The lead guitar on it, when I heard it, I said if I put that much emotion into anything, I wouldn’t be able to walk for three weeks. She killed it! I mean some of the time it was scary like you give a song like Uptown No7 to Brian Setzer, you wonder what the hell is he going to do with it y’know. I mean when someone like Jeff Beck says yeah, I’ll play on it I knew we were in a good place. And then Van Morrison wanted to sing, I only wanted him to play horn on this song, he said no, let’s sing it.
Added to that you’ve got Joe Louis Walker playing the guitar on that track too.
Yeah, and he was so good. These class of artists respond to any sound you make. However, you phrase something they add to it. It’s unbelievable.
What struck me is that you’ve got all of these wonderful guitar players, but nobody
overplayed or added any show-off solos, everything they played was for the benefit of the song.
You’re right. I guess these great artists understand it. I got more and more trusting as I went along. It’s hard to let go of control because you think, what are they gonna do with my song. But thankfully they all added something, like an extra dimension. I hadn’t done anything like this before and it was really fun.
Also, the album, obviously it’s a blues album but it covers a lot of bases. There are some country blues and some backwoods style. I Told You Once In August is a lovely song. Plus, some gospel, it’s just a really good blues album.
Yeah, I tell you, I sent a song to Billy Gibbons called Bam Bang Boom, he is one of a kind. He said he’d be honoured to play on it. Me, I’m a rhythm singer, give me a rhythm and naturally, I have this style. I can’t hold big notes you know. With a guitarist like Billy Gibbons when you listen you know that it’s him, same with Jeff Beck.
The song Jeff plays on Can’t Start Over Again is lovely, it’s got that countryish vibe to it.
Yeah, he’s just, what can I say? He’s Jeff Beck.
On, My Baby Loves To Boogie you’ve got John Hammond Jnr on harp, and sax on Stumbling Blues too. So, it’s not just a guitar album, lots of other things are happening as well?
Yeah, you know Jimmy Vivino produced my last album and he’s a great guitar player when he heard Stumbling Blues, he introduced it to his brother Jerry, who is a great sax player. There’s amazing talent throughout the family, another brother Floyd plays, great piano. I wanted Jimmy to play a traditional blues guitar, but he asked could Jerry play on it. It ended up beautiful.
On my notes, I’ve written late-night jazz club feel and traditional love story.
Yeah, yeah. You got it. I sent another song out to Paul Simon, he plays great acoustic guitar, so rich in sound, but in the end,
he could only do the vocals. That was the Song For Sam Cooke, which I explained to him it’s not about segregation or racism, it’s more about brotherhood. When I went on the road with Sam Cooke, he was the son of a preacher and living out the gospel, his compassion and understanding of me, you know he was protecting me. This was way before he became, really well known. He took me into clubs and protected me. He was a very stand up, regal, refined guy. I was brought up in the Bronx, I was a little rough around the edges, but he was a real gentleman. So, Paul Simon understood, we had the story in common. He went into a studio and worked three days on it, y’know I’m so grateful to have worked with these people. What he did, really framed the song.
Another big surprise to me was Patti Sciafa, I asked for some echoing and different things on various lines, and she loved the song. She started layering vocals and capturing the essence of it, like the wind of the holy spirit. She made it into something sublime. And then Bruce walked into the studio with
his guitar and said I’d like to play on this too. Sometimes you get these nice surprises.
Someone we haven’t mentioned yet is Sonny Landreth. What an incredible slide player.
Steve, you know, I’m so glad you mentioned him. This guy is the most unassuming guy I’ve ever met. He plays like a freaking top-notch surgeon. He can play the violin as good as the greatest violinists that ever
lived. That slide guitar, he picks on it like a violinist. I don’t know how he does it, but he is amazing. I told him we’re either sad in the blues or bragging, and I can brag with the best of them. The Wanderer, Gangster Of Love, y’know I love those kinda songs. Man, I was so happy when he said yes. I’ve always admired his playing it’s very distinctive. And you know, Joe Bonamassa, I gotta say it’s only fair that he was the catalyst for the whole thing.
Blues Comin’ On opens the album and I think it’s the first single? It throws down a marker for the whole album. A real straight-ahead blues song that just rolls along.
I remember thinking I just couldn’t give the song enough soul. It’s so fast you have to get it right in the pocket. If nothing else I know how to groove, so I laid it down right in the pocket. Joe loved it. I’m so fortunate all these people said yes. Even my friend Joe Menza who’s a great guitarist. He kinda flew under the radar cos he’s one of those guys who just doesn’t get outta the house. He collects heirloom guitars. I asked him to lay down a rhythm track and a lead, and he did. He put the song, Kickin’ Child just exactly where I wanted it to live. Talk about a groove.
down a marker for the whole album. know lay of
A lot of people will remember you recording with The Belmonts and releasing songs like Runaround Sue and The Wanderer, but you were influenced by the blues very early on, weren’t you?
influenced by the blues very early on, weren’t you? the
Yeah, I did Groovy Baby, even Runaround Sue is a heavily disguised blues song. I remember the so-called British invasion, I called it the British infusion. That’s really what it was. That picked up where I was all along, I felt. You know Pete
Townsend of The Who, I found out he was a fan. I was in a studio once and he found out I was there, he came bursting in and said, Dion, I always wanted to tell you this, he says, me and Roger, our favourite song is your version of Spoonful, tell me how do you do that song, it’s amazing. He went on and on, I was taken aback. I told him I walked in with a Birdland Gibson, I had all the guys there, I turned the tremolo on, and I went for it. It’s kinda nice to know how it connected, that I reached somebody with it. It made me feel really good.
Your father was an entertainer, wasn’t he? My father was in vaudeville. He manipulated marionettes. He went to England when I was 14 or 15 years old and he played with The Crazy Gang. He was there for a year. He was an artist, he would sculpt. He wasn’t always the greatest at being a father, but he had great qualities. He certainly influenced my enthusiasm for creativity, wonder and awe and mystery.
Another thing you must get asked about a lot, the Winter Dance Tour when sadly we lost Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and others.
Yes, I have a whole video, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame people came down here and filmed an hour and a half of me talking about that. I hadn’t ever really talked about it before that, so that’s online if anybody wants to watch it. That was such a big thing, I was 19 years old, it really upset me. I guess over the years I’ve wanted those guys to be proud of me. Buddy Holly influenced my life on so many levels, as a guitar player, friends, just, y’know as men. Buddy Holly was such a nice guy, an amazing guy. He was like an old soul. I mean he chartered a plane at 22, even today 22-year-olds don’t charter planes, and this was 1959. He was taking flying lessons, he opened his own publishing company, he
had gotten married. The guy was like on a mission. He was a very decisive guy, next to him I was unsure, he made decisions just rapid fire. He was just terrific. He was definitely, a visionary.
You mentioned the Hall of Fame, you were inducted in 1989. That must have been a proud moment?
Yeah, yeah, wow. Steve, that made me feel really good. What can I tell you, I never got any awards as such? I don’t even know if the Grammys were around when I made The Wanderer and Runaround Sue if they were, they sure weren’t nominating rock n roll. I never got anything like that, I got recognition for million-selling records on my wall. Any awards I got were almost private, so getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame made me feel like what I had done had influenced or reached somebody. It’s very fulfilling.
Blues With Friends is released on June 5th on Keeping The Blues Alive Records which is a new label started by Joe Bonamassa and his manager Roy Weisman. It can be ordered via KTBArecords.com
www.diondimucci.com
• Blues With Friends 2020
• New York Is My Home 2016
• Tank Full of Blues 2011
• Son of Skip James 2007
• Bronx in Blue 2006
• New Masters 2003
• Deja Nu 2000
(Dion has had a prolific recording career and space restrictions mean we can only list his most recent recordings)
Now nearing eighty years of age, North Carolina soul-bluesman Roy Roberts looks back over a career that started as a kid, with a guitar to catch the women and to free him from a life working the family farm. We hooked up on the verge of a new release, the first in some time, to chat with an old friend.
IMAGE: Bill Clubb
WORDS: Iain Patience PICTURES: Jan Venning
When Greensboro, North Carolina soul-bluesman Roy Roberts was just a kid he tried piano lessons for a while but just couldn’t suffer the indignity of it all: “I’d be sitting playing and it felt sort of ‘……a girls thing’ to me, If you know what I mean. It was just cissified, I guess,” Roy laughs and adds, “I’d be able to hear my buddies outside in the yard playing and hollering, having a great time. So I gave that up,’ he explains.
of me. I don’t do none of that ‘…..I only play what I want to play stuff,’ like lots of the guys around these days. If they’re paying, they get to call the shots,” he says, with an evident disdain for the shameless self-promotion of many younger sidemen and band-members these days.
A few years later, however, the young,
A few years later, however, the young, budding musician discovered guitar, taught himself how to play and was out on the road gigging, a jobbing musician with a hunger to learn and develop as fast as he could.
“I think I was about 18 years old when I went out on the road,” he recalls, “playing with Stevie Wonder, then known as Little Stevie Wonder.”
with Stevie Wonder, then known as Little
“I was playing guitar with Solomon. He liked to have the band open for him, with a singer, and then after a few numbers he’d come out – a grand entrance – and come up on stage. One night, the guy who usually sang didn’t show up, he’d been drinking or something like that. Solomon went round the band and they all said ‘No, not me, I can’t sing boss.’ He came to me and I gave in. I was no singer then, real rough, but I thought I could give it a go. And half-way through he appeared from his dressing-room and smiled, waved me on to keep going..”
This was to prove a turning point in Roberts’ career, giving him the confidence to continue up-front each night and develop his skills and confidence.
ing up the women. They had no worries on
Roberts recalls getting his first guitar from the famous Sears catalogue when he was about 16 years old: “I’d been to a few clubs and I’d heard that Elvis stuff, and Chuck Berry. I saw the guitarists were always picking up the women. They had no worries on that score and I wanted some of that. So guitar it was. I think it cost something like fourteen bucks back then. I had a buddy who could play a bit, knew some licks, and he helped show me some chords and we got together. When the guitar arrived, the mailman had it. I was working out in the fields and I saw him come, he called and I ran across to get the package. I was so pleased.”
And Roberts was still a young guy when he first met up with a guy who was to become his professional music mentor, taking him under his wing and teaching him the musical ropes - the late Solomon Burke.
“I joined Solomon’s band and he sure took good care of me. I was always, and remain, the kind of guy who plays what is wanted
For some time, Roberts also played and worked with Eddie Floyd. He also worked on a number of occasions with the late Otis Clay and indeed talked with Clay a few short months before he passed in January 2016. And having worked most of the local clubs and venues in his home-state, Roberts became known as a powerful, reliable professional who could be trusted and relied on to produce the musical goods when needed, a trait that resulted in him playing, touring and working with one of soul music’s truly legendary greats, Otis Redding.
“Otis came through Greensboro and played the club I was then working with a house band. We got on real well and he liked my playing and approach. At the time he had a huge hit record out, ‘These Arms Of Mine’,
and I backed him so he took me out on the road with him. He was a great guy, always respectful and understanding. We were good buddies. I was real cut-up when he passed.”
That was in 1967 and following Redding’s death, Roberts decided to try going it alone for a few years, releasing a handful of single 45s - and being ripped-off by his then management, leading to him taking a bit of a break in late 1969. “I sat back and considered the future. Best thing I done. I opened my own record company and took control of my own stuff, with my own recording studio. I became a sort-of one-man-band, in effect. It means if you get it right - that’s great. But, if you get it wrong, you can’t go blaming nobody else. I guess I’ve got something right
cause I’ve about 17 or 18 albums out so far.”
Roberts also knew and worked with BB King way back in the day, a memorable experience he still treasures: “BB was a real old-fashioned gentleman, great to play alongside and know,” he says with an admiring shake of the head.
When the talk turns to more current, modern bluesmen, Roberts is scathing at times. Quite a fan of Robert Cray, for example, he recalls hearing him for first time and thinking they both shared a similar attack and approach to the music but reckons the guy has grown too big way too fast, acknowledging the importance of Clapton - who he has also shared billing with in the past in the USA - in the generation and development
“If you get it wrong, you can’t go blaming nobody else”
of Cray’s musical persona and undeniable popularity. Tedeschi Trucks, on the other hand, he admires and enjoys on a personal level.
Roberts describes himself as being ‘…..a road man.’ “I’ve been over 55 years out on the road. It can get kinda tiresome but I’m used to it by now. We take to the road with gigs covering all over the USA. Sometimes it means driving for 20 hours at a time. But I can still do that stuff and often take the wheel for up to sixteen hours at a stretch myself.” This despite now approaching eighty years of age, as he confides with his customary warm laugh.
Currently in the process of cutting a new album - it’s in the bag but still to be
mastered and should drop around end of April - Roberts confirms he still loves that old traditional soul sound, the Memphis Stax sound, with full-on horns in the mix: “You just gotta move when you hear that music,” he laughs. And having caught the man in action live a few times in recent years and when for the second time he played Cognac Blues Festival in France, that is exactly what he does.
When I comment on how he ‘works the house and audience,’ he beams with clear pleasure, confirming that was one of the professional tricks he learned from Solomon Burke, himself a past-master in the field.: “I used to watch Solomon in action and I thought to myself, ‘that’s what I want to do…’ He had the crowd eating out of his hand. He grabbed them and kept them with him till the moment he walked from the stage. He was my favourite. I learned so much from him. The trick is to keep them with you all of the way, to keep it always moving. You just gotta always roll with the flow. I love making people happy. I’m just an old bluesman, I guess. Gonna be that till the day I die. At the end of the day we’re all just passing through! For now, I’ll just keep working, playing the blues and won’t let anything beat me down!”
www.royrobertsblues.com
WORDS: Don Wilcock PICTURES: Arnie Goodman
“We have such high standards as to what’s a good song,” says guitarist Danny Kortchmar of Immediate Family. He and his “brother” and fellow guitarist Waddy Wachtel have worked both together and separately for more than half a century supporting some of the most iconic acts in popular music from Carol King, James Taylor and Warren Zevon to Don Henley and Linda Ronstadt.
But, at ages 73 and 72 respectively, they’re functioning as band leaders, not sidemen, for the first time in Immediate Family. “There’s no constraints except the ones we make on ourselves,” explains Danny. Their first album on Quarto Valley Records is due out in June.
To put it bluntly, they’re in heaven. “We’re in the studio with the same “brothers” we’ve been in the studio with for 50 years,” says Waddy. “So, we all assume the same roles we’ve always done with each other. Danny and I are finding the counter point, parts to play, and (fellow guitarist) Steve Postell has done a great job. With three guitars counterpointing, it’s a little difficult sometimes, but we’re finding a great way to do it, and with Russell (Kunkel on drums) you can’t really falter on the rhythm section.”
The musicians in Immediate Family all worked on Danny’s solo album Honey Don’t Leave LA, a 2015 release that included newly arranged versions of songs Kortchmar wrote either alone or in collaboration
with artists, including Don Henley’s ‘Dirty Laundry,’ ‘All She Wants to Do Is Dance’ and ‘New York Minute’ and Jackson Browne’s ‘Somebody’s Baby’ and ‘Shaky Town.’ There were also a few new compositions. Guest performers included James Taylor, Jackson Browne, David Crosby & Michael McDonald.
“When we got done playing on the solo record,” says Waddy, “Danny looked at us and went, ‘Ok, guys, I’ve got to tour with this, and I can’t do it with anyone else. So, let’s make a band.’ That’s the strong reality. That’s the freedom we get, and that’s
the justification for it. We can actually go and do our own singles, now. A unique new avenue. It’s great. It’s really great.” It’s hard to imagine how wonderful it must feel for Waddy and Danny finally to be in control of their own project. “(Until now) our parts were determined by what everyone else was playing. That’s very different than the way we’re doing it.
“One of the songs we’re working on I had almost the whole song’s lyrics down, and I didn’t know what to do with it. So, I told Waddy. It took him 15 seconds to come out
with the melody. The whole thing was over in 10 to 15 minutes. The whole song was done. And you can’t do that with everybody. It takes a lifetime.”
Waddy concurs. “It’s different because it’s all brand-new material, and we’re not trying to back someone else up. We’ve spent so many years being sidemen to so many great artists, we’ve been so lucky. We’re trying to fill that same (position) ourselves. So, it’s a little more challenging. I would say it’s not easy, but it’s so easy to depend on each other to come up with the right stuff.”
Both artists have supplied “the right stuff” to the American songbook since the late ’60s. Waddy Wachtel began writing songs at age 14 and has appeared on hundreds of albums by artists ranging from Bon Jovi, Keith Richards, and Stevie Nicks. He produced Stevie Nicks’ 2019 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He calls Keith Richards a complete, total musician and, unlike his public image a complete gentleman. “He’s a dear, dear man and really has respect and is interested in the people around him and lets them know it. He is so giving musically and verbally and heartwarmingly. He’s a total gentleman. and driven. He doesn’t miss a trick.”
One of Waddy’s lesser known credits includes playing guitar with an orchestra in the film The Poseidon Adventure in 1971.
“The director goes, ‘Ok, here we go. Here we
go. Ok, do it in A flat.’ And I just froze, with 40 pieces. The rhythm section begins, and I just hit three or four of the melody notes and then just lost it. And he’s going, ‘What the hell is happening? What’s going on here? Try again. Try it again!’ And I’m like panicking. We tried it again, and I got through eight or nine notes, and it just fell apart again, and he looked at me and he goes, ‘Maybe we should take lunch while “Marylin Monroe” here gets it together.’ I said, ‘Yeah, why don’t you take lunch, ok? A good idea.’ My big mouth.”
Kortchmar played guitar on two Carol King albums including Tapestry which in 1971 became for a while the biggest selling album of all time. He plays on James Taylor’s career defining album Sweet Baby James. He co-produced and played on Don Henley’s Building The Perfect Beast and The End of Innocence albums, writing or co-writing several songs including “Sunset Grill,” “New York Minute” and “If Dirt Were Dollars.”
He toured with Linda Ronstadt in the ’70s and ’80s and has produced albums by Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel, and Tracy Chapman. He co-produced Jon Bon Jovi’s number one album Blaze of Glory.
Danny’s relationship with James Taylor goes back to a time when they were both kids in summer camp on Martha’s Vineyard. “We were just into the same music, listened to blues and, dare I say, some folk music, too.
“We started out playing, and we’re gonna play until we are dead”
We just listened to the same stuff. So, we just grew up together. We taught each other a lot; I think. We both learned from the same incredible musicians: Ray Charles, Otis Redding, The Beatles and everybody that was happening.”
Immediate Family’s first record will contain original material by Waddy, Danny and other members of the group. When I interviewed them in December it was being recorded at Groove Masters Studio in Santa Monica, a place Danny calls a “dream facility.” He told one reviewer about recording Honey, Don’t Leave L.A. there. “I didn’t want any ‘production’ on it. I wanted it to be absolutely real and authentic, and that’s the way it came out.”
Danny sums up the group’s feelings about the impending album. “We have such high standards as to what’s a good song. This is different in that there’s no constraints except the ones we make on ourselves. Before, the ones we were working for decided what songs they liked. All the songs we play are songs we love. So, it’s totally different in that way.”
Waddy adds, “Yeah. If you gotta play, you gotta play. That’s all we do. We play. We started out playing, and we’re gonna play until we are dead. It’s what we do, you know? Whether we’re in the fast lane or not, I don’t care. Whether we’re in the mainstream or not, I don’t care about that, either. Whether rock is alive or dead, I don’t care about that either. We have to play.”
www.waddywachtelinfo.com
One note of clarification: This interview was done over a three-way telephone line, and it was difficult to differentiate who was talking at any given time. So, it’s possible that some of these quotes are attributed to Danny when they were said by Waddy and vice versa.
Sass Jordan has been in the music business for over forty years, mainly on the rock scene, and she has had a fantastic amount of success over the years. In fact, she has notched up sales of over one million records. But in 2020 she decided that she wanted to do a full-on blues album. She has just released her first all blues album entitled Rebel Moon Blues. I recently caught up with her and asked the relevant question. Why?
So, rock chick to blues chick. How did that come about?
Well the one factor that has remained the same is chick. And if I’m a chick I must have come from an egg. And that egg is music. Music has brought about the birth of rock and blues. But the absolute main thing for me is the roots. It’s all about the roots. Rock has its roots in blues and jazz so whatever combination of all that is cool. I love hybrid music. The coming together of all sorts of music. This record that I’ve just made is just one style, blues, it’s all blues. This album is such a pot of where I came from and a lot of the artists that are covered here are who I used to listen to. I’ve covered artists that have covered the originals. For example, Taj Mahal did not write Leaving Trunk, but I didn’t know that, but the only version I know is the Taj Mahal version. I’m definitely not a blues expert in anyway shape or form, apart from emotionally, but my voice fits those emotions perfectly.
I agree, your voice and style are so naturally drawn towards the blues.
I do have a blues background as in what I listen to. I listen to all types of music and I’m hugely influenced by what I’m listening to at that particular moment. Music is music to me, but I did grow up listening to that style of music. Perhaps not a great number of different artists but the ones that I did listen to were authentic. Taj Mahal was probably one of my favourites as was Dr. John who was also not a blues artist in its purist sense, but he did have a southern style, especially New Orleans which is another genre that is very close to my heart. What is interesting is, these styles that I’m discovering are very closed clubs so to speak. If you are not known specifically as an artist that has been doing that style all their lives, then you are not perceived as authentic. On the other hand,
I must say that I’m receiving more attention and good feelings from people for this blues stuff I’ve just done than for anything else I’ve done in years.
Did you enjoy recording an all blues album? You sound like you were having a great time. We had so much fun doing it. We were laughing all the time, and it was all recorded live, actually as we were doing it, so that proves how much fun we were having and why it sounds so good. They are this bunch of people that I’m extremely proud of and feel so comfortable with because we travel so much on the road together. Will there be some more blues stuff in the future?
Oh yeah, about one million percent. Any plans to tour the album in the UK when things get back to normal?
Yes of course. I was born there in Birmingham. Of course, I’d love to tour the UK. All my Birmingham family are still there and a load of friends, and fans also. I’ve got a big fan base over there. I speak to Chantel McGregor a lot on Instagram although I don’t know her personally, so I get good feedback as to what’s going on over there.
So, how did your band (love the name) The Champagne Hookers take to doing an all blues album?
I thought of the name for them when I was standing on the side of the stage waiting to go on and somebody said, how do you want to be introduced? And I just blurted out, The Champagne Hookers and all the guy’s in the band just loved it. But going back to the album, they all pretty much come from a blues background especially the guitar player Chris Caddell, and the drummer he’s also in a blues band.
How long have you been with The Champagne Hookers?
Well we all met at different times, Chris Caddell is the guy I’ve known the longest out of the group and he plays with a lot of other people to. So, they all come from different bands and join up in my band and then go play with someone else for a while. The drummer with The Foo Fighters (Taylor Hawkins) started off playing drums in my band, it was the first band he ever played with so if you Google Sass Jordan Foo Fighters on YouTube he tells the story on there. Chris Caddell and Jimmy Reid are such great guitar players. Derrick Brady (bass) and Cassius Pereira (drums) also played with Chris Caddell in various cover bands so we decided to get the band that I normally played with and made them my band. Steve Mariner, the Harp player also plays with others including Colin James, so it becomes a melting pot of all different players basically all coming from the same direction. The main aim was to get my live band on the recording, so that’s what we did.
What was the first record that you bought with your own money?
John Lennon, Imagine. That wasn’t the first music I listened to though, my parents only ever listened to classical music, so all I was
exposed to was classical music. Then one day after we moved back from India my brother and I discovered that you could change the dial on the radio, and the very first song that I ever heard was The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band. I heard that song and I said to myself, that’s what I’m gonna do. I knew from the age of about 9 or 10 that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to reach large numbers of people with my voice. John Lee Hooker was another guy that I used to listen to a lot along with Johnny Winter because that’s real blues right there. Who has had the biggest impact on your career musically?
I literally cannot answer that because there are so many, but when I was about thirteen, I used to listen to a lot of David Bowie, but it didn’t go past Station To Station. I also went through a big passion with The Rolling Stones, but that ended with Goats Head Soup. But right now, I’m having the time of my life with the blues thing and kind of getting into the club. The closed club of the blues. But for some reason little cracks are opening up for me and I’m getting in there.
You did a theatre performance about the life of Janis Joplin; how did that come about?
That was a complete accident. I didn’t really
like Janis Joplin at the time, but I was offered a free flight to New York city to do the audition. I never dreamed in a hundred years that I’d get the gig; I was just thinking about spending some time in New York with one of my best friends. Then right out of the blue I got the job. I did it for five months, and this was right after 9/11 and New York was still reeling from it. You could still smell the dust. In retrospect it was one of the most engaging and challenging things I’ve ever done, and I got to work with an amazing vocal coach that changed my life. I also made some terrific friends.
Well thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Blues Matters Magazine, it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you. Take care.
You too honey. Take care of yourselves over there’
Find out more about Sass over on her website: www.sassjordan.com
• Rebel Moon Blues 2020
• Racine Revisited 2017
• From Dusk ‘Till Dawn 2009
• Get What You Give 2006
• Hot Gossip 2000
• Present 1997
• Rats 1994
• Racine 1992
• Tell Somebody 1988
“The main aim was to get my live band on the recording, so that’s what we did”
WORDS: Steve Yourglivch PICTURES: As Credited
To say Zakiya Hooker was born into the blues might sound like a cliché but in her case it’s certainly true. Legacy is often an over-used word too, but again Zakiya has earned the right to entitle her new release just that.
As the youngest child of John Lee Hooker, the blues were destined to be a part of her by both nature and nurture, it was all around her during her childhood in Detroit. Now living in Georgia via a spell in California, Zakiya has released her most personal recordings ever, digging deep into her life experiences and expressing the songs in her own intimate way.
She’s suffered her own private hardships along the way, losing one son to a car crash when he was 20, and another to a long prison sentence. An unhappy marriage break-up provides the inspiration for some of the writing as does the happiness she has now discovered with her husband Ollan Christopher, a talented musician, producer and one-time vocal coach with Curtis Mayfield.
I phoned her at her Georgia home during lockdown and she cheerfully dragged herself away from her beloved garden to talk to us.
Hi Zakiya, how are you? It’s great to get to talk to you.
Hi, I’ve been sitting breathlessly waiting by the phone for your call.
Oh no (laughs). You’re in Georgia, how are things there. Are you all OK?
I’m not in the city, we’re outside in a small place called Douglasville. We’re quite remote so we’ve been safe so far.
The way things are at the moment it’s hard to know how the industry will look in the future, plus it’s difficult having to decide - do we carry on and release an album on the due date or be cautious and hold back.
Oh, my gosh, yes. We’re going ahead and releasing it. I think the labels are all pretty much on hold but at least as independent artists we have a bit more freedom.
I have to say I am really enjoying the album. I’ve read you say in a couple of interviews that this is different to your previous releases. To me this feels like it’s very personal and very honest. It seems as though you’re being very natural and not performing to any kind of expectation that’s been put upon you.
That’s pretty much it. All of my previous albums, we wrote most of the songs, but it’s
different this time in that I’ve written in the way I feel them, the way I tell them. And I’m a real late bloomer on the guitar, I’ve only just started to play. I’m no virtuoso, I picked it up to help me write the songs the way I felt them. And so, you’re right, these songs are just how I feel them and just basically me. When you say they feel natural that’s just the stories I had to tell.
I find it really refreshing that the vocal is given space to tell the story, there’s no unnecessary guitar solos or anything fighting to be heard.
Oh, thank you. This album has taken two and a half years to finish. As I said I’m not the greatest guitar player, I can do my chords and some rhythm. My aim in writing with the guitar was to get my melody line. My husband Ollan can then take that and make it work. More than anything else I’ve ever done this is the record I like the best. I really love this one because I can sit and listen to this, just put it on and it takes you somewhere.
Also, it has a great flow. You can put track one on and just let it go.
Oh yes, the flow of the CD. We went back and forth trying to decide the order of the songs. Front Door To Hell was interesting, we had two versions, the one Ollan preferred opens the album but we also liked the more guitar player one so we decided to end with that. A lot of the songs cover personal experiences too. Or maybe I’ve heard a phrase that inspires something. The ladies really love the song Big Girl Panties. One of my favourites is Love The Pain Away. I love the little guitar solo in there.
Oh, you know we did a video that goes with that song. It was recorded by Sound Waves TV based in California. The solo was Enrico Bozas, he’s from Buenos Aires Argentina, and he is my guitarist. I’ve got a few I use but he is the one who tours with me. That’s him playing it and it is a beautiful solo.
Yeah, that solo lends itself perfectly to the song, but as I said earlier that’s true all the way through. All the music is sculptured to the vocal.
It’s amazing that you’ve noticed everything goes around the vocals. What happens is that Ollan is very careful about that. Back in the 60’s he was part of a vocal group called The Natural Four, and he worked with Curtis Mayfield for several years, and others like Wolfman Jack. He’s also a vocal coach so he’s very cognitive about the voice and fitting everything around the voice because it’s the voice that tells the story. He mixed the album and he focused a lot on the vocals, making them shine. I don’t know if you’ve heard my Dads album Face To Face, it came out soon after he died. We had some unreleased tracks that we put together, Ollan produced that too.
One of the other tracks that stands out to me is One More Dance.
Ha ha...that’s my favourite. I love that song and you know I love country music. In the centre of that song you’ll hear an oboe. That’s Anthony Cook. He’s from Manchester, and he’s been with us almost thirty years. You know I’m really proud of this album, I was afraid at first because I’d written all the songs and so different from what I had done that people wouldn’t be accepting of it.
Anthony also helps with the production.
I wanted to mention the cover artwork too, it’s great.
Ahh, thank you. You know that’s a cotton plant. I met with my graphic designer in a little coffee shop to talk about ideas, and he asked me a few questions, and when I mentioned the blues he said, oh yeah that started about fifty years ago didn’t it. I just kinda laughed, he had no history, he was a typical white guy from the suburbs. So, I gave him a shortened history of the blues and from where it came. I told him my dad was a shear cropper He picked cotton. In many ways my people are defined by cotton, so that is my legacy no matter how harsh that is. Also, it’s such a beautiful flower before it becomes the cotton ball. There are so many different colours it truly is beautiful but then for many African Americans it yielded pain and suffering. I remember the first time I saw a big cotton field we were driving to a festival in Mississippi, huge fields and it was 90 degrees. How could people work sun-up to sun-down in that field.
I’ve read that you’ve also done spoken word presentations about the blues and its history.
I have but I prefer to be on the stage singing rather than speaking. The
blues history is very important to me. You know I was born into it and grew up with it 24/7. I’m not a historian but I know a lot of the history of it and I love to sit down with historians and hear them talk about it.
Being the daughter of someone like John Lee Hooker who was a giant figure in the blues, can that be a double-edged sword at times?
Oh yes it can be. When I started out it was really hard. For one thing people don’t always take you seriously, and a lot of times people expected me to perform his type of music. I can’t do his kind of music. He communicated from a place where he came from, the cotton fields and the struggle and journey he took. I can’t sing about his journey with the passion that he would sing about
Oh yes it can be. When I started out it was For music. he hear
it with. My father could not read or write so when you hear him singing it’s coming straight from his heart, his soul. And these are things that have happened to him in his life. Travels, inequalities, watching his brother die from TB. All those are things he experienced. You know you sing about what you know. You know
sing about what you know. You know
Our name says it all!
“The
”
there’s a song on the album I wrote about my mum and dad, it’s hidden away in there, called I Don’t Know How It Happened, you know how people end up living together and they don’t know how it happens. Carrying on living together and sharing the pain until one day you can’t go on anymore. Sometimes people can look from the outside and think they are so happy, but they are not, there’s a struggle going on.
I thought that with the song Front Door To Hell, that line about bruises in a secret place.
Yeah, that’s a personal one from my younger days. You finally get the strength to talk about them. I’m working on a song now about my mum, my dad and my youngest son who I lost when he was twenty back in 1991. That could break you. It breaks you for a minute and then you have to get back up. You have to move on, and you can. I’ve led a very colourful life.
You’ve been performing live since the early 90’s. First with your dad.
Boy, that was intense. Really intense for me. Before the performance my stomach was full of butterflies. Afterwards I got sick, I had to go home. Then I understood the gravity of what was going on. After a while it got easier and easier. I don’t get nervous now because I just enjoy doing it. For me, I’m just such a people person, for 28 years I worked in the court system. I was a jury manager, so I dealt with hundreds of people every day coming through, so I learned how to judge people and so that’s my expertise.
You must be asked all the time about growing up in Detroit with your father.
As the daughter of John Lee Hooker, you know he was my dad, so it felt normal
although I understood he didn’t have a 9 to 5 job. We just accepted that our dad went out and performed. He loved watching baseball, he forced us all to watch it cos we only had one TV. I loved that he used to buy raw peanuts, put them in the oven to cook them and he always burnt them. Every time. But we didn’t care we ate them anyway. He loved cooking he made the best oxtail stew. He’d be gone sometimes for quite a while and he would always bring back gifts for everybody. When I was 10 or 11, he brought me back expensive perfume, or silk scarves. He was just a really wonderful, wonderful, wonderful father. You know there were problems between him and my mum, but he just weathered the storm until at one point they got divorced. I lived in Detroit until I was 27, then I lived in California until 2013. That’s when I moved to Georgia and now, I’m really happy with my life. I love gardening and I work in my yard all the time, and I make jewellery and I have my music. I guess that’s happiness. I love using my hands, I love digging in the dirt. In fact, I’ve been out planting flowers this morning before breakfast at about 6.00am.
Thank you so much Zakiya for talking to us today.
Steve, it’s been a real pleasure. Thank you.
www.zakiyahooker.com
• Legacy (Independent) 2020
• Keep It Real (Boogie With The Hook) 2009
• Colour Of The Blues (MDR Records) 2005
• Flowers Of The Blues (Virgin) 1996
• Another Generation Of The Blues (Silvertone) 1995
When you think about the blues you are never too far away from a King - whether that be B.B., Freddie or Albert. But when it comes to blues queens, you need look no further than slide guitar goddess Erja Lyytinen.
Last year the high-flying Finn unveiled her first biographical book, which is titled ‘Blueskuningatar’ in her native tongue. This roughly translates to ‘Blues Queen’. Although the book is presently only avail-
able in Finnish - an updated edition in English is currently in the works, with a release date yet to be confirmed.
Adam Kennedy recently caught up with Erja Lyytinen at home in Helsinki, Finland amid the city’s coronavirus lockdown to find out more about her new book, the impact of the current pandemic on her plans for 2020 as well as the gifted guitarist’s touring activities this year, so far.
So, first of all, you’ve just completed the first part of your Blues Queen tour in Finland. How were those shows up to this point?
It’s been an amazing tour, and everything went so fluidly. Everything was so easy going. We had both new and old songs coming into the set. We had arranged and rehearsed some of my old songs from twenty years ago. So, it was kind of like a retrospective tour where we almost covered all of the albums that I have done. We almost had, like, one song from each album. Maybe we missed two albums or something like that. But it was very nostalgic in that way. We looked at some songs that we could rebuild totally and made new versions of them. We tried them out at the shows and people liked that.
We had sold-out shows. And people were saying this is the best tour you’ve done so far. And so, we had a great response, and everything was going so well until the 12th of March. The Finnish government imposed a restriction on all of the shows. At first, they restricted gatherings to no more than a capacity of 500 people. And we figured, okay, let’s just leave the ticket sales to that amount. But in one day it all changed. As we got more information and more news about the situation with COVID-19 we just figured we cannot put our fans through this. I cannot put my team through this because I have two guys in my band who are part of the high-risk group. So, I needed to make a responsible decision. So, we decided to postpone the tour in Finland and those dates have been moved to the Fall.
You’ve also recently released your first biography, which came out at the end of last year. I know it’s been a long time in the works, but it’s an interesting time in your career to release a book. I mean, a lot of artists wait until the end of their career to
put out a biography whereas you’re still very active, very busy and on tour all of the time as well as being still very young. Why did you choose this particular point in time to release a book? Is it that this book is kind of just the first chapter of a longer project?
Yeah, something like that. I started to get requests from people who were saying a book about you could be interesting for people to read. To share my story, which is not very particular, not for general audiences. Like why is a female from the middle woods in Finland playing blues orientated music and being a mother?
I’m travel to more than a hundred shows per year around the world, but it’s not the most typical thing, we have more women doing this nowadays. Like maybe ten or twenty years ago that was still very rare. And so yeah, I started to get these requests, like it would be nice to read the story. And then again, there had been a lot happening, a lot of things in my career which for me it feels amazing that these things happen. Like for instance, playing with Santana and stuff like that. It’s like they are rare and interesting. Actually, in Finland, it’s quite trendy now to write books. We have some artists in their twenties releasing books. So, of course, they’re not talking about their whole career. It’s something else, like how they ended up where they are right now. So that’s the way I’m looking at it as well. Like I’m in my forties, so I’ve already seen life. I would like to think that I’ve got something to say already, but I also want to look at it as this position in my life where I still have a lot to achieve. So, I’m only partway and I’ve still got lots to do, but yeah, it was interesting to look back on my career and life.
And then we started to work on the book two or three years ago with the author Mape Ollila, who also wrote a book on the
Finnish metal band Nightwish. At one point there was a publishing company that got hold of me saying we would like to write a book about you. And I said, oh, we are doing it already. I was first going to self-release it, but then I got this huge company behind me. They put out hundreds of books every year. So that was a really good point. When you write a book like that, you’re going right the way back to your youth and through your whole career. Were there any parts of that where you kind of thought that these things are too personal to speak about or did you find the whole experience to be kind of therapeutic to get some that stuff off your chest, so to speak?
Yeah, it was both. I’m not much of a person to talk about my personal life. I was very cautious about what I said out loud and of course, everything is in my songs, so go and listen to that. But the author, we had done a few sessions together and he said we need to get to the bones of the ugly stuff in your life, you have to tell some of that. So, I thought OK, let’s dig some shit.
So, you have to push yourself. Well there’s been a lot of happenings in my life and you learn from them and you become stronger from the negative things. But then again, you sometimes end up in odd situations where you just happen to see things happening. And it’s probably not something that happens to you, but you just make these observations throughout your life.
One of them was when we were doing this album in Mississippi about fifteen years ago -
my first international solo album. There was this guy that was hanging out in the studio - he was a friend of one of the musicians. And, I remember he was talking so nicely to me. He thought I was very exotic being a white woman from Finland, who played slide guitar. And he was very kind to me, but at the same token, he had a hangover or something, and a black eye.
Well, the next day if I remember correctly, or the day after, we got a phone call in the morning at the studio and the guy who was our technician, just kind of froze at the telephone, and then he put the phone away and said that this man had been killed. And you go like, whoa, I just spoke to him. There was some kind of fight going on at the local juke joint. You know, things like this. Some of these things I’ve revealed in the book - not like putting anybody down, but just telling about these occasions from my point of view.
Life on the road is interesting and people only ever see the stage side of things.
Yeah, you try to reveal a little bit of what’s going on behind all of that kind of glamour and all that happiness. I enjoy performing, I love being on stage and the interaction with the audience. Sometimes they don’t know that I might be in pain, you know, or I might be sick. You might have some troubles with your lover or whatever kind of things are going on, but you just channel all of that into the music and that gives you energy. It’s so amazing, that’s why I love performing. You give something, and you get back in the same token.
“there was some kind of fight going on at the local juke joint”
So, in the book, of course, I’ve revealed a lot of stuff going on. I’ve had fans coming up to me saying, okay, I’ve read your book, you’ve been going through some stuff. And you go, hmm, well here I am, I’ve recovered from all of that. I’m cool and everything is fine. I bet there must be a lot of people who’ve experienced the same things. Even worse things in life - it’s just my story, you know.
There is talk of you releasing an English translation of your book because it was initially released in Finnish. I know that’s probably somewhere on the cards, but do you think that’s going to come out maybe this year or next year?
Well, we have already kind of started the project. We’re going to add and do some definitions for the Finnish version and then we’re going to translate that into English. So, you’re going to get a bit extra. So, you know, because the first version is the first one, we can improve it a little bit and maybe add some things. It’s nice when I read it through, I go like, okay, I forgot to say about that, or I forgot that. Oh, I forgot that too. So, we might add some of those things that we forgot during the first round.
And so, I’m hoping we would get it out by the end of this year because it would be kind of convenient because of the Coronavirus as well. After all, we don’t know how long we have to stay inside or if we can do concerts. We don’t know what the governments are going to say. And will people want to go to concerts, if they’re too scared? But if not, I’m pretty sure we will have it with us when we come to the UK in February next year. You’re going to be coming back to the UK next February. What do you think this next tour will look like? Are you going to try and do something similar to what you’ve just done in Finland with the
Blues Queen tour and maybe play some of the earlier material?
Yeah, I think we’re going to do something like that, especially if we don’t put out a new studio album by that point. I think the next studio album will be in 2021, not this year for sure. So, first releasing some live material would be nice because this band is kicking ass - they’re amazing. So, it’s about time to make some kind of live recording as well. The last one was 2016 - ‘Live in London’. So that was a long time ago.
I think we have to treat our UK audience as well and give something different to them. So, we’re going to do our best to make it as great as possible because it’s going to be almost two years for me not playing in the UK. And that feels strange because I’ve been coming to England and the UK almost twice a year. Next February it’ll be almost two years since our last UK shows.
Like they always say, all good things come to those who wait.
Erja Lyytinen’s rescheduled UK tour will be taking place in February 2021.
For up to date touring details and ticket information please visit www.erjalyytinen.com
The BIG blues reviews guide - accept no substitute!
This is the third studio album from San Diego’s Whitney Shay; here she has a chance to exhibit her songwriting prowess in the 12 tracks. She has performed in bands all of her musical life and with this album she opts for what she is known for, some good old rhythm and blues.. All tracks are high energy and very catchy. The opener is Stand Up which has rhythm written all over, the horn section gets you first then Whitney opens up vocally to an upbeat
tune, you have to take notice. Someone You Never Got To Know has great keyboards by Red Young, a very emotional song. Equal Ground has a slow riff and fine slide guitar from Derek O’Brien. PS It’s Not About You, has some funk to it, Chris Maresh adding some mean basslines. I Thought We Were Through, is a slow burning ballad sung sublimely with jazzy tones. Guy Forsyth duets on Far Apart, and Laura Chavez on guitar is wonderful. You Won’t Put Out This Flame is a great dance number. Tell The Truth has a brilliant groove. Boy Sit Down has Marcia Ball on piano, this has a New Orleans take. I Never
Meant To Love Him is sung so beautifully just full of soul. Getting In My Way, mellows things down. Last song is Change With The Times ending on an optimistic note and will fill a dance hall when played live. Classy, sassy and full of energy this is a full on passionate vocalist destined for more success.
COLIN CAMPBELL
says
This is the fourth album by Kentucky based band Jim Diamond Revue.
All the songs were written by Diamond himself. Making up the band are, Chris Henderson who shares vocal duties with Jim and Nick Mowery and Joe Litteral share the guitar work. Joining them on a couple of songs is Hank Mowery who plays a mean harp.
The opening track See The Light has hard powerful guitar backed up by hard powerful vocals. It has a blues/rock feel, but leans more towards the blues lyrically, while the blistering guitar takes on the rock side.
I’m Cryin’ has a more jazz/ swing approach with a dash of rockabilly, but what it also has in abundance is real passion. Hot For You is an old-school blues number. The combination of keys, bass, drums and searing vocals make this a humdinger of a song. Eventually the guitar gets the chance to force its way into the proceedings with a bang.
Tight Mini Skirt ft Hank Mowery on the harp, is a well worked tune. Although not strictly an all-out blues tune, what it does have in its favour is the harp running right through it like a freight train.
Its like the harp meets rock ‘n’ roll. 15 Below, is a slow sultry track that oozes sensuality. Melancholy delivery in the form of the vocals and lyrics alongside soulful keys and sweet sax all go to produce a stunning song.
I Walkin’ is full-on 70’s style funk, it is the kind of tune that gets your feet tapping and the rest of your body just follows suit. Once again, the soulful sax just makes you melt. Cannonball is an instru mental that immediately puts me in mind of the first Blues Brothers movie and that is a very nice thought.
You could just imagine the Blues Brothers Band playing this tune at full pelt to a rapturous audience high on adrenaline. Dog House is pure R&B, a great groove going on. This whole album is pure joy. Treat yourself. Get it.
The Joy of Vinyl! 2020 Visions is a double album in 180 gm beautiful translucent blue with gatefold sleeve. It has a disc insert, which brings back memories of twiddling the classic Led Zep 3 album. The artwork was created by the incredible Klaus Voormann,
who was responsible for The Beatles’ iconic Revolver album artwork. The album itself is in the classic 3-piece rock/blues format, with guest appearances from the outstanding Shemekia Copeland and the legendary Paul Jones. The opening and title track 2020 Visions is a rocky number, with an idiosyncratic hint of punk rock. There’s some very punchy bass work from Sophie Lord, which is matched with some great drum thrash-
Last year’s Masterpiece album was just that, by far Albert Castiglia’s best and most complete work to date, this live album comes hot on its heels and includes live versions of four tracks from that powerful release. The album flies straight into the full blooded Let The Big Dog Eat, no intros, no idle chatter. This has long been a live favourite and it’s easy to see why. Big chunky riffs and guitar pyrotechnics. Hoodoo On Me follows from the Up All Night album, Ephraim Lowell driving it relentlessly on drums, Albert ripping into the track giving it a new raw energy. I Been Up All Night from the same album follows seamlessly, this one not quite so frenetic but giving Albert room to display his virtuosity with some shattering notes. The first of the Masterpiece tracks is Heavy, which starts off fairly gently, the guitar notes picked out and shimmering, the vocal almost spoken and observational, these days aren’t getting hard, there just getting’ heavy. At almost ten minutes Albert lets the song grow at its own pace,
gently increasing the intensity to the riff filled climax. Then we’re into Get Your Ass In The Van, a high tempo straight blues, about hitting the road and playing the blues with Lewis Stephens adding some lovely keys infills. Searching The Desert For The Blues is a gorgeous take on the old Blind Willie McTell song. The band treat it with respect and Albert flies out of the traps towards the end giving it a freshness and energy. Keep On Swinging is another choice cut from Masterpiece, a little slower paced but no less energetic or powerful. Things really hot up on the Johnny Winter classic Too Much Seconal as Mike Zito and John Ginty join the party. We get a full tilt eight-minute workout with Albert and Mike trading riffs, not forgetting an amazing Hammond solo from Ginty. The keys wizard stays for Paul Butterfields Lovin’ Cup that also gets the full eight-minute treatment. The whole band go to town on this, great sustained notes from Albert and another outstanding solo from John, the pair interplaying a big climatic finale. I Tried To Tell Ya is another Masterpiece track, big and powerful, screeching guitar and rock-solid rhythm section. The Albert King monster track Boogie Funk brings the show to a grand finale. The instrumental track giving Albert full rein to display an arsenal of skills on the fretboard. This is the perfect pairing with Masterpiece, and if you like blues rock you should own them both.
ing from Jack Greenwood. SDP’s guitar weaves deftly in between the two with high energy. The Fall Of America is a Kasabian style heavy-riff extended track, with echoing vocals adding to the haunting atmosphere. Roxie’s Song is a much more clearly defined blues tune with a great range of guitar tones, somehow going from a Gary Moore style to a soaring Robin Trower, with a weighty drumbeat very reminiscent of F Mac’s Albatross. A heavy version of Blind Willie Johnson’s The Soul of A Man has Paul Jones on harmonica and some great slide. On Top is a short and very sweet instrumental. It’s concise, but still showcases Stephen’s guitar versatility. Long Tall Shorty is (and always was) a classic track, even if the lyrics don’t necessarily stand up to modern day PC scrutiny. It’s also 3-piece blues at its best. Raw is the sort of track John Peel would have loved. Tinderbox is a dirty piece of 3-piece band rock. The Ending Of The End has a strange dreamlike start (First time I’ve heard I’m a little teapot on a blues album and is that Ringo singing Happy Birthday?) but it soon turns into a great B.B. King style blues number. Steppin’ Out has the energy of the original Bluesbreakers’ version. Makin’ It is in a very 60’s rock groove. Sputnik Days is a fun instrumental and the album ends with the idiosyncratic track Zombie Train. This is an album with many facets and proof of SDP’s
varied talents. It’s worth it for the artwork alone.
STEVE BANKSFollowing on the heels of last year’s critically acclaimed Blue Flame, Karp releases striking new album, Magnificent Heart. A stirring collection of songs and observations, it bends the boundaries from blues to ballads, With Karp on slide guitar, guitar, piano and vocals, along with Kim Wilson (harmonica), Jason Rocco (harmonica), John Ginty (B3organ), Jim Eingher (piano and Keyboard), Paul Carbonara (guitar), James Otis Karp (guitar), Niles Terrat (bass), Edward Williams (bass), Michael Catapano (drums/ percussion), Cold City Horns (Jacob Wynne, trumpet and David Kasper tenor sax) and Eyrn O’ree (background vocals). opening the album with post-apocalyptic love song Sitting On The Edge Of The World, a foot tapping shuffle with terrific harmonica and rhythmic guitar work, next with its solid rhythm section and soaring guitar work. The Letter delivers a loves lost blues rocker, changing styles with a highlight for me is the danceable She Breaks Her Own Heart, a
soulfully sung number with a steady drum beat overlaid with some excellent Stax style trumpet and sax playing, next the piano and organ complement each other well as they drive along. This World, an Americana/Roots number, mean dirty slide guitar and harmonica covered with swirling organ evoke a swampy blues setting for the tale of The Grave, originally a poem by his late wife poet Mary Lou Bonney Karp Scared, was re-wrote as a ballad, Karps’ vulnerable soulful vocals entwined by organ and gentle smouldering guitar work from son James makes this poignant ballad a highlight for me, next up the humorous acoustic Chainsaw is given a backing vocals gospel feel finish, with funky blasts from the horns, the deep funky rhythms on Let It On Out will have you grooving, while relaxed vocals and hypnotic beat drive the pace on Cool Cool Thing some excellent gritty organ adds contrast, The Last Heartbeat is a country tinged slow ballad, and rampant blues wailing harmonica dominates the delta blues of Going Home, while there is a subtle Latin rhythm to Compassion, the album finishes with the string filled cinematic orchestral feel of Face The Wind. Splendid stuff, well worth a listen
The very idea of an album ‘celebrating’ a hundred years since the beginning of Prohibition in the US seems a little strange in these days of lockdown but this album containing 11 songs of the era, is actually pretty damn good. The band consist of Duncan Wilcox on vocals & double bass, Neil Hulse on vocals and guitars, Toby Wilson on guitar and dobro, Liam Ward on harmonica and jug and Bryony Rose on vocals and the five of them make a pretty good noise around Bluegrass, jug music and ragtime. Most of the songs are about the perils of drink and booze or the joys of sobriety with a scattering of songs that look at prohibition from the drinkers side but the album overall is very jolly and represents the period really well, I particularly liked I Never Knew I Had A Wonderful Wife (Until The Town Went Dry), a classic bit of vaudeville and the playing and harmonies of Just A Little Drink but there isn’t a weak number so you can dip in anywhere and pick out a little delight. The most modern sounding number is God Don’t Like It which decries the drinking of moonshine in a raw Northern Mississippi style with a great vocal by Bryony and there is different sounding number in I’ll See You In C-U-B-A which
sounds as though it came from a Bob Hope & Bing Crosby movie. Good fun and lovely to listen to.
ANDY SNIPPER
Yes, this is the Dion who sang The Wanderer. Hard to believe that he is and always has been a true blues artist. This album is 14 original songs written mainly by Dion and Mike Aquilina. The guest artists on the album read like a who’s who from the blues world. The opening track, Blues Comin’ On ft. Joe Bonamassa is a great way to start the album. As ever Joe B produces some great guitar work alongside the soulful vocals of Dion. What is very evident all through this album is that all the guests are happy to play just a supporting role to Dion, as opposed to being a star guest. Can’t Start Over Again ft. Jeff Beck is a lovely soft blues ballad. From the very first note its instantly recognisable as a Beck guitar song. Each song is suited perfectly to the guest artist or
artists. I Got Nothin’ is a perfect example of that. Ft, Van Morrison and Joe Louis Walker it’s as good a blues song as you could ever wish for. Sublime vocals and lyrics delivered with perfection by Van and Joe respectively. I’ve heard Sonny Landreth being described as Mr. Dependable. Well on the song I Got The Cure you realize that he’s much more than that. Mr. Exceptional in my eyes. He’s a wonderful slide guitarist with a silky blues vocal to match. Now, you wouldn’t put Paul Simon down as a blues artist and for good reason. But on the track Song For Sam Cooke (Here In America) he fits right in. For me, this is a tune regaling the story of Sam Cooke’s interpretation of life in America. And it works tremendously well. Told You Once In August is one of the best blues songs I’ve heard in a very long time. Simply sensational. With John Hammond and Rory Block for company Dion hits the bullseye with aplomb. The album culminates with Hymn to Him with a collaboration between Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen. I could talk about this album for a month and not get tired of it. Do yourself a favour. Buy it.
This album is a bit of a mystery as there are no details of the band/musicians who play on the album and following some internet research I have established the band name is an abbreviation of Our Secret Little Underground who are some sort of Blues loving musical collaborative although I ‘am not really any the wiser so onto the musical content. The album opener is a rolling style piano boogie instrumental titled Julian which was written by Andy Lewis. This is a great opening taster to what follows, which are ten tracks of varying styles of Blues of which five are covers of predominately non-blues material, very unusual but effective. Highlights from the covers are JJ Cale’s Crazy Mama which is not as smooth as the original but is blessed with some very sharp lead guitar breaks. George Harrison’s psychedelic short instrumental Ski-ing from his debut 1968 album Wonderwall is an interesting selection although the original did have Eric Clapton, under the guise of Eddie Clayton, providing
the Blues guitar riff the song was built on. This version also highlights a fine guitarist at work. The original material is strong and varied. The pick of the bunch is Magic 8 which has some scintillating guitar work, closely followed by Blues For Embassy which creates a distinct early Fleetwood Mac feel, both songs are blessed with strong authentic Blues vocals. From the song writing credits Andy Lewis and Sean Osgood are members of the band. If so, they do an excellent job in profiling different styles of Blues albeit without taking themselves too seriously. If the sleeve notes and lyrics are anything to go by. While there are only ten tracks shown on the cover the CD contains an additional bonus track which is an alternative take of the JB Lenoir song I Want To Know, no complaints in having two doses of this song.
Sometimes albums arrive without press releases, so a little judicious research is called for. In this case, it is rewarded by discovering that Francesco Piu is a highly thought of and equally highly successful Blues artist. On the basis of the music here, that is not surprising. All the songs are Robert John-
son compositions, and the arrangements add a depth and spooky atmosphere that the master would have deeply appreciated. Instead of the stark minimal scary vibe of the Johnson originals, these cuts are dense with unusual percussion instrumentation that weave their own insidious musical and magical spell over the sounds. It all has a distinct African/Eastern atmosphere to it, the sort of mojo that Brian Jones was looking for all those years ago. On top of it all is Piu’s voice, which belies his Italian origins with a blues accent as southern as gumbo and Jack Daniel’s. Francesco Piu is gifted with one of the great blues voices, equally defiant and defensive, cocky and vulnerable, and underlined with a constant unnamed fear that something is waiting down the road, and it may not be something to rush towards. The instrumentation, most of which I had to identify, breaks down basically into exotic pipes and flutes and equally varied drums and percussion all of which underpin the fuzzy guitars, the exotic acoustics, and of course that fascinating voice. Rarely do you find a musician whose name is on the front allowing such largesse as the exotic instrumental break on Stop Breaking Down, allowing the accompanying musicians to shine to a level where an instrumental album from them would be an attractive proposition. Johnson fans will no doubt skip to the awesome
Hellhound On My Trail, as scary a song as has never been recorded. Piu retains the stark atmosphere of the original, his cracked and strained vocal echoing the fear and tragedy that Johnson captured, but this is underlined with sharp stabbing percussion and ghostly slide guitar. I would never say you could improve on Johnson’s originals, but these songs come as close as is possible.
This is the third album by Ma Polaine, who are singer Beth Packer and guitarist Clinton Hough. I first heard this distinctive combination on BBC6’s excellent Cerys Matthews show. From this publication’s standpoint, is this a blues album? No, but it has an enticing, bluesy undertow supporting eleven superb compositions. There’s a haunting quality to Beth’s vocals. She also plays double bass, accordion and harmonica. The duo is complemented on this album by Pete Flood on drums and Martin Elliott on Fretless bass. The overall effect is mesmeric, and the story behind some of these songs is worth a mention. Paris is Burning is inspired by a trans woman and drag artist called Dorian Corey. After
Happy hour! I remember them. Sadly, they’re a thing of the past over here and judging by the amount of melancholy music on offer from Jay Coda Walker and Peter Johnson there’s not much cheer over in Canada (via Gateshead!) either.
Walker and Johnson are a blues duo with Mr. Walker taking care of singing and guitar picking while Mr. Johnson plays the harmonica. And they do all of these things very well indeed. It’s an odd mix as the guitar work is straight out of an echo filled rockabilly recording studio while the harmonica is more straight-ahead traditional blues. But the mix works well as they range across a handful of Walker originals and a selection of covers.
They touch on country blues and the rockabilly but there is a unified approach to the music that ensures nothing jars. They rarely step out of first gear, something that suits the plaintive vocals from Jay Coda Walker. I was trying to remind myself of who he reminded me of until they arrived at a cover of Wicked Game by Chris Isaak and then it all fell into place.
The harmonica work of Gateshead born Peter Johnson is fabulous, redolent of the greats and lending a folk blues touch to affairs. The originals are strong with Ya Did, Done, Do Me a favorite but the two tunes best known from the Stevie Ray Vaughan versions really struck home. They would be Life By The Drop and Boot Hill. It’s a delightful record, ideally suited for sitting on the porch, wondering when the world will spin back on its axis.
Corey died, they found the mummified remains of a man in her closet. The song doesn’t deal with that, but with the pride of self-expression and the freedom to be yourself. There’s a haunting quality to songs such as Ghost Ship, which was inspired by a stay in a lighthouse, yet it deals with the grim rise of hate and rightwing politics. There’s also We Won’t Let It Be, a song which supports the #metoo movement. You’ll experience atmospheric drama with The Wreck and nostalgic romance with Carnaby Street. This is 21st century creative music chock full of mystery and acute observation.
ROY BAINTON
I would love to find out how this guy, Larry Teves, ended up with the moniker under which he currently performs alongside of his band The Biscuits. Whatever the back story these chaps are purveyors of very fine Blues, Jump Jive and strutting Texas Swing. I loved it as soon as track 1, the single Vampire Baby, blasted out of my studio speakers. This a no frills cracking release containing ten originals however, I should imagine that, were you to see these guys in a concert setting then, for sure there
would be some choice covers from the archives dusted off and given an airing. Based in San Diego California they manage to retain originality whilst acknowledging the vast history that is our beloved genre. So, for sure you can hear the influences of Muddy or Howlin’ Wolf etc but Chickenbone ramps up the band and his guitar/vocal performances for the 2020s. There is, to my ears, nothing to dislike about Sleeper at all. The tracks are concise and to the point just straight-ahead vocals, guitars, bass, harmonica and drums to get your feet moving. Hell, even the cover is minimal with just a picture of an old car. However that car, owned by his dad, had hidden power to outrun many other Hot Rods of the era hence the album title Sleeper. So don’t pass over this CD when you see it advertised because it looks dull, that would be to totally miss out on a real gem of a good time. I defy you not to enjoy Tougher Than That, The Ballad Of Jack or My Bad Luck. Yes indeed Strolling With Chickenbone is terrific fun and in these dark virus days we need to smile again.
GRAEME SCOTTOn his 12th album the Reverend resurrects classic blues and rock tunes from Muddy Waters to Grateful Dead with the help of stellar musicians. Corolado resident Freakchild is both a performer and a preacher who proclaims, “Music is my religion. Through song I seek transcendence.” The sermon begins with the pretentious sounding Buddhist mantra meditation, Om Mani Padme Hum, as a prelude to Muddy Waters’ I Can’t Be Satisfied with its growling voice and soaring steel guitar sound. Big Boss Man swings along nicely thanks to the rhythm section of drummer Chris Parker and bassist Robin Sylvester. Freakchild puts in some great slide work on Little Red Rooster with Scott ‘Shack’ Hackler excelling on barrelhouse piano. A highlight and personal favourite is Friend Of The Devil, a moving tribute to Jerry Garcia courtesy of Mark Karan’s tasteful guitar interludes. The vibe of San Francisco’s summer of love is recreated on I Know You Rider with some memorable harp antics from the Rev, followed by another Garcia tune, the mystical Black Peter. Less impressive are the interpretations of The Beatles Yer Blues and Imagine despite memorable performances from Hammond B virtuoso Melvin Seals on the former and bassist Phil Marino on the latter. The only original song, Sweet Sweet You is a fitting tribute to blues and rock heroes eerily told from
the site of Robert Johnson’s grave. It is appropriate to include another preacher troubadour, Gary Davis, for Death Have No Mercy which retains the integrity of the original. Based on the acapella sung by Grateful Dead, this interesting album closes with And We Bid You Goodnight. THE
This is a collaboration between the Rev and some old friends featuring ten original songs encompassing Americana, blues, country, rock and jazz. Opening track Stranger Than Today flows gently like a stream with lovely fragments of harmony vocals, lilting harmonica and smooth slide guitar floating along on the surface. Nice start! The mood darkens for Troubled Man where the Rev shares vocals with Ruthie Foster on the gospel flavoured number and also adds some tasty harp fills to the soaring backing. Counting Down The Days is a stomping blues/rocker with the Rev proclaiming fiercely “I swore I wouldn’t get angry this time” and also wailing wildly on harp. Hold Back is a short and sweet touch of refined
happen here. These guys just add their own personal ingredients to an old familiar recipe. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction is one of the most well-known tunes of the twentieth century. So, to turn it into your own blues version whilst still retaining the core of the structure is by no-means an easy task. But this band nail it. It’s a brilliant bluesy rendition that I’m certain Mick and Keith would approve of. Detroit Blues by Hudson Whitaker
This is a homage to the blues peers that Jay Willie and James Montgomery were influenced by. Montgomery has a blues musical career dating back to 1973 and has toured with Johnny Winter and James Cotton to name but two. Three Cool Cats is the opening track that was written by Leiber and Stoller in the fifties. So, it’s no surprise that it has a distinctive fifties feel about it. Great vocals and wonderful harmonica give a nice easy introduction to this album. As I stated earlier this is an album that pays homage to some of the great blues musicians that have greatly influenced this band of musicians. Cadillac Walk has a nice understated feel to it. The problem you sometimes get with an album of covers is that the present incumbents lose their identity. Well, that doesn’t
a.k.a. Tampa Red is one of my favourite blues tunes. And this serving has me salivating. James Montgomery hails from Detroit so this for him is manna from heaven. Soft, relaxing vocals with a stunning harmonica piece running right through it is a joy to behold. Give Me One Reason, originally written by Tracy Chapman allows Lee- Ann Lovelace to showcase her brilliant vocals. You don’t normally associate Tracy Chapman with the blues but I’ve heard her deliver some fine blues stuff in the past so this sits very well with me. You can’t pay homage to blues masters without a Johnny Winter tune. Luckily there are two on here. Mean Town Blues being one of them that finishes the album. I look forward to an all original blues album from these guys.
STEPHEN HARRISONpunk rock but The Job Is Never Done is a steady roller featuring a sweet backing chorus from The Sisterhood. The Brotherhood are Chris “Doctor” Roberts on guitar, bassist Christopher Roberts and Brady Blades on drums plus various guests contributing keyboards, lap steel, dobro, mandolin and backing vocals. A deep, swampy, atmospheric feel pervades the slinky Albion Blues but the rollicking piano boogie of 27 Dollars is an old-fashioned R&B rave up. A surprise arrives with closing number Keep The Faith, Have Some Fun which is a N’Awlins style party which quickly becomes my favourite track featuring the Mudbug Brass Band and everyone is having an absolute ball. The rhythm section lay down some righteous funk, the horns riff furiously and the whole congregation join in the fun. Great finish to an excellent album which covers many bases and one I enjoyed immensely.
This album was first released seven years ago in a tribute to Louis Armstrong (Satch) and consists of 13 songs that Satch was associated with and are played here by a selection of invited guest musicians covering a wide gamut of popular music. It is always hard with a project like this to determine how to review it, Should I aim it at the Dr John fans or to the Louis Armstrong fans? The CD has been out there for 7 years already and is probably the last studio recording that Dr John did, so I think that I have to review it as such. Well if you like Dr John and you haven’t already got it, it would be a good one to buy, as the range and standard of the various guests are truly mind blowing, from the opener What a Wonderful World with The Blind Boys of Alabama hitting their best and Nicholas Payton on trumpet standing in for Satch. Bonnie Raitt figures on Got the world on a string. Superb versions too by Shemekia Copeland, flawless as ever, and a great gospel rendition of Nobody knows the Trouble I’ve Seen .by the McCrary sisters, all of whom are of course either accompanied or led by Dr John in his own inimitable style. I think this one has to
stand up as a must have for the Dr John fans out there. A giant in the business who will be sadly missed.
Edel
Malia was born and raised in Malawi before coming to England in her teens where she discovered music, not least Billie Holiday and Nina Simone who have clearly remained influences on her vocal style. Now based in Germany, Malia is generally classed as a Jazz artist but this album is a homage to the blues. Most of the material was written by Malia, keyboardist Nis Kötting and bassist Lars Cölin who are the main musicians apart from a drummer. The listener is drawn into the songs by Malia’s fine voice and the relaxed musicianship, all produced in a crystal-clear mix. The two covers might be very familiar but the treatments given are effective: The Thrill Is Gone gets a novel, late night makeover with Malia’s vocals very much in Billie style; Love In Vain sounds more familiar with minimal accompaniment, piano bass and brushed drums only. The original material ranges from the soulful Last Show which celebrates our ability to rise
above adversity (“It’s human to break, it’s human to fall, keep standing tall”) to Me And My Girlfriend where muted trumpet accents add to a definite jazz feel. Songs like Death and Two Seedlings are more in a blues vein, especially when Nis breaks out the harp on the latter tune, and Lord I Feel So Bad follows gospel traditions as Malia preaches the right way forward in life, rejecting greed and fear, a definite winner. Freedom At Last sets Malia’s optimistic lyrics over slide guitar and harp, giving the song a Delta feel, and Moving Away has an easy groove as Malia celebrates a fun Saturday night out. There are moments here when Malia’s vocals remind me of another fine singer on the current scene, our own Zoe Schwarz, and across this disc there is plenty of good music to enjoy. Stylish, sophisticated and engaging, a disc that repays repeated listens and definitely has blues DNA, albeit in something of a latenight style.
JOHN MITCHELLWhen people talk about Americana, this is probably the ideal that they have in mind. This female/ male duo out of Canada has a deep, high
LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! This album crashes through the speaker and from the very first track through to the last, it keeps you listening.
8 songs, quality not quantity, I ended up with favourites but loved them all, track one, Higher, was stadium quality and I would pay to go see these guys, reminiscent of a young Bon Jovi or Ozzy Osbourne Verity’s voice has a falsetto quality that means the range and power in his voice is captivating.
Reading the bio, I was astonished to hear Verity has been in the business over 50 years, the energy and voice strength lead me to believe I was listening to a punk kid that had attitudeand talent.
The production of the album is first class, usually I miss some of the lyrics due to the music but somehow, despite the rousing rock drums and guitars I could hear Verity crystal clear over the top and even hear the lyrics, meaningful stuff. Track 4 Broken Heart was soulful, beautiful, made me think of summers night in L.A. sitting on the beach, sexy and romantic.
Honestly, I could go on and on and am worried I haven’t told you enough good things about this album! Suffice to say if you like your Blues FULL of rock and you like your rock with all the depth and passion of the Blues, get this album!!
JEAN KNAPPITTup in the mountains type of intimate, blues-influenced country and folk inflected sound - the epitome of one form of American roots music. Mind you, I guess it does help when you own a banjo shop just outside Horsefly, British Columbia, as do Take a listen to the title track with its references to “this hammer” (think of Leadbelly, though he never had such a high, pure voice as Pharis does - but the guitar work here is not very far away from Mr. Ledbetter’s in one or two places) or the quietly atmospheric old-timey instrumental New Caledonia. This is the duo’s fifth album overall and their second of original material and finds their banjo (played by Jason) and their two-guitar sound augmented by mandolin and bass, adding a touch of bluegrass. Old Chatelaine may be lacking that style’s breakneck approach, but the bluegrass influence is certainly there. We All Fall is a folky ballad and A Bit Old School is a fine bluesy piece that sounds like it could have come out of a 30s old-timey catalogue, so too does the opening Hometown Blues. Kind Girl ends with a lovely short interlude for primitive banjo, and the whole set closes with a heartfelt love song delivered by Jason. Interested in Americana? Then you need this.
NORMAN DARWENThis is the 11th album that has been recorded by Richard Townend and his Mighty Bosscats. He wrote all fourteen tracks and played virtually all the instruments with the variable help of a couple of studio musicians. The opening track Ticket To Memphis immediately put me in mind of Tony Joe White. A sort of deep south drawl to his voice that I really like. An almost smokey edge to his vocals that give a blues/bluegrass feel to the proceedings. Dixie Dixie has a more realistic blues style about it. The lyrics hark back to darker times in the deep south of America including references to the KKK. Powerful lyrics and a simple but effective guitar running alongside. What I do particularly like about this album is that it almost tells a story that carries on through each song. I Found You is a perfect example of that. Lighter moments darker moments and sullen moments that eventually turn into a lighter moment all in the one song. This album is not pure blues as we know it but more a tale of a journey through life that engulfs every aspect of life which invariably leads back into blues history. Jesus On The Wall completely threw me in terms of what I was expecting from the title. I was expecting a peaceful tale
of worship or homage but how wrong could I be. Wonderful slide guitar and brilliant lyrics that bring out the very best in Richard Townend. On The Run is a box-car type of tune. Leaning slightly towards Rockabilly but not to far to take away the essence of the tune. Strong blues/country tune with a fifties style of delivery which is complemented by Scotty Moore style of guitar work. The final track Thoughts And Prayers is pure country. And that is not necessarily a bad thing given how the album is structured. The whole album is a mish mash of fine tunes drawn together by a great singer-songwriter in Richard Townend. I’d love to hear The Mighty Bosscats do a full-on blues album. They have it in their locker to do it justice.
For a long time, harp player Steve Baker has been one of those hard-working sidemen adding a level of quality to other artist’s records. Since forming his own band he’s demonstrated a broad talent as a writer and singer with a quartet of hardy musicians to frame his lyrics. If you want good harmonica playing, then track 4 here, Steppin’ High, is great stuff. The songs, with fine descriptive lyrics, have
an undercurrent of anger. For example, Judgment Day expresses the way many of us feel about today’s political landscape; ‘The true believers fall on their knees and pray/While the rest of us are still losers anyway’. This is an album recorded in Germany and it hints at a deeper story behind the idea of a blues quintet. Take the angry polemic, Chains, which is the story of a man suffering in 1945 post war Hamburg who escapes to Canada, yet the economic chains when kept him down have returned. Blues aside, you need to listen to Steve Baker and the Livewires very carefully, this is a nicely packaged album of well-played and diligently recorded music with a fascinating narrative.
The Triangle? The Bermuda Triangle? The Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle? Nope, fortunately for fans of powerful, soulful blues music neither of the above, but the triangle formed by the legendary locations that are Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Jackson, Mississippi, where Lisa recorded all the tracks for her latest album. It could be said that Lisa is going back to her roots, being a native of Mississippi, but that would
Well folks we what we have here is a refreshing take you back triple CD set of early Brit. Blues Boom acts between 1966-1971. The label do tend to do these sort of releases rather well and the set has a 40 page booklet compiled by David Wells, it is excellent and plenty of images and posters if you can actually read the minute print, had this been a vinyl release with appropriate sized book enclosed it would be fantastic. There are probably tracks you would expect but some you may not and the selection makes up for a really good long listen. Disc 1 kicks off with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and All Your Love but then lends an ear to The Zany Woodruff Operation and the wonderful previously unissued title track Crawling Up The Hill the Mayall classic of course covered by so many. We are presented with
a total of 56 tracks over the three discs so a lot to get through which I can’t do here but at less than £20 you have a fine purchase to look out for. Several previously unissued tracks including; Yardbirds – I’m A Man Live 9Aril ’67), Savoy Brown – A Hard Way To Go (Jan ’70), Alexis Korner w/Robert Pant – Operator, Red Dirt – Time To Move, Angel Pavement – Madison Blues, Christine Perfect – It’s You I Miss, and more. The set is a damn good play and very interesting indeed with some of the mix of artists we may have forgotten about and will send some of you in a searching frenzy for some of these acts own albums.
There was a good BBC4 documentary on Eel Pie Island Hotel I watched having recorded it, it has been repeated and no doubt is on BBC iPlayer well worth a look and to go that bit deeper do check out Suburban Steps To Rockland that is on Now TV and probably You tube (www.nowtv. com/watch/suburban-steps-torockland)
Having said all that I do recommend this set
FRANK LEIGH
be to overlook the fact that, musically speaking, Lisa has never left them. The opening track, Greenwood, Mississippi, (somewhere between Memphis and Jackson) has that very distinctive Muscle Shoals feel and is a real rocker, a sort of cross between The Stones and The Commitments. Lisa’s powerful vocals grab the listener right from the start. (It gave me the feeling that I’d walked into a blues bar, where the band had already warmed up quite a while ago and that the singer was well and truly into her performance and was not going to be stopped anytime soon!) It’s a terrific track and a great opener. Tell Mama is another very full-bodied sound. The heavy horns and deep bass are a perfect background to Lisa’s imploring that mama should be told what you need, further enhanced by some lovely great backing vocals. (After a couple of plays I’d convinced myself that this version was an old soul classic I’d heard years ago). Slip Away maintains the soulful beat, but the keyboards give it a more mellow feel. I’d Rather Go Blind has been covered by so many artists with varying success. This song could have been just written for Lisa’s gravelly Southern tones and she has created a fantastic true-to-the-original version. One of the five tracks recorded in Memphis, That’s What Love Will Make You Do has some great funky horns. The final tracks were created in Jackson. Someone
Else Is Steppin’ In maintains the heavy driving beat of the whole album and fades out with an outstanding sax break. The bonus track is a beautiful stripped-back version of Just Walking In The Rain, recorded live at the iconic Sun Studios. In my opinion, this is Lisa’s best album so far.
STEVEAlthough the Roomful of Blues line up has changed over the years, they have never sounded fresher or stronger. The current eight-piece unit is led by guitarist Chris Vachon who produced the album and wrote/co-wrote eight of the tracks, with keyboardist Rusty Scott and baritone and tenor saxophonist Alek Razdan both writing one. Along with bassist John Turner, trumpeter Carl Gerhard, drummer Chris Anzalone, tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille and singer Phil Pemberton bringing his sweet and soulful vocals to their winning combination of jump, swing, blues, R&B and soul. The album opens up with a cover of the Buddy Ace track What Can I Do with the horn section creating a terrific swing feel from the start. You Move Me is a searing blues groove with horns and soulful vocals that
will soon have you dancing. The title track In A Roomful Of Blues is a funky R&B with tasty guitar work, following on with the rocking contagious tongue in cheek that is Phone Zombies. The band play around the driving rhythmic double bass on the rock and roll of Watch Your Back. A highlight for me as the mood softens with Phil delivering wistful whisky tinged vocals on the exquisitely played smouldering blues ballad. She Quit Me Again. The tempo returns on She’s Too Much, with its Latin groove and Cab Calloway horn styling, while guest Dick Reed on accordion takes us dancing to New Orleans on the Zydeco grooves of Have You Heard. The rock and roll blues of We’d Have A Love Sublime takes us to Carcinoma Blues one of five songs co-wrote by Bob Moulton, a feisty driving blues about Bob’s fight with cancer. Next up is the Doc Pomus cover Too much Boogie, a call and response with a bouncing big band swing sound. Guest Jeff Ceasrine holds down an effective percussion rhythm on the more bluesy Let The Sleeping Dog Lie, before the band close the album with the upbeat jump blues of I Can’t Wait. With its infectious grooves this is very enjoyable indeed
SHIRLIn the last ten years or so Canada has bred a real hotbed of musicians across the Folk, Blues & Americana spectrum and it is not uncommon to hear something new and find the artist is resident somewhere in the deep backwoods of Newfoundland or Prince Edward Island rather than the Nashville or Clarkdale centers. Wide Mouth Mason are one of those, hailing from Saskatchewan and forming in 1995. They have been through some changes in line-up and form in the 25 years preceding this release and this finds them as a duo with Shaun Verrault on vocals and guitars and Safwan Jayed on percussion The sound of Wide Mouth Mason is Blues based, a lot of the Mississippi Hill Country sound to their playing, especially with Verrault’s ‘trislide’ where he plays the lap steel, dobro or resonator with slides on three fingers to let him play slides and chords at the same time. For sure, he plays with a great deal of talent and his slide solos are really fine and I love the rawness of their sound as well as the variety but… There is a bit of a but in that they often fall between the two stools of Blues and Pop and it doesn’t always work although there are no tracks here that are downright bad. Opening
pair are a case in point. Bodies In Motion is a terrific Blues, grumbling guitars, lots of slide and a jaunty rhythm but it is followed by Every Red Light which kicks off with a great slide riff but as the vocals cut in takes on a much more lightweight rhythm, two tracks that share many of the more successful elements but sound as though they come from two different bands. Overall, I really like Verrault’s playing all through the album and it is definitely worth the trip.
ANDY SNIPPERStraight from the off, a rousing guitar gets hold of you and brings you in with the opening track, Train Wreck but that’s far from it. A nice self-penned number by Lee Ainleys as nearly all the tunes are on this album. Fronted by a mother/ daughter combination, with powerhouse vocals and harmonies, the close family bond brings out something quite stirring. Mix this in with the driving guitar of Elliot Young who welds his guitar like a Jedi Knights light Sabre and a steady as a rock rhythm section of Nat Ainley on bass and Dave Atkin on drums and Tori Mai makes up the band.. With these guys having their roots firmly in the Blues Rock genre and they do it so well, each track grabs hold of you as soon as it starts and brings
you into story after story of life and all it brings. Track 5, Hell Yeah, is something we’ve all said at one time in our lives and you can picture the gig crowd saying just that after these guys play live. The combination of two young talents and three veterans makes this band a force to be reckoned with, I mean these tunes make me want to put the top down on a convertible car and have it at full blast whilst driving home, with two female lead singers, they’ll be compared to the likes of Fleetwood Mac and we all know what they achieved ...
BARRY BLUESBARN HOPWOODAt just over 18 years old, singer-songwriter Maya Rae has had a storied career so far. Singing professionally since she was twelve, releasing her first jazz album at 13, and recording and performing with some of the best-known names on the Canadian Jazz scene since then, she has certainly packed a lot in, and Can You See Me? Is the result of a lot of a natural talent, combined with a strong work ethic. The songs that appear on the album, written with her brother Gabriel tip their hats towards Jazz and Blues, but also contain elements of soft dance music, pop, reggae, and the sounds of classic
singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchel, Carole King and Nina Simone. The instruments used range from light and frothy ukuleles, to bluesy lap steel and dobro guitars, and trumpets. The album was recorded live, with all of the musicians on the floor at the same time, which gives the sound an immediacy and directness, often missing from over-dubbed records. It starts with the effervescent title track, with its gentle acoustic arpeggio, and inventive dobro solo, with Rae’s light, high voice pitched perfectly with the song. Get By is a brass driven piece, with some beautiful violin playing, and The Sun Will Come Out Again is an experimental, but jaunty pop song, perfect for a film soundtrack. The songs are all expertly played, performed and recorded, and show a bright future for a talent who has already delivered much.
BEN MACNAIRThis album is unashamedly a homage from James Byfield under his blues nom-de-play to the blues greats and their music that have given him a platform for his skills as an interpreter of their spirit and legacy. It’s a strippedback format, just Byfield and his long-time bassist Peter Grenell, which is perfect,
these songs were never conceived for the electric renditions they received decades later, they were designed for one or two players to set up in a club and simply play through, get paid, and move on. If for nothing else, this album acts as a instruction for those new to this wonderful genre, a quick run through of great songs by great artists that will encourage new listeners to delve into the archives and find the originals, and more besides, thus beginning the lifelong love affair with blues music that drives and comforts us all. There is a wonderfully subtle appeal in the chord progressions of Somebody Loan My A Dime, the staple blues subject of love not running entirely smoothly. Byfield underlines his mournful vocal with a beautifully executed acoustic solo. Given the limitations of the format, there are musical restrictions enforced by two instruments and voices, Byfield does well to maintain a variation of feel and tone, as evidenced by his lively slide work on Big Road Blues, a nice break from the more emotional angst created by the masters. In contrast with those, Sweet Celine is positively joyous, and readies us for the rueful sadness of It’s Too Late To Cry, and the almost obligatory Robert Johnson cut, Love In Vain. If there is such a thing as a blueprint for a blues song, this is surely it, a song that still sounds utterly different every time it is recorded.
Byfield nods to his Bay Area blues musical ancestors Hot Tuna with their country blues I Know You Rider. Finishing up with the gospel acapella Little Black Train rounds off a homage for one blues disciple, and a series of pointers for the newcomers to blues music, and it succeeds admirably in both.
The Scottish blues scene is still flourishing with top notch bands. Here is an example of one them, the band Chasin’ The Train, who hail from the Dumfries delta country. This is their debut release and packs a punch, just like their live shows which are not to be missed. They are a five piece band comprising of Tom Cuddihy on lead vocals and guitar. He is joined by Bob Howlin’ Clements on blues harp. Next is Peter Jamieson on bass, keyboards and backing vocals. Rory Nelson provides great licks on guitar and Jason ‘Moon Drummer’ Little on percussion. Usually their sets are peppered with cover versions but here are nine self-penned tracks of differing musical genres, including blues, some jazzy tones and classic rock throughout. The opener, Beat
Up Ford, incorporated a rock and roll style with a nod to Chuck Berry. FWPB next, (First World Problem Blues) a tongue in cheek take to modern living is very quirky some very good harmonica here and a good groove. Temporary Man starts with a wonderful scything slide guitar lick, and then the song explodes into a real shuffle of a tune, exhibiting the band’s big sound and tight form. Some good guitar solos complement the vocals also, a highlight. Down Home mellows the tone altogether at least initially, and then the pace quickens. It seems to allude to their hometown Dumfries, locals call themselves Doonhamers, and so here is the town’s upcoming anthem, catchy chorus, and fine musicianship. Whisky Bottle has a good chorus also, good rhythm section here marrying searing harmonica tones. Too Much Sugar has an up-tempo jump jive beat again with fine guitar playing. Exit Wounds is a fantastic slow blues song laid back groove here. No Blues, opens with great drum beat, another optimistic tune with a great vibe. Don’t You Lie To Me, a mellow tone to this again showcasing the band at their best. This is a talented band that is full of electrifying rhythm and lots of energy. Certainly one to look out for, if you get the chance to see them on stage, catch them. Diverse sounds and catchy riffs and choruses, what’s not to like!
COLIN CAMPBELL
Since guitarist Henry James and bass player Warren Murrel joined the band in 2017 the upsurge in energy and momentum has been palpable bringing us to the release of this, by far the band’s most outstanding release to date. Oh, Miss Carolina is the perfect opener and not surprisingly the single that has been getting played on rock and blues radio everywhere. It fizzes and pops with Southern riffs from the get go balanced with Roberts plaintive vocal and memorable chorus. Work It Out brings the soulful side of the band to the fore, complete with wonderfully understated horns and outstanding backing vocals provided by Mahalia Barnes and her colleagues. This makes you realise that Robert really is a top-class singer. Write these off as a generic Southern Blues Rock band at your peril, there is so much more here. Can’t Stand It is next, a bit of an Eagles country rock feel with a catchy, hooky refrain going on that sticks with you. Tired Of Drinking Alone might be the perfect lock down song although written as a break up and get back together song.
The emotion feels real, the music swirling around the lyrics. Do You Remember is as the title suggests a look back at teenage times, musically a blend of Southern country soul. Don’t Let Me Go shows the boys can rock it when the need arises, big crunchy guitar from Henry and soaring vocals from Robert ably backed by the relentless rhythm section. One Last Time shows another facet of the band, this is a song about the journey they are on and pulls in elements of the best modern rock traditions, slowly building to a monster guitar driven crescendo before falling to the outro. They follow that with a heartfelt ballad, Gold. A break up song in the best tradition but unlike many this is honest in its observations, no sugar coating going on here. This highlights the fantastic harmony this band has, not only vocally but musically too. A guitar solo perfectly and tastefully taking everything higher towards the final verse. All too soon we’re at the closing double hit of Last Light On The Highway Parts One and Two. Part One all acoustic and reflective, Part Two more intense and urgent, music drawn from such diverse acts as Radiohead, Steely Dan or Deep Purple but blended into a bubbling stew of inventiveness. This album is the modern contemporary face of Southern Rock Blues and is one of the most complete recordings I’ve heard in a long time. I think it’s going to put Robert Jon & The Wreck firmly on the map.
This CD is a wonderful, atmospheric slice of blues heritage. Here you have two blues styles; Mississippi and Piedmont contrasted to great effect by two masters. The quality of the recordings is exceptional. For example, Dr. Ross, with just a harmonica, singing Biscuit Baking Woman is close to having the man in your kitchen with you. Born on a Virginia farm, Archie Edwards came into this world in 1919 and passed away in 1998. He was a champion of the Piedmont blues guitar style and had worked with Skip James, John Jackson and Mississippi John Hurt. You want background? Try this – Archie ran his own barbershop, which became a focal point for helping blues players in their careers. Charles Isaiah Ross, a.k.a. Dr. Ross, was born in 1925 in Tunica, Mississippi and left us in 1993. He had a substantial hit with Chicago Breakdown (included here) and the distinction of recording for both Sun Records and Chess. There are 14 uplifting tracks here and each one as pure, unadulterated blues as you could wish. The songs are all classics; Meet Me in the Bottom, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Baby Please Don’t Go, Goin’ Up Coun-
try. The combination of Dr. Ross’s highly rhythmic harp and Archie’s crisp guitar is irresistible. A must for all true acoustic blues fans.
ROY BAINTONIndependent
Double album of live cuts from Oklahoma bluesman Bill Homans aka ‘Watermelon Slim’ featuring mostly original material plus a few choice covers with Slim playing solo backed by his slide guitar and harmonica. CD1 was recorded at The Blue Door Oklahoma and opening track Blue Freightliner features fine slide guitar and gruff road weary vocals and this theme continues with Truck Driving Songs a humorous tale of life on the road. Slim’s passion for passing on his experiences is evident and this solo setting is surely the best way to hear him tell his tales. Slim howls on Northern Blues as he tells of the harsh winters and having to leave New England. Other highlights from the first CD are a lengthy workout of two Howlin’ Wolf classics Smokestack Lightnin’/Two Trains Running, also the jaunty harmonica backed Jimmy Bell and a great cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s 61 Highway Blues. CD2 was recorded at The Depot Oklahoma and opens strongly with the funky Let
It Be In Memphis a surprisingly upbeat song about death featuring great bottleneck guitar. Slim is on wonderful form here and tears into the country flavoured Into The Sunset with gusto. A cover of the old blues standard John Henry shines brightly and more sparks fly with some speedy picking on Archetypal Blues as Slim pays homage to the great blues performers. Oklahoma Blues is a slightly introverted tale that leads into Devil’s Cadillac a harrowing song about “heading for that Crossroads with a monkey on my back”. Phew, heavy stuff but beautifully done. The album closes with Dark Genius a political song about assassinated presidents. This Traveling Man is surely the real deal hearkening back to the old days of the great bluesmen. Highly recommended to acoustic blues lovers.
This European package tour was first organised in 1962 and introduced audiences to the leading blues performers of the day. Manchester Free Trade Hall hosted the only UK date on the tour, an event attended by Paul Jones, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger and around 2000
other blues fans. As Page explains: “It was not only the first time that I would actually see artists like John Lee Hooker and T-Bone Walker perform, but it was also the first time I met the Stones. We were all like-minded enthusiasts and in those days we regarded the artists we were going to see as idols. David Williams, author of First Time We Met The Blues, was at the show and his insights, alongside those of Keith Richards, illuminate the detailed, illustrated cover notes. The festival recording was dominated by the sensational appearance to tumultuous applause of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee at their most raw and authentic best, singing Kansas City Blues, I’m Leaving In The Morning, I’m A Poor Man But A Good Man and Easy Rider. John Lee Hooker had opened the show but his singing was distorted and so does not feature on the album. Memphis Slim performed Broonzy’s Just A Dream, his trademark rolling blues piano underpinning his grandiose vocals. Willie Dixon was Sittin’ And Cryin’ The Blues, his voice warbling and playing his bass with power and superb technique. Walker sang his self-penned Call It Stormy Monday and My Baby Is Now On My Mind plus the finale Bye Bye Baby with the Ensemble, Walker playing more in the style of the 40s than the 60s. This is pure blues history and one for the collection.
STONY PLAIN
Rory Block needs no introduction. A blues lady since the age of fifteen or so, she has worked with almost everyone of note in the modern acoustic blues cannon, including her old buddy, Bonnie Raitt, and as part of the renowned Sisters of Slide team with Cindy Cashdollar in recent years. After a stunning series of albums, the Mentor series, where she focused each release on the work of a true blues great, Gary Davis; Mississippi John Hurt; Bukka White; Son House; Fred McDowall and Skip James, mostly guys she personally knew and learned from, Block has now resurfaced with an equally important, stage-setting series of releases focusing on women in blues.
The first album in the new series from 2018 featured the legendary Bessie Smith and now, with the sophomore release, Block turns to many lesser known blues musicians with Prove It On Me, a genuinely inspired and inspiring collection of covers, featuring some really unexpected and many largely unknown blues ladies who played a significant part in the development of the blues. ‘Ma’ Rainey and Memphis Minnie, both instantly recognizable names, feature here alongside the likes of Arizona Dranes and Rosetta Howard, both newcomers to me. And it’s truly these lesser known ladies that make this album truly delightful. Others include songs from Lottie Kimbrough, a gospel track that sure shimmies, and Madilyn Davis’ It’s Red Hot, a sensual, simpering cut. A version of Motherless Children originally from Elvie Thomas, also rattles along perfectly in the mix. This is a marvelous album, one that is likely to again lead Block to the international awards stage, where she picked up an acoustic award of the year in 2019.
Okay, yet another new name to me Chris Canas (real name Cottingham) and his band hail from Detroit, Michigan and this release his eighth. You certainly get a very full CD as Would You Mind contains fifteen all original cuts. Mixing elements of Blues Soul and Jazz it swings along very nicely indeed. They create the kind of music that you need to move to and I recon that were you to see them in a live environment you would have a super evening grooving away to these hot tunes. It is a pretty straight forward band line-up, all seasoned musicians on drums, bass, guitar and keys, however the one slightly unusual twist being sharing the stage with Angela Cottingham who just happens to be Chris’s mother on vocals and percussion. Now to the music, as I said this is a real fusion album so you have a cut like Paradise which strays into George Benson Weekend In LA territory or Thick And Thin which is sultry night club Jazz. Feel So Good is pure Funk redolent of AWB. Worry not though Blues based lovers as there is truly much fine music for us to enjoy in Having A Good Time, Dirty Blues Man, Cloud 9, Get Out Of my Life and indeed the title track Would You Mind. Production values are clean and
clear. Some of the tracks are given space to breathe with nine weighing in at over five minutes. However at no point does it feel like over indulgement. No, the instrumental breaks are well thought out and sit well within the context of the song. I think tight is the best way to describe this body of work and well worth exploring.
GRAEME SCOTTWith a sound all their own, a mixture of blues, roots, country and blues rock, there is something for everyone on this album. The band formed in 2017 and immediately found their place winning the Iowa Blues Challenge the same year! Passionate, powerful and playful is one review and I have to agree, 10 tracks with stand outs for me being track 7, Weary, fantastic base line, I could imagine an acoustic version of this in an intimate club, very cool. Track 6, Let Me Sing My Blues, gets your attention from the off, a little bit rock n roll for me but no denying the passion and energy in the song and track 8, Dirty Little Secret, reminded me of the sort of track Tarrantino would use in one of his films, great rhythm, sexy and very cool. The production of
the album is very good, clear with a group of accomplished musicians bringing an eclectic feel to each original song, all written by the dynamic duo that is Jeni Grouws and Chris Avery. At times soaring vocals, a gritty slide guitar and a tasty honkey tonk piano backing tell of the Mississippi River and old American Jazz influences that exist between the duo. If you like your Blues a little country, a little Jazz and a little old school rock’n’roll then you will enjoy this album.
JEAN KNAPPITTJohn Lee Hooker’s first recordings, made for Sensation in Detroit with Bernard Besman, launched him on the road to fame though, as you will hear on the three discs in this box-set. His very personal boogie style was already fully formed. Mostly playing solo and accompanying himself on guitar and foot stomp these sides give a complete insight into early JLH. Some of the material will be familiar but when Ace acquired the rights, they uncovered nineteen previously unreleased sides or alternate takes, all of which appear here for the
first time. Everything has been taken from the best available masters and cleaned up as much as possible so what you hear here is as good as it gets with recordings of this age. There are three discs in the set, in chronological order and each running to well over an hour. Disc 1 includes the song that really started it for Hooker, Boogie Chillen’, as well as Hobo Blues, Crawlin’ King Snake and Burnin’ Hell; Disc 2 has no fewer than five versions of Boogie Chillen’ #2 and Disc 3 features four takes off I’m In The Mood –just to pick out some of the more familiar JLH titles. The instrumental Hoogie Boogie is one good example of how adept a player Hooker was within the style he created and the accompanying notes by Peter Guralnick and the more academic treatise by Dr Wayne Goins, Professor of Music at Kansas State University, both stress what a unique approach he had to the music. Goins even argues that the way he improvised and ignored the standard patterns of blues lyrics really places him closer to jazz. Certainly, as you listen to the multiple takes of tracks like Build Myself A Cave (also known as World’s In A Tangle) you get the sense of what Goins means as Hooker varies the lyrics and delivery significantly on each version. The set includes detailed notes on the tracks’ recording and issue dates plus any occasional other musicians involved, such as Eddie Kirkland on guitar
and Eddie Burns on harp. Probably more JLH than the casual listener will want but an important release for hardcore fans and completists.
JOHN MITCHELLSass Jordan has had a 40-year career in the rock world. This is her first outing as a bonafida blues singer with her album Rebel Moon Blues. Now, I have to admit I’ve not heard of Sass before this album, which is not surprising if she has dedicated her life to rock music. Where has she been all my life? The opening track is a version of the Sleepy John Estes/Taj Mahal track Leaving Trunk. Her backing band, The Champagne Hookers blend perfectly with this god given raw blues vocal that Sass is blessed with. My Babe (Willie Dixon) allows Sass to bring to the table what she has in abundance, charm, charisma and raw talent. Covering these blues classics would have been excusable if she just wanted to parody them for her
first attempt, but she’s not content with that. Oh no, she stamps her own identity over each and every song. Am I Wrong is a foot- stomping bar-room blues tune that just grinds its way through to your soul. It combines just the awesome vocals of Sass and the brilliant playing of the Dobro National- Resonator guitar of Chris Caddell. So simple, yet so brilliantly done, this will have you stomping around the floor from the first note. One Way Out, for me demonstrates the confidence, and bravado that Sass has. Not content with putting down a great vocal, and having The Hookers deliver blues at its finest, but she also makes you think that she owns the song. Having a distinguished career in rock music has obviously helped, but this album is a step up in class. This is where she belongs. She is born to the blues. The Key is the solitary song on the album that is written by Sass. Sultry lyrics, gritty vocals and an understanding of blues helps to create a wonderful tune. Finishing the album with Still Got The Blues, Sass Jordan has arrived in style. There are quite a few female blues artists around who are all at the top of their game right now. Make way for one more.
Independent
Singer/ guitarist/ bandleader
Wildcat O’Halloran is based in New England and makes extremely listenable records. The opening track, Crunch Time is a meaty piece of early 60s styled Chicago rhythm ‘n’ blues (think maybe vintage Buddy Guy). If you want to hear his straight blues chops, lend an ear to his version of the slow blues I Wonder Who, with its classic and classy guitar introduction, excellent vocals, and superb instrumental breaks from Emily Duff on tenor sax and the Wildcat himself. In fact, it is worth noting here that Emily makes nearly as much of an instrumental contribution to this album as the leader. She impresses throughout, but then so do all concerned. Wildcat has a strong sense of humour, which comes through fairly frequently - he is an excellent song-writer. As the blues is often about communication, note that he has some very salient points on the latter. Try the second number But, about the second most powerful word in the English
language, after “Love”, or They Told Me, about phrases we all use, and then there is also If Ifs Were Fifths about possibilities, whilst the title track is a wonderful litany of clever put-downs (“if your lips are moving, chances are you’re lying”, is just one example). Blues Energy describes his approach and the problem these days of playing to younger audiences (and looking like Tom Cruise), whilst the closing, acoustic-based Cost Of Living is certainly a blue-collar blues. All in all, this is an excellent, enjoyable contemporary blues set, firmly rooted in the tradition but with a strong, vital spark of individuality.
This is so far away from what you would normally expect from a Joe Bonamassa album, but I for one am really glad in a way. I’m glad because it will finally lay to rest any stupidity that Joe Bonamassa is a one-trick pony. I have never been of that persuasion but some people have. A totally instrumental album recorded with his awesome touring band of the last few years kicks off with Fun House. This opening track has a jazz/ swing big band arrangement
This is the Dublin blues rocker Eamonn McCormack’s seventh release and encapsulates an eclectic mix of music styles and formats. They are all originals written by this talented singer songwriter and virtuoso guitarist. It has a retrospective feel to it and offers the listener an insight into his life experiences and how patriotic he is, as on first track, the ballad, The Great Famine, sung with true emotion and that’s the link to all songs here, he is a true lyricist. The live production in Gypsy Women, is very precise. Help Me Understand is quite hypnotic in tone a slow paced number. Tie One On, is narrated by him full of Irish craic, with a smooth rhythm with good slide. Cowboy Blues, keeps the punchy rhythm going. Next is, In A Dream, the most bluesy riffed tune doffing
a cap to influences like Rory Gallagher and Johnny winter perhaps. Arne Wiegmand plays subtle keyboard on this, he also produced this release. Every Note That I Play, is a masterful ballad. With No Way Out, changes tempo to a blues rock feel. Cold, Cold Heart, has a Texan shuffle to it, Eamonn snarls the lyrics out. South Dakota Bound, has a Southern rock twist to it, very catchy. Last track, Make My Move, is another rocky number and exhibits the band’s talents with Max Jung-Poppe keeping a tight beat and Edgar Karg’s bassline tones sublime, a brilliant track to just get lost in and rock out. The core of a song is the lyrics and this storyteller takes you on a musical journey not to be missed.
COLIN CAMPBELL
Mary Jo Curry is an Illinois based singer who was originally classically trained on the piano and vocals. This is the first album with this newly acquired band that includes husband Michael Rapier on guitar and Hammond. Of the elven songs on the album ten are originals. Nothin’ Is Easy is the opening track that kicks off with a solid bass line. Fast driving bass that invites Mary Jo to quickly follow with her stunning vocal to make this a beauty of a tune. All Your Lies has a slower more relaxed way about it. Guest guitarist Tom Holland delves into proceedings alongside Michael Rapier to make this such a bluesy track. Lookin’ has Andrew Duncanson joining Mary Jo on vocals to some aplomb it must be said. Strong
driving rhythm from the engine room pushes the song along at a frantic pace to keep the gritty vocals company. If anyone landed from Mars and needed the blues explaining to them then they should look at Explaining The Blues. A very apt title that fits like a glove. This is as good as a blues tune that I’ve heard in a long time. Simply sensational. No- holes barred, straight between the eyes blues as God intended. Shake And Bake is a nice up-tempo instrumental that makes you feel good. It’s as simple as that. We All Had A Really Good Time is the only cover on the album. Originally written by Dan Hartman and Edgar Winter this is a jim-dandy of a tune. With Mary Jo on vocals it obviously has a different swing to it, and I’m certain that Dan and Edgar will be over the moon at this interpretation. Front Porch, being the title track sums up this whole album. With guest guitarist Albert Castiglia joining proceedings it takes the album up another gear. Joyful is the final track. That’s what this album made me feel. Joyful. It’s one of the best blues albums I’ve heard in a long time. Do yourself a favour, get it.
and it sounds superb. Move is very keyboard lead and if ever there was a keyboard guy you want to play on an album then its Reece Wynams. Brilliant collaboration with the rest of the band mixing with the horns and of course the guitar of JB. Ace Of Spades takes us into more familiar territory with an up-beat blues/ rock style that this bunch of musicians know so well. Bonamassa on top form on this song sweeps effortlessly through this great track. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is definitely off the beaten track but is treated with such reverence and skill that it makes the original score look almost amateurish. This is not a copy or even a tribute to the original but a new approach and angle to deliver something of class. If the Bond producers here this, then what they need to do is get all these fine musicians together with Beth Hart and let them do the next Bond song. Polk Salad Annie is more of a blues/ rocker performed as it was by Tony Joe White. He’d have loved this version I’m certain. Even Elvis would tip his hat to this. Blue Nocturne is a sloe blues like melody done with expertise and feeling. It Was A Very Good Year finishes what is a mighty fine album. My favourite Sinatra tune of all time, but this is something else. I expected it to be good, but not this good. The whole band coming together like an orchestra to produce a thing of beauty. 2020 is indeed a very good year for Joe
Soul Blues is definitely the name of the game with Johnny Rawls. This is his 20th album, recorded live for the most part in Germany and Denmark with a European band. Johnny starts off with the Stones song, Beast Of Burden. An inspired choice, he gives it a smoothness and his unhurried delivery makes you totally reassess the song. Things move up a gear with Country Boy, a jaunty funky work out with some delightful keys playing by Alberto Marsico. Johnny’s voice is pure silk, the equal of any of the Motown greats. Too Weak To Fight, a soul classic, is next. The band apart from Alberto consist of the Ozdemirs, Erkan on bass and his sons Lavent and Kenan on drums and guitar, and as you would expect they are slick and well-rehearsed. Can I Get It is a bit more of a READ EVEN MORE NEWS AND REVIEWS ON OUR WEBSITE
To call yourselves The Proven Ones might seem like an audacious claim but the individuals involved in this project sure have the credentials. Kid Ramos, Anthony Garaci, Willie J Campbell, Brian Templeton and Jim Bott have proved themselves over and over. Get Love is a muscular robust opener, Ramos soon displaying his chops and Templeton strident in his forceful vocals. Gone To Stay is next, the solid drum and guitar intro keeping the power of the band to the forefront, Templeton displaying a slightly vocal, by the time the keys and brass come in the song has developed a tasty swing underpinned by the rhythmic Bott. The title track shows a funkier side with a great brass section helping to fill it out and some great interplay between Ramos and Geraci. There is some really nice New Orleans style piano in Already Gone, the break in the middle adding to the catchy feel. Whom My Soul Loves is a surprise, wonderful vocal intro by guest Ruthie Foster, Brian Templeton joining the gospel vibe and harmonising as the song grows augmented with some churchy
organ. Melinda follows, a reflective softer love song, perfectly executed. Soaring guitars bring in Nothing Left To Give, an almost Cuban vibe with some lovely female backing vocals.
I Ain’t Good For Nothing is a stripped back fun take that could have been recorded on Bourbon Street full of piano and brass. Fallen is a great blues with a rock edginess to it. Favourite Dress is the last track and is a full-blown showcase for all the talents on display. These guys have absolutely nothing to prove. If you are a fan of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Mannish Boys or The Radio Kings grab this, you’ll love it.
STEVE YOURGLIVCH
The family band The Spectaculars have put together a lively set on Let’s Hear Us, Now. Over the course of eleven originals, which take in funk, blues, jazz and rock and roll they create many moods. Led by Eric Olsen on lead guitar and vocals, his brother Mike on Drums and background vocals, their father Leon on Bass and backing vocals, Joe Loeffelholtz on guitar and vocals, and keyboard player Rob Waters they pack a lot of action into the album. The rocking opener Mean Old Woman is packed full of slide guitar, and joyful Hammond Organ. What
Is a rollicking blues stomp, and On The Prowl is a slower piece, which takes the Hammond
Organ stylings of Booker T to a new place. Lost my Marbles is another song about love going wrong, Can’t Break Through is a slow and moody Wah-Wah enhanced blues raver, and album closer That’s a Track, Jack! is a fine jazz blues stomper, with a lively walking bass part, and some fine guitar playing, and a great way of ending this collection. Although The Spectaculars aren’t really doing anything new with some old ingredients, the sounds that they produce are always impressive, with solid grooves and solos being produced by all members. A solid, foot-tapping collection of songs.
BEN MACNAIRbluesy number, reminding me of the soulful side of Bobby Rush. Turning Point is next, a cover of the Tyrone Davis recording. The keys give this a slightly different feel from the original but it’s still pure soul blues heaven. T-Bone Walkers classic Stormy Monday though is a showstopper. Johnny takes it at his own tempo, never rushed, taking the song through to a natural conclusion. The pace quickens with Into Something (Can’t Shake Loose), the song best known from the O.V. Wright version. Johnny’s vocal sounding a bit more urgent on this, the band cooking behind him. Pouring Water On A Drowning Man is next, a James Carr original but this perhaps nearer to the Percy Sledge version. Johnny plays guitar excellently throughout. As we head for the home straight the band break into Lucy, a Rawls original, it’s a funky number that gets some interaction with the audience going on. The album concludes with the studio recording of I Miss Otis Clay, a heartfelt tribute to the sadly departed legend and close friend of Johnny Rawls. It’s a wonderful song that Johnny reaches deep into his soul to perform. This is a soul blues masterclass and if that’s your scene get this album.
STEVE YOURGLIVCH
This is Casey’s second album following her live album debut in 2017 which contained a mix of mainly Blues covers; this release has nine self written songs with an added bonus of the inclusion of guitarist Laura Chavez who also chips in with some co-production duties. I had a lot of expectation before listening to this album as I had seen Casey compared to the likes of Janis Joplin, Big Mama Thornton and even Etta James. While Laura is a powerhouse throaty vocalist, she has not reached these artists heights yet, needing to have more empathy with the songs although as she is still in her mid-twenties I am confident she is well on her way. Casey has a powerful voice with the ability to scream from the bottom of her lungs while alternatively delivering some emotional and soulful interludes that belay her power. None more so than on the Peter Green influenced slow Blues song called Don’t Want It To Stop, where she meets the high notes with ease and works well with the fiery lead guitar work put down by Laura. This song also benefits from the inclusion of two horn players; Jonny Viau and Steven Ebner. The material is a mixture of Chicago rocking style Blues and slower songs that have a soulful element, which all work well together highlight-
ing how well Casey handles the various Blues styles, at times I believe she sings within herself to maintain control, it would be good to here her live where she is not constrained by the studio boundaries. The CD copy I had to review seemed to have a very low volume setting which meant I had to crank up the volume to experience the best of Casey’s performance, which was frustrating but did not impact me in recognizing that there is an exciting artist on the horizon.
This self-titled debut album comprises nine previously released singles and three new tracks by the London blues-rockers who formed the band in 2016. Their publicity blurb claims that they are some of the UK’s finest session musicians and that the album is “sonically exhilarating”, citing influences such as Joe Bonamassa and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Rarely has such hyperbole proved to be an understatement! The CD is crammed full of magnificent, original songs such as Breathe with its superb jazz infused keys and guitar licks courtesy of Steve Holness and front man Nick Kendall respectively. The
funky Sign Of The Times with its rhythm changes and thought-provoking lyrics is both compelling and innovative, setting this band some distance apart from others on the current scene. Hello My Old Friend digs deep into the blues, Nick’s vocal range and intricate guitar work telling the story about the relationship between a man, his best friend, worst enemy and a bottle of whisky. Driving Without Headlights does exactly what the title says, taking the listener on a blind journey between dream and reality, the atmospheric vocals reminiscent of Bowie. A similar vibe is evident on A Change Is Coming, a journey through life with its twists and turns whilst Keep Driving showcases the dynamic rhythm section of bassist Greg Hagger and drummer Tom Clare. Soul’d Out is further proof of the musicians’ versatility, adding soulful, emotive lyrics to an already varied mix. The gloriously arranged finale, Ready To Come Home with its poignant lyrics and screaming feral guitar interludes is a fitting climax to one of the best debut albums this reviewer has heard in a long time.
Independent
Brian Kramer will be no new name to Blues
Matters readers and blues fans generally. Originally from blues melting-pot, Brooklyn, he has been based in Sweden for around twenty years and runs Scandinavia’s most admired weekly blues music jam in Stockholm every Saturday.
He has worked with many bluesmen over the years from the late Larry Johnson and Junior Wells to Taj Mahal, Mick Taylor, Alvin Yougblood Hart, Bob Brozman and another Swedish-US blues import, Eric Bibb. It has now been around six years since he last turned out an album of his own material, with the widely acclaimed, Full Circle. Now, with The Provider, Kramer seems to be in a more visceral place, with lyrics that are raw and emotive, politicized and passionate, a forceful statement where Kramer pushes the edges of the music, featuring his ever-tasteful, fretwork and generally nuanced picking and vocal delivery. Kramer also includes some fine Memphis horns here, something of a departure for him. Kramer can always be relied on to deliver proper, rough-edged full-on blues, pretty much that authentic, old-school style coming from and ranging through the USA from Delta to Chicago and all points in between.
With The Provider, he does just that supported by many of his Swedish buddies, the guys who work with him regularly and know exactly where he’s going and likely to take them: Daniel Ransten on bass, Finnish Markku Reinlkeinen on drums, Mats Qwarfordt on harp and a few others from his international blues jam in Stockholm. Anyone with an interest in blues-with-bite should grab a copy of this latest release, they’ll love it for sure.
Born in the USA and raised in California Kat was brought to the UK as a teenager for a family holiday on several occasions. Something clearly left a impression on her as a number of years later she relocated to London and her musical career, following a sojourn to Spain, ignited into the Blues artist she is today. This is Kat’s third album release and finds her exploring her family and past life for the inspiration that has generated these very personnel nine songs. All self-written by Kat or jointly with members of her supporting band.
Kat has a “made in heaven” Blues vocal that has a rough scratchy edge to it and allows her to vary her sound from almost a talking start to a full-blown soaring style. She is ably supported by her very talented band that include guitarist Francesco Accurso who also takes on the production duties admirably maintaining the musical edge that so typifies Kat’s music. There are several highlights with the songs; my particular favourites are the raw and emotional Ode To My Mother which starts with a stark African style drum beat before Kat cuts in with her heartfelt vocal highlighting her respect and dedication to her mother, Francesco also adds a deft guitar solo in for good measure, the other track that stands out is; Until I Get What I Need which again benefits from an intriguing intro this time supplied by a meandering stark rock Guitar solo from Francesco that lays the platform for Kat’s slow stomping vocal that takes a while to ignite but it does at the songs conclusion. This is an excellent rootsy Blues album performed by an outstanding vocalist who has a fairly unique style mixing her American roots with a more modern contemporary sound.
