Blues Matters 121

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Contributing Writers:

Bruce Alexander (USA), John Angus, Tim Arnold (USA), Roy Bainton, Eric Baker (USA), Steve Banks, Adrian Blacklee, Eddy Bonte (Bel), Colin Campbell, Laura Carbone (USA), Norman Darwen, Paul Davies, Dianne Dodsworth, Dave Drury, Ben Elliott (USA), Barry Fisch (USA), Sybil Gage (USA), Stuart A. Hamilton, Stephen Harrison, Trevor Hodgett, Barry Hopwood, Andy Hughes, Stacey Jeffries (USA), Yvette Jenkins, Rowland Jones, Adam Kennedy, Jean Knappitt, Brian Kramer (Sw), Frank Leigh, Andy Lindley, Gian Luca (USA), Ben McNair, John Mitchell, Glenn Noble, Toby Ornott, David Osler, Iain Patience (Fr), Alan Pearce, Dom Pipkin, Sharon Ponsford, Simon Redley, Darrell Sage (USA), Paromita Saha-Killelea (USA), Glenn Sargeant, Dave ‘the Bishop’ Scott, Graeme Scott, Jon Seymour, Andy Snipper, Dave Stone, Matty T. Wall (Aus), Don Wilcock (USA), Dani Wilde, Steve Yourglivch.

Contributing Photographers:

Arnie Goodman (USA), Adam Kennedy (UK), Laura Carbone (USA) others credited on page.

COVER IMAGE: Roger Kisby

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 Please note: Once submitted material becomes the intellectual property of Blues Matters and can only later be withdrawn from publication at the expediency of Blues Matters.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.

Editor in Chief’s comment

WELCOME to BM 121

Yep, back again.

After the thrill of our previous issue and your comments coming in… the clamour to be in our pages has led to discussions about how we come to you.

We’re always looking at how to improve the magazine and, for now, we have added sixteen extra pages of interviews. Demand seems to have gone through the roof as we start to emerge from lockdown and we’re doing all we can to fit in as much Blues as possible between our covers.

Covid has affected so many businesses and the print world is no different, while the high street is hoping to revive, the best way to ensure your copies of BM is to subscribe. Get them delivered to your door and save money at the same time. It’s great to have printed copy but if you prefer digital delivery then you can also subscribe to our digital version of the mag on our website.

While there don’t forget to check out the merchandise. We’ve got polo shirts, caps and much more.

Enjoy another fine and packed issue and thank you all for your support that helps us do what we do for you and The Blues.

Take care folks and stay safe!

Alan

THE COVER PRICE

FEATURES & REGULARS

08: FIFTY YEARS OF ALLIGATOR

14: FREDDIE KING

18: PHENOMENAL BLUES WOMEN

22: VIRTUAL BLUES

26: RORY GALLAGHER

32: LEEK BLUES & AMERICANA FESTIVAL

34: BB KING MUSEUM

36: BLUE BLOODS

118: BIG BLUES REVIEW GUIDE

130: IBBA BLUES CHART

136: RMR BLUES CHART

INTERVIEWS

42: VERONICA LEWIS

46: ELVIN BISHOP

52: ELLIS MANO BAND

58: ERIC BIBB

64: CONNOR SELBY

70: TROY REDFERN

78: BILLY F GIBBONS

86: TITO JACKSON

92: DEREK TRUCKS

98: THOMAS ATLAS

102: JOHN MCLAUGHLIN

106: CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE

110: SEAN CHAMBERS

114: TBELLY

Fifty years ago, BRUCE IGLAUER saved enough money to record an album by one of his favourite Chicago-based blues bands, Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers. Founding the Alligator Records label to release this album back then, Alligator now boasts more than 350 titles, from artists like Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and Luther Allison to present day with acts like Christone Kingfish Ingram, Curtis Salgado and Rick Estrin, to name only a few.

WORDS: Colin Campbell PICTURES: As Credited

Alligator Records artists and their recordings have amassed three Grammy Awards and over 150 Blues Music Awards. From the inception of recording only Chicago blues artists there are now many international musicians on the label, with a continued view of nurturing new talent. To celebrate half a century as the top blues label, Alligator Records have brought out a compilation, 50 Years Of Genuine Houserockin’ Music. Blues Matters connected and joined in this celebration with a revealing chat with pioneering Bruce Iglauer.

A very relaxed and informative chat evolved.

Bruce is a fund of knowledge of the Chicago blues scene but started giving his own back story: “I’m a Mid-Westerner, born in Arbor, Michigan. The kind of place my mother left the door unlocked as she could go off to work and no one would break in! Then we moved to a suburb near Ohio. My father died when I was a kid, so I was raised by my mother, grand-mother and some extent my older sister. I had an interest in folk music during the folk music scare of the 1960’s. I had an acoustic guitar and harmonica and was a truly awful musician!

That was my entrée into traditional music. My

first real exposure to blues was end of January 1966. I went to the University of Chicago Folk Festival. My interest in the folk music was more from the commercial side. I had not heard the Harry Smith collection. I didn’t realise this Festival was going to be of real rooted American music. I heard Mississippi Fred McDowell there, before that I’d never heard his name before. It was as if he reached out across twenty rows of seats and grabbed me by the collar and slapped me on the face and said, ‘Wake up, wake up, this is for you.’ It seemed so honest, so real and lacking in show business. It made the music I listened to before seem plastic.”

“I listened to mainstream rock and roll like everyone of my generation, and this music seemed so unvarnished. I recognised that Fred had not nurtured this music before an audience of nice white people applauding at the end. It was music that came out of community, that much I could figure out. I went back to Appleton, Wisconsin, and went to the one record store and ordered the only Fred McDowell record they had on Arhoolie label. That was January, they located one in September! Not only did I learn things about him because of the liner notes but I learned about how small and struggling a lot of independent labels were. Bob Koester is my hero in life and mentor, but I also looked up to Chris Strachwitz at Arhoolie just as much.”

“Initially I was more interested in country blues, those electric guitars were corrupting the music! I accepted electric guitars pretty quickly though…Chess, real folk records were first I had, Best of Muddy Waters and Little Walter. Nothing on small labels at all. In the summer of ’66 I went to a Folk Festival in Mariposa, Canada. Besides seeing Big Walter, Sunnyland Slim, Johnny Young and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, I picked up a copy of Hoot magazine, I read a review of blues records by Richard Flohill he’s an entrepreneur, music promoter. He said words that changed my life - ‘ If you ever want to hear this stuff in its real

environment go to Chicago, to the Jazz Record Mart at 7 West Grand and find Bob Koester the owner of the store and of Delmark Records. He will take you to the West Side and South Side to hear blues in its real home.’ “

Two and a half years later I talked my College into booking a blues band for Homecoming event. I got on a Greyhound bus, I didn’t own a car, and went 200 miles to Chicago, found 7 West Grand, and then the miracle happened! I was introduced to Junior wells and Lefty Dizz. I went to the West Side which wasn’t safe territory for a person with different complexion. John Fishel, organiser of the first Ann Arbor blues Festival took me on the bus!”

“We went to a Club on West Madison run by Eddie Shaw, where I saw Otis Rush, Jimmy Dawkins and Hound Dog Taylor at a jam. Hound Dog sat in, I could tell he was a beloved guy but the band could not follow him, it was a musical disaster! He lit a cigarette tried another song and that fell apart. I discounted him then as an interesting musician. I thought, ‘Don’t take him seriously.’ As a result of this trip I booked Howlin’ Wolf for my College in 1969. It was a great show, not well attended. The Committee did a lousy job of promotion. I was doing a College radio blues show. I knew people would listen to this music if promoted properly. If people come in, they’ll fall in love with it. I went to the concert committee with my own money and said ‘ If I guarantee the fee, can I put a show on in the theatre?’ They agreed, I booked the unrecorded, unknown Luther Allison in November 1969. He had to perform in front of the curtain, he was out in the audience anyway. It was thrilling, he put so much energy into the performance. He was soaked in sweat. He played over two hours. At the end of the night there were still people waiting to get in. I asked him if we gave you another $100 would you do another set and he said, ‘sure.’

“It was one of the most thrilling nights of my life and the audience was thrilled. Even playing

with three broken strings. It was also a triumph of my ability to promote and publish a show! We put up posters within a hundred-mile radius. I went to Chicago with them, I slept on bob Koester’s couch sometimes. I found out I was not getting drafted into the military to Vietnam. It was a lottery and my birthday got a good number! I didn’t have to keep on at school and could do something else. I talked to Bob about possibly hiring me. I was to be the Delmark Part-Time Shipping man for $30 a week. I started in January 1970, thinking I’d spend a year in Chicago and then Graduation. And here I am now still here!”

On starting Alligator Records, he first found a department in Chicago. The blues scene was all in the ghetto. On a Saturday you could hear forty bands. Places with no signs. Theresa’s had a sign listing the bands playing. I was out nearly every night, paying fifty cents at the door and making my bottle of beer last all night. In Theresa’s I met that funny looking guy, Hound Dog Taylor. He had some gigs, one at Florence’s Lounge, where I took some Swedish blues fans to see him. I saw Hound Dog and The BluesRockers making the most infectious, fun music. Hound Dog had a slide on his fifth finger of six made of steel from tubular kitchen chairs. He played a fifty dollar Japanese guitar through an amp from a discount store, lots of distortion. Brewer Philips played bass lines, he played with a thumb pick and front finger. Ted Harvey was on drums. No stage, people were dancing, I was in love.”

“I went to Bob Koester to say he needed to record this band but he wasn’t interested. I kept going to Florence’s Lounge with other white people; we were blues amalgamated and hung out at the store. Some of us started the Living Blues Magazine a month later. I was important to the founding of this magazine. The UK had two blues magazines and we thought we should have one in America. I’m proud I named the magazine!”

“A lot of what Blues Unlimited and Blues World magazines were covering was historic. We wanted to be about what was happening right now! I knew less than anyone else at that meeting about blues. The second recording session, I was Bob’s go-for person. On this Junior Wells session I met Otis Spann. I’d been in Chicago a week and had been seeing Junior Wells, Buddy Guy. I thought I was in heaven! I became a studio addict. I suggested Bob should record Hound dog Taylor and I should produce it. A bit egotistical! Bob’s attitude was get the musicians in the studio then see what happens, trust his band leader to come with the songs, to rehearse. I thought, it would be great if someone sat with the musicians in advance and made a list of the songs. I had some money from my grandfather, $2500, and thought, ‘If I can’t get in to record my favourite band, I’m going to start a record label and start recording them.’ That was the birth of Alligator Record label. Fifty years later I have a label where I can record my favourite bands! It’s worked out quite well.”

Iglauer never really wanted to get into business. He wasn’t good at accounting or maths. But to make another record he had to sell enough of the first one and to find out about distribution and radio promotion. Iglauer visited radio stations, and Hound Dog was loved by them. He would take a hundred copies from the van put them into the distributors warehouse and go to the next city, as he explains: “The Cleveland distributor was a friend and blues fan. I convinced him to advance me some money! I sent the money to the pressing plant and pressed another thousand records”

So, this was how to run a business, he thought! He moved to a two-room apartment in the same building next and then bought a small house where I still live. The kitchen became a cassette warehouse, there were 7,000 at one point!”

We talk about how different the way we listen to music is nowadays with the advent of

1) Bruce Iglauer & Professor Longhair by Michael Smith

2) Bruce and Guitar Shorty by Roman Sobus

3) Bruce & Albert Collins courtesy of Alligator Records

4) Bruce and Koko Taylor by Marc Norberg

5) Mr Iglauer and Lonnie Brooks by Chris Monaghan approx 2012

6) Bruce & Hound Dog Taylor by Nicole Fanelli

streaming platforms. It was a vinyl business when he started. He recorded a few 45s so his music could be heard on black radio outfits but it didn’t work out. He also released a couple of eight tracks, so was keeping up with technology. Then after cassettes came compact discs. His Company pressed 26,000 of these in Korea, Europe and California. He had to print the packages and ran the shrink-wrap machine. As he had put all his money into the company, the process had to be quick. Working against the clock on the shrink wrapper, Iglauer ended up damaging a finger!

“I thought CD’s would last a long time but the reality is accessing music, rather than owning

down. With streaming you’re never out of print. The other advantage is streaming services are worldwide. Now Alligator’s back catalogue will be listened to in China because they are interested in American music. Blues is so raw and real, even people who do not understand the music, say Japanese, they still respond to the lyrics like an American audience would. Blues can communicate to so many people in so many countries, more than any other music genre.”

So how does an artist aim for the Alligator label? There’s no single process!: “I’m always listening to artists and listen to demos. Next month I’m seeing a local artist Stephen Hull, I’ve only seen him online. He’s twenty-two,

it, is going to be the future. It’s great vinyl has come back. I disagree with people who say LP’s sound better. CDs sound more like the studio finish. The master digital copy now sounds like the CD. Ultimately, people will access and stream music more in the future. I’ve had to rethink the way the company makes money. When I get a new artist, I try to project what my costs are going to be and how many we have to sell in order to break even. Now we deal in amounts that are fractions of a penny via streaming.

You have to project over a longer period of time now. The advantage is old records were replaced by new records so sales would go

a good singer. He doesn’t have much original material. But when you’re a young blues artist there’s not much reward in playing your own material. There is performing music that people are familiar with. I reached out to him by email, l he’s in Wisconsin. He sent one of his songs to me, which was okay. I’m always pushing artists to play their own music. One thing I love about Selwyn Birchwood was that he had great presence, a great player and good audience interaction. But also everyone on stage was twenty years older than him! I thought, ‘If this guy in his twenties can convince veteran musicians that he’s a band leader and they should be the sidemen, he must be a hell of a good bandsman.’ I look for originality, passion. I want

artists to come on stage to sweat! I want them to feel they work for their audience. When I get to know them, I like to know if their head’s on straight. Leading a band and being a touring musician are two different skills.”

“In the old days with Hound Dog, their job was to turn up at the gig, entertain the people, sign some autographs and go home. Now it’s a 24/7 job. They do Facebook postings, they are also road managers, doing Hotel reservations. I need people who are reasonably business-like. They have two jobs, being a musician and being a musician’s manager. Also, they have to have a good personality. I had hope for J Singleton but he wanted to go in a different musical direction that didn’t fit Alligator Records, so I had to release him. Some artists come back to the label, like Tinsley Ellis and Shemekia Copeland. Sometimes it takes someone to say you must give this a listen. If it wasn’t for Tommy Castro doing this with the new Chris Cain album, it wouldn’t have happened, but also with Kid Andersen behind the production, it had to be good.”

The pandemic affected the Alligator label. Iglauer is frank, 2020 was disastrous, but they almost broke even. A loan, a gift from the Government, and some staff were furloughed. There was a huge flow from physical sales: “Nearly all our sales were through Amazon and our mail-order. People moved to streaming services and won’t look back, it’s too convenient. I could find Cal Green on Spotify. You couldn’t get it in a store in America! “

As to other genres of music Bruce went on to talk about how rap nowadays has been taken over by white suburban kids who would never know about living in a ghetto: “Nobody wants to live in an economically depressed area or violent area. American teenagers growing up listening to hip-hop don’t want to live in a ghetto. Streaming channels have not done well with adult music like blues and jazz, they are more into pop. A lot of the blues playlists have

been pretty bad. My mission has been trying to make relations with the streaming services and wedge our way in. Toronzo Cannon has been overlooked by streaming services but they love Kingfish!”

Choosing and sequencing the tracks for the remarkable new celebratory album, ’50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music,’ was difficult. Staff suggested tracks, sequencing was his idea; the majority of track choices were Iglauer’s: “Lil Ed track is a personal favourite. ‘What You see is What You Get’ was not a big song for him. Most are iconic tracks associated with that artist, Koko Taylor, ‘I’m A Woman’; or Kingfish ‘Outta This Town,’ or they are just favourites. It ends with Toronzo. He is a very important person in my roster. He is still a developing artist, a better songwriter on his second album. He is a pleasure to work with. His records were created at my house.

We talked politics and race relations and the depth of racism in America. He was anxious, he was sitting near a window with no curtain; he was worried someone would take a shot at him. Most work was getting him to surprise me, making songs in different structures and writing contemporary lyrics. I could have closed with a more experimental or envelope pushing song than ‘The Chicago Way’ but it was a statement of identity. I said this was an album that Hound Dog Taylor would have approved. That was the clincher.”

With the future, Iglauer is planning the next fifty years. He ain’t retiring. He grins, saying: ”People retire so they want to go and do what they want to do. I’ve been doing that for years! I never wanted to be a businessman. But 90% of what I do is this! The other 10% makes it worthwhile.”

Last input comes from Bruce: “I was given a Lifetime Achievement Award, and told them, If I can do this for another forty-seven years I’d get another Lifetime Achievement Award!”

THE PALACE OF THE KING

In the last issue of Blues Matters, we concluded that many attributes set Freddie King apart from the rest. This included his powerful singing voice. His dynamic guitar playing. His heart and soul performances. His energy and presence, and of course, his personality.

Having had the privilege of speaking with Lewis Stephens (piano), Charles Myers (drums), Alvin Hemphill (keyboards), Andrew Jr. Boy Jones (guitar), and Mike Kennedy (drums) about their tenure with the Freddie King Band, we continue to look back on the life and career of the legendary bluesman.

Going Down

It’s been fifty years since Freddie King released his seminal album “Getting Ready” via Leon Russell’s Shelter Records in 1971. Of course,

the song “Going Down” had a huge impact, as well as being a favourite to perform live by many of the members of the band. Speaking about the song, Drummer Mike Kennedy said: “That was usually the last song we played. It was just powerful, loud, hard, fast, fun and energetic.”

It is of no surprise that even to this day if you walk into a blues club anywhere in the world, you will often hear a group covering the anthemic number. But what was it like to be in the studio during the recording of that track? Drummer Charles Myers had the pleasure of flying out to Chicago with Freddie to lay down that unmistakable groove on the recording itself. “The first time we did it in the studio. We went to Chess Studio. We hadn’t had no rehearsal. Nobody had figured out no beat or anything. Freddie started playing a rhythm.

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: As Credited

Freddie King by Deedee Stephens

And I started playing what I was playing, and it fit. I have a lot of drummers today asking me what type of beat that I was doing on that song,” recollects Myers. “I created the whole beat on that song.”

At the time, nobody knew how big “Going Down” was going to become or the impact it would have over time. “After we played the

For Andrew Jr Boy Jones - who was a young guitarist at the time, these days on the road were exciting. “Every city starts to look alike. So yeah, I guess it was demanding. But it was exciting because I was young, and we were in a different city every night,” said Jones. During these times, the group was playing alongside the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tower of Power, amongst others. “We were doing the rock circuit. It was a lot of fun,” proclaims Jones. One show, which he holds fond memories, took place closer to home in Texas, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. “That was huge. On the bill, we had Deep Purple, Blood Sweat and Tears, and I want to say AC/DC,” recalls Jones. It was a huge festival on the steps of the Coliseum.”

King’s success was not only in the US, but he was also highly sought after on the other side of the Atlantic.

song and I listened to it back, I thought it was going to be a great song. But I didn’t know it was going to be as hot as it was,” recollects Myers.

Living On The Highway

During the height of his career, Freddie King was in demand both at home and abroad. “He was touring a lot. I’m thinking 200 to 250 days a year. He was really going out and playing a lot of shows. There were a lot of places to play back then - every college town,” recollects keyboard player Lewis Stephens. “It was seven nights a week entertainment back then. So, these tours were really busy. We could play six, sometimes seven nights a week, because there were so many college towns that had 200 or 300 seat venues that they could do.”

“The Europeans back in the 70s loved the blues. He tore it up over there. I guess the first time I went to Europe was the Antibes Blues and Jazz Festival,” reminisces Stephens. “The show that night was with Muddy Waters.” Drummer Mike Kennedy also has great memories of performing in France with Freddie King. “The Antibes gig was just unbelievable. It was right on the Mediterranean, and there were big-name bands that were playing too. There was a couple of Rolling Stones guys hanging around, that kind of thing. It was a big deal,” recalls Kennedy.

Let The Good Times Roll

“I played the blues in England, I visit the queen. She really dug my style, but queen is not my thing”

Freddie King famously sang the aforemen-

Lewis Stephens & Alvin Hemphill - by Mike Kennedy

tioned line in his song “Palace of the King”. The artist was popular in the UK and amongst the British bluesmen, with Eric Clapton being somewhat of a fan. King would play on concert bills alongside Clapton, including a now-legendary show at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London in 1976.

For keyboard player Lewis Stephens, these were remarkable times. “When I started playing the guitar in the sixth grade, that’s when Cream was big, and I played Sunshine of Your Love, and all those songs, with a trio or a four-piece band, and that was kind of what I grew up on,” explains Stephens. “When we started the first show with Clapton, I think it was in El Paso. It was the first night of the tour.

And I’m just standing back there spellbound, watching Clapton from 25 or 30 feet away from backstage. He got to the encore, and he points to me, and he calls me up on the stage to play with Dickie Sims on the encore with Freddie. So, Freddie and I would go up every night and do the encore.” It was an exciting time for the gifted keyboard player.

Lewis Stephens had a lot of memorable experiences on the road with Freddie King. “All the people that I had grown up watching and listening to on the FM station, now I’m out there meeting them,” explains Stephens. “Freddie was very popular with these guys. They all appreciated him.” He recollects “Closing down a London bar with John Bonham” and even “Having dinner with Jeff Beck after playing at the Roundhouse.” Life had gone full circle for the young musician.

Long Live The King

The legendary bluesman very tragically passed away in 1976. But Freddie King’s legacy and music live on via his family, friends, bandmates, and the artists which he has influenced over the years.

As a group, the Freddie King band has reunited and performed together on several occasions to celebrate the life and times of the great man himself. This was an experience that meant a lot to those who had played alongside Freddie. “I think it was a healing experience that Wanda

Freddie King DIJON 1973 by Kevin McNevins

brought everybody back together to play. The first one was sold out,” proclaims Stephens. “The crowd went wild every song; it was a beautiful day. And then we did another one, and that’s when Alvin Hemphill came in.”

Speaking about his memories of the reunion show Alvin Hemphill said: “We would go in and play and perform his songs. And you would have a massive amount of people. That was surprising to me because they all knew the songs. It was fantastic. I only got a chance to do one, and that was a couple of years ago. I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

Although the band were able to play together, it would never be the same without Freddie King being present centre stage. “You can tell Freddie wasn’t there, but I looked around, and we were sitting on stage at the same position,” recollects guitarist Andrew Jr Boy Jones. “I looked over at Deacon, and then I looked back at Sugar Boy. And then I looked at Benny. And then I looked over to Lewis. And, wow, I’d say, we hadn’t skipped a beat. The band sounded the same. We had almost the same power. I

guess, when you are in that same experience, it all comes back, even the power and what you brought to the table. So yeah, it was great.”

One thing is for sure, those who played alongside Freddie King will never forget their time with the band. “It was the springboard. That’s where everything started. It gave me credibility. It gave me a story, a connection to the real roots of blues,” praised Lewis Stephens.

Freddie King’s legacy was immortalised by his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 along with the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982. He may be gone, but Freddie King will never be forgotten. He will forever be remembered alongside his esteemed peers BB King and Albert King as one of the “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar”.

For more information and Official Freddie King merchandise, please visit: https://freddiekingonlinestore.com

Lewis Stephens - by Adam Kennedy

PHENOMENAL

BLUES WOMEN

‘QUEEN VICTORIA’

- VICTORIA SPIVEY

Victoria Spivey was a classic blues singer whose amazing career stood the test of time. This was not only due to her talent as a singer and songwriter, her ability to move with the times, but also because she was an inspiring, intelligent business-woman whom everyone wanted to work alongside, and founder of ‘Spivey Records’.

Born October 1906 in Houston, Texas, Victoria Spivey grew up surrounded by music. Her Father, Grant Spivey, worked as both a musician and a flagman on the railroad. She had two sisters, Addie ‘Sweet Peas’ Spivey and Elton Island Spivey Harris, who sang professionally. Her brother was also musical. Addie recorded for several major labels throughout the 1930’s, but it was Victoria who had the biggest success, her career spanning over 40 years!

Victoria Spivey’s first professional experience was in a string band led by her father in Houston. She took up piano as a child and when her father passed following an accident at work, young Victoria continued to perform regular solo slots at local parties. In 1918, she was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas where she did a fantastic job, but was fired when the manager discovered she played by ear and couldn’t read sheet music. As a teenager, she worked in local bars and night clubs where her talents were noticed by other rising stars of the blues scene such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, whom she would accompany from time to time at local parties and picnics. To make ends meet and to support her mother, she

by Dani Wilde

also performed in less appealing venues including whore houses.

At the age of 20, keen to take her music career to the next level, Spivey moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she soon caught the attention of Okeh Records. This was a huge achievement. Okeh were the label who signed Mamie Smith, whose 1920 record ‘Crazy Blues’ famously sparked the ‘race records’ recording boom. After ‘Crazy Blues’, all the big labels were keen to scoop up the best female African-American blues artists. The 1920’s was the ‘Classic Blues’ era and Spivey’s gifts a singer, songwriter, and pianist combined with Okeh Record’s backing allowed her to rise to stardom. She found herself in great company alongside label mates Lonnie Johnson and Louis Armstrong, whom she would later record with.

Victoria Spivey’s first recording for Okeh, “Black Snake Blues” (1926) sold well. She had developed her own edgy and emotive vocal style which she called the ‘tiger moan’. When Blind Lemon Jefferson’s ‘That Black Snake Moan’ was released a year later, proving to be even more popular than Spivey’s song, she accused Jefferson of stealing her work. He admitted taking great inspiration from Spivey, although he had written his own sexual innuendo lyrics. Despite this disagreement, they remained friends and Spivey went on to release a run of hits including “Dirty Woman Blues,” “Spider Web Blues,” and “Arkansas Blues”. By 1928 she had composed and recorded around 40 titles for Okeh.

In 1929, Spivey was offered a role playing

the character ‘Missy Rose’ in the Musical film ‘Hallelujah’. This was a hugely significant film; it was one of the very first all African-American films by a major studio and it was the first ‘black musical’. Filmed in Tennessee and Arkansas, the plot tells the story of a troubled sharecropper, and aimed to present a view of the hardships of African-American life in the South. Hallelujah was director King Vidor’s first sound film, and it was nominated for a ‘Best Director’ Oscar. The success of the film showed Spivey that she was very capable of successfully branching out into other creative areas. After filming had finished, Spivey continued to write and record music, securing contracts with labels Victor, Decca and Vocalion.

One of her most popular and culturally significant recordings is TB Blues. She penned the tune whilst she was employed as a songwriter by the St. Louis Music Company and recorded it in 1927. Spivey’s “TB Blues” reflected the African-American communities growing concerns about tuberculosis, which was spreading rampantly throughout America. Black communities were being devastated by the disease. In some cities, the TB mortality rate of African-Americans in 1930 was as high as four or five times that of white Americans. One explanation for this huge disparity is that it mirrors the disparity of living and working conditions for black and white communities in US cities.

Spivey would sing “Mmmmmm, TB’s killin’ me! I’m like a prisoner, always wishin’ he’s free!”

Her lyrics touched on the social prejudices made against those who recovered from the disease; the judgement they received and the friends they lost: “When I was up on my feet, I could not walk down the street, for the men’s lookin’ at me from my head to my feet!” Her song resonated deeply with her audience.

Spivey would go on to record a great alternative version with Luis Russell’s Orchestra, known as “Dirty TB Blues” in 1929.

She continued to record throughout the 1930s, settling in Chicago alongside her musician friends Tampa Red, Thomas Dorsey, Memphis Slim and Washboard Sam. She toured the States with her own band, The Hunter Serenaders, which featured her first husband Reuben Floyd on trumpet. While many of the original classic blues artists were not recruited to cut records after 1929, Spivey developed a modern style which kept her in demand during the Depression. Her touring at this time brought occasional performances with stars such as Louis Armstrong.

From 1934 to 1951, alongside her own performances, Spivey managed her second husband Bill Adam’s dance career. In 1938, they were featured together in the Hellzapoppin revue on the Glaser booking circuit. When their marriage ended in 1951, Spivey became a church organist in Brooklyn, occasionally performing in local clubs too. She didn’t shy of the spotlight for too long though. The 1960’s blues boom helped to reignite the careers of many blues artists including Victoria Spivey’s. She participated in the American Blues Festival in Europe and toured the international festival circuit with her friend Sippi Wallace, tapping in to a new, young, white audience.

Spivey found herself being greatly encouraged by a white blues fan called Len Kunstadt. Len was the editor and publisher of Record Research magazine, which he founded in the late 1950s. His magazine was dedicated to

“Spivey became a church organist in Brooklyn, occasionally performing in local clubs too”

documenting the recording sessions of historic jazz and blues recordings. Victoria and Len found they had huge admiration for each-other. They fell in love and realised they shared a dream. In 1960 they founded Spivey Records. The label was a huge success. They recorded many of their friends including Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Big Joe Williams, Lonnie Johnson, Memphis Slim, and Louis Armstrong. From 1962, Spivey had her own column called ‘Blues Is My Business’ in Record Research, where she began endorsing her artists.

When Otis Spann passed away in 1970, Spivey wrote; “He was like a son, a brother and what a pal. Otis came into my life in 1963 during that American Folk Blues Festival (same one with Lonnie!) that toured all over Europe. …The European tour was really fine but Otis and his crazy lovable ways made it wonderful.”

In an interview, Len would explain how his wife and business partner “Victoria knew the musicians and scouted for new talent. This went on for 16 years. In my opinion, from 1961 up to her death in 1976, she was more creative than ever before. Her fantastic way of winning over Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters for our company, and her concern for Bob Dylan. Sometimes I thought she was crazy. I could tell a lot of stories. The musicians would have killed for her. At first, they didn’t like her, but after a split second they became her fans up the very end. She was sometimes a little difficult because she was a genius.”

Len couldn’t immediately see the potential in Bob Dylan that Victoria Spivey saw. He much preferred the blues harmonica of Sonny Boy Williamson, but looking back, he could certainly see his wife’s gift for recognising talent.

Len Kunstadt would recall how a very young and still unknown Bob Dylan one day “approached Victoria: ‘Do you want a little white boy on your label?’ Victoria replied: ‘Why are you saying this? I don’t care about the colour of

your skin. Why don’t you come along with Big Joe Williams?’ And so, he carried Big Joe’s guitar case into the studio, took out his harmonica and played.”

Dylan worked as a harmonica and backing vocal accompanist on a few Spivey Records recordings, appearing alongside Victoria and Big Joe, and absorbing the musicianship of the great African American Blues musicians on the label before he became a successful artist in his own right.

Whilst running her label, Spivey continued to tour and record. In Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, she appeared on French television and on the BBC in the UK. Victoria Spivey continued to make music until she fell ill in October 1976 and passed away in New York at the age of 69. Her husband Len Kunstadt continued to run Spivey Records until his death in 1996.

What an amazing musical legacy Victoria Spivey left. Not only is she remembered for her own fantastic compositions and recordings from the 1920s Classic Blues Era through to the 1960’s Blues Revival and beyond, she also helped to revive the careers of many great blues artists, and nurtured new talent through her label Spivey Records. Victoria Spivey was a phenomenal blues woman.

Be sure to check out:

• Black Snake Blues (Okeh Records, 1926).

• TB Blues (Okek Records, 1927).

• Dope Head Blues - Victoria Spivey & Lonnie Johnson (1927).

• Three Kings and the Queen + Kings and the Queen Volume Two (These are the 1960’s Spivey and Big Joe Williams recordings for Spivey Records, with harmonica accompaniment and backup vocals by Bob Dylan).

DAVID MASSEY ISLAND CREEK

Available on all major streaming platforms AND davemasseymusic.com

“Six beautiful songs on Island Creek ...immersive melodies and interesting stories.” - KEYS AND CHORDS

“...independent path of very high quality between country music, folk, rock and roots...each moment is interpreted with extreme credibility and sensitivity...” - PLANET COUNTRY

“[Massey’s] talent for evoking feelings and experiences in the hearts and ears of his listeners with just a few words is very much in the tradition of the great songwriting icons from Bob Dylan and Tom Petty to Mark Knopfler...” - COUNTRY JUKEBOX

“ ...very good indeed. If ever there was a picture on a cover which truly reflected what was to be found within then Island Creek would be well up the list...perfectly captures the music.” - BLUES MATTERS!

“A six track ep slowly conjured from David Massey’s most beautiful inner and melodic notebooks...As pretty as it gets.” - BLASKAN

BLUES

In this latest edition of Virtual Blues, we catch up with artists from Mississippi to Melbourne and everywhere in between. I had the opportunity to work with several artists in the birthplace of the blues, as well as the descendants of many of the greats.

CASEY HENSLEY

(San Diego, CA)

The wheels are turning for Californian chanteuse Casey Hensley with a recent return to live performance and her diary filling up quickly. The artist recently picked up two nominations in the 2021 San Diego Music Awards for her latest Vizztone Label Group release, “Good As Gone” in both the Album of the Year and Best Blues Album categories. Good luck and congratulations Casey from all of us here at Blues Matters!

CAMERON KIMBROUGH

(Memphis, TN)

The name Kimbrough is synonymous with the blues. Currently residing in Memphis, TN - Cameron Kimbrough is the grandson of the late great Jr Kimbrough. His duo featuring Damion Pearson is aptly named Memphissippi Sounds. According to their social media page, the group was: “Birthed by the Blues, Educated by Jazz, Inspirited by Gospel, Amplified by Rock, Soothed by Soul, Fired up by Funk, Liberated by Hip-Hop.”

WORDS & PICTURES: Adam Kennedy

MATT LONG

(Guilford, UK)

British Bluesman Matt Long was recently crowned “Blues Instrumentalist of the Year” at the UK Blues Awards, and deservedly so. And besides his award-winning ways, the Catfish frontman is getting ready to release his debut album “The Other Side” with his second group Matt Long And The Revenant Ones on 16th July.

(Atlanta, GA)

Ruf Records latest signing Eddie 9V has certainly made a stir since the release of his new album “Little Black Flies”. The release has been nominated as one of the IBBA Picks of the Month for July, as well as hitting the Top 5 of the Billboard US Blues Album charts. Eddie’s brand of funky, soulful blues hits the spot. You can find out more about the US-based artist in this month’s Blue Bloods section of the magazine.

EDDIE 9V GARRY BURNSIDE

(Ripley, MS)

The son of legendary bluesman RL Burnside is carrying on the musical legacy left behind by his father. During this shoot, we took a walk down Blues Alley in Ripley, MS where a portrait of Garry’s father proudly stood alongside that of Hill Country Blues greats such as Mississippi Fred McDowell, Othar Turner, T Model Ford and Jr Kimbrough. Besides his active music career, Garry Burnside also has his own line of guitars. One of which you can see featured in the image opposite.

WILL JOHNS

(Brighton, UK)

The feeling captured in this image reflects how most musicians have felt during the pandemic, eagerly anticipating a return to the stage. Will Johns here has quite literally gone fishing. Johns’ latest album, “Bluesdaddy”, has been receiving rave reviews as well as lots of airplay on blues radio. And when it comes to artists associated with famous families, look no further. According to his biography: “Will started playing the guitar, as a teenager, with plenty of encouragement from Uncle Eric” – that’s Eric Clapton to you and me. When not performing his own material, or fishing for that matter, Will can also be seen performing The Music of Cream alongside Kofi Baker.

GAËLLE BUSWEL

(Paris, France)

Parisienne guitar virtuoso Gaëlle Buswel re leased her latest album “Your Journey”, back in March. Now releasing an album during these strange times is difficult, for sure, but when you have an album as good as “Your Journey”, I think you will agree - why wait.

Gaëlle is presently getting ready to tour in support of her explosive latest offering. Let’s hope the French blues woman crosses the channel for some UK dates soon.

RODD BLAND

Rodd Bland is pictured here proudly standing beside a statue of his father, the late great Bobby “Blue” Bland in downtown Memphis, TN. Talent runs deep in this family with Rodd following in his father’s footsteps. Look out for the release of his new album “Live On Beale Street: A Tribute To Bobby “Blue” Bland via Nola Blue Records on July 16th.

TRENTON AYERS

(Holly Springs, MS)

Having witnessed Trenton Ayers performing alongside Cedric Burnside at the Sage Gateshead several years back, it was a pleasure to catch up with him at his home in Holly Springs. Trenton recently performed at the Kimbrough Cotton Patch Soul Blues Fest. He is a talented guitarist and a much-loved performer on the Mississippi blues scene.

ASH GRUNWALD

(Great Ocean Road, Australia)

I caught up with Ash Grunwald whilst on his travels around Australia. This image was captured overlooking a beautiful vista near Lorne on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Although disappointed by the cancellation of the Byron Bay Blues Fest, Grunwald has been touring solo as well as with Josh Teskey. And if you’ve not heard the pair’s recent collaborative album “Push The Blues Away”, then make sure you treat yourself today.

(Memphis, TN)

TALKING RORY

Gerry McAvoy is an Irish blues rock bass guitarist known for his 25-year friendship and professional association with Rory Gallagher between 1970 and 1991. After playing with Rory for 21 years, he joined Nine Below Zero before forming ‘Gerry McAvoy’s Band Of Friends’. Now a French resident, Gerry talked with Blues Matters in light of celebrating the release of a box set of the debut album, the eponymously titled Rory Gallagher, which is now fifty years old. Let’s get the lowdown on the background to this album and associated topics.

WORDS: Colin Campbell PICTURES: As Credited

We talked about the present situation regarding touring. Gerry smiled, happy things are beginning to open up at last. His Band of Friends have some festivals in Belgium, Sardinia and England. Our paths will meet at Carlisle Rock and Blues Festival in October later his year.

“As an artist during the pandemic, it’s been tough. Myself and the band have been keeping busy doing online gigs and I’m doing a lot of writing. We have a new album coming out next year. 2020 we went out on a four-month tour of

Europe and got eight gigs in and then Bang!” he says with a shrug.

Let’s go back to the roots of Gerry McAvoy and his musical background. He was surrounded by musical styles, his father was a harmonica player, grandfather played mandolin, he had a road band in the 30s and 40s. He cites Sunday Night At The London Palladium with the Shadows as a taste of what he listened to. He was refused permission to get a guitar from his father as a Christmas present, who said, you can get a

IMAGE: Terry Hanna

IMAGE: Barrie Wentzell

snooker table not a guitar, before persuading him to get one around Christmas 1965. “It was a Bert Weedon special, and it was terrible! We put a band together at School called Pride, we rehearsed in Belfast, managed to get a couple of gigs. First gig we played was in a Dance Hall, Clarkes Dance Studio in Belfast. It was a famous landmark in the 60s. Taste played there, Ainsley Dunbar, also Fleetwood Mac. It was a Saturday afternoon session; we were paid five packets of crisps and five Coca Colas! I was sixteen at the time,” he recalls the first steps.

Regarding his guitar playing, he took lessons from a friend of his father who taught him a lot of swing tunes and things like Sunny Side of The Street! All Gerry wanted to do was play like the Small Faces. It was a good grounding. He cites Paul McCartney as being a huge influence on playing bass guitar. The era of The Who, The Kinks was a fantastic era for songs, bands and song writing. He’s glad he went through that and saw these bands play live in Belfast. His best musical advice is ‘practice.’ and this was from Rory Gallagher when he first met him in Crymbals music store in Belfast. He explains: “This was a guitar shop, and we would all meet there on a Saturday. Rory was in there one day trying out acoustic guitars. I said hello to him. He was so generous he said sit down. I asked him if he had any advice as a budding musician starting a band. He said practice and meet as many people as you can. This is so important, start to rehearse as much as you can and get out and play with people, no matter how good or bad they are. The only way to learn is by rubbing off other players.

Rory came with Taste (Mark 1) with Norman and Eric to Belfast. There was a good blues scene and Rory had heard about this. He played the Clubs around Belfast; he was quite a celebrity, and I was a fan. To sit with him and talk in the music store was great.”

Joining the Rory Gallagher band, there were

no auditions as such. Gerry played with his band Deep Joy in London and were under the same management, Robert Stigwood Organisation. At the time, his band had been supporting Taste. Rory had split up Taste in October 1970 and in the interim was living in London.

“He saw us play at Blazes club a few times, checking us out. I thought he was just coming for a drink, a night out with some Irish lads! We returned to Belfast, the band Deep Joy split up, then in January I got a call from Rory: “How about having a jam, having a blow”.

He sent a ticket over, I went to London. We rehearsed in a little rehearsal room with Wilgar Campbell who was the drummer in Deep Joy. Donal (Rory’s brother) picked me up at the Airport. Rory was there with his Stratocaster. I did not have my guitar with me so had to borrow one. We jammed for three hours together then

IMAGE: Regine McAvoy

didn’t say anything about it being televised until we got there”

I went back to the Airport. I thought then, well at least I’ve had a bit of fun. Then Rory called again ‘Do you fancy coming to London to make an album?’ Gerry was very matter of fact when talking about this epiphany moment”, it was, he says, “very loose!”

Making his first album, Rory Gallagher had begun, without road testing any of the new songs, it was just done in the studio, the legendary Advision Studios in Fitzrovia, London. Gerry continues: “It depended on what Rory was thinking at the time, how he would do the recording. Usually, we’d have wanted to go out on the road, be a tight band, then record. Not Rory - he wanted to keep it loose and exciting! I was nineteen, a kid. I thought being an artist is great. It was a new experience for me but relished every minute. I enjoyed it!”

IMAGES: Barrie Wentzell

“Rory

“We rehearsed all the songs in previous few days. Rory would not come into the studio with a music score or anything like that, with Plan A or B. He would come in and start playing. He just said, ‘Plug in boys.’ He got a rhythm going. I played guitar before doing bass so I could follow the chords. We all added our bits and pieces to the songs as we went along! Eventually we tried a few times and got tighter as a band. Rory had the structure to the album and songs in his head but kept it loose so we could breathe within a song. We didn’t change lyrics or chord progressions but in between. I had my own bass lines.”

We discuss the packaging and remastering of the new box set. Gerry explains the DVD that goes with the box set was the first gig the band did in France, Pop Deux: “It was in the basement of the Olympia in Paris. We flew over

and did a soundcheck beforehand. Rory didn’t say anything about it being televised until we got there! That was clever. If he had told us it was getting televised in advance well…The band played off the audience and the audience played off the band. Rory was a great showman and had great stage presence and could command the audience. Rory could be a tough bandleader, but he was always very fair. In the early days it was fun. It was fresh for Rory also because of the Taste thing.”

Gerry thought Taste were a fantastic band. “With the Rory Gallagher Band he was more of a leader. He was the boss. He could be a perfectionist as well but most the time, we all played together. Rory wanted 100%, when you play in a band that’s what you want! “

Gerry never disclosed any tales from the road.

Suffice to say there was no drug taking, Rory was very much against this. “You could have the odd beer after a gig. It was a good Catholic band! I was never asked to join the band and that’s why Rory wanted to keep things loose. There were no contracts signed unlike nowadays!”

The remastering of the album, he feels, has made it tougher sound-wise: “The original album had a softness about it. Rory wanted to experiment with all his influences; folk, jazz and blues sides, even the pop side. The harder edge to the remastering is good. I like the whole album. It was my first invitation to go to a major studio and everything about it, where it was recorded in London up near the British Telecom Tower included. I love the songs, Can’t Believe It’s True and Laundromat are my favourites. Rory played saxophone on this album; he was a good player! For the Last Time, some people think it’s a love song, others think it’s a split up of the band Taste, a topic that will be debated by Rory fans way into the future.”

“The blues are what got Gerry started in music. Growing up in Belfast we listened to pop music and Tamla Motown. Someone bought John Mayall’s “Beano album” and you checked who wrote the songs, Otis Rush and Willie Dixon. Then you check them out, then find Muddy Waters; that’s what the blues means to him. He was the master!”

Gerry still thinks blues matters today, citing: “Joe Bonamassa, King King a great, blues-based

band. Blues will keep coming back. My band try and keep it fresh also. You can’t reconstruct a blues song; you play it how it was done. Rory added Irishness when he played the blues. That’s what made him different! Rory grew up with the show bands, this was especially important to him.”

Talking about his relationship with Rory Gallagher, Gerry adds: “We both loved movies. On tour we went to the movies. As well as being a musical comrade he was a very close friend. We’d meet in London for a couple of pints…”

We consider Rory Gallagher’s legacy and the annual Rory Gallagher Festival at Ballyshannon which keeps his musical memory fresh: Band Of Friends is not a tribute band, Gerry calls it a ‘celebration band.’ What would he say to that nineteen-year-old Gerry…? “Take the challenge, go for it. People may try and wean you off it, but you’ve got to go for it!”

Finally, what does Rory Gallagher mean to Gerry? “Besides being a friend, he was a fabulous musician, good songwriter, fantastic entertainer. A man who should have had the ego but never did. Think that sums things up well.

Gerry McAvoy’s Band Of Friends website: www.bandoffriends.eu

The 50th Anniversary Box Set of Rory Gallagher’s eponymous 1971 debut album is released by UMC on September 3rd. Further info: www.rorygallagher.com

HELP US STOP ONE MAN BEING KILLED EVERY

There would be no Americana without The Blues. The Leek Blues and Americana Festival marries these genres effortlessly with acts reaching from local to international, hosted in the many historical venues that make Leek a historical destination town.

When I moved to the UK in 2006 from East Tennessee, I was welcomed most warmly into the music scenes of Manchester, Stockport, and Macclesfield in Cheshire. As a musician from a small town in the valley below the Smokey Mountain region of the Appalachian Mountain range, I immediately found a host of brilliant blues bands and solo artists that made sounds every bit as authentic as one would find anywhere from the Mississippi River mudflats, to the Chicago bay. Bands like Ernie’s Rhythm Section and the solo artist John Fairhurst were churning out Lightnin Hopkins, Blind Willie

McTell, and Big Bill Broonzy like they were born from it. So when I moved to Leek in 2018 and witnessed the incredible artists featured in the LBAF, I felt transported, like I did that first music night in Manchester, and knew that I’d landed somewhere very special indeed.

Over the few years that I’ve become increasingly more involved in the festival, I’ve seen and supported some of the highest class of musicians I’ve had the honour of meeting. Leek has a rich history of playing host to some phenomenal artists such as The Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy, so the bar for musical quality has been set high. International and national acts alike have been known to approach the festival to be part of the lineup. And with events outside of the festival week, which takes place on or around the first week in October each year, there’s plenty of chances to fit in acts touring the UK as

Jerry Joseph

in the case of old-time radio-style country and western trio Bill and the Belles from Johnson City, Tennessee, Blues bass virtuoso Lisa Mann from Portland, Oregon, and singer/songwriter Sam Lewis from Nashville, Tennessee.

In its 8th year, the Leek Blues and Americana Festival lineup is brimming with new to the festival talent, as well as a new to the festival, historical, fit for purpose music venue that has been renovated to its former grandeur, The Maude Institute. It’s a real treat to have such a landmark location joining The Foxlowe Arts Centre as one of the main venues of the festival. One of the most exciting acts that is booked there on Saturday 2nd October is Jesse Malin from New York, New York who has worked with iconic American artists like Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, and Ryan Adams. Having Jesse join the lineup for this year’s festival is just the calibre of artist that raises that already high bar, even higher.

It’s hard to believe one can find such an exceptional festival in a little town, nestled in the hills of Staffordshire. And this gal, from a little town in the hills of Tennessee, feels right at home.

- Helen Walford

We leave the last word to Festival organiser JR Mountford: “Without the foresight and enthusiasm of Craig Pickering, Leek Blues and Americana would never have gotten off the ground. It gave me a chance to write my love letter to the Wheatsheaf which had done so much for me as a fan and a performer. With Craig, Mike and Dave, I’ve been able to carry on my love affair that started many years earlier in the centre of Stoke. An affair that shows no sign of abating. The festival wishes to thank our 2021 partners Railtrail Tours, Sytech IT, Pubhead and Leek Town Council”.

The Leek Blues & Americana Festival is on between Wednesday 29th September through Sunday 3rd October 2021. Keep up to date at: www.facebook.com/Leekblues

“Leek has a rich history of playing host to some phenomenal artists”

Unlucky Strike

The Hawkmen

RIDING WITH THE KING

In 2008 the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened in BB King’s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, and as was his desire, the museum grounds became his final resting place, when he passed, aged 89, in 2015. Last month a vital new annexe/extension opened for the first time, pulling together the cream of US blues music who joined forces to prove that the Thrill is (not) gone just yet!

WORDS & PICTURES: Laura Carbone

To find out more about “the most inspiring stop you’ll ever make”, visit bbkingmuseum.org

BLUEDISCOVERBLOODS THE UNDISCOVERED

MIKE FELTON

WORDS: Bill Dahl PICTURE: Supplied www.mikefelten.com

He’s been accused of trafficking in “Outsider Americana.” Perhaps a better handle for Mike Felten’s highly distinctive musical approach would be “Chicagoana.” The Windy City is deeply and inexorably ingrained in the veteran singer-songwriter’s mesmerizing musical odes, right down to the names of streets that he’s wandered down and the shady characters haunting them in decades past. Mike knows where all the bones are buried and he’s not shy about letting us in on the secrets.

Even in the middle of a pandemic, Mike’s muse hasn’t deserted him, although Fast Mikey Blue Eyes, his sixth studio CD for his own Landfill label (2017’s roots album of the year, Diamonds and Televisions, was his previous release), was nearly completed when the virus hit. “I started writing songs, and wound up with about 30 of them,”. Only a dozen made the cut for the CD—11 of Felten’s own making and a very personalized revival of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s immortal “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.” For Fast Mikey Blue Eyes, Mike recruited some heavy hitters to join him in the studio. Harmonica wizard Corky Siegel and pianist Barry Goldberg were key players in the city’s blues boom of the mid-‘60s, when young white kids joined the city’s veteran bluesmen onstage for some genre-shifting artistic cross-pollination. “They sounded real good,” says Felten. “Corky, I’ve known off and on. I booked him on what might

have been one of the first outdoor festivals in Chicago in 1970, when I was at Central YMCA. We had Buddy Guy too, so that was a pretty good festival.”

Siegel and Goldberg grace the rowdy “Three Drinks In,” an anthem about two-fisted drinking and a bar tailor-made for indulging. Barry also pounds the 88s on “Detroit Woman” (having traveled it many times, Felten knows the route between the Windy City and the Motor City intimately), while Corky plays on “A Girl Walks Into A Bar.” Another top Chicago blues harp ace, Mervyn “Harmonica” Hinds, wails on four other numbers.“

Add rocking drummer Brad Elvis and some of Mike’s favorite sidemen (keyboardists Jamie Wagner and Bob Long, bassist Pete Mazzeri, and drummer Gary Landess), and you have a cast tailor-made to provide the supple, driving backing his stripped-down approach demands.

Even the album’s title derives from personal experience. “Fast Mike came from the pool halls, because when I was shooting pool at Roscoe Billiards Academy over at Roscoe and Seeley, that was a time with The Hustler, Fast Eddie Felson,” says Felten. “I had blue eyes, and people would comment about that. And Mikey’s been my nickname for awhile.” Was he good at shooting stick? “No,” replies Mike. “But hanging around I’m good at!”

Blues, Jazz and Swing: three complementary ingredients that define the sound of The 251s. Formed from seasoned musicians that have played and enjoyed all three genres over the years, they’re on a mission to move audiences with energetic sets of familiar standards and fresh original numbers, in equal measure.

The 251s is the brainchild of blues duo guitarist Russ Cottee and harp player & vocalist Steve Tolton. Driven by what they achieved together, two became four when they enlisted drummer Roy Webber and bassist Cliff McDonald to form the band we see today. Drawing on their respective playing histories the chemistry was electric from the off.

As 2021 gradually plays out The 251s are taking bookings across London and the south east with appearances confirmed at the 100 Club and The ‘Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues’ Bar in London’s west end. As well as a fast-growing diary of dates at pubs, clubs and bars across the region. In addition, the band are set to resume their very successful live streams from their own recording facilities in mid-May entitled ‘The House of The 251s’.

If that wasn’t enough, the band also found time during lockdown to lay down tracks for

an album entitled “Staying Home” released in February 2021 to stream or own on CD. Press response was overwhelming, helping drive it into the top ten of the British Blues Radio playlist-chart for that month. And led to the album appearing on Cerys Matthews’ BBC Radio 2 Blues Show in April. Further good news is that they’re already working on their second album for release coupled-with a single and EP during summer 2021.

The 251s are ready to book immediately. They are both musically versatile and business-minded in working closely with venues to support the recovery of the live music scene and hospitality industry. Musicians need venues & promoters, and vice versa. To help ‘walk that talk’ the band have the unique backing and resources of a marketing agency behind them to help bring every live music opportunity to life for venues, promoters and their audiences.

THE UNDISCOVERED

EDDIE 9 VOLT

All his life, Eddie 9-volt has acted on instinct. Aged just 15, this oldsoul artist turned away from the path of college and jobs to burst all guns blazing onto the blues club circuit of his native Atlanta, Georgia. Flash forward to 2019, and for his debut album, Left My Soul In Memphis, the prodigious multi-instrumentalist simply powered up the amps in his mobile trailer and with his brother/ co-writer/producer, Lane Kelly, laid down one of the year’s breakout releases, acclaimed as “fresh and life-affirming” by Rock & Blues Muse. “Memphis was a total side project,” shrugs Eddie, “that ended up taking off.”

His new release on Ruf Records, Little Black Flies is the 24-year-old’s most impulsive move to date. Tracked live in Atlanta’s Echo Deco Studios through November 2020, once again with Lane turning the knobs, plus a who’s who of the state’s best musicians (including guitar icon Cody Matlock), it’s an album that Eddie planned to feel like it’s unfolding right in front of you – right down to the clink of bottles and loose studio banter. “I’ve seen a trend in modern recording,” he says. “There’s no soul. I took inspiration from Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Mike Bloomfield. All those great records were done live with their buddies and no overdubs. I wanted the playing to be spot-on – but even if

we made a mistake, we kept going.”

Little Black Flies represents a passing of the baton to a bandleader that many credit for reinvigorating the South’s proud roots scene.

Born in June 1996, to a non-musical family living ten miles south of Atlanta, Eddie still remembers his fateful first guitar. “I was six and it was one of those with the speaker in it –get the most bang for your buck, y’know?” he muses. While manufactured pop dominated the airwaves as he came up at Union Grove High School in nearby McDonough, Eddie forked hard left, hanging with Lane and his friends, and digging back into the catalogues of blues giants like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Freddie King and Rory Gallagher. “I studied the older cats,” he explains.

With Little Black Flies, there’s a sense of an artist coming full circle: the kid who once loitered outside the clubs of Atlanta now leading Georgia’s greatest players into the studio. Certainly, these recordings gave much-needed catharsis to the musicians who created them. But perhaps Eddie’s ultimate aim is to pass that spirit on to everyone who hears the record. “It makes my day to please someone after they work all day,” he says. “My job is to make them smile and let the music make them forget – or remember.”

SISTER GAVIN AND THE GATOR

www.sistergavinandthegator.bandcamp.com

There have been many obstacles presented to new bands trying to move forward during the lockdown. However, it didn’t stop Sister Gavin and the Gator from finding a way to grow their audience.

“We weren’t gigging in public very long before lockdown,” said Adele Gavin. The Scottish duo very quickly switched up their plans and, like many artists, performed live streaming concerts instead. “Certainly, from my point of view, wanting to play music for people was always

inspired debut single “Walking Free”. Speaking of the song, Adele said that it’s about: “Being stuck in one place and especially musically not knowing where to go and how to move forward in the normal kind of way.”

With its Gospel-tinged feel, Iain adds that the song has a deeper meaning. “I think because the lockdown gave people the clarity to believe in something. Whether it be their music, whether it be their religion, whether it be the dog or the cat, their family, regardless, everybody has a belief that they need to look at to get through it,” said Iain.

In terms of influences, Donald states, they are “diverse” and sights Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson and Michael Messer as featuring on his list. Whilst Gavin declares that she listens: “To traditional country blues, like Mississippi John Hurt. I grew up on Muddy Waters, but then I love jazz musicians like Diane Reeves and Chet Baker.”

going to be the thing we were doing,” said Iain Donald. “We’ve been very active from day one. We’ve done a minimum of one, usually two gigs a week, every week for the first year.”

However, how do you manage to keep a weekly online show fresh for the artist and their fans alike? “Once we got a list of 60 or 70 songs, we just started sending our fans the song list and said - look, you’ve supported us from the start, how about you pick what we play,” said Iain.

The pair recently released their lockdown

Moving forward, the group are contemplating the release of a new EP. Very sadly and unexpectedly, Iain lost his father during the lockdown. For their next release, the duo will pay homage to him. Iain states that:

“One of his favourite songs ever was “Good Year for The Roses”, the Elvis Costello cover and I think we’re going to re-record the version of that and put it on the EP.” A fitting tribute, indeed.

Whilst live streaming has been beneficial to Sister Gavin and the Gator. We look forward to welcoming the group to the nearest stage once conditions allow it.

PAPA GEORGE

Born in London to Greek-Cypriot parents, Papa George is no stranger on the UK & European blues scene. Four decades playing live electric & acoustic blues, inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame 2013 as Master Blues Artist; awarded British Blues Great in 2016’s Blues Awards by London’s Cavern Freehouse; ISC Blackjack by Papa George in Blues Finals –receiving Honorary Mention, 2005 In 2004-05 invited by “Habitat For Humanity” & The Blues Foundation, Tallahassee, Florida to play the Dr Martin Luther King Freedom Festival amongst some of Florida’s great gospel & blues artists.

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones inspired during early 60s paving George’s introduction to other British/American Rhythm‘n’Blues greats including Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, and other legends, giving George a tantalizing driving force for developing his musical styles and performances.

“Looking back as a 10 year-old, The Beatles made such an impact on me, I persuaded my folks to buy me a guitar… with mates who had instruments we ‘tonk around playing stuff like Johnny B Goode or Roll Over Beethoven. I can’t remember learning how to play chords, or how 12-bar structures worked, it kinda felt good

and seemed to fall into place. Seeing photos of John Lennon holding down a bar chord, I’d call it a ‘John Lennon chord’, I copied shapes!

By my early teens, every other kid seemed to be playing or forming bands, we’d play youth clubs and dance places. A buzzing time, so much good music.

In school holidays/weekends (1967-ish), I worked at the Hammersmith Odeon selling programs which meant I not only got paid, but accessed most areas seeing artist like Aretha Franklin, Booker T. & The MG’s, ‘The American Folk & Blues Festivals’. Howlin’ Wolf, Son House, Sonny Terry & Brownie Magee and Willie Dixon’s House Band at their prime. Priceless days! I got lucky having the Hammersmith Odeon just down the road from me in Chiswick”

Turning professional in mid-70’s playing clubs & bars around London & S.E. developing guitar & vocal skills, forming Papa George Band. For decades he’s toured the UK and Europe plus USA and Colombia SA.

“Electric blues at it’s very best”

- Bob Harris (OBE) BBC Radio & TV presenter

“Well, I’m on my second listen and thoroughly enjoying every minute”

- Malcolm Bluemel (Former Planet Rock owner)

BLUE BLOODS DISCOVER THE UNDISCOVERED

JADE LIKE THE STONE

www.jadelikethestone.co.uk

Welsh chanteuse Jade

Like The Stone wowed music fans recently with her latest single, “Ocean of Words”.

During the lockdown, the artist has been working on several projects. “I’m very busy actually. I’m doing lots of teaching online and writing music courses because I’ve just joined the Water Bear team in Brighton. I’ve been releasing this live album with Redtenbacher’s Funkestra,” said Jade. “It’s called Seven Roads because there are seven different tracks on there; each one is a different journey, a different story and a different path.”

Coming from a musical family, Jade has always had a clear vision of the path that she wanted to take. “I said it from a very young age that I was a musician, and I knew what that meant. I knew that it wasn’t an easy path to take, and it wasn’t a certain path to take. You’d have to be super-resilient, and you’d have to fight to be a musician,” declares Jade.

You may also recognize Jade from her band, Du Bellows. Although the artist is focused on her current project, Du Bellows is still on her mind. “It’s one of my first loves. We’ve had such mad experiences together as a band. It’s not something that’s stopped. It’s just it wasn’t as serious as I was taking it, the other band members. I’m

WORDS & PICTURE: Adam Kennedy

sure we will get back together and do music at some point. But right now, I feel like I need to go in the studio and do the album I’ve always wanted to make,” said Jade.

The artist also made an appearance on TV’s The Voice as a member of Tom Jones’ team, although it didn’t leave much of an impression on Jade. “It was such a fleeting experience.

I’ve had greater impressions of gigs that I’ve done,” she said.

“I learned a lot about production. I learned a lot about how to speak on radio and how to deal with media and things like that. But in terms of gaining experience, it was more about understanding my identity within the music industry.”

With a new live album in the bag, where does Jade go from here? “I would say that the live album I’ve just done isn’t a full representation of myself because it’s a collaboration. And when there’s a collaboration, there’s always an influence of another sound,” said Jade. “When I stop to do my actual studio album, it will probably be quite a different sound to that.”

You can see Jade Like The Stone perform live at the 100 Club in London on Sunday 23rd January, 2022 where she will be performing alongside Connor Selby, Laura Evans, Georgia van Etten and Hollie Rogers.

Veronica Lewis may only be seventeen years old, but her talent exceeds her years. The US-based artist’s debut album entered both the Billboard Blues Chart at #2 and the iTunes Blues Album Chart at #1 and all before she has even graduated from high school.

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: Supplied

Whilst being in full-time education and undertaking a career as a professional musician may be a challenge, it’s a balance that Veronica Lewis has been able to strike. “It’s definitely been hard. I’m a senior in high school right now, so I’m graduating in a few months. It always has been difficult to kind of balance the two. It’s about time management and just always knowing deep in me that I love music,” says Veronica.

Keeping Her Feet On The Ground

Despite the success of her album, ‘You Ain’t Unlucky,’ Veronica Lewis is keeping her feet firmly on the ground. “I’m definitely overwhelmed with the feeling of gratitude and appreciation for all of the amazing support that I’ve been getting,” said Veronica. “My biggest goal in my mind when releasing this was just to release the music and let people hear it and kind of get to know me through this debut project.”

Of course, Veronica Lewis is no overnight success. The self-taught pianist has worked hard to get to where she is today, having started playing the piano at the age of five years old. “I just learned by ear and by improvisation,” says Lewis. Having been performing since a young age, with her debut album Lewis is looking to extend her existing fanbase. “I was just hoping to connect with the supporters that I had built up since I was 12 years old performing out, and I wanted to reach some new audiences that wanted to hear my music,” said Veronica.

Call It What You Will

The artist’s repertoire is vast, drawing in many different musical stylings and flavours.

Speaking on her genre-defying compositions, Lewis said: “I think how my sound evolved was through the fact that I just taught myself music that I love, whether that be early rock and roll, blues or country, and I think that’s kind of how it all blends together.”

Veronica’s grandfather would be instrumental in introducing the young artist to the roots orientated sounds, which she came to know and love. “I wouldn’t say that he ever showed me a specific genre to listen to, but he told me to find things that you really love, and that excites you,” said Veronica.

Lewis sites legends such as Otis Spann, Ray Charles, Dr John, Patsy Cline and Little Richard as influences. Veronica comments that she: “Gravitated towards naturally Boogie Woogie, early rock’n’roll and blues music. Partially because of the fun and the excitement of hearing it and listening to it.” But it wasn’t only the music that resonated with the artist but also: “The power and the messages behind what they were playing,” said Veronica.

However, it’s not only the great blues and roots musicians of yore who have inspired the talented performer. “I also appreciate and love more modern artists as well, like Freddie Mercury and Avril Lavigne,” says Veronica. “What I try to do in my music and my sound is bring together everything that I love. All my favourite artists and genres and fuse it with who I am.”

You Ain’t Unlucky

Veronica’s debut album ‘You Ain’t Unlucky’ may only have been released recently, but several of

INTERVIEW | VERONICA LEWIS

the tracks on the album have been a long time in the making. “It is a compilation, I guess you could say as of where I came from and where I am right now,” said Veronica. “Some of the songs on here are some of the first that I ever wrote. ‘Memphis Train’ the last song on the album I wrote when I was 12 or 13 years old.”

career, it felt now was the right time to release her debut album. “I think the real moment where I knew I wanted to make a full project was after I finished writing the title track, which was ‘You Ain’t Unlucky’,” explains Veronica. “The song is really personal. And when I was writing it, I was reflecting on my own life and how I get through tough things in life.”

“Music will always be a priority”

is a part of me now, and it represented that day in the studio. It was a huge change in my life.”

The lyrics to the title track itself illustrate the wisdom within Veronica’s songwriting. She goes on to say that: “One of the lyrics says some people ‘Think it’s bad that every cherry has a pit, but honey inside every pit is a whole other tree’.” Lewis elaborates on this metaphor by stating that: “Something may seem bad or an obstacle in your way, but if you try to look at it from a different perspective or find something to be grateful for, it’s easier to get through it.” Wise words indeed from the blues prodigy.

Connecting With The Past

Besides the original material on her debut album, Veronica Lewis has also grappled with songs by a couple of her biggest influences. “I think a big part for me of rearranging great old songs is being able to fuse my playing and my style and who I am with someone else because this album represents where I came from,” said Veronica.

For her debut release - Lewis chose to record her interpretations of both Katie Webster’s ‘Whoo Whee Sweet Daddy’ and Louis Jordan’s ‘Is You Is My Baby’. Speaking of her arrangements of these tracks, Lewis goes on to say that: “Katie Webster and Louis Jordan, those are two of my favourite artists, and I never got the chance to meet them or see them live, because they were from eras much before I was born.” Veronica explains that: “One of the ways that I connect with some of these artists that I love so much is by rearranging their songs and using who I am into what they have written.”

Speaking about her Louis Jordan piece

‘Is

You Is

My Baby’, Lewis states that: “I wrote this piano composition without having any lyrics to go with it.” But it wasn’t until a year later whilst listening to Jordan that she knew where it would fit best. “I was playing some Louis Jordan, and I came across that song. And I loved it so much

that I felt like it would be amazing to use it on this piano piece I wrote,” said Veronica.

The choice to include a Katie Webster track on her album was a little more apparent from the beginning. “I knew that I wanted the Katie Webster song or something of Webster’s to be on this album because she was a big influence on me and my playing. So, I brought my vocal style to that one,” explains Lewis.

Schools Out

With an impending high school graduation and a simultaneous blossoming music career - Veronica Lewis has some tough decisions to make about her future. The artist explains that with: “Everything going on this year, college plans are really up in the air. I just announced that I signed with Intrepid Artists International, which is amazing blues booking agency.”

“Music will always be a priority,” Lewis explains. “Now, with being able to work with such an amazing booking agency, I’m going to keep pursuing this and hopefully get out playing live when things open up soon and just keep releasing music.”

Whilst the logistics of overseas touring may still be challenging due to the global pandemic Veronica Lewis has already got her sights set on performing on this side of the pond. “When I can start touring again, Europe and UK are top of the list for sure. It’s hard to say when because of the unpredictable nature of everything happening in the world. But 100% I look forward to coming over the Atlantic and meeting everyone over in Europe and UK,” said Veronica.

Whilst the old guard may be fading, it’s reassuring to see that via Veronica Lewis, the future of blues is in safe hands.

www.veronicalewis.com

ELVIN ELVIN BISHOP

A LIFE SENTENCE

PIC: STEVE JENNINGS

The early sixties were a pivotal time in the Chicago blues scene. 1963 is a very important year for several budding blues musicians who had migrated to the Windy City. This was the year that Elvin Bishop first encountered Paul Butterfield.

WORDS: Stephen Harrison PICTURES: As Credited

Elvin Bishop joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and the rest, as they say, is history. He would stay with the band until 1968, where he would then spread his musical wings deeper into the Chicago blues scene. I had a conversation with Elvin Bishop recently where we discussed his long and astonishing career in the blues. Asked what originally took him from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Chicago, University, or the blues scene, Bishop is clear:

“It was the blues. We didn’t have much money when I was growing up, but I was lucky enough to gain a scholarship, which meant that I could go anywhere that I wanted to, so I chose Chicago because I knew that the blues was there. So I decided to go to the University of Chicago which is situated on the south side of Chicago, in an area called Hyde Park. That’s where I met Butterfield (Paul). He lived in that area.”

There was an instant attraction for both of these upcoming blues players that happened on the first day that Elvin Bishop arrived in Chicago. If you believe in fate, then this was indeed a fateful day in the long story of Chicago blues. So many people had made the pilgrimage to what was now the home of electric blues. The Windy City was a mecca for aspiring blues musicians, some of whom travelled vast distances just to get to Chicago. The meeting of Paul Butterfield and Elvin Bishop turned out to be one of Chicago’s greatest ever pairings.

“I arrived in Chicago and was just walking around checking the place out and this guy was sitting in a doorway playing blues on a guitar, a white guy, which was unusual in those days. He

was drinking a quart of beer and playing blues on the guitar and I thought, this has gotta be my kind of guy y’know. It was as simple as that. Fate I guess,” says Bishop reflectively.

Curious to know what made Elvin pick up the guitar for the first time, what one thing paved the way for his sojourn to Chicago, I wonder. The response was not what I was expecting: ‘”Girls. I’d go to the high school dances and watch these guys play guitars and the girls were surrounding the guys every time. It took a long time for that to happen to me though. We didn’t have much money, so I’d go to pawn shops and get the cheapest guitar that I could find. I’d try and practice and get frustrated because those other guys made it look so easy. It took me a long time to learn things, so I just hung in there.”

As we spoke about his early times playing the guitar, Elvin revealed a little-known fact about his now-famous Gibson ES 345 (Red Dog). It involved a trade with his friend at the time, Louis Myers: “It was nothing to be proud of really, I was kind of a dirty dog (laughs). I had a Telecaster at the time, and I kept breaking strings all the time playing it. Louis Myers had the Gibson at the time, I was telling him about my problems with the Telecaster. His response was, If I had that guitar, I wouldn’t be breaking three strings every time I played it. So I suggested a swap and he agreed just to prove to me that it was my playing and not the fault of the guitar.

A couple of weeks later he came back and said, every time I play that damn guitar a string breaks, I think we should trade back. But by that time I’d already fallen in love with the

Gibson. So that’s how I got to keep the Gibson. Maybe I should have traded it back,” said Elvin with a wry smile.

Louis Myers was a great player back in the day so a chance meeting with Elvin Bishop had a profound effect on both guys for slightly differing reasons. Chicago in the middle sixties was a mecca for anyone who wanted to get into the blues. The factories were also a huge pull because they could offer the struggling blues wannabees a decent wage until they found regular work in the hundreds and hundreds of blues clubs that littered the city.

“I used to go see Muddy Waters or Junior Wells and Magic Sam play all the time for around

talking to and being around Albert Collins did my heart a lot of good, It really did. I remember going to see B B King at The Filmore in San Fransisco. He invited me to his room one night, he was sitting on his bed in a bathrobe with sheet music spread all around him, and he was practicing like a dog. I’m thinking to myself, wow, this guy is the greatest blues musician in the world and he’s sitting there trying to improve himself. I thought to myself, maybe that’s an indication of what I should be doing.”

two dollars at the weekend. During the week, I’d go and see Little Mac, and Detroit Junior would play during the weekdays. They were all good players, but not all of them got to do any recordings. I used to hang out with a guy called Smokey Smothers, I’d go over to his house and he’d school me. All I knew were a few chords, then I started to learn real fast. I could see the guy’s hands on the neck of the guitar, so I could study them. Smoke used to take me around talent contests on a Tuesday to different clubs. That’s how I started. I did my apprenticeship at a lot of very small clubs before I met Butterfield. I also got to play with Hound Dog Taylor and Junior Wells.”

Elvin goes on to talk about how much of an influence Percy Mayfield and Albert Collins both were on his long and illustrious career: “Just

Mickey Thomas has played a big part in Elvin’s career, not least because he was the vocalist for the well-known tune that Elvin released, Fooled Around And Fell In Love. This is not your typical blues tune or even a typical pairing of blues artists. But they have had huge success for many years touring and recording together, as Bishop explains: “‘He (Thomas) would go down to the south and be looking for gospel singers and bands intending to put together a gospel/rock type of band and put together great gospel harmonies and tunes. He became my roommate for a couple of years, so that’s how I met, Mickey Thomas. He’s a fantastic singer, he’s still got that great voice of his. We’ve done a few things like The Legendary Blues Cruise which was a lot of fun.”

Talking to Elvin Bishop, I must ask about his friendship with Charlie Musselwhite, a relationship stretching back some sixty years. And the fact that in 2020 they released an album, 100 Years Of Blues, certainly gave me a great opportunity to ask him about one of the most famous blues artists of all time.

“I met him sixty years ago but we didn’t hang around much together in those days. Our paths would sometimes cross, but mainly we were doing our own thing. The first big thing we did together was a tour of Hawai in the early eighties and then we’ve had the chance to do

“I’ve been very lucky in my life to play with so many great blues players”

a lot more things since. We live close together nowadays. Have you talked to Charlie yet?

You should talk to him, he’s a great guy to be around and I’m sure he’d love to talk to you. We started doing gigs a couple of years ago again, playing small theatres. We’d go out and play and bullshit a little bit, interact with the audience and they lapped it up. So that gave us the idea of making this record together. Pretty much it amounts to us talking about the old days in Chicago and playing great blues tunes. I imagine that we’ll do another album at some stage, he’s in the process of moving house right now, going down to Mississippi.”

We chatted about the start of everything in Chicago, I was interested to ask Elvin about blues clubs in the south side of Chicago, and the emergence of blues clubs on the north side of Chicago, which were virtually unheard of in the early sixties.

“The blues guys had nowhere to play other than ghetto clubs, and the only chance a white guy like me would get a chance to hear real blues was at a folk festival where they would have one token black guy playing there. There were a bunch of folk clubs on the north side which was a pretty rough area to play. I met Butterfield in one club, and we played there for like two

PIC: STEVE JENNINGS

years, and that was the start of the blues clubs opening up on the north side. I’ve been very lucky in my life to play with so many great blues players, people like Warren Haynes who is part of the new breed of younger blues players, and also Derek Trucks. I’ve already done a couple of things with Warren Haynes and with Derek Trucks.

We finished the interview with a fond farewell to each other. From a personal point of view, It’s been one of the nicest, most pleasant, and educating interviews that I’ve had the pleasure of conducting.

www.elvinbishopmusic.com

PIC: PAT JOHNSON

The global pandemic has ground the music industry to a halt in recent times. Professional musicians have had to put back album releases, reschedule tours and try to find new and creative ways to overcome the obstacles presented to them.

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: Supplied

Whilst Switzerland may not have had such stringent lockdown restrictions as the rest of Europe - the pandemic still managed to impact native blues-rock outfit the Ellis Mano Band. “It was a tough year, I have to say. There was no work anymore, but we tried to make something good out of it,” insists frontman Chris Ellis.

The Swiss quartet is presently preparing to release their second album ‘Ambedo’ on the 25th of June. Ellis elaborates on the intriguing title of the album: “It’s about that state of mind when you’re a little bit turned inside yourself and you watch a small detail happen, and its meditation in a way. This is somehow exactly as we feel when we write songs or work on songs. It’s to be in love with the detail. And so the name is started there.”

THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX

Listening to the Ellis Mano Band’s forthcoming album, the release covers a lot of ground musically. The challenge is that both the industry and music lovers alike try to pigeon-hole each artist into a single box. That method doesn’t necessarily work for every artist. “We have right now the problem to pitch ourselves in the Spotify world because here everything is put into genres, and it’s so heavy. So, we must think from song to song. We are rock blues, I think,” said Mano. “I think we live without thinking too hard that we want to be a blues band, or a pure rock and roll band. We are everything.” By escaping the boundaries of genre, the group simply wants: “To have fun, and to play music from the heart,” declares Chris Ellis.

Although there is a lot of variety in their sound

and musical stylings, the Ellis Mano Band are heavily influenced by the blues, amongst other things. Speaking on his favourite blues album’s, guitarist Edis Mano said: “My number one is ‘Live at the Regal’ by BB King.” Something which the writer also agreed on. He also cites the blues side of Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band as key influences. “That’s the holy grail for me,” he proclaims.

The pair shares common influences in addition to iconic singers such as Van Morrison and Janis Joplin. Lead vocalist Chris Ellis adds: “I would mention that my all-time favourite blues piece, it’s a bit embarrassing, but it’s from ZZ Top, from the album Fandango! The “Blue Jean Blues”.

LACHY DOLEY: THE ANSWER TO “THE QUESTION”

One of the many standout tracks on the band’s forthcoming album ‘Ambedo’ is “The Question,” featuring Antipodean Hammond legend Lachy Doley. When the band needed a Hammond player for the song in question, Lachy came to the rescue. “We recorded the song, and we knew that we needed a strong Hammond sound. Something Jon Lord-ish. Deep Purple style. And we love watching him play. He has so many good snippets on social media and YouTube,” says Mano. “I saw that in the middle of the lockdown he wrote on his Facebook page, I have time to record stuff. I wrote him a short email. And he said, yeah, of course, send me the song. And then he wrote back with a killer track that was awesome and unreal. And a few days later, we had a video and audio, and it

INTERVIEW | ELLIS MANO BAND

was perfect.”

Recently Lachy Doley has also been announced as the Hammond player for the legendary Roger Waters. Mano jokes that: “The good thing is we have a Pink Floyd musician now playing on our album almost.”

HOME SWEET HOME

The studio environment is very much home turf for the four-piece. Lead guitarist Edis Mano is

one of the best professional sound engineers in Switzerland. Subsequently, he also has a recording studio of his own. It was through this sound engineering career that Edis Mano and Chris Ellis met. Mano was on the road working alongside his future frontman. However, despite working together for 12 years, Mano kept the fact that he was a guitarist under wraps to “separate the sound engineer work with the musician work,” says Edis.

“He didn’t tell me that he’s a fantastic guitar

player. He listened to us playing like Pathfinder chords back then. And he was listening to us and not even showing that he plays the guitar,” insists Ellis. “I’m still mad. We could have started the band way earlier,” he jokes.

Having performed as a sideman in bands in and around Switzerland Edis Mano was looking for a new project of his own. “I had so many songs and riffs waiting on the moment, and the moment happened, I think in 2016 after a gig. We were together in the Swiss Alps somewhere.

And Chris wrote me at three o’clock in the morning saying what do you think about making a band together?” says Mano. The answer was an unequivocal yes.

The band line-up was complete shortly after. “The other two guys, I think after five minutes I knew that I wanted to ask them, and they gave me their answer after five minutes. So, on the next day, we had the band complete,” said Mano.

“Chris wrote me at three o’clock in the morning saying what do you think about making a band together?”

From the band’s rapid formation, they almost immediately got to work. “We had around five rehearsals before we went into the studio the first time,” says Ellis. “But it was great you know these guys are incredibly good cracks; they’re so experienced. I was terrified the first time. I’m also experienced, but this is a class of itself. To play and to sing with these guys, this is like Christmas and birthdays at the same time.”

The lead singer has no regrets about his co-founding this project. “I’m so happy that this happened, and even if this would be our last interview and nobody would care about us, it’s still worth it, just because the music it’s just great,” said Ellis.

THREE’S A CROWD?

Through their proactive approach to writing and recording, even though the Ellis Mano Band are on the verge of releasing their sophomore album ‘Ambedo’ the quartet have already got their third album almost completed. Speaking of their creative period during the pandemic, Mano said: “We took a little holiday to go to Croatia, on the Adriatic Sea. We rented a little house and put everything into it. And we’ve almost finished already the next album. So that was the main thing happening in Corona time. But it’s not finished yet; it will maybe out next year.”

Speaking of the rationale of getting ahead of the game, Ellis said that: “It was a great opportunity because we had the chance to have everybody together to do it. Normally we are

gigging the whole time, and there is no time to let’s say to go to the Adriatic Sea for 14 days.” Such was the success of this method that the band has “already decided the next album is going to be like that as well,” said Ellis.

Taking a cautious approach to getting together the band were able to capitalise on their unplanned downtime brought about by the pandemic. “We tested each other a few times, and so we were quite safe to work in the studio. And great stuff came out of this pandemic,” said Ellis.

ALL SYSTEMS GO

With the Ellis Mano Band’s sophomore album release landing in June and their third album almost in the bag, a lot is going on in the camp of the Swiss quartet over the next couple of years. Despite this, the group are still erring on the side of caution. “We’ve got to finish the third album and try to play it live. But it’s always hard to say, we have had shows planned for over a year, and they are always pushed,” said Edis Mano. “I think the only thing we can do is write more songs, record more stuff, using that time that we have free and hope that the gig life is coming back as soon as possible.”

‘Ambedo’ by Switzerland’s Ellis Mano Band will be released via Jazzhaus Records on Friday, June 25th.

www.ellismanoband.com

WORDS: Colin Campbell

PICTURES: Michael Wall

ERIC BIBB BE HONEST AND TRUE

Eric Bibb has a career that now spans five decades. He has recorded with many folk and blues artists and has two Grammy Award nominations plus countless Blues Foundation Awards. He is an artist who keeps to the traditions of a pre-War American blues genre but is continually evolving. He is an honest, hard working authentic blues musician, singer-songwriter, but can also be described as a Griot helping preserve historical narratives and oral traditions.

Recently signed to the Mascot Label Group, Bibb and has been collaborating with the likes of Eric Gales for his new album, Dear America. Blues Matters caught up with him at home in Sweden where he now resides.

During the Pandemic Eric had time for reflection. It’s been a good period in many ways. He agrees that we don’t know where this will take us, especially in relation to doing live music again, and he has decided not to tour this year. The shortest version of his musical journey, he summed up eloquently: “A more blessed experience for someone as passionate about songs and guitar playing, I could not have chosen a better environment. It was enriching, supportive and full of inspiration. I turned this nutrition into this career that I’m satisfied with a career that’s followed a blessed path even though it has been fraught with difficulties and

dangers. I have a long list of people to thank for my upbringing.”

What has led to his fulfilment of being a musician is realising how unique he is as an artist. This is an artists’ core. He really values that feeling of ‘worth and uniqueness.’ “When you dare to be yourself that’s when you become a channel for inspired work,” he believes. For upcoming young artists his advice would be - although the playing field has changed and channels for sharing music have become challenging, it’s still going to be the commitment and passion for the music that will be the engine that takes you the distance: “If you feel the passion is not there, your motives are not inspired by a burning commitment to the music, then perhaps it’s better viewed as a hobby! It’s a commitment beyond quantifying. In these days of virtual success due to the internet, it’s a different thing to travel around the world and meet real people! “

Having that experience, Eric is ready to utilise new paths of communication, especially via his Patreon page, and has been involved with live streaming events. Regarding keeping his vocals in check, he has been used to projecting to a crowd, different from singing in your own house. He’s happy to keep singing; he may have to bring the capo down on the guitar for a new range, but enjoys the live streams. This has kept him in touch with his fan base and himself with his back catalogue of songs.

Bibb grew up with Folk and Jazz royalty. His Father and Uncle let him meet legends in his Living Room, Bob Dylan for example. It was a crazy kaleidoscope of music and artists. He was aware of the rarefied company he travelled with, even at a young age. As an eleven year old, his friends had no idea who was coming to his house for dinner parties. He knew he had a special upbringing, but realises, “How rich that soil was,” as he puts it perfectly.

Growing up, he listened to anything from The

Singing Nuns, Stax, Howlin’ Wolf, Judy Collins - a vast range which also included Classical music. Eclectic but focussed. As a singer and guitarist he was interested in Folk-Blues tradition. His heroes and sheroes were Odetta, Big Bill Broonzy, Josh White and Leadbelly.

At seven, he got his first guitar. “It was wretched, the action was too high,” he laughs on reflection. The steel strings hurt his fingers. He took Classical guitar lessons for a while. You can play beautifully on nylon string guitars when it comes to blues tradition. Habib Koite from Mali, he quotes as a good example. Louisiana Red sometimes played a nylon string guitar. Eric found that the guitar is basically an orchestra and you use all right hand fingers even when picking this is what he learned from his Classical playing. The guitar is a magical journey that never ends!

The guitar chose him and never left. He had teachers that were frustrated with him because he didn’t pay attention to their lessons. He knew the guitar would take him on a different path and never doubted this. He never stopped playing guitar. He emphasises to stay with it, it’s about the act of playing the guitar.

As to vocal lessons, in High School he was a Music student and sung bass in the choir. He never considers himself a trained singer like his father. He is more a homemade singer! He always felt his vocal range was limited in the blues genre. The important thing to him, though, is to tell the story you are singing.

Bibb has collaborated with so many artists. He cites Taj Mahal as being one he has learned most from. He’s had more contact with him since the ‘70s. He is a mentor; Mavis Staples is also a huge influence. He had Thanksgiving dinner with Eddie Boyd, lots of collaborations. He’s worked with Hubert Sumlin, played with B.B. King for the King of Sweden. He also opened for Ray Charles at Oregon for two shows at the Zoo. Hubert was a great story teller. He talked

INTERVIEW | ERIC BIBB

about Chess Records; he was a very warm bluesman. That generation is moving on there’s not too many left!

About blues music in general Eric Bibb is positive: “Any way you look at it, regarding demographics and that sort of stuff, the music, where it came from is such a powerful piece of medicine, the blues. It can go through changes but the real deal is always going to be available to those who feel it and are attracted to it. We have it on record and digitalised, it’s not going to disappear. People, who it fascinates, will keep it going in any way. I have no fears of the language because it came from real

people and will stay real, it’s in our bones,” he explains his thinking.

Eric’s rendition of Needed Time is still pertinent and will remain so: “Yes, it’s a powerful set of words and music and easily sung and taken on board. I keep coming back to this song, it’s like a talisman, never bores me, this epitomises the power of song.”

Having met griot musician friends, Eric can identify himself as one over the years. When people refer to African Americans as a monolithic group, Eric says: “We can we get closer to the detail here, we use terms that derive from divisiveness. It’s up to us!”

“The music my dad grew up around and the jazz my Uncle listened to was aligned to social change movements. These were people aware of their history and justice. The art, whether with the blues of Big Bill Broonzy or Josh White or Pete Seeger, knew music was in service with the people not just as entertainers. I don’t make a difference between being a Civil Rights activist or whatever. As artists in whatever culture we come from the role is to be the vanguard to join the dots and unite humanity. If your music is to do with people you have to be true to it.”

He looks at blues music as a lens for the history of Americans and the world: “The blues culture has captured the world’s heart. To be part of the blues story and not acknowledge the depth of its connection to all of us is to miss something really valuable. Blues matters, black lives matters they’re inseparable. We always have to

“if you’re not saying something then you’re just playing notes”

remember the microcosmic part and where it came from. Then we have to remember how it’s connected people. There’s something beyond the music.”

He likes seeing the younger generation playing serious blues, citing Kingfish: “When he starts to tell his truth and hooks it all up it will be a very powerful thing! But it’s synthesising this with who you are! Who knows, he may be the incarnation of someone else, who knows?” Suggests Bibb.

Turning to the new album again, he says: “Working with Eric Gales, you don’t get that thrill from a guitar player every day. The blues as a language is based on the way people communicate vocally. Sometimes you wonder are they speaking or singing. Preachers give you a good example. Dr Martin Luther King had it; if you’re not saying something then you’re just playing notes, some skilfully placed but you miss the power of the blues if you’re not saying something. Eric Gales can shred some notes but actually say something at the same time, that’s a lot of notes to handle. It’s nice to find an electric guitar player who knows the notes and to get the crowd to go WOW!”

Eric Gales guests on the new album, Dear America, and features on the song, Whole World’s Got The Blues: “We recorded it in a high end studio in New York. To record there is special. I had a dream band, great Producer and it was a great experience. Steve Jordan was on drums, Ron Carter on double bass. Glenn Scott had these idea years ago and he told me, ‘We’re just going to have to do this’ and it happened. The prospect of coming back to my home-town and making this statement was poetry.”

The theme through the album is one of Eric talking to America and therefore to the world. “Dear America specifically draws my attention towards my African American experience but this is a universal message to delve into our history and find out why we are so divided. We

need to heal. I do this through blues. There is no more pertinent music genre for this than the blues. I’m happy to have put this album out in a coherent way. It’s a love letter to America; we need to understand we can no longer sweep our history under the carpet. The way forward as a nation and a world is to face what we’ve been doing to each other. Reconciliation and recognition is needed if we’re going to get passed the poison of living in a divided society by racism.”

One of his favourite songs on the new album is Emmett’s Ghost, about the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. This galvanised the modern civil rights movement. He knew about this story when he was ten. He was reminded about it in a documentary of Sam Cooke. Then he got a book by Timothy Tyson called The Blood Of Emmett Till and the song was made at the kitchen table in about an hour! Historical events resound with him and will end up being a song. He likes a light hearted song but he has a platform and has to make use of it. When writing a blues song he says there has to be an inherent truth! Melodies for his song writing usually start with the guitar but sometimes the story comes before the lyrics are written.

Reflecting back on his childhood; He would tell that boy: “ Be bold, know that you are supported through your devotion to the music and play on! In the end it’s a question of self-worth that will greatly influence your path in life.”

CONNOR SELBY

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: Supplied

CONNOR SELBY

There aren’t too many artists who can add performing at Wembley Stadium on their resume, especially whilst still in their twenties. “Looking back on it, it feels almost like a dream,” said Connor Selby. The experience the artist is referring to is none other than opening for rock titans The Who in London during the summer of 2019. “I was very nervous, right up until I started playing,” said Selby. “At the same time, it was an incredible experience, and I’m so grateful to have been able to do it.”

Of course, opportunities such as this don’t turn up every day. Recounting how that moment arose, Selby said that: “I was playing in London at Under The Bridge. I was supporting someone; it wasn’t even my headline show or anything.” However, one of the members of the audience happened to be The Who’s manager Bill Curbishley. Speaking of their chance meeting, Connor said: “He basically just came up and spoke to me afterwards and said that he liked my sound and appreciated what I was doing.” Perhaps you could say he was in the right place at the right time. This encounter led to a spot on the bill alongside Roger Daltrey and company at the legendary venue.

Subsequently, The Who weren’t the only legends that expressed an interest in the British singer and guitarist. “I got the John Mayall tour as well,” said Connor Selby. “But he got the flu. This is prior to the pandemic, so the whole thing got postponed.”

A Fresh Start

With some unplanned downtime because of the global pandemic, it was time to come up with a new plan. “It was only because of the fact that we went into lockdown that I decided that I needed to do something with this time. I needed to get something out. I needed to record something,” says Selby. “I ended up doing a Kickstarter, which I never considered doing before, and I raised quite a lot of money. All that money has gone into recording these new songs

for this new album, which I basically wouldn’t have been able to do without that Kickstarter.”

The lockdown seemed to become an incredibly creative time for the young artist. With the vision of a new album in mind, Connor Selby got to work. “Since March, I was trying to write and accumulate material. Some of the songs are older than that. I wrote a few of them in the lockdown, and a few of them were inspired directly by my lockdown experience of being separated from everyone,” said Selby.

The emotions encountered during the lockdown fed directly into the lyrics on some of Connor’s latest material. “There’s one song on the album which is a singer/songwriter type of track. It’s called Waitin’ on the Day, and it’s quite overtly about the lockdown,” said Selby. “That was just very much about my experience of loneliness and the longing that we all had to see other people again.”

This prolonged period of contemplation also gave the artist a new perspective. Speaking about his new song Starting Again, Connor said that it’s: “About how I saw the lockdown as a fresh start in a way. Coming out of the lockdown hopefully with this new album and everything, it will be a new starting point for me in terms of my career.”

The Missing Link

For his latest offering, Connor Selby teamed up with Stefan Redtenbacher at Masterlink Studios. “I didn’t use my touring band that I’ve been playing with for a few years. I ended up playing with the session band there, which is Stefan Redtenbacher’s Funkestra. But I did bring Joe Anderton, who has been playing in my band for a few years. He came in to play on the sessions, but the rhythm section was entirely the Funkestra,” said Selby. “Basically, we did 12 songs in three days.” An impressive achievement to say the least. Redtenbacher and his team had a positive impact on the overall outcome of Selby’s

forthcoming album. “They really helped me to manifest my musical vision. Obviously, they’re all amazing players. So, they all brought their own unique personalities and styles into the music. They decided what they were playing. I didn’t tell them to play anything specific, other than just the vibe and the feel that I was going for,” said Selby.

I Can’t Let You Go

The first single released from Connor Selby’s new album is called I Can’t Let You Go. This being a song that’s been with the artist for a little while. “I wrote that song about two years ago. Now, I think, maybe even more. That was inspired by a real experience, a relationship that I was in at the time. As you can probably tell, it wasn’t going very well,” explains Connor.

Since its conception, I Can’t Let You Go de veloped over time. “I originally wrote it as an acoustic/folky song, like a Ray LaMontagne style track. And over the last couple of years, I’ve been messing around with the arrangement. We eventually came to the way it is now - I guess you’d call it a rock kind of thing,” said Selby.

The British bluesman covers a lot of ground on his forthcoming release. Talking about the songs on the album, Connor said that “Falling in Love Again - that’s kind of my love for soul music and Stax.” Selby was also inspired by: “The early Atlantic stuff like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Bill Withers.” Whilst the track Anyhow was influenced by the late great Ray Charles, who Connor describes as “one of my heroes”. Selby also states that: “I love classic rock and Americana, so that’s where the song Emily came in.”

A melting pot of sounds and influences, I’m sure you will agree.

With his forthcoming album, Selby is looking to present a more well-rounded representation of who he is as an artist. “I don’t want to just make a blues record because I think that there are more sides to me than that. I want people to get a sense of who I am and the music I love,” said Connor.

How Blue Can You Get

But would Connor Selby consider himself to be a blues artist per se? “Obviously, I play blues, and I love the blues, and my music is heavily inspired and derived from the blues. But I think that the blues is much bigger than just a kind of genre of music,” said Selby. “It’s a cultural form, and yet there’s a lot of connotations to it which I don’t think I could necessarily align myself with.”

Connor elaborates on his understanding of this timeless genre. “When I think of a blues artist, I think of someone like BB King, Muddy Waters or Robert Johnson. To me, that’s the blues really. And, even someone like Eric Clapton, who I obviously love, and he’s one of my heroes.

I don’t think I would necessarily say that he’s a blues artist in the same way that BB King is,” said Connor. “He’s always described himself as a messenger. He saw his responsibility is pointing you towards the real stuff, so to speak.”

Moving Forward

Besides having a new album ready to go, this year also saw the gifted artist bestowed the prestigious “Jules Fothergill Young Blues Artist of the Year” accolade at the British Blues Awards. But with a return to live music still hanging in the balance, where does Connor Selby go from here? “I’m trying to book as much stuff as I can, but I think doing a tour this year will be quite unlikely. So, I’m just trying to book gigs,” said Selby. “Hopefully, if everything goes to plan, we should be doing a tour in the first half of next year, maybe springtime and then I’ll try and promote the album as much as I can on that. But, in the meantime, I’m trying to do what I can.”

The forthcoming eponymous album from Connor Selby will be released on September 10th.

www.connorselby.com

“Basically, we did 12 songs in three days.”

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TROY REDFERN

It’s commonly accepted that blues artists are the hardest working musicians in the business. As proof, Troy Redfern validates this perception with a prodigious output of music during the pandemic that is sweeping the globe. His latest studio album of original songs, The Fire Cosmic, is his fifth release since Covid struck and, being his most complete recording to date, it’s solid blues gold.

WORDS: Paul Davies PICTURES: Rob Blackham

In the vanguard of the new blood currently flooding the worldwide blues scene, Redfern has risen to the top of the burgeoning talent pool with his ferocious playing style belying an immense mastery of the varied shades of the blues spectrum. His wide range of blues sensibilities is alloyed by a mature compositional sense and distinctive brooding vocals.

In our insightful interview, Troy reveals the blues influences that started him on the road less travelled out of his native Hereford; recording his current red hot blues album at a legendary recording studio, enlisting famous friends to play on the record; tales of the road, his plans to gig and his unique guitar technique.

Having always recorded at his home studio set up, recording The Fire Cosmic at the famous Rockfield Studio was a revelatory experience that Troy enthuses about: “It was crazy. It’s such an amazing place. I’m a huge Queen fan and those albums recorded there just meant so much to me as I was growing up. It’s one place I’ve always wanted to record.” Troy’s glowing experience at this holy grail recording environment certainly adds spice to the album: “Everything else that I’ve done,” continues Troy, “I’ve done here. I’ve just recorded in my own studio. So, to get the chance to go down there was amazing. And to take the guys I took with me was special. So, yeah, it was kind of a memorable experience for me.”

Redfern has brought together a small yet crack team of players to create a booming blues sound behind his, at times, feral blues guitar

attack. The in demand and incredible session drummer Darby Todd delivers a percussive masterclass of John Bonham proportions on this record. Troy explains how he wrangled in Darby to play on the sessions: “Well, all my other stuff, production wise, has been a lot more open - it’s been a bit more rockabilly. I met Darby in Poland, we were playing a festival together and I kind of knew him from socials and that he taught Ollie Harding who plays drums with The Shires. We bumped into each other, and we chatted for probably an hour, and he said, ‘If ever you need anyone to play give me a shout’.”

From this chance meeting the backbone to The Fire Cosmic was put together as Troy elaborates:” When I asked him to come and do the project at Rockfield he was completely up for it. Once we started laying down the tracks, that determined the sound of the album and when he started drumming, he brought that jump to it.” Further explaining how Darby Todd achieved the powerful blues backbeat found on the record: “He bought one of those Vistalite clear perspex Ludwig kits. Once I heard the stylistic way he was playing I kind of said, ‘OK, this is the album sound’ because the drums kind of really do sort of set it.” He adds: “If you’ve got a sort of rock sound you can’t get away from it. I went with it. I’m so pleased to have these crack musicians involved in the project.”

Translating the idea of songs onto tape can be a tricky process. However, Redfern is like the blues cat who got the cream out of his experience away from his usual comfort zone of

working. He opens up about this treas ured memory: “Normally, when you’ve written songs, and because I kind of do everything myself: I write it, arrange it, and do all this stuff. Sometimes when you get players in, you can be a bit pre cious because you spent so long crafting the arrangement and all this kind of stuff. But when I went into the studio with those guys, including Dave Marks on bass - he’s another cracking musician - I was just like, yeah, yeah, yeah as they wanted to make it better. Not only were they hired guns, but they were also trying to make it good for me, and for them, so that was brilliant.”

Troy managed to rope in an incendiary cameo appearance by Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal. No mean feat as he reveals: “We met at the same festival where I met Darby. It was a good festival because it’s a kind of art festival; there are painters there. The organ iser invited a Polish guitar magazine down to the press conference. I was sitting next to ‘Bumblefoot’ at this press conference, and we immediately hit it off. He’s humble and self-dep recating; just a lovely guy. Considering his talents; he’s played in Guns ‘N’ Roses - all these great bands. There’s no nonsense or ego. I got chatting to him and had a really good time. I hung out with the guys.”

What happened next is the stuff of what dreams are made of: “Anthony Gomes was headlining Saturday night. We were in the main foyer and Bumblefoot said, ‘are you coming to the jam?’ I said, ‘I’ve not heard about any jams so probably not’. He said, ‘No? come on!’. So off we went to

the side of the stage of this full capacity venue. Anthony is on and getting towards the end of his set.” As the tension was rising. Troy didn’t know what to expect. He says: “Bumblefoot goes on, with his double neck guitar and plays Knocking On Heaven’s Door with Anthony. The organiser showed me this kind of Fender guitar, which had no pedals or anything, and I thought, ‘I’m not going out there with that because that would be ridiculous, it’ll sound like a little clunky kind of toy’. So, I thought, right, OK, fair enough. I’m at stage-side and it’s cool. I’m enjoying it. Then Anthony and Bumblefoot come off stage and Bumblefoot says to Anthony, ‘Come on, man. One more, one more.’ And I could tell Anthony was done. He didn’t want to do anymore but he respected Bumblefoot enough to say, ‘OK, one more’.” What happened next blew Troy away. “Well, Bumblefoot handed me his double neck guitar. He basically got Anthony to do one more so I could go out and play. It was cool. I went out there and it was brilliant.”

Troy relates how he got Bumblefoot to bring his magic fingers to play on the apposite track On Fire: “I thought I’d give him a shout and just ask him if he wants to play on one of the tracks; this was in late 2019. And he said, ‘Yeah!’. So,

when I recorded the parts at Rockfield with the guys, as soon as that was done, I sent him the track.” Expecting to wait a week or two for the Bumblefoot to complete his mission, Troy had a surprise in store: “He then put his part on it and sent it over within a couple of days and it’s just ridiculous.” He continues: “What’s interesting about it is there are guys who do that kind of fast-ready stuff, who aren’t interested in ideas, it’s almost like speed for the sake of it. Not Bumblefoot. He also plays a fretless guitar, which is even more crazy.”

There is a panoply of blues textures and feelings on his new record that exposes Troy’s passion for blues players past and present. Troy explains how his influences contributed to his approach whilst making the album: “I think a lot of it has to do with the tunings. I purposely put my guitars into different tunings so I don’t know my standard things that

Waiting For Your Love is a prime example of this unusual approach. “It’s a straightforward boogie, which harks

drums, it sounds like it’s

version of that boogie thing.”

further beneath the skin of his blues influences: “Fred McDowell and all those country blues guys are always present when I play slide guitar. And, of course, there are things like On Fire, which originally was like a Robert Rodriguez surf thing. With the production, it sounds a lot more rock. Originally, it was a lot more of a Texan blues kind of thing. But then the production changed as it was recorded.”

A skilful producer himself, Redfern decided on having a different pair of ears to oversee the recording and production of The Fire Cosmic. Enter Paul ‘Win’ Winstanley whose platinum pedigree goes before him: “I got Paul Winstanley in to produce it. I didn’t want to be over his shoulder. I hired him because I trusted and like him.” They clearly connected: “He’s a lovely guy and I like his work. When it came to mixing it, and all that kind of stuff, I wasn’t involved with that for a change. He sent it to me when it was mixed. It was kind of a shock in the way that I wasn’t expecting it to sound like that. But after three listens I was like, right, I get where you’ve gone with this and I love it.”

Opening songs are a gateway to an album’s roadmap, suggesting what’s going to happen on the listening journey. Scorpio’s coruscating rockabilly fretwork certainly fires up the engines on this release: “Scorpio kind of harkens back to my old stuff.” Remembers Redfern. “I like it but you’re never sure what people are going to make of it especially with Waiting For Your Love which is a halfway house between rock and blues.” Explaining how his songs are created: “It’s a rock production, but strip all that away and it’s a blues song; it’s a boogie. Billy Gibbons might be doing that now with his new stuff, but you don’t really get blues boogie in rock in that kind of way. I was listening about Van Halen’s first albums on a Dweezil Zappa podcast, and he was talking about swing in the early Van Halen albums. Being a 20 something year old guitar player, not many guitar players of that age understand swing and that’s the same thing with the blues. It’s all about that

heavy swing and textures and emotion.”

Harking back to the blues legends, Troy has a favourite: “I’ve always loved anything that’s come from John Lee Hooker because of that rhythmic feel. I always pinpoint him. I’m sure it was always there before him with the other players but, you know, that’s the kind of feel that I like that seems to be the sort of centre point for that sort of vibe.” Emphasising his appreciation for John Lee: “I’ve always loved what he does when he plays on one chord; it’s very hypnotic. I absolutely love that.”

As an accomplished blues guitarist, Troy recalls who inspired him on his personal musical adventure: “Well, I got into Hendrix when I was very young. I remember going with my parents into the local city of Hereford and buying cassette tapes of Hendrix - his BBC cassettes stand out and I love those performances.” He recalls: “I started playing guitar when I was about 13, a friend lent me a Son House album and that was completely different. Because I’d not heard anything like it back then. With the internet, you can hear anything. But back then someone had to lend you an album. And I lived in the middle of nowhere, so I was musically isolated and isolated in general.”

Armed with a high calibre skillset, Troy emphasises how he can’t wait to go out and tour The Fire Cosmic. He’s booked in to support Robert Jon & The Wreck on a September UK tour. He will be a playing a solo acoustic set where true fans of blues and slide guitar will have the chance to see a bona-fide maestro play at close quarters. Without a doubt, it’ll be an experience to savour from a blues artist whose time has come.

Troy Redfern’s new album “The Fire Cosmic” is released by RED7 Records on August 6th via the website:

troyredfern.com

GIBBONS BILLY F FROM THE TIPSTOP

ZZ Top is a band born out of a shared love of the blues during the late 60s/early 70s. From that point forth, the bearded trio (one in name only – drummer Frank Beard) have entertained music fans around the world with their repertoire of blues/rock hits, choreographed moves, ten-gallon hats, hot rods and ‘cheap sunglasses’.

MTV became a catalyst for ZZ Top during the 80s and 90s, particularly with classic videos such as “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Legs”. But fast forward to 2021, and life in the digital age now means that Gibbons and company must grapple with streaming outlets such as YouTube and Spotify instead. Speaking of why music television was so effective as a vehicle for getting the band’s music out to their fans, Gibbons jokes: “MTV was the only one. I’m struggling to get down to compressing it to the only 25.”

What does a road warrior like Billy Gibbons do when presented with the proposition of not being able to tour, or much else for that matter?

“Well, the answer is one word – nothing,” proclaims Gibbons. An unusual predicament to find himself in, but you can’t keep a good man down, and least, not Billy Gibbons. With help from his friends, this situation changed at the drop of the Texan’s Stetson hat and ‘Hardware,’ the artist’s latest solo album was born.

Desert Trip

Last June, Gibbons received what he described as a “fateful phone call” from a pair of his musical counterparts - Matt Sorum and Austin Hanks. “The two of them rallied up, and they

cornered me,” explains Gibbons. By their admittance, the duo was “tired of sitting around,” and having discovered a new recording studio in Joshua Tree - they were “going to have a look around”.

But what started as a bit of a recce trip blossomed into a much bigger musical adventure. “We walked in, and our little thirty-minute tour turned into a good ninety days of making loud noise,” proclaims Gibbons. However, this spontaneous and creative approach did introduce some logistical challenges in terms of instruments and equipment. The trio had travelled light, or you could even say that Gibbons et al had left their ‘Hardware’ at home, so to speak. “We found a guitar in the corner. We found some drums in the other corner. We just pulled things out, and that lit the fuse,” insists Gibbons.

“The guitar was an early Fender Jazzmaster, connected to an early Fender reverb tank, connected to an early Fender amplifier,” explains Gibbons. “The irony unfolded right then and there. Here we are, surrounded with sand, cactus, and rocks - no water. But we’ve got the sound of a surf guitar. I said this is as crazy as we’d like - let’s keep going.” That distinctive guitar sound opened the door to the lead single from the album. “The first creative excursion brought us to - I’m a West Coast Junkie from a lonesome Texas town,” confirms Gibbons.

The Power of Three

With three musical counterparts in situ, the trinity was complete. But what is it that the

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: Roger Kisby

With a career spanning several decades, Billy Gibbons is part of the longest surviving rock line-up of all time as one-third of ‘That Little Ol’ Band from Texas’.

legendary figure loves so much about a three-piece format? “The Genesis really starts with the challenge of that skinny line-up. When you get a group of guys that understand the calling, you’re well on your way to get the ball rolling in that ferocious direction,” explains Gibbons.

And who could argue with that logic? After all, it’s worked for ZZ Top for all these years. And it’s also widely used within the blues world. But there is also a more fundamental reason as to why the

power trio format works so well. “The skinny line-up of just three calls upon everybody to give it 110%. The ferociousness of rock really comes through when everybody’s on point, focused and giving it just that,” Billy declares.

The Lizard King

The final track of ‘Hardware’ is called “Desert High”. This being unlike any other song on the record and consists of spoken word poetry recited by non-other than Gib bons himself. If you listen to the words closely,

“if you really listen carefully, you realise that here’s a guy that had done his homework”

you will hear the artist refer to ‘The Lizard King’ - a metaphor for the late great Jim Morrison.

In the formative years of his career, Gibbons toured alongside legends such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Doors. It was at this time that the ZZ Top frontman struck up a friendship with guitarist Robbie Krieger.

Of course, both artists play slide guitar. However, in true rock and roll fashion Krieger was living a little more dangerously. Billy states that The Doors guitarist: “Was using a broken off neck of a soda pop bottle. Dangerous, it had not been rounded off; it was sharp. And I said, Man, you’re crazy.” However, Krieger liked the sound of glass. Gibbons explains that: “Fortunately, I had a spare medicine bottle. And I said here try this one. It was glass, which was much to his liking. He said man, you’ve saved me a lot of money on band-aids.”

Widely regarded as a legendary rock guitarist there is a lot more to Robbie Krieger’s playing than meets the eye. “It was during the time out on the road with The Doors I learned that Robbie Krieger was not only a great rock guitar player providing his talents with Jim Morrison’s creative poetry. He was a very studious follower of blues guitar,” explains Gibbons. “If you listen to the very first album that was released, the official Doors album, the early version on Elektra, you can hear Robbie playing some slide guitar, and if you really listen carefully, you realise that here’s a guy that had done his homework.”

More than fifty years on, the pair still cross paths from time to time. “I spoke with Robbie just as this virus curtain was dropping. It’s been a year now,” said Gibbons. “I was quite honoured to be in the presence of a guy that still loves getting to do what he gets to do, and that’s playing. And when he’s not doing a tribute to The Doors, he will tiptoe off into some really infectious blues grooves. It’s very impressive.”

Larkin Poe

One blues outfit which has resonated with Gibbons in recent times is none other than Larkin Poe. The Lovell sisters feature on a song on ‘Hardware’ called “Stackin’ Bones” where they provide some harmonious backing vocals.

Call it coincidence or serendipity, but their paths crossed unexpectedly on the road courtesy of Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown. “I had laid eyes on Larkin Poe during a tour. Not on stage. They were always in the dressing rooms. They were in the catering room. I would pass them in the hallway,” explains Gibbons. “I finally cornered the opening act. It was a young fella that played pretty good blues guitar as wellTyler Bryant.”

Gibbons quizzed Bryant about the pair. Of course, Tyler is married to one half of the dynamic duo. He said to Billy: “If you’ll step out from the dressing room early today, I’ve loaned the stage. They’re working up some new material.”

Gibbons’ curiosity led him to investigate further. “Not only were they singing great, but they were also playing great,” said Gibbons. “Megan, who plays standard six - when I looked, I said, wait a minute, that’s a flat lap steel, strapped up. It was playing as flat as T-Bone Walker. And that’s when I really got behind what they were doing. It made for the afternoon; I became a fan.”

Eliminating The Competition

The sound of ZZ Top has evolved over the years. From their early signature sound based upon the band’s blues roots to the bombastic output of the group’s 80s and early 90s material.

Of course, the Eliminator album witnessed great commercial success and a string of hit singles. But was ZZ Top concerned about how the blues fans would react to their change in sound?

“We know it’s fair to say that we’ve always kept one foot in this blues-based attempt to interpret that form of artistic expression,” said Gibbons. “At that time, we found it interesting that the manufacturers of musical instruments were scuffling to find ways to stimulate the market. And lo and behold, here came this thing called the synthesiser.”

claim to the word interpreters. We had strong admiration, and going back to the inspirational days when we were drawn to what we were hearing, it came to pass where the three of usFrank had heard some of the same records that Dusty had heard, which were the same records that I had heard,” explains Gibbons. “We were listening to the same radio station blasting out of Mexico, which in itself was kind of unusual that we all had a semblance of a good, cohesive starting point. We all shared it.”

At this point, the trio was working out of what became a second home for the band – Memphis, Tennessee. “The studio owner, where we were surviving, was never afraid of investing in the next curious piece of gear,” proclaims Gibbons. “He was a gearhead, and he really enjoyed keeping the studios alive with I would say it was the next unexpected, weird thing.”

Studio engineers Joe Hardy, Terry Manning and John Hampton, would become instrumental in finessing the band’s new sound. “The first thing they did was threw the manual away. It was turning the knobs until you make something sound like you like,” insists Gibbons. “That’s probably the closest explanation of what was transpiring as Eliminator was coming together - so were these new sounds. It was something very unexpected.”

The Blues Came Calling

After all these years, would ZZ Top call themselves a blues band? “It’s only fair to lay

It’s sometimes said ZZ Top play three-chord blues, but there is much more to it than that. “I call it the great American art form,” insists Gibbons. “Yes, it can be reserved into three chords, but the sophistication lays claim to the lowest of lows and the highest of highs and all points in between.” ZZ Top evolved from a mutual appreciation of the blues and that love of the genre still rings true today. “One of my favourite blues artists is, of course, Jimmy Reed,” declares Gibbons. “There’s hardly a day that goes by when I’m not listening to a Jimmy Reed song. And the irony is that as simplistic as it may appear on the surface, I’m still getting different things. This is years and years later, which tells you something.”

But where does the blues go from here? Gibbons articulates that: “There’s a couple of ways to approach it. I like Dusty’s constant reference. He said, isn’t it funny, this thing called blues. About every ten years, it seems to be the new talking point. It resurfaces. And I said, yeah, that’s the good news.” Billy jokes: “In the meantime, sometimes just the mere utterance of the word blues gives me a headache. If I see another group with a Hawaiian shirt and a stingy brim hat and a big fat microphone saying we’re a blues band - I’m leaving.”

“Hardware” by Billy F Gibbons is out now via Concord Music Group.

www.billygibbons.com

“Not only were they singing great, but they were also playing great”

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Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and arranger. He is an original member of the Jackson 5 but still tours with The Jacksons. He has performed since the early 2000’s as a solo blues musician and his debut album Tito Time was released in 2016 gaining great plaudits.

WORDS: Colin Campbell PICTURES: Laura Carbone

He has now signed for Gulf Coast Records in association with Hillside Global for his second album entitled Under Your Spell, a mixture of blues, soul, rhythm and blues tunes with that special seasoning of California basting throughout the eleven tracks. He also has some stellar musicians guesting. These include, Stevie Wonder, Joe Bonamassa, Bobby Rush, Kenny Neal, Eddie Levert, George Benson and his brother Marlon Jackson. To discuss this and more, Blues Matters caught up with Tito Jackson recently.

He was in his recording studio in Calabasas California, all is well with him just now. He had just finished doing a video for his upcoming single, Love One Another. Had managed to get an advanced copy for review for Blues Matters magazine and showed Tito the artwork and inlay, he had not seen the finished product until this interview, he was most impressed the way it looks! “Wow, nice cover”.

Anyway, onto the chat, we started talking about blues music and its appeal in the modern era. “Blues will always matter. The problem is that so many different genres are kicking off blues. There are a lot of songs that have the blues tones and melodies written today, especially in rock music. But blues don’t get the credit for it!”

Growing up in a musical family he was exposed to many musical styles, blues music included. He thought that blues has always been around himself and his family. His parents loved the blues. They listened to Bobby Bland, BB King, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Smith, blues and jazz. His father was a guitarist so was his brother, Uncle Luther. They would jam in the house at weekends and Tito was amazed by all this music.

When his father was out Tito would sneak in and take the guitar from the case and play it like he wanted. Unfortunately, six months later he was found out, because he had broken a string and didn’t know what to do with it! His mother would talk to her husband about this when he came home...” He still got me and after he scolded me and everything, he gave me some licks on my bottom. He put the guitar in my lap and said show me what you can do. So, I’m playing and crying, and my father looked at my mum and said Kate, this boy can play some! She said, Joe, I told you, he likes the instrument, he plays it faithfully every day.

His father said, “You can have that guitar there, but I want you to learn every song you like on the radio, and I’ll buy myself another one”.

So, Tito first learned Motown tunes. Jackie and Jermaine joined in and tried to make a group. Michael and Marlon were too young to join, “They were playing with their toys on the floor and kept asking to be in our band, we told them they were too little”.

A year later was an epiphany moment. Michael was singing at his school. His teacher had discovered he had a voice, she gave him a solo. “He tore it up, unbelievable. Our mouths flew open, we looked at each other saying is that our brother singing, we couldn’t believe it, because he never sung around the house or anything. That’s when we discovered he was a great singer. We rushed back home and said You’re in the group!” Marlon joined also at this time; Tito grinned.

They rehearsed; his father was trying to sleep as he worked night shift. It was his mother who

was the influencer for the group then, his father was not so sure. One day though, he gave them an audition and he realised they did have something. “Next day, instead of paying groceries, he bought microphones, PA systems and rehearsed us faithfully every day after school. We did gigs at the weekend and did weddings, birthday parties, all sorts of events. We got known for being the opening act in our region for people like Johnny Taylor, Bobby Taylor and Gladys Knight. Just a lot of professional groups, we were the warmup band that’s how we got discovered”.

His mother played clarinet at school. His father played guitar and harmonica. According to Tito he played harmonica better than he did guitar! “We’re a blues family from, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi, we go to the roots of the blues”. Even the Jackson 5 played a lot of blues songs on stage. They played Joe Tex and Bobby Bland tunes. When they became famous, they didn’t have to do anyone else’s music. “Blues took the first slap in the face, unless there was a problem on stage, then I got to play some blues. That’s the only time I got to play the blues outside of my younger days. I jammed with friends. The Jacksons had gone on the Victory Tour, and they had to take time off afterwards. I took some musician friends in my neighbour hood and called us The Beer Belly Blues Band! We did weddings. I had never been on stage a lone in front of a crowd. I was the quietest and shy one in the group. A band member had a club called The Roadhouse on 101 Freeway. This was in a farming area; workers would come and drink beer and shoot pool. They were all Mexicans. I used this as a start-

ing point to what I’m doing today. I got used to being a solo artist.

He feels, a musician is always a musician, especially a blues musician. He wants to keep entertaining like Frank Sinatra, to a good old age!

Regarding his first single from his new album, he got some more noticeable artists. He was thinking of Beyonce to play or Justin Timberlake. No, this is a blues record so he wanted Kenny Neal and Bobby Rush to do the second verse and Stevie Wonder on harmonica! Love One Another.

“Blues may not be popular, but I think it’s the most stable, because it’s the base, it ain’t going nowhere. It doesn’t have an age, where you have to be young and handsome. I’m at a blues age nowadays”.

He started the album before the pandemic, but he was doing other things, he treated it like a hobby. He had already recorded with the BB King Blues Band and George Benson, so the grounding was there. He wanted his friends to join on the album and during the pandemic this was how he got Joe Bonamassa and Stevie Wonder over. Kenny Neal did the rhythm work. Tito sent him demos and the music was added.

The songs were written by Tito and his partner Michael. “We write songs that feelgood. I didn’t want to do the same blues you hear every day”.

The ethos seems to be, he wants people who have never heard blues to embrace the sound. There’s a funky vibe, we talked about some songs on the album. All In The Family Blues is a particular highlight amongst many

others. “Eddie Levert from the O Jays he wants to get into blues. I told him about the project and he agreed to play on this track if I played on one of his. I didn’t have a song. But what if we called Kenny Gamble who has written hits for both of us. Kenny called me back with this song. I retracked it and put it on the album”.

The Guitar Slim tune, Rock Me Baby has a great vibe and is upbeat. “That was a fun song to play. It doesn’t have the traditional feel to it. BB King’s daughter Claudette joins in. I played with her before with the BB King’s Blues Band”. The sound is in my DNA. Making the album was fun,” it was a cake walk”.

This is one of his favourite songs. He first met BB King about forty years ago. “We were in New Orleans doing a show at the Superdome. I hadn’t talked to him for a while, but down home from us we have a Club called The Canyon Club. He came through, I went to the show, Steven Seagal was there, and he had a guitar with him. There’s a part in the show where BB calls people on stage to jam with him! I said WHAT? That’s why he had his guitar with him. I ran home grabbed my guitar, went back, it was over with! BB was at another place, a casino. I took my mum out to see the show. I had my guitar with me! He took that part out of the show”.

The best advice for Tito on his musical career was; be true to what you believe in and don’t let anyone say you can’t!”

Respecting people is very important to Tito as a yard stick for his longevity in life. “It’s harder to hate something than love. It takes too much energy to hate people. If you’re a loving person, life is easier, you realise this is the way to be!”

Reflecting on his life Tito says “It’s been a much better ride than he thought. Like when you’re a kid and going on the small rides and they become a roller coaster. I still feel the best is to come from me. I would like to be last not least.

I would love my mum to be proud of me and my blues music that would mean a lot to me”.

He also thinks it’s easier to make music now

than when he first started. “You have all these streaming platforms. You can release records on your own. You can market your own music and get a lot of followers and that means record sales.

He enjoys playing the blues cruises. “Blues is easy going. It’s music I can listen to whether I feel sad or excited. It puts me in the vibe of controlling emotions. It means everything. That’s why I made a record, to let blues have a chance. Give it a listen. It’s blues that has graduated. Like everything else. The automobile business: we’re not riding in the same cars Henry Ford created. Blues deserves credit!”

Regarding young contemporaries he mentions Christone Kingfish Ingram as a talent and a very soulful voice.

He cites career highlights. Being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the Jackson 5. They were the first group to have a debut album and single that got to number one four times. Also performing for the Queen for her Jubilee is also a highlight. Finally doing the Victory tour, playing to the biggest audience in the world!

As to the future, he will still play with his brothers as the Jacksons. “Just to continue on the path I have done for so many years now”.

Outside of being a musician he likes cars and still goes fishing. “You’re sitting there waiting for a fish to catch and you can write a song” The story is important in his song writing and the melody is catchy.

Final words go to the Blues Matters readers

“Thank you, I hope you enjoy the music, there’s more to come and I’ll be coming to your neighbourhood sometime. The wheels keep turning”.

For more information see website: www.titojackson.com

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Layla Revisited

IMAGE: Adam Kennedy

With Tedeschi Trucks about to release a new album, ‘Layla Revisited’, a sprawling super-funky retake on Clapton’s original ‘Layla’ release, we caught up with Derek Trucks to chat about the work and the strange symmetry of the deal which saw the band recording the project with dates that collide with Susan’s birth, Truck’s name, his time with the Allman Brothers, and Clapton’s Derek & the Dominos original album.

WORDS: Iain Patience PICTURES: As Credited

On the very day Clapton’s album dropped, Susan Tedeschi was born. A few years later, Trucks’ parents named him Derek after the Clapton alter-ego and played the album to him as bedtime music. Maybe it was written in the

So, I ask, is the album a chance thing or was there any unconscious basis behind this weird fact? Derek laughs at the thought and explains: “Yea, man. Pretty wild, I mean, I know Susan didn’t realise her birthday fell on the same day until the day we were in New York City heading to rehearsal to play the material with Trey for the first time. I was figuring out the lyrics, thinking who was gonna play what. I saw the dates, got the chills and thought it was probably a misprint but it was Susan’s birthday! I said, ‘Holy shit, check this out!’ It made us feel we were on the right track.”

Turning to the release itself, it’s essential to examine the opening track, am eleven-minute cover of ’I looked Away, with some stunning fretwork at its core. Trucks is instantly serious, recalling the work that went into its production in the studio: “When we started digging into this, that was the first song I tackled. Just sitting at home, trying to dig into it. I’d been listening to that song for years but once I started to learn it, I found it was really deceptively difficult. There’s a lot of guitar parts in there.” Trucks laughs and adds: ‘It was a fun way to start it, cos once you got into that it kinda opened up

the whole record and then it was like off to the races. We were out on the road at the time but I just went ahead, learned all the guitar parts and Trey learned different parts and we showed how it worked. Every night, everyone did their homework.”

‘Layla Revisited: Live at Lock’n’ includes and features US picker, Trey Anastasio of Phish, as a central artist; asked how that collaboration came about, Derek is quick to outline the circumstances: “There’s a festival we do every few years in Virginia. A theme is putting different acts together. They approached me about me playing with Trey, it was intriguing. I hadn’t played with him much. We run in similar orbits but hadn’t crossed paths many times so when I talked to him about it he had so many great ideas with songs in his set he wanted me to learn and songs in my set he was interested in playing. I mentioned doing a few Dominos tunes and he lit up at that. Our band was at Red Rocks (a great open-air venue in Colorado) and I had a phone meet with Trey. I mentioned to a friend what we were thinking about some Dominos tunes and she just blurted out, we should ‘just do the whole fucking record!’ It just seemed so obvious, such an incredible idea! I mentioned it to Trey, who said ‘Hell!’ and that’s just how it happened!”

An ambition to cover a record that many remember with an abiding love and near-evangelical devotion must have caused some ripples, I suggest. Trucks agrees: “It’s such a great record. It was a real challenge, it’s one thing to take a few songs you’ve always wanted to play from an album. You generally cherry-pick ones that are

most suitable to what you usually do. When you take on the whole record, well (Trucks laughs) you take on the whole record! Like, as you said, the first track. We probably never did that cos we didn’t know it!” Trucks laughs again as he recalls the venture in detail:

“It was tough but really rewarding when you dig into it. It’s not behind the curtain stuff but you realise that well, this song, maybe Eric wrote more from more a singer-songwriter perspective than a guitarist. But then this part of the song, he maybe wrote as a guitarist! Maybe as someone who was messing with open tunings, to hear it all. There’s so much going on on that record. The only way you can think about it is like sitting around with a hi-strung guitar. So much going on. It was fun to dig into the record that way, I could see all the different angles of it,” he quips.

Perhaps surprisingly, there was no initial plan or intention to release or deliver an album. Instead, the idea arose when they were running over the recording made at the live gig, at home in the band’s home-studio in Florida: “We multi-track almost all of our concerts and we decide to gig some of them out, to hear them, and just get out of the studio. To work, to mess around. We pulled these tapes up and we were just blown away by just how well it was captured. The source and choice of material was really good. Our memory of the show was backed up by the performance. A lot of times the energy of a concert, especially a one-off thing like this, is lost. But there was so much energy, so much adrenalin, and the audience, and this was amazing. Often, you listen and think, ‘well, that was okay,’ but this time it was kind of the opposite, I guess. It was different.”

Trucks laughs again. “It held up and the more I dug into it, I appreciated all the work everybody put into it. And how well the night went, so it was a great surprise that way. It was fun to make so we just started working, and with the lockdown, thought maybe it was something we

should put out there.”

As to possibly working the album, getting it out on the road to the public, Trucks is optimistic despite the pandemic: “We just started out again. We’re four shows in, we’ll do it. We will tour, maybe not directly behind the record but we’ve been playing a song or two from the Layla record every night, just cos they’re so much fun to play.”

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are that rare thing, a working, touring musical couple. I sug-

IMAGES: Dave Vann

“It’s such a lesson, such a good lesson early on. Those lessons stick!”

gest it must be tricky at times being together so much of the time. Derek laughs again: “Yea, well usually we have two tour buses on the road, so if I’m in the dog-house, I can go there. We’re a big enough group where you can find your space if you need it. It can be hard work at times but there’s something special about getting to do what you love together. Sue’s such a badass. At times in the show, she’ll do something that, if there’s any tensions, I’ll go ‘Wow, that’s incredible,’ and that problem’s gone. It’s like how can you stay mad at, say, BB King! We spent a good amount of time with this pandemic, once

must inevitably cause at times, Trucks confirms it has its moments: “It certainly is a challenge in itself. We haven’t been able to get the full band back on the road quite yet because like on this tour now everything is pods and socially distanced. We have a six-piece band out for this half of the tour. It feels more like Sue’s solo band and my solo band. It’s like a change of pace! And we’re digging into old material too, digging into Sue’s first few records. That’s been a lot of fun and I think there’s stuff we’ll definitely keep in our sets as we move forward. One of the drummers and the horn section are

we could get the band tested, in the studio. We ended up spending more time than ever together! We ended up writing maybe 25 or 30 tunes. We ended up recording around 24 of them and it was nice to be able to stay busy, to be able to dig into something. We’ve never had that much time.”

On the road, the band is a full-throated tenpiece touring outfit, with double-drummers, backing singers and a marvellous horn section. Asked about the simple logistical problems that

missing for now. But we’ve still got two guitars, drums, keyboards. It’s interesting. It’s fun, it’s nice, man. After three or four shows, I feel we’re really starting to dial it in!”

Trucks, of course, has an Allman Brothers back-history, plus an uncle, Allman Bros drummer, Butch, an integral part of that near-legendary band. He is now widely and hugely admired for his extraordinary slide-work. Asked what first inspired him to play that style, he laughs and explains: “It was the sound of those first

records my parents were spinning. Once I set out playing guitar, I heard all this music being heavily spun, Elmore James, at home. At nine, I had my first guitar with a terrible action. It was really hard to play,” Trucks laughs again at the memory. “Suddenly all that slide stuff all made sense. ‘Hawaiian Boogie,’ ‘Dust My Broom,’ those first few Allman Brothers records, and that Layla record, that sound. There was something about it. It’s a guitar but it almost sounds like a human voice. There was something mysterious about it.”

As we turn to close, I mention speaking to Buddy Guy the day before. Trucks immediately confirms what most already know, having played with Buddy while he was still a kid: “Buddy’s incredible. He does so much, taking

young musicians under his wings and helping everyone so much. He did the same thing with me. I was ten or eleven years old and I was doing shows with Buddy, playing clubs with him, little blues bars, and the thing I remember most about playing with Buddy is the way he would use the dynamic range. He would get the band just so quiet and when you think he can’t get it any quieter he would get quieter, then look at you and the only way to play in those moments is delicately. It’s such a lesson, such a good lesson early on. Whether you know it or not, you take those things on stage with you every night, those moments when it’s directly influenced by those sit-ins with Buddy! Those lessons stick!”

www.tedeschitrucksband.com

IMAGE: Dave Vann

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FINDING HIS GROOVE

When you hear the name - Gulf Coast Records, you immediately cast your mind towards the United States of America. However, the label’s recent signing Thomas Atlas hails not from Birmingham, AL but Birmingham, England.

WORDS: Adam Kennedy PICTURES: Supplied

The versatile artist has recently released his eponymous debut studio album. “I’ve always wanted to do an album. It’s always been one of the things that I wanted to do before I was 25 years old. I think that’s a good enough reason to do it,” he said. And following Atlas’ signing with Gulf Coast Records, he had a bounty of material ready to go. “We’ve been jamming in the garage for the past four years. We’ve got an endless amount of grooves. So, it was quite

Sign Here Please

Very fortunately, the album was completed in the nick of time. “It was finished the day before lockdown,” confirms Atlas. “We started it late 2019. I managed to get some people on board that I wanted to work with, like Bryan Corbett

But how did Thomas Atlas put his name on the dotted line with one of the rising blues labels of the scene? So, the story goes, the young artist was snapped up by Gulf Coast co-founder Guy Hale following a recommendation from Shaun Hill from Brothers Groove. The Midlands-based blues outfit are very much part of Atlas’ extended musical family in the area. “I’d seen Brothers Groove in Birmingham,” said Thomas. “I was just mesmerised by the fact that you can dance and cry to their set. They had all the funky grooves, and then Shaun would bring out a guitar solo on Another Girl. Apart from Clapton, when Clapton came on, I was really drunk. But he’s the only person that’s made me cry from a guitar solo.”

“Guy had heard of me, and I think he was keeping an eye on what was going on,” explains Atlas. But following a nudge from Hill to take a closer look at Thomas’ work, things moved quickly. “We met for a coffee, and he slapped a record deal on the table first meeting.” A sign of the label’s belief in the artist from the get-go.

from The Brand New Heavies. He put the brass arrangements on, which was the icing on the cake. It came together quite quickly, to be fair.”

As a result, Atlas has been biding his time during the pandemic. “It’s been a roller coaster, to be honest with you. When it first happened, obviously, gigs went out the window and the rest of it. But I’ve been lucky enough to enhance my studio side of things. I’ve also been on the other side of the glass. I’ve been doing a lot of recording, producing, editing, all that kind of

Hale’s co-partner in Gulf Coast Records is none other than Mike Zito. Speaking of his relationship with the US-based bluesman, Atlas said that: “Mike’s been really good. Obviously, there’s a distance between me and Mike. I’m sure if we were in the same room or the same country, we would be best friends,” said Thomas. “I think that when I get over to the States, we’ll be able to have a jam.”

On the flip side of the arrangement, Hale has provided more than just label support. He has

also added his creative input into Atlas’ eponymous debut album. “Guy co-wrote some of the lyrics because he writes books as well. So, he’s a competent lyricist. He’s more than competent. He is amazing at it,” explains Atlas. “We wrote a track called Lost Art together and a track called Groove 101 as well.”

Forging His Path

Thomas Atlas grew up listening to the blues. “I’m going through a JJ Cale phase at the moment.” proclaims Atlas. “I’m a massive Clapton fan since the age of five. I’m just obsessed with the guy,” he said.

Whilst recollecting his memories of watching VHS tapes of the blues legend on TV, Thomas said: “I recorded Eric Clapton in Birmingham from 1986 with Phil Collins on the drums. Nathan East and Greg Phillinganes from Michael Jackson’s band on the keyboards.” However, when the artist revisited Clapton’s earlier work, it wasn’t like the “80s pop Clapton” that he expected. “So, when I went back to Cream and stuff like that, it just seems so baggy and loose. Where are the cheesy keyboards?” he jokes. “So, I came into the blues on a weird angle,” explains Atlas.

Besides the elder statesmen of blues, Thomas Atlas admires contemporary peers such as Gary Clark, Jr. “I think his first album, when I bought that I played it straight away in the car. It’s heavy and extremely modern at the same time. It crosses over genres,” said Thomas. “I like people like The Brothers Landreth and Joey Landreth’s guitar playing. People like Connor Selby - he’s got that real Peter Green thing going on, which is amazing. Marcus Praestgaard-Stevens is an absolute demon. The Rainbreakers I’ve been working with. So yeah, there’s a lot of good contemporary blues.”

Over time Thomas’ influences matured as he got older. “I was going out to parties. When you go to a party, you can’t put Robert Johnson on

all the time,” proclaims Atlas. “So, I started to listen to a lot of funk and soul through that.”

It is this eclectic mixture of influences that have fed into the melting pot of sounds on Atlas’ debut release. Speaking of the sound on the album Thomas said: “I knew totally where it needed to be.” The British artist had a clear vision for his first record. “I wanted to kind of make something as commercial as I could write, but without ruining the musicality,” explains Atlas.

Delivering The Goods

Besides being a gifted musician, Thomas Atlas is also a producer. This being something that runs in his family. “It all started off on my dad’s four track in the back room, breaking tapes and stuff like that and doing very bad demos,” said Atlas. “My uncle [Richard Digby Smith] had a great

career doing that side of things. He worked for Island Records and recorded Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Bob Marley, and all these kinds of artists.” An impressive list to say the least.

Whilst Thomas may not have reached the dizzy heights of Eric Clapton with his production credits, he has worked with artists such as British contemporary blues outfit The Rainbreakers, as well as projects for his current label Gulf Coast. It was because of his side-profession that Thomas decided to produce his album. This being a decision that the label supported wholeheartedly.

However, sometimes Thomas must separate the role of the musician and the producer in his mind when working on his music. “You overanalyse,” insists Atlas. “Especially when you’re used to tuning vocals or editing drums. As soon as you go into a live format, which is rough anyway - I’m then thinking that note is a bit flat, or we’re pushing a bit there. And it’s like you are overanalytical on a dangerous scale.”

The beauty of Thomas’ production efforts is that it has provided a fallback during the pandemic. “I think that being able to still earn money from music via the production work is a godsend because I don’t know what I’d be doing. I’d probably making model trains or something. You know, paperboy?” jokes Atlas. One of the reasons why Thomas enjoys this role is that: “You get to be involved with the creative process on someone else’s vision and be able to take that from A to B.” However, there is no substitute for doing what the artist loves best. “I do miss playing. I miss touring, and I want to get out there,” declares Atlas. And who can argue with that sentiment?

Thomas Atlas eponymous debut album is out now via Gulf Coast Records.

www.thomasatlas.com

“I was going out to parties. When you go to a party, you can’t put Robert Johnson on all the time”

WORDS: Iain Patience

PICTURES: As Credited

There are guitarists who are maybe known as being ‘big-hitters’ then there are a few, a handful at most, who might merit the moniker of being ‘huge-hitters.’ UK picker John McLaughlin falls into the latter camp, with a truly astonishing ability and drive that has never slowed, drifted or faltered in what is now over sixty years at the top of the musical tree. Catching up with the guy at home in Monaco, it’s a relief to find him in good health and as usual in good form, laid-back, interesting and chatty.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN LIBERATION TIME

McLaughlin has worked with so many of the giants of modern music that it’s hard not to pinch myself as the names slip past like the years, all indicators of his own place in the general scheme, not to suggest theme of things. He confirms he’d hoped to be out on the road touring with 4th Dimension around now but Covid has laid low his plans, though he hopes the gigs will be rescheduled and possible again sometime soon And with a new album, ‘Liberation Time’ – an intriguing title in these Pandemic times – due to hit the streets. July 16, McLaughlin is happy to settle down and spill the beans about his remarkable career. If there’s a difficulty with McLaughlin, it’s probably where to start a conversation!

The new album seems as good a place as anywhere, so I ask how he managed the recording process in these troubled times: “Well, it came together well in the end. Technology can be

great, when it works. I’d done a few online events with 4th Dimension, my Indian friends and with Carlos and Cindy Santana. All good experiences when we were all houselocked! It was tough but all were good experiences. I was getting angry being locked-down, not fighting angry in an Irish way, but upset and frustrated cause all my tours were cancelled, a real bummer. Jazz, fusion, whatever you call it with improvisation at the heart is what I love. You must work with other musicians to get to that point,” he explains.

I elect to go back in time, to his roots and what inspired him personally as a budding guitarist many years ago: “I was about fourteen years old, I think, when I first heard Django Reinhardt. It was amazing, shaped my thinking and gave me some direction in so many ways,” he laughs. When I suggest that may have been a bit surprising at a time when rock and pop were ruling the airwaves, he agrees. “Yea, jazz was not so well known though there were great musicians out there back then. For me personally, Tony Williams was amazing and helpful,” he recalls with a still near-wonderous tone of voice.

Williams was then drummer with jazz giant and pioneer Miles Davis, a band and a musician McLaughlin absolutely loved. “Tony was a revolutionary drummer, the greatest drummer of the twentieth century in my opinion. He was of my own generation and had heard me play on a recording – old style – at a jam at Ronnie Scott’s club in London. He liked what he heard and played it to Miles. I got a call and he asked me to come along to the studio and meet Miles. I was real lucky cause Miles was looking for a guitarist at the time. He was disenchanted with the way jazz was moving. He wanted something else. At the time Herbie (Hancock) was moving away into free-form jazz. I like a sobriety of form and admired what Miles was doing. I went into the studio and played, a baptism of fire, or more accurately a baptism of sweat. I was so tense, I guess. It was a test, I knew, and I passed it and got the job.”

From this start, McLaughlin went on to repeatedly record with Miles Davis, including almost immediately by sitting in on Davis’s ambient jazz release ‘In a Silent Way.’ “Out there in the

States, I’d visit his home in Malibu several times a week and we’d play together. I’d played R&B, funk, rock and all those things in the 1960s. With Miles, it was around Autumn 1970, I had a bad night once, playing guitar can be a bitch at times! But Miles knew where I was coming from. He told me it was time I had my own band. So, when Miles Davis says that, you just have to do it!”

The result was one of the most extraordinary bands of the twentieth century modern music movement, the Mahavishnu Orchestra. McLaughlin remembers it well and was blown away by the immediate success and the way the band were almost instantly embraced by the fans in the USA: “It was all such an unexpected thing. America was so good to us. We couldn’t seem to do anything wrong at the time for the fans. Miles used to come along to gigs and watch us. I’d written a concerto which was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. We had a part for flugelhorn and one night after a gig he turned to me and said – ‘Now you can die, John!’ It was an amazing compliment from a guy like Miles. Something I’ll never forget.”

Looking back, he recalls teaching Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page a bit and him being a guy “…with determination and ability. He knew what he wanted.” In addition, he worked in sixties London as a session-man, a life he found unsatisfactory and boring at times, despite working with almost everyone of note at the time from the Stones, Brian Augur, Graham Bond, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to a spell with Georgie Fame’s Blueflames. “It was just how it was back then. I had other ideas, I knew I had to get out to the USA.”

Stateside, he then found himself also working and playing with one of the world’s most acclaimed pickers, Jimi Hendrix, with whom he developed a good relationship: “I was working with Georgie Fame and got to know Jimi’s drummer, Mitch Mitchell. Mitch was a huge fan of my buddy, Miles’ drummer, Tony Williams. He’d come along to hang out whenever the chance arose with Tony. He worshipped Tony and his playing. I always say, listen to the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Mitch in particular. There’s a real jazz vibe

in there that filtered into Jimi’s playing too. Jimi was living in Greenwich. Village so I got to meet him a lot. One time he was at Electric Ladyland and Mitch said ‘come on, let’s go.’ I went into the studio and I had a hollow body guitar with me, a Gibson Hummingbird with a DeAmand pick-up. A good guitar but all I could afford back then. It couldn’t be heard in the general melee of about eight other guitarists. I apologised to Jimi afterwards and he was fine, just shrugged and laughed. There were a lot of players there and we had a great time playing together, though I still wish I’d had a solid-body guitar with me! But Jimi was just so sweet, so unassuming. It was amazing what he did and could do. Back then he was really pioneering with a guitar, amazing. Listen to ‘Star Spangled Banner.’ Just Jimi, a Strat, a Wah-Wah pedal and a Marshall amp. Astonishing, even now.”

“I feel that Jimi was in ways a bit like John Coltraine. As John developed after ‘Love Supreme,’ he was always looking for more tone and so was

Jimi. It was never about noise, always about tone, though Tony Williams always wanted to be loud with his music at the end, John Coltraine’s drummer, Elvin Jones, was another great drummer I knew and admired enormously. He was another great with true vision.”

With enormous global success and acclaim already in the bag, McLaughlin moved on to a new venture with Shakti, a fusion of jazz, funk-blues and Indian Raga-style music that again hit the musical mark. He had a Gibson J200 guitar with a specially scalloped fretboard and an additional seven strings, each individually tuned, that gave him an edge and allowed him to play the Indian rhythmic style and bend notes in a unique way. Sadly, the guitar is no more: “It’s gone now, sadly. An accident wrecked it,” he explains.

Before forming his current band, 4th Dimension, McLaughlin picked up a Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album with his short-lived outfit, the Five Peace Band in 2009. Again, he

recalls the pleasure of the award and the album, ‘Five Peace Band Live,’ which he describes as: “Straight-on jazz fusion really. And Chick (Corea) was in a real experimental period at the time. So, it was great to get the award but it was also a surprise in a way!” And he adds, “ I still miss Chick every single day. I think about him so much. He was such a wonderful friend and character. I can’t believe he’s not with us, that I’ll never see him again, he won’t just appear with one of his funny comments!”

When I ask how he found the transition from playing intimate jazz club venues to filling arenas, McLaughlin pauses before responding: “That was unexpected and strange at times. I remember playing with Eric Clapton. – he’s done his bit for guitar too – at his Cross roads Guitar Festival in Illinois. I looked down and there was 110,000 people! Weird to play for such a huge crowd. Eric’s used to that, like Carlos Santana, but it was new for me in reality.”

Asked what he’s up to now, he confirms he’s working at home, like most musicians, and is concerned that many musicians will face particularly tough times in the future with Covid and its effects still an unkown. Working on a project to provide some support to his musical colleagues, in 2020 he released a digital download and video perfor mance, ‘Lockdown Blues’ in support of the Jazz Foundation of America, his first recording in around five years. Now, with ‘Liberation Time,’ McLaughlin is hopeful that touring will again kick-off and he can get out doing what he’s done for most of his life, make music and perform.

And with such an endlessly evolving musical history and legacy behind

him, it’s maybe worth noting the thoughts of a few other musicians when referring to McLaughlin. Carlos Santana recently told me he considered McLaughlin the greatest guitarist

CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE HARPIN’ ON

The word legend is used far too often these days in my opinion, but I recently had a chat with the legend that is Charlie Musselwhite. Just two days after the album, 100 Years Of Blues, recorded with his friend of sixty years, Elvin Bishop, had been voted album of the year by The Blues Foundation, Charlie was in the middle of moving house from California to Clarksdale, Mississippi. What better setting could we have for talking about his career in blues, his friendship with Elvin Bishop, and the recognition by The Blues Foundation of their collaborative album?

WORDS: Stephen Harrison PICTURES: As Credited

‘’We had to pay a lot of money to get that award (laughs). It was awfully nice to get that award from them. We both really appreciate it’’. I thought it only fair to explain to Charlie just how this interview with him came about. I had interviewed Elvin Bishop a couple of months before this interview, and he suggested that I should contact Charlie and have a chat with him. “So it’s all Elvin’s fault? He’s a great guy and a good friend, I’ve known him for over fifty years.”

Charlie’s father played guitar and harmonica, and his mother played the piano, so did this have a huge influence on Charlie’s musical journey? “No, they didn’t encourage me to play music at all. My mother and father didn’t think that professional musicians were acceptable people. They thought you should get an education, get a good job, raise a family, not hang around in those juke-joints all night playing blues. That’s just not what they had in mind. In the end, they came to accept it, especially when they saw that I’ve done ok with it. I’ve been kinda busy with it for the last fifty years”.

Charlie was born in Mississippi, but moved to Memphis, Tennessee, as a youngster, where he absorbed the wealth of musical culture that had existed long before Sun Studios found a certain Elvis Presley: “There was so much music around me, right across the street lived Johnny and Dorothy Burnett, who were early rockabilly guys. I used to hang around their house. Memphis was loaded with music, I would see

street singers, country singers, blues singers playing for tips on the corner, I had no idea who many of them were. After a while, I got to know a couple of them. Rockabilly was in its prime back then. I also loved gospel music, there were tent meetings around where we lived, I wasn’t religious, but I loved the music. I’d drive up next to the tent, they had the sides of the tent rolled up because it was so hot, and I’d sit in my car and drink beer and listen to this fabulous music. People would be passing out, talking in tongues. They would go into fits and roll around on the ground, but, the music was out of this world”.

Living in Memphis, Charlie was able to immerse himself in the music scene then cultivating the southern part of America, mixing with all kinds of folk: “I used to go to school with Tommy Cash, Johnny’s elder brother who had a recording career of his own. I don’t know what he’s doing these days, I think he’s still alive and living in Nashville.’’

As a lot of people did back then, Charlie took the hillbilly highway 51 up to Chicago initially to find work in the thousands of factory jobs with many people from the South migrating north to the Windy City. Many of them were already established blues artists hoping to find work in the hundreds of blues clubs springing up on the south side of the city:

“I didn’t know anything about Chicago at all, I just knew that the big cities up north had all the factory jobs that paid well. I didn’t know anything about the blues scene until I got

there. Luckily, I got a job as a driver for an exterminator, so I’d drive him all over Chicago and got to know my way around. I used to see these posters in the windows of the blues clubs advertising Elmore James and Muddy Waters which knocked me out. I was making a note of the addresses and at night I’d go back and listen to the blues until 4-5 in the morning. I’d listened to country music in Memphis, I liked country music, but it was the blues that I was interested in playing. I just wanted to play blues. When I picked up the guitar it seemed so logical, I put my fingers on the fretboard and they always seemed to be in the right place. I never thought of it as a career it just made me feel good. It was something that I had to do. The harmonica was always around, everyone had a harmonica, it was a very popular toy. I liked the way that it sounded, the first Sonny Boy made such a

was second position. I thought I was playing in the key of C but I was playing in the key of G, so that’s why a lot of folks play in second position because it feels so natural.”

As Charlie started to frequent blues clubs, he came into contact with the cream of Chicago blues artists including Smokey Horton, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker - originally from Detroit, - who had begun to make Chicago his stomping ground. He would go to the blues clubs and watch from the side of the stage, never thinking about being asked to sit in with any of these guys: “I’d sit and watch Muddy or John Lee and ask for requests, they would say, how do you know about these tunes, and I’d reply because I have all the records. They were flattered that I knew who they were and that I knew all the tunes. And when they found out that I played, that’s when I got to sit in. I lived on the north side and the Yankees could hardly understand what I was saying, and I couldn’t understand them either, so when I moved to the south side everybody understood me because that’s where all the people from where I had come from had settled”.

Mingling around the south side of Chicago and being invited to sit in with some of the biggest names in blues was bound to play a major effect on shaping the career that Charlie developed. Practicing night after night, watching the established artists of the day eventually paid off. Charlie started to get gigs under his own name, not just being invited to just sit in:

“I recorded my first album in 1966, but I’d done some recording for other people as a sideman, I don’t recall who they were right now, so when I got to record my first album (Stand Back) we recorded it in just under three hours. Because if you went just one minute over three hours they would have to pay you double scale, and they weren’t gonna do that. It was pretty much a jam session, hit

the beat and count it off.”

Now established with the Chicago blues scene Charlie took an unexpected decision to relocate to California where there was a burgeoning blues scene out west, especially around the San Francisco area: “I didn’t plan to do that, but as my album got played more and more, the offers to play lots of different places started to come in. I was offered a whole month of work for really good money, so I thought I’d go play the gigs, make a lot of money then head back to Chicago. I’d been off the plane for about ten minutes and said to myself, I ain’t going back to Chicago now. The sun was shining, the people were really nice. It wasn’t tough like Chicago. I got to play all up and down the west coast in lovely ballrooms which paid way more money than the clubs in Chicago. The underground radio stations used to play my records up and down the coast, so I was getting heard everywhere.”

Going back to Mississippi was pretty inevitable for Charlie. When growing up he had a few uncles living in and around Clarksdale, so the connection was always there. Charlie then turned his camera phone around and showed me exactly where he lives. Overlooking the Sunflower River and just a quick walk to Ground Zero Blues Club, a few minutes from Reds Lounge, Charlie’s favourite juke-joint in Clarksdale, and across the road from The Delta Blues Museum. Charlie’s earliest memories are from around here.

“It just seemed the most natural place to go back to. Before the pandemic, you could see blues artists playing every single day of the year in Clarksdale, Christmas and New Year non-stop. You’ll hear more blues in Clarksdale than you will in Memphis or New Orleans, you can feel the blues in the air as if it’s coming out of the ground”.

Having briefly talked about the 100 Years Of Blues album, I was interested know how Elvin

and Charlie met and went on to become lifelong friends?

“We met when we were both starting out in Chicago, hanging around the same clubs, before either of us had been asked to sit in with anybody. He lived in the Hyde Park area of the University of Chicago, and I lived to the south, in the ghetto, where all the gangs were. Being in the gang area, I really stood out, I always got a lot of attention. We’ve kinda talked about doing another album together, but unfortunately, it won’t be soon due to what’s going on. But things will get better, change is good, somethings needed shaking up’’ Before we ended the interview, I must ask Charlie how he came to be in the movie Blues Brothers 2000, as part of The Louisiana Gator Boys.

“Well it was due to Dan Ackroyd, he’s a good friend of mine. Someone from his office called me up and asked if I could go and do it up to Toronto where it was filmed on a big sound stage. It’s a pity nobody thought to film all the backstage stuff and the jammin’ that went on during filming, they could have made a whole other movie right there”. As we finished our chat, Charlie told me that he has a couple of more albums in the can, one is a solo album with him playing guitar and harmonica, with a drummer on a couple of tracks and the other is with a couple of more guy’s. We finished the chat talking about getting back out and performing live again, and how Charlie enjoys playing smaller clubs as much as big venues.

Following a guided tour of his house, Charlie pointed out Ground Zero Blues Club which is across the street from where he lives, and also showed me his beautiful Cadilac and tour bus.

How’s that for southern hospitality? The sun never sets on cool.

charliemusselwhite.com

We’re talkin’ about

Blues-Rock guitarist Sean Chambers has lots to talk about these days. At the top of his list is a new record label and his eighth album – a very special one at that! The new album pays homage to Chambers’ mentor, bandmate and friend, the legendary former Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin.

WORDS: Abbe Sparks PICTURES: Arnie Goodman

Also the last album engineered and produced by another mentor and friend, the late Ben Elliott, ‘That’s What I’m Talkin About’: a Tribute to Hubert Sumlin will be released July 9th via Quarto Valley Records.

We caught up with Sean Chambers virtually to get the inside scoop on his upcoming album, Hubert Sumlin, his career, touring post pandemic and the future of the blues. Here’s what he has to say.

Tell us about your first meeting with Hubert?

It was in the fall of 1998 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, hours before my band was going to perform with him for the first time at ‘Blues Stock’. I was so nervous, but Hubert put me right at ease. He had a way of making you feel at ease and taking your nerves away.

What was that first gig like for you?

I remember him telling me, ‘I just want you to do one thing, let your hair down and have a good time.’ By the time I hit the stage, I wasn’t nervous anymore. It was a magical night for me, and the chemistry between us and Hubert worked really well. After that show, Hubert asked if we would become his full-time group.

It is well documented that your time with Hubert Sumlin marked the beginning of your career in the blues. How many years were you and your band

with him?

We were on the road as his band from 1998 through 2003. I was the guitarist and band leader for Hubert.

What was the impetus for the tribute album?

I always wanted to do something. Ben Elliott and I were kicking around concepts for my third album recorded by him, when I mentioned a tribute to Hubert. The timing was right to do it. Ben loved the idea so that was it!

How did you meet Ben Elliott?

Ben recorded and engineered my last two albums - Trouble & Whiskey and Welcome to my Blues – but, it was actually back in 2002 when we first met. We were at his Showplace Studios in New Jersey for Hubert’s solo album About Them Shoes. Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Levon Helm were there as some of the many special guests on that record. They were all there because of how much they admired Hubert. At that time, I was thinking to myself, what the hell am I doing here?! I was a kid among giants in the business. I couldn’t believe I was involved with this project. Showplace Studios was the recording home to so many of my idols like Eric Clapton, Kim Simmonds and Keith Richards. It’s an endless list.

Tell us about the recording sessions for your new album.

We recorded the new album last March (2020) at Showplace Studios, right before everything shut down because of Covid. It was my third album with Ben and sadly ended up being his last. He sent me the mixed tracks at the end of March. Then all of a sudden I couldn’t reach him. I knew something wasn’t right when I couldn’t get a hold of him. He passed away shortly thereafter. I will always be grateful to Ben and will never forget all the work we did together and everything I learned from him.

A Favorite Hubert and Sean Memory?

Right before our first tour together. I flew to meet him at his house to go over the set list. He picked me up at the airport and walking towards the garage, I saw this Cadillac and asked Hubert if it was his. At that moment, he threw me the keys and said “you’re driving”. This memory is included in the original song I penned on the album “Hubert’s Song.”

Tell us more about ‘Hubert’s Song.’ You’re quoted as saying you consider your time playing with Hubert as your college education. Care to elaborate?

It’s a simple song that says it all. Hubert taught me how to play the Blues. But he also taught me how to be on the road and tour, and how to stay humble. The first time I was ever out of the country was with Hubert.

What can you tell us about the other tracks on the new album?

There are 10 covers plus my original song. I handpicked these tracks because they were some of Hubert’s favorite tunes. Some he used to play often with Howlin Wolf, like Do the Do. Some we regularly performed on the road. Kim Simmonds suggested that I add Taildragger and Louise, so that’s how they came to be on the album. In fact, he was supposed to guest on this album, but he had a scheduling conflict.

Who plays on the new album with you?

There’s John Ginty and Bruce Katz, who are on keyboards. Andrei Koribanics on drums and percussion. Antar Goodwin on bass. I play guitar and vocals.

Who were some of your influences growing up on the Gulf Coast of Florida?

My guitar influences include Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Listening to “Red House” by Hendrix made the hairs on my back stir … I have a

livestreams. The fans love it. Some songwriting. I also took on a part-time job.

What are your post pandemic plans?

I’m starting to add gigs again. I hope to re-start our European Tour in conjunction with the new album release tour. A post-covid tour will include the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Where do you see yourself as a blues guitarist/singer in the next century?

I see myself carrying the torch - playing the blues and keeping the blues alive. Hubert and I made a promise to each other. He said, ‘you and me both, we’re gonna’ play the blues and you’re gonna’ carry the torch.’ I will continue to evolve, to learn, to record more albums and continue to tour.

Moving ahead, what’s important to you as a songwriter?

How the music really affects people’s lives –that’s important to me. I’ve seen how certain songs really impact people and help them get through hard times. I’d like to do more of this.

Your Take on the Future of the Blues?

I think the Blues is in good hands.” The really young kids are keeping it alive. The music will outlive us all.

mix of traditional and modern blues influences. Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, the boys from Texas, Johnny Winter, Freddie King, B.B. King and Albert King, as well as Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, and ZZ Top.

Favorite Guitar?

A Blonde Strat. It was given to me by an old friend that passed away. Every once in a while, you find a gem, like a car. This strat is my gem!

What have you been doing during lockdown? Right before the pandemic shut everything down, we were about to start our European Tour. That never happened. I’ve done some

Sean Chambers is one modern blues guitarist and singer we need to be talkin’ about. Throughout his illustrious career he has shared the stage and sat in with Hubert Sumlin as well as many of his blues and blues-rock heroes that include Derek Trucks, Gregg Allman, Kim Simmonds, Tab Benoit, Rick Derringer, Walter Trout, Koko Taylor, Robert Cray and many more. Chambers is our modern day blues-rock hero. Now that’s what we’re talkin’ about!

seanchambers.com

RUSSELL KEEFE

COME ON FEEL THE NOIZE

T-Belly is on the verge of releasing its second album, I Never Want To See Me Again in October 2021. Formed in 2011, by the only permanent member of the band, Russell Keefe, who I was lucky enough to catch up with recently via zoom.

This is not your straightforward blues band or blues album, coming from a traditional blues background. Throw in a pinch of rock music, a glam/rock band that was formed over fifty years ago, and, a boy-band icon who is sadly no longer with us, and you get the sense that this is a blues journey that has many twists and turns.

Russell Keefe is the keyboard player and lead singer with Slade, still going strong despite a couple of personnel changes. We chat about all things musical, and his unorthodox route to where he finds himself today: “The first demo I did with the band was in about 2011 I think, in Greenwich where I was living at the time. This is not a traditional blues band in the true sense of the meaning, it never has been really, it’s more a Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Dr. Felgood type

of R & B sort of blues. But, this new album has changed again. There is real blues, blues/rock, rock music, and a hotch-potch of all genres that associate themselves with blues music.”

Blues has many offspring, genres closely in tune with blues - Americana, country blues, and of course rock, a direct descendant. Russell explains he had been in a band for sixteen years with a boy-band icon that has recently passed. I had to admit to the fact that I did not know about his collaboration with such a seemingly never-expected guy to have anything to do with rock music or blues.

“I was in Les McKewon’s band ( Bay City Rollers), and we used to tour all over the world. In the soundchecks, we used to have a bit of a jam,

WORDS: Stephen Harrison PICTURES: As Credited

me and the rest of the band which invariably became blues-based stuff, which is where the T-Belly’s stuff came from because I had a readymade band right there.”

That a former boy-band member could have played such a part in the emergence of a band that has is rooted firmly in blues and rock comes as a surprise. I was curious to know who was in the current T-Belly’s ensemble right now: “Just me. I did have three of the guy’s from Les’s band with me on the first album, and we were a band as such, but now… it’s a long story. In 2015, we did an album called Dead Men Don’t Pray, we had a label involved, we had PR behind us, and everything was geared up to an American tour. Fifteen gigs had been booked from New York down to New Orleans, then back up to Chicago, finishing in New York. The album was going well in the States. Then three weeks before we were due to go, the State Department had a glitch on their computer and about 300,000 visas were mislaid. We were caught in that. I got a phone call as we were rehearsing; we were told we wouldn’t get the visas in time so the whole thing had to be cancelled. It’s so hard to get visas to tour in the States. It was such a shame because it was

going so well. So, I decided to carry on with just me, and I employed musicians to play on this new album.”

One of the musicians Russell brought in is Dennis Dunaway, the original bass player with the Alice Cooper Band. I could see the rock side of the album having been slightly influenced by such an iconic rock bass player, so I ask how he came to bring Dennis into the fold: ‘I’m a massive Alice Cooper fan, have been since 1972. I went to an Alice Cooper gig about four years ago, the original band had got back together and came on stage at various intervals during the set. A couple of years later a friend of mine came round, she’s Ronnie Woods guitar tech, and we got talking, she said, ‘I was at that gig.’ I told her I had a track in mind for this album that would suit Dennis if there was a chance that he’d be available to play. He ended up playing on a different track that he recorded his part in Connecticut which was good of him.”

Aside from recording the new album, I Never Want To See Me Again, Russell is also the keyboard player and lead singer of the Glam/ Rock giants, Slade, alongside original member, Dave Hill. So, we have many different facets

“My version of blues is a bit rockier”

to deal with as far as a musical journey goes. Self-taught on keyboards, with a very different musical background to his parent’s choices, Russell has always been fascinated with piano and harmonies. That, he explains, could be down to his dad’s fondness of The Carpenters.

Replacing such an iconic singer as Noddy Holder, cannot have been an easy ride, but as Russell explains, it is not a like-for-like comparison, that would have been impossible: “Ive known John, the bass player, John Berry, for a long time - from the time that I was with Les (McKeown). He played with us a few times when we went to America. We used to do gigs with Slade, especially in Germany. Like, every other weekend we were in Germany, as part of all those sixties and seventies bands that are constantly touring still. Then a couple of years ago John contacted me and said they might be looking for a new singer, do you fancy doing it?

We had a little rehearsal. Dave said that was great and that was it. It was kind of different because I’m a keyboard player and lead singer. I sing half of the songs; they are very hard songs to sing. I tend to sing the more rocky songs, and john sings the rest of the songs. It works really well. Dave (Hill) is so infectious with his energy and enthusiasm, I don’t think he’ll stop until he can’t physically do it anymore.”

As we chat, we realise most of our musical backgrounds are very much entwined. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, people that had such a huge influence on kids of our age group growing up in the early seventies. The album, I Never Want To See Me Again, is a testament to his influences, how he taught himself to play piano. Never having lessons, unable to read music, never a barrier to success: “Blues stuff came to a head when I was playing in Canada with Les,” he recalls. “I heard a song by a band called Big Sugar, a big Canadian blues band. They did a song, ‘Digging A Hole’, which had a huge impact on me, a big say in the way that T-Belly went. I’m not going to lie and say that Muddy Waters and those kinds of people drew me to blues

because they didn’t. I like them, but I came from a different route.

My version of blues is a bit rockier. There is a track on an Alice Cooper album called Crazy Little Child, which is sort of trad, jazzy blues that I like so much, that has also made a huge impact on where I am today, especially Dr. Fellgood-type R& B. Tom Waits has always been a favourite of mine, a huge influence on me personally”

There’s a powerful emotion emanating from Russell about what he’s doing now, and what he did in the past. He comes from a family of artists (drawing/ painting) so it’s easy to see the connection for anything artistic and musical: “The recording of this album has been hampered by the pandemic. I wanted to go to Hungary and record a song with an orchestra out there, but that wasn’t possible.

So, I got together with a violinist and a celloist here in Brighton who managed to do that for me. It’s worked out well. It’s taken a long time to get it finished, now it’s ready to go out in October. The cover of the album is a photo I took when we were recording the album, of a kid was walking around with a box on his head. All I could see were his eyes. I thought that would make a great cover photo and that’s where the title of the album came to me.”

After about an hour chatting with Russell, we could have talked all day long because he’s such an engaging guy, with an enthusiasm for what he’s doing. We say our goodbyes with we’ll possibly meet up in a pub soon, talk some more: “That sounds like a great idea to me”, he says.

I’ve searched YouTube and found a clip of Russell and Les McKewon doing Killing The Blues, a song also covered by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their Grammy-wiining album, Raising Sand. I urge you to check out the Les and Russell version - It’s brilliant!

THE BIG ALBUMS

TROY REDFERN

Red7 Records

With his penchant for wearing a poncho, cowboy hat and toting a 1929 National Triolian resonator guitar instead of a Winchester rifle, Troy Redfern is the very essence of a modern-day bluesman: and spaghetti western extra judging by his appearance in his recent video for the well-received single Waiting For Your Love. In fact, his cool high plains drifter look belies a feral attack and measured subtlety in equal measure on The Fire Cosmic’s retinue of swaggering blues-rock. Opening song Scorpio, which should really be titled Scorchio, and its fiery coruscating reverb rockabilly riff launches this superb high-octane album. Redfern is on familiar territory, and form, that he’s previ ously explored here as he scorches through his fretboard plucking gargantuan notes from his guitar. Even more, it’s a recording where he’s expanded his musical horizons as a songwriter. There’s also plenty of masterful slide gui tar careering around like a graceful skater executing a perfect ten especially on heavy blues banger One Way Ticket and the melodious Lay That Love Down. A famous friend also lends his hallowed hands as Ron Bumblefoot Thal turns up the heat all over On Fire. John Lee Hooker also turns up in updated spirit form on a stomping Sanctify revealing Redfern’s fine taste in his blues influences. The Fire Cosmic is also an album where the music merges into the filmic at times. A prime example is the countryfied Appalachian motifs on Ghosts that conjure visions of tumbleweeds eerily drifting past a saloon bar’s squeaky hinged swing doors in a one-horse town where injustice is served up cold for those who outstay their welcome. It goes without saying that Darby Todd and Dave Marks’ metronomic brilliance form an expert rhythmic base from which Redfern launches his stratospheric six-string son ics. Redfern also sings with a characterful vibrato that he bends to his will on the ballsier numbers as well as on the more balladlike Saving Grace and Stone. Recording this album at the famous Rockfield Studios has inspired Redfern to cosmic heights of excellence on this red-hot release.

BERNIE MARSDEN KINGS

Conquest Music/ Little House Music

This album is planned as first of a series of releases wherein Bernie Marsden pays tribute to the songs and musicians who shaped his own hugely influential career as a guitarist and composer. Here we have a collection of songs from Albert, Freddie, and BB King, all peerless blues tracks it goes without saying. From the top, Albert King’s Don’t You Lie To Me, which was covered by The Rolling Stones in 1975, rolls along in fine style. The Leon Russell composed Help Me Make It Through The Day was given the Freddie King treatment, as well as Whitesnake, a slow-burning emotional vocal underpinned with utterly tasteful understated guitar. The standout cut has to be Albert King’s I’ll Play The Blues For You which is where the band excel even their top line standards to etch the emotion of a fine blues into the ears of the listener. Other strong contenders are two Freddie King numbers, Love her With A Feeling, covered by Junior Wells and Taj Mahal, and Living On The Highway, given the unique Doctor Feelgood dust-down back in the day. This is a lean set, no flab, no make-weight, all top value. But it’s Bernie Marsden’s guitar that makes this album so memorable. Technically, the playing is flawless, no surprise there, but it’s the feeling, the essence, that indefinable ingredient that you either have in your soul, or you don’t which will determine forever if you are a bluesman, or just a man who plays blues. It simply shines out of every riff, every note, every musical twist and turn throughout this collection. Bernie Marsden has the spirit of the blues running through him like Blackpool through a stick of rock, and it stamps his mark on everything he does, and this selection is no excep tion. To say I am looking forward to the next collection, from the Chess label archives, would be a massive understatement, but for now, this is going to dominate my player for a considerable length of time. I strongly advise you to let it do the same to yours.

ANDY HUGHES

Photo by Fabio Gianarda

“cosmic heights of excellence on this red-hot release”

DAVID MASSEY ISLAND CREEK

Poetic Debris

Washington DC

based singer songwriter David Massey is “lucky” to be in the position of having retired from his day job as a lawyer and is now “free” to pursue his passion for music fulltime, such as that is in these pandemic filled days. However please do not think ‘oh no not another wannabe’. That is absolutely not the case. In the past David has produced a clutch of six albums and this new release is a very good indeed. Mixing as it does elements of Country, Blues and Americana you end up with only six tracks so I guess I am going to call this an EP rather than an album. If ever there was a picture on a cover which truly reflected what was to be found within then Island Creek would be well up the list. Man in a rocking chair, on a dock looking out over the water at sunset perfectly captures the music. Gentle acoustic guitar sounds ease their way into your soul with the title track a balm to these worrying times. You

MEMPHIS SLIM

1964 LIVE: LONDON, PARIS, BRUSSELS, BADEN BADEN

Rhythm & Blues Records

can’t help but think of the way he phrases a couplet of Mark Knopfler at times and indeed on the following cut, Demon Wind his ecology song, the lead guitar tips its hat to Dire Straits. This is not a copyist at work though. If we are honest all artists draw inspiration from somewhere and David acknowledges his. The tempo rises on Long Long Time has a West Texas rhythm and Dylanesque lyrics before beginning to head to the close with Don’t Know Where I’d Be a fine love song. A nice EP, well played and sung and one to be shared with friends on a warm summer evening.

GRAEME SCOTT

When these recordings were made Memphis Slim was already a veteran performer who easily put his audiences at ease, whether in a Southern juke joint or a European concert hall. The bulk of these tracks come from 1964 radio recordings, one in London, one in Brussels. The BBC set comes first, Slim accompanied by a discreet rhythm section that allows him to demonstrate his dazzling piano skills on six originals and covers of St Louis Jimmy’s Going Down Slow and a breakneck run-through Big Bill Broonzy’s All By Myself. Pick tracks are the amusing Big Bertha on which Slim and the band switch between rhythms as the main character does different dances and the boogie, El Capitan, about a train. The Brussels set finds Slim with frequent collaborator Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy (well before his turn as Aretha’s husband in The Blues Brothers) and a drummer. Murphy is well to the fore throughout and gets a feature on Matt’s Guitar Boogie, the six songs reprising two songs from the London set and closing with Wish Me Well, with excellent performances from everyone. The set is completed by three single song appearances: with just an unknown drummer Slim’s 1964 French TV appearance is Chuck Willis’ It’s Too Late, a song later covered by EC and friends on Layla; the 1963 American Folk Blues Festival has Slim, Murphy again and a rhythm section including Willie Dixon on bass doing the very appropriate I’ll Just Keep Singing The Blues, recorded in Baden Baden; the 1962 iteration of the Festival is from Manchester, Slim paying tribute to Big Bill with Just A Dream, singing strongly and accompanied by drummer Jump Jackson and Dixon who takes a short solo. The latter track is prefaced by a BBC announcer whose plummy tones really take you back to a different era, especially when he describes the blues as “this traditional American negro music”. A well-recorded CD with excellent and informative liner notes by Ray Templeton of Blues & Rhythm magazine.

JOHN MITCHELL

“Gentle acoustic guitar sounds ease their way into your soul with the title track a balm to these worrying times”

ELLI DE MON COUNTIN’ THE BLUES –QUEENS OF THE 1920’S

Area Pirata Music

Elli De Mon is a one-woman band from Italy, with a voice and guitar style that fits the nine songs on Countin’ The Blues. With everything from screaming slide guitar, to gently picked acoustics, and a recording style that recalls the 1920’s sound, with plenty of reverb, the songs on this release are something out of the ordinary.

There is plenty to enjoy, from the opening sultry slide tones of Prove it on Me Blues by Ma Rainey to Bessie Smith’s Blue Spirit Blues with its haunting vocal refrain, and acapella vocals, and circular guitar. Downhearted Blues, also made famous by Bessie Smith marries a driving bass and drum part, showing how blues and punk can work together. Shave Em Dry starts with a sustained slide guitar, before stacked vocals, and a 1970’s glam rock rhythm adds to the musical mayhem.

Dope Head Blues takes in an Indian drone, and melodic slide guitar and Freight Train is a gentle, acoustic piedmont picking song, with a high

MEMPHIS MOONLIGHT

Vizztone

Memphis Moonlight is the fifth studio album by Deb Ryder. There are some great musicians on here including Ronnie Earl, who needs no introduction. The opening track, I’m Coming Home has a blend of blues and soul. Ryder has a raw vocal that is wonderfully suited to both genres. Johnny Lee Schell excels on guitar that compliments the vocals of Deb Ryder. These Hands is just a superb blues offering. Once again Johnny Lee Schell and Ryder bounce off each other, grinding through a mix of dirty blues and sexy funk. I’m almost ashamed to say that this is the first time that I’ve heard any of Deb Ryder’s material. Make no mistake, it certainly won’t be the last. Blues Is All I Got, continues down the blues highway with a kick like a mule.

pitched vocal. When the Levee Breaks takes the song back to its Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie roots, and the album closer, Trouble in Mind takes the standard and does something new with it, from the toe-tapping slide guitar part, and the hopeful sounding vocals. Elli De Mon has talent by the bucket-load, as a singer, musician, and interpreter, and it will be interesting to see how she develops her sound and style from here on in.

Harmonica, gravelly vocals, and a dirty gritty riff make this such a good tune. If blues is all she got, then that will do for me. The title track, Memphis Moonlight paints a picture of what I would expect a Memphis Moonlight to be. Peaceful, mysterious, and heavily laden with the blues. You can almost smell the soil oozing out of this song. That’s how well-written and produced this song is. A perfect image of the blues at peace with itself. Devils Credit Line, well no self-respecting blues album can get away without mentioning the devil. Here he is in all his glory. I suppose that over the last hundred years or so the devil has built up a far superior credit score than any of us mere mortals could hope for. Blues personified. The devil needs to be paid, so pay up. Standing At The Edge accurately describes one of the things that I love about the blues. It’s almost a talking song if you know what I mean? A story told by a blues singer who slows the tempo and lyrics down to a snail’s pace. Keyboards and guitar alongside velvet-like vocals from Ryder tell a story of biblical proportions. This is one of the finest blues albums I’ve heard in the last twenty years.

STEPHEN HARRISON

BEN MACNAIR

“This is one of the finest blues albums I’ve heard in the last twenty years”

“Elli De Mon has talent by the bucket-load”

DONNA HERULA

BANG AT THE DOOR

Independent

Donna Herula hails from Chicago and is a regular performer at Buddy Guy’s Legends Club. So, there is a definite pedigree to start with. Bang At The Door is her third album, where she is joined on a couple of tunes by her husband, and collaborator, Tony Nardiello. One of the things that I liked straight away about this album was the use of Resonator guitar on every track. Herula is an accomplished singer/songwriter and brilliant guitar player.

The title track kicks off the album in fine style. Resonator guitar and silky vocals are a perfect fit for a blues album with a hint of Americana thrown in for good measure. Pass The Biscuit describes life in the delta impeccably. Delta blues mixed with Chicago blues is a match made in heaven. Drawing from the musical hotbeds of blues, it shows in her writing and delivery. Not Lookin’ Back sees the introduction of the piano, courtesy of Doug Hammer. Brilliant lyrics, the consistency of the Resonator guitar and blues

ROB STONE, ELENA KATO, HIROSHI EGUCHI TRIO IN TOKYO

Blue Heart / Nola Blue

Sometimes you just know that you are going to like an album just by the way it looks. For us old timers with a much-loved vinyl collection, like a book, when you use something often the cover kind of becomes a bit distressed. Such is the appearance for this new album by Rob, harmonica and vocals, Elena, piano and Hiroshi bass, it just looks oft used and, importantly, loved. I had not a clue about these musicians but they just

piano make this a great tune. One could imagine a smoke-filled bar back in the 20s with Herula and her band performing this. Of course, we wouldn’t need the smoke, but you get a general feeling. I Got No Way Home could quite easily be the next song in the smoke-filled bar, with a glass of bourbon for company. Fixin’ To Die (Bukka White) is the only cover on the album. I’ve heard lots of versions of this classic, and this one can stand shoulder to shoulder alongside them all.

Herula performs this solo with the Resonator and a foot stomp for company. Stunning version of a classic. Jackson Ft. Tony Nardiello is a lovely sweet lament. An accomplished vocalist in his own right, Nardiello adds an extra touch of smoothness to this track. What’s Been Cookin’ In My Kitchen convinces me that Herula could make a completely acoustic solo blues album in the blink of an eye. This song is the epitome of simple laid-back acoustic blues. In short, it’s a mighty fine album.

STEPHEN HARRISON

work so well together throughout. It has the feel of having been recorded in the one studio room with each person looking at the others thereby creating a really fine live groove redolent of playing in a club somewhere. The quality of the sound is superb throughout this collection of nine covers and one original. No Money gets off to a swinging 1930s 40s Jazzy Blues start with the interplay between the trio truly getting down with a fine walking bass keeping things tight allowing piano and harp to head off into the skies. However what should be noted is that throughout the album this trio maintain the basic melody lines so you know clearly where you are in the song. A fine song such as Got To Get You Off My Mind (Solomon Burke) works really well in this stripped back format as does saxophonist Big Jay McNeely’s There Is Something On Your Mind. There are so many tasty morsels to enjoy including What Am I Living For and the instrumental Blow Fish Blow complete with the cocked up false start. If you like your blues played well and with real authenticity then do seek this out. You will not be disappointed.

GRAEME SCOTT

“a mighty fine album”

“a really fine live groove redolent of playing in a club somewhere”

KELLY’S LOT WHERE AND WHEN Independent

This is a gorgeous album of slow acoustic blues performed by US artist Kelly Zirbes and her band. They have taken their inspiration from the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Ma Rainey and Robert Johnson and delivered an authentic album that includes six original compositions which sit comfortably alongside the masters. Besides Kelly on vocals acoustic lead and rhythm guitars are handled by Perry Robertson and Doug Pettibone, who have also taken on the role of producers. The final member of the band is David Grover who does a sterling job on stand-up bass. Kelly has one of those voices which is made for the blues, she is so forceful but at the same time she can generate pure emotion, which can be heard on the track Heaven, where she pleads “keep me down here Lord, I not ready for those wings”. At times she reminds me of our own Jo Ann Kelly who also played homage to the likes of Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie. Another outstanding track is Robert Johnson’s Stones In My Passway which has some classic acoustic

SUICIDE SAL / QUEEN OF THE NIGHT

Repertoire

Maggie Bell was one of the founder members of Stone The Crows. The twin weapons of Les Harvey’s guitar playing and Maggie’s heartfelt and soulful vocals making them a huge success on the gig and festival scene. One night in Swansea Les Harvey was electrocuted onstage and was pronounced dead at the hospital. After the death of Harvey, Stone The Crows limped on for a shorth while before breaking up altogether after which Bell went solo, managed by the same management team, Peter Grant & Mark York. After a couple of failed attempts to make an album for Atlantic she finally came under the production arms of Jerry Wexler and recorded her debut album with him, Queen Of The Night.

Wexler was able to bring in some of the top musicians to work with Bell. Names such as Cornell Dupree, Chuck Rainey, Steve Gadd all feature on Queen Of The Night. The selection of songs was mutual between Bell and Wexler, and she shows a remarkable range of vocal styles and ways on the album. From the off, with Caddo Queen, she sounds completely comfortable with the material, belting out a Joplin-esque vocal and even moreso on the wonderful A Woman Left Lonely where her vocal is underpinned by John Hugely’s pedal steel. John Prine’s Souvenirs is a real heartbreaker and John Cale’s After Midnight gets a Latin treatment. Don Robey’s As The Years Go Passing By gets the

guitar interplay and a beautiful vocal from Kelly, mind you I cannot fault any track on the album. The musicianship sits well with the vocals and the production is perfect, being recorded in the studio live to tape using Royer and Mojave microphones. These musicians have recorded a fine album of acoustic blues which I really enjoyed listening to. It reminded me of the early British Blues boom when the likes of Dave Kelly and Tony McPhee were just starting their careers and were following a Country Blues style, highly recommended.

big band treatment and a much more soulful and smooth vocal. It’s a very good album, polished but with just the right number of guts. Suicide Sal is a rock album with a strong vocal from Bell. Opening with a version of Free’s Wishing Well and then to a song written by Bell, the original Suicide Sal was her aunt. Other numbers by Pete Wingfield, the Sutherland Brothers and more get a far less ‘stock’ treatment than on Queen Of The Night and it has the feel of a more personal album.

ANDY SNIPPER

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

“shows a remarkable range of vocal styles”

“a fine album of acoustic blues which I really enjoyed listening to. It reminded me of the early British Blues boom...”

CHRISTONE KINGFISH INGRAM 662

Alligator Records

Christone has brought out his second release and this is a true blues inspired masterpiece. After the success of his debut album and the accolades he received this new one ups the blues ante. He describes this as “a presentation of my life in and away from the Delta”. It is more than that it captures a musician ever evolving be that his vocal range or guitar mastering, he is unique and is still only twenty-two. Here there is blues, soul and all varieties of well-crafted songs. The opener, 662 pertains to the place he hails from in Clarksdale. The fourteen original tracks, bonus track is Rock And Roll a song written for his mother that is just divine, were recorded in Nashville and produced by Tom Hambridge. Another Life Gone By also shows a soulful side and the lyrics are very powerful. Too Young To Remember is another highlight, a homage to his history, this has a real funky groove and sweet guitar solo. His vocals and song structure to Your Time Is Gonna Come is

CHRIS GILL BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND LOUISE

Endless Blues Records

When the album starts with an instrumental showcasing the guitar you think all 11 tracks might be country inspired but you know the guitar is going to be prominent. Clear production with a raw feel, this guy has a voice for the blues and the lyrics which make

exquisite, so many layers to this. Another slow ballad is the soulful, You’re Already Gone, there’s such an honesty to his lyrics and the band keep that laid back feel. My Bad is a full-on rocky number with a great groove. That’s What You Do is a statement of intent of being a blues musician, a great shuffle. Lyrically superb an absolute gem, once listened never forgotten.

COLIN CAMPBELL

the songs story telling as only the blues can. Just a small venue, a stool, a spotlight, his guitar and that voice. I would be there in a heartbeat. From track two it becomes clear that the album is not country at all but all blues, all the way through to the centre and out the other this side this album takes you places only the blues can. A balmy evening in the deep south or a slightly more sinister swampy area on the outskirts of New Orleans, he can make you feel those places with his music. All done with two microphones, a little amp and a lot of love for the blues, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Chris Gill has been lighting up stages in the mid-South for over twenty years. Armed with a soulful voice and a clever, songwriter, Chris is well-known as one of Jackson, Mississippi’s most entertaining performers. Often incorporating elements of blues, rock, reggae, folk and dance in his music, Gill knows his way around music genre’s, lucky for us this album is all about the blues. An International Blues Challenge Finalist this guy does the job… and then some.

JEAN KNAPPITT

“Lyrically superb an absolute gem, once listened never forgotten”

“lucky for us this album is all about the blues. An International Blues Challenge Finalist this guy does the job… and then some”

JOHNNY WINTER MUDDY WATERS, JAMES COTTON LIVE AT BOSTON MUSIC HALL

Floating World

There is a goldmine of historical live blues radio recordings buried in various vaults across the Western Hemisphere that never get to see the light of day. Thankfully, there are a few that surface here and there and get released on dedicated labels such as this welcoming release. Finding their respective careers in the doldrums, hard drugs taking a debilitating toll in Winter’s case and Muddy out of contract following the sale of Chess, Waters was picked up by the Blue Sky label, to which Winter was already signed, and so began a fruitful partnership as this live recording fully attests. Recorded by the Boston radio station WBCN - note that this is not a glitch free perfect recording, this early tour date live set promoted Muddy and Winter’s first studio album collaboration: Hard Again. Winter leads with joyous raw enthusiasm adding a harder edge to Muddy’s standards Mannish Boy and Got My Mojo Working. Muddy’s regular backing band, including Pinetop Perkins on piano, keep the swing flowing as Waters delivers with floor shaking authority. Newer songs are showcased from Hard Again, in particular The Blues Had A Baby & They Named It Rock ‘N’ Roll, that Muddy co-wrote with Brownie McGee AND Sonny Terry Deep Down In Florida over which James Cotton blows a mighty storm of harmonica. Indulgence occasionally rears its greedy head, Winter soars and scorches through these songs at a blistering pace, at times during this recording. Nevertheless, Muddy’s seasoned band keep the groove moving as Waters tells it like it is. Most revealing of all is the walking off stage interviews with these blues greats, including Perkins, who are clearly enjoying the resurgence in their fortunes. Given that these players are no longer alive, this is an historical live document of no little importance!

Mascot Label Group

Quinn Sullivan’s new release is fresh and certainly shows an evolving process to his musical style. Known predominantly as a consummate guitar player, here he focuses on vocals and song writing, melody. Here he has written or co-written with Oliver Lieber twelve tunes that have differing meanings and flavours, this is not purely a blues album. He wants to make his own sound and take it to a new generation. He retells how life has been for him in the past three years. All Around The World is a very positive song about unity, an empowering

tune. She’s So Irresistible has a Prince vibe and will go down well live. How Many Tears is full of soul and rhythm, a tale about High School days. In A World Without You, has a Latino beat, inspired by one of his influences, Carlos Santana. She’s Gone, has tinges of blues in a more contemporary popular style. His vocal delivery on Baby Please shows maturity on a mellow toned tune, guitar solo just subtle enough. Real Thing has a California vibe, think 80s Fleetwood Mac, a very catchy tune. You’re The One is an up-tempo love song with a harmonised guitar tone. Wide Awake is rocking blues in a Neil Young style, very melodic. Strawberry Rain has an almost psychedelic feel, showcasing some great guitar riffs. Jessica is an acoustic track, tackling some major mental health issues, a cathartic tune. Last track, Keep Up is the most melodic tune, about returning home.

COLIN CAMPBELL

PAUL DAVIES

“twelve tunes that have differing meanings and flavours”

RORY GALLAGHER RORY GALLAGHER 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

UMC Records

It’s now fifty years since releasing his eponymous debut album with the original line up of the Rory Gallagher Band. Here after the splitting of the band Taste he teams up with Gerry McAvoy on bass guitar and Wilgar Campbell on drums on this classic blues inspired album. This is a special edition in various formats with a new mix of the album, thirty unreleased outtakes and alternate versions. It features a John Peel Sunday concert showcasing six songs. There is also a 32-page book including interview with Rory. If that’s not enough, there’s unreleased footage of the band’s first concert in Paris for the Pop Deux television programme, that is just phenomenal. Original album was recorded at Ad vision Studios, this has been remastered at Abbey Road studios. It has a harder edge sound to the original and just lifts such classics as Laundromat, Just

JAKLIN MORGAN BLUE TOWN

Independant

Jaklin, man of mystery (first name/last name?) and despite trawling the internet and many dusty old reference books almost nothing. Eventually I found that the album dates to 1969 and the music is psychedelic blues reminiscent of Cream, Aynsley Dunbar, Graham Bond, Alexis Korner etc. Opening track Rosie is a raunchy rendering of an old tribal chant adapted by Nina Simone and features raw, rough and ready vocals and guitar from Jaklin and particularly sparkling piano from Tommy Eyre.

A Smile and previously unreleased, At The Bottom. Wave Myself Goodbye has added jazzy keyboard from Atomic Rooster piano man, Vincent Crane which adds a different tone and dimension. He also plays on I’m Not Surprised, where Rory’s acoustic guitar fretwork is amazing. Hands Up and Sinner Boy are outstanding tracks that will last forever. Often copied but never bettered Rory proves here what a band leader, composer, storyteller and composite musician he was. Full of classic eclectic styled tracks, this is a must for fans and new listeners alike to one

COLIN CAMPBELL

The self-composed Song To Katherine is a slow, steady rolling blues/rocker with emotional vocals and heavy, tortured, guitar work. I’m already feeling as if I’m back in the mid-late 60’s in the bowels of The Marquee or 100 Club. Av’ a puff on this pal. This is music of the British Blues Boom era, and it feels powerful, soulful, exciting and “of its time” but - what a great time it was! Look For Me Baby Is a folky blues featuring mellow slide guitar and tinkling piano. I wish I had a pound for every time I heard the Trad. jazzy spiritual Early In The Morning and it gets a good seeing to here. The half-spoken slow blues Just Been Left Again is followed by Alexis Korner’s The Same For You featuring sitar-like guitar licks. The rhythm section of Andy Rae on bass and John Pearson on drums set a steady pace for the slow blues I Can’t Go On and then we get a Hooker style boogie with the toe-tapping Going Home which also features some blues-wailing harp (anon).

The bass thumps, the drums thrash, the guitar wails, the piano pounds and Jaklin proclaims dramatically I’m Leaving. The album closes with an uncompromising and stomping cover of the old favourite and much covered Catfish Blues. What happened to Jaklin? This would appear to be his legacy and his only recorded outing and is a worthwhile re-issue.

DAVE DRURY

“Full of classic eclectic styled tracks, this is a must for fans and new listeners alike”

Independent

STONE THE CROWS

ROBB: WAR WITHOUT WITNESS

MATTHEW

STONE THE CROWS / ODE TO JOHN LAW / TEENAGE LICKS

Repertoire

You only have to glance at Matthew Robb’s photograph to realize that you’re about to experience some mature and poetic observations in this music. You will not be disappointed. This album is shot through with a flavour of country blues, but you are reminded of early Dylan and Townes Van Zandt. The accompanying 20-page booklet contains all the lyrics, and what lyrics they are. The title track, for example, has some chilling lines on the contemporary state of the world, for example, It is war without witness without a shadow of doubt / the city is in lockdown, there’s no way to get out / under the rubble of the temples we’ve built / it’s a war without

witness that has broke joy to the hilt. Robb, who hails from the UK, spent his early years as a spoken word performance artist. He performs internationally with his band but also solo, and talking about lockdown, he’ll know all about that because he lives with his family in Cologne, Germany in a self-built home made from reclaimed material. So here we have Robb on vocals and acoustic guitar, Ekki Maas, guitars and dobro, Wolfgang Proppe, piano, organ, Marcus Rieck, drums and Tobias Hoffmann, electric guitar. These are great songs from a mature poet who deserves maximum artistic respect. It’s a long time since Dylan wrote about the times a-changin’ and Masters of War, but listen to Robb reciting the poem Ode to Consequentialism, and that simmering, raging spirit lives on.

ROY BAINTON

1969 -1972 was a great period for British Blues Rock, triggered by the success of Led Zeppelin. Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After et al. Along with those luminaries was the Glasgow based Stone The Crows, fronted by Maggie Bell and featuring Les Harvey (brother of Alex Harvey) on lead guitar. Colin Allen played drums and James Dewar bass and the line-up was completed by John McGinnis on keyboards. The band was co-managed by Mark London and Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin’s manager). This line-up lasted for two albums before Dewar & McGinnis left and were replaced by Ronnie Leahy on keys and Steve Thompson on bass. The first album opened with The Touch Of Your Loving Hand, a slow Blues featuring James Dewar on the vocals at the start but with Maggie Bell coming in on the second verse and right from the off you begin to hear the chemistry between Bell and Harvey, her impassioned and rough-edged vocals (not for nothing was she compared, favourably, with Janis Joplin) perfectly suited to Harvey’s sweet guitar solo on the break. Their sound bears remarkable similarities to the West Coast bands such as Big Brother & The Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Stoneground with long instrumental passages, interplay between the guitar and organ and Dewar & Bell’s Bluesy vocals. The Blind Man is an old traditional Blues number featuring just Bell & Harvey (on acoustic) and the first side is finished with the almost obligatory Beatles number Fool On The Hill. Side two is one slightly meandering track, I Saw America. Bell was fast becoming a fan favourite at this time, and they were building a strong live reputation which carried in to the first album. Their second album, Ode To John Law, sounds more polished and they sound more relaxed in the studio. The songs carry on much of the previous albums feel but the sound is funkier, and Bell’s vocals are more soulful. Of the three albums, it’s probably my favourite. Between the second and third albums the personnel changed, and the new line-up created a stronger, more riff laden sound. There is a real joyfulness about their playing on opener Big Jim Salter and Steve Thompson’s bass is strong and focused, pulling the music together. Their version of Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice has a subtle beauty and gorgeous guitar from Harvey. Three excellent albums, all subtly different and brilliantly remastered. An excellent collection indeed.

ANDY SNIPPER

“great songs from a mature poet who deserves maximum artistic respect”

THE HALLEY DEVESTERN BAND MONEY AIN’T TIME (LIVE)

Independent

Halley DeVestern had the honour of touring with Janis Joplin’s original band, Big Brother and The Holding Company as their lead singer, filling some mighty big blues shoes. Now with her own band, which has opened for Johnny Winter, Govt. Mule, Jimmie Vaughan, John Hammond to name a few, she has brought out this Live album, recorded at Studio Winery, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which looks like a very pleasant location to record material. The band consists of Halley on vocals, Tom Heinig on bass, Steve Jabas on guitar, Rich Kulsar on drums and David Patterson on guitar. The CD cover has a nice bit of René Magritte inspired artwork, which references his melting clock’s theme, which fits nicely with the title. The album is a mixture of self-penned and classic blues & soul tracks.

The opener, Chain Of Fools by Don Covay and a big hit for Aretha Franklin in 1967, gives the listener an idea of what the band is about; a soulful bluesy sound with a heavy bass line complementing Halley’s vocal, which on this particular track have

SCOTT MCKEON NEW MORNING Independent

a big hint of Tina Turner, as she belts out this soul classic. This track always makes for a good opener. Muscle Memory has a twin guitar intro, is heavily guitar driven and contains some interesting lines about learning a new way to put on your pants. (!) The next song Try, by Chip Taylor and Jerry Ragovoy, was one of Janice Joplin’s signature tunes and is sung here with real feeling. The title track, Money Ain’t Time, is next up and is one of Halley’s own, with screeching guitars as the backdrop to Halley’s philosophising about the nature of time. I’m Ready is a much more straightforward blues number and gets a standard blues treatment. American Pain is a slow lament about current problems in the USA. Dancing In The Streets gets a slightly odd shuffle treatment, which possibly detracts from its strength as a great soul song. Halley returns to what she is best at with Stormy Monday, where she gives a great rendition of this classic.

After an eleven-year hiatus Scott McKeon releases his third solo album New Morning, an earthy, raw guitar-lead record showcasing his range and ability as a guitarist. The album was recorded live in the studio at RAK in London, capturing the energy and spontaneity of the sessions, and was produced by Paul Stacey (Black Crows/Oasis) and features Jeremy Stacey (Sheryl Crow/Tal Wilkenfield) on drums, Rocco Palladino (Tom Misch/D’Angelo) on bass, and Gavin Conder (Rufus Black/ The Kondoors) on three tracks. There are nine original tracks on the album, opening track Fight No More, features funk-based rhythms, Hendrix inspired riffs, a wah wah lead, swirling Hammond and fuzzed soloing as the tempo builds and drops before a full-on crescendo finale. The title track New Morning saunters along in a chilled melancholic vibe with gentle slide guitar before again building up to a frantic guitar driven conclusion. This is followed by Zapruder, starting with a slow burning strutting riff and Hammond from Ross Stanley before a mean guitar solo builds up the tempo for a full-on rock riff. Up next is Fego a glorious subtle slow moody blues that oozes a cinematic landscape. Changing pace is Angerstein Road, doffing a cap to the old bluesmen with just Mckeon on a mid-50s Framus archtop guitar playing a more traditional sounding blues homage, Third Eye Witness with an off kilter drum rhythm, the danelectro baritone’s gnarly tones and Conder’s gentle vocals laying down a backdrop for the strats fuzzed solo this has a bit of an indie vibe, moving into Crossfader, this starts with a church like organ turning into a jazzy psychedelic piece. The album finishes with Take Me Back Home a mellow blues meandering swampy drums grooves are the backdrop for some nice interplay between guitar and vocals, a great way to close the album. Mainly jams in style but a very good album.

STEVE BANKS

SHIRL

“Halley returns to what she is best at ”

VARIOUS ARTISTS

MATCHBOX BLUESMASTER SERIES – SET 3

Matchbox

Space sadly does not permit a full analysis of this six-CD collection of vintage blues, the next in the Matchbox series. But hopefully a brief excursion will encourage the serious blues collectors and historians among the BM community to acquire and enjoy this piece of living social history. Starting with the Memphis Harmonica Kings 1929-30, a collection of harmonica solos from the earliest exponents of itinerant blues music. Disc Two is devoted to the sounds of Texas Alexander. The tracks are typically minimal blues, acoustic guitar and moaned and wailed vocals that speak of a lifetime of deprivation. Willard Ramblin’ Thomas’s music comes with next to nothing known about his life story, but the deep sense of history comes over in the emotional sparse delivery of his vocals, endlessly betrayed and left alone gave him a rich vein of misery to mine. Rarely, and perhaps to the shame of both blues musicians and historians, do women make it to the immortality of recording. Lillian Miller’s Kitchen Blues tends to err on the side of domestic pride than emotional angst. Religion is a common subject for musical expression, and that includes Laura Henton’s He’s Coming Soon, delivered with fervent gusto. Similarly, her Lord You’ve Sure Been Good To Me puts a cheerful front on what was probably a difficult life, typical of the area and time when these recordings were made. Considerably more upbeat are the offerings of Rufus and Ben Quillian whose music comes under the ‘hokum’ label, a sub-genre of blues upbeat tunes with suggestive lyrics, popular in the city and well away from the dirt-poor itinerant farming communities and their tales of woe. The collection comes full circle with the final disc, the music of De Ford Bailey and Bert Bilbro who were harmonica players, mainly for the serious harmonic disciple or completist historian.

TITO JACKSON UNDER YOUR SPELL

Gulf Coast Records & Hillside Global Music

Tito Jackson the California based singer songwriter, guitarist, producer and arranger has collaborated with a who’s who of quality musicians on this eleven-track album. The opener Wheels Keep Turning sets the tone on a horn infused funky blues tune. On this release it’s all about the groove. Love One Another, Has Tito and Marlon Jackson singing vocals with Stevie Wonder adding harmonica tones, it’s the rhythm that is the integral part. I Like It, is a slow blues burner with a Steely Dan feel, Brandon Adams adding soulful keyboard here and great harmonies soaring throughout. Under Your Spell, has Joe Bonamassa joining the party underscoring with great guitar licks, Michael Harris on drums keeps the rhythm moving, very catchy. Dyin’ Over Here has great harmonies, some infectious soul blues here. Big Leg Woman sees Jason Parfait saxophone tones soaring with Tito’s vocals, rhythm guitarist is Kenny Neal with a sweet solo. You’re Gonna Push Me too Far, has a funky laid-back groove. That Kind Of Love is upbeat blues with a twist and Grady champion’s harmonica tones infuse a positive vibe. BB King’s Rock Me Baby is the highlight with George Benson

taking lead guitar and Claudette King duetting with Tito and Michael Lee on vocals. All In The Family Blues was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and features Eddie Levert, a su perb tune. Final track, Got Caught is given the big band treatment and has that Jacksons trade mark. Top quality sound, well produced, a stunning release.

COLIN CAMPBELL

ANDY HUGHES

“Top quality sound, well produced, a stunning release”

DUST RADIO SHOTGUN SHACK

Lunaria Records

This, as they say, does exactly what it says on the tin, raw and rootsy blues with thumping guitar (Tom Jackson) and screaming harmonica (Paddy Wells) driving beats as both guys share vocals on this five-song ep that will have you tapping your foot from the off. To me this is bourbon drinking music, I see myself with a fat cigar and large Jack Daniels whilst playing cards with this being played and before you know it the cards are laid down whilst you sit back and, along with a massive draw on my cigar my ears suck in the tremendous beat of the first two songs, Dead Man’s Crawl and the ep title track Shotgun Shack…. This is drinking man’s blues, this is, don’t let them grind you down blues and as it goes into Fault Line the third track on the ep, this has me

DEXTER ALLEN KEEP MOVING ON Endless Blues Records

Dexter Allen was born and raised in Mississippi before spreading his wings and becoming the lead guitarist for Bobby Rush’s touring band. This gave him the confidence to breakout on his own and since 2008 he has regularly been performing and releasing albums. This latest album is full of melodic soulful blues songs that are played impeccably. Dexter’s Fender Stratocaster is played with restraint, but he expertly creates a rumbling

thinking, oh man, I wish this was an eleven-track album because I get it and it’s got me. The album artwork (photos) conjuring up a Midwest town that’s fallen on hard times, trucks, shops and factories abandoned, no work, no hope, nothing to do but play music and drink and Backslider, the fourth song could be played until the sun comes up, where you emerge into the sunlight of the last track, Siren Song, which baths you in its warmth and all of a sudden there’s a glimmer of hope in this dead end town and it comes from two guys and five song.to them I say Thank you.

BARRY BLUESBARN HOPWOOD

rhythmic sound which sits comfortably alongside his soulful vocal style. In addition to his guitar and vocals Dexter also plays bass and keyboards highlighting what an accomplished musician he is. Dexter has written all the songs on the album, highlights include F.A.B.U.L.I.S.T. Woman which is probably as close as he gets to the traditional Chicago Blues sound with a sullener vocal and several fluent lead guitar solo. This is followed by If I Aint Got You which switches the vibe to a funkier sound with a heavy bass. The rest of the material all fits snuggly in the soulful blues category. There are no surprises which is a shame as it would be good to hear some contrasting harder edged material. A very accomplished artist who has real talent, his vocal and supporting harmonies are up there with the best, which when you add this to his song writing and guitar skills you realise, he has the world at his feet. All he needs to do to break through to the next level is have a bit of luck and maybe integrate some more variety into his music to ensure it does not get too repetitive.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

“This is drinking man’s blues, this is, don’t let them grind you down blues and as it goes into Fault Line the third track on the ep, this has me thinking, oh man, I wish this was an eleven-track album because I get it and it’s got me”

“A very accomplished artist who has real talent, his vocal and supporting harmonies are up there with the best”

TONY JOE WHITE

SMOKE FROM THE CHIMNEY

Easy Eye Sound

Oh, easy now, the late and great TJW (Swamp Fox) will never fade from our memories. Here we have a posthumous release of nine tracks that were demos never released. These have been faithfully produced by Dan Auerbach and are so true to Tony with the assistance of some seasoned Nashville musicians. This collection is simply so listenable, relaxing, enjoyable, dreamy and I’ll let you find more words to describe this wonderful piece of work. The disc comes in a gatefold card sleeve with an eight-page lyric sheet. It is plain and respectful and takes you back a lot of years. The music takes you to Tony’s 60s-70s output, so easy, so ‘smokey’ that voice.

Tony’s son and manager Jody, worked through the unreleased collection to arrive at this selection from the many that he worked through after his father’s death in 2018 and transferred to digital. It was a long-time ambition of Dan Auerbach to work with Tony only to achieve the aim later than desired but an ambition finally achieved. Be in no doubt folks, this is a fabulous album full of the essence that made Tony so individual and significant to the world of music and so admired by so many fans and artists alike. Opening with the title track so gently, plaintively and atmospheric leads you into this very special album. Boot Money picks up the swamp stomp, Del Rio, You’re Making Me Cry turns sad and has a wonderful scan of instrumentation. Listen To Your Song picks up the flow nicely, Scary Stories is what it says, eerie guitars and compulsive.

I use this for info from the PR notes for y’all: More About Tony Joe White: Across five decades as a performer and storyteller, Tony Joe White—a.k.a.

“The Swamp Fox”—left an indelible mark on American music. His catalogue offers indisputable classics such as “Polk Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia,” and his songs have been recorded by Ray Charles, Kenny Chesney, Waylon Jennings, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, and Tina Turner.

Check this out, has to be one of the albums of the year!

ALAN PEARCE

CLINT MORGAN TROUBLEMAKER Lost Cause Records

There’s a strong argument for hitting the ground running when you organise the running order for your new collection of songs. Motown Records did it, always leading with the single, and Clint Morgan does it with Hangman Woman. It’s a salutary tale of a man caught in the spell of a woman who can only be bad news for him, but there he is and there he stays. Morgan catches listeners with his wonderfully appealing personality which shines through his tongue-in-cheek lyrics and his smiling vocal delivery. Ain’t That The Blues cocks an obviously affectionate snook at the genre he clearly adores, with some scorching harmonica and guitar over the top of Morgan’s barrel-rolling piano. There are definite echoes of Johnny Cash’s vocal delivery on Big River, and that is an absolute compliment, it absolutely suits the atmosphere and delivery of the song. Morgan’s amazing sense of humour rises to the occasion once again on Hungry Man Blues,detailing a man who is destined to love a woman who can’t cook. But in case anyone thinks Morgan is a comedian masquerading as a musician, pause over Echoes. A broken heart bleeds into your ears with a haunting guitar solo, if it catches you in the wrong moment, you’ll be crying like a baby before it’s finished. It’s all the more powerful for coming after such light-hearted affectionate tributes to Americana in all its glory. And the thoughtful and deeply intelligent analysis of the human continues to be explored in I’ll Love You If I Want To, and It’s Rough Out Here. The humour is right back with Too Rich To Sing The Blues which sits right up there with the finest work of Randy Newman. The strength and tenacity of the Southern Man is played out in the atmospheric Hurricane Harvey, and the wry humour is there again on Cover Of Living Blues, with a hat tipped to Shel Silverstein. The last song, The Troublemaker, you should check that out. I may hear a more intelligent and enjoyable collection of songs this year, but I doubt it. Buy this album.

ANDY HUGHES

DANNY R & PAUL GILLINGS

THE CAFÉ STUDIOS EP

The Café Studio

My first meeting with Paul Gilling’s was when I met him at a gig, I helped organise at The Bank Arts Centre in Eye, Norfolk, where he played a wonderful forty-five-minute set which captivated the audience, you could see why he was once crowned harmonica world champion. As I’m a lover of all harmonica backed acoustic blues, it was a great joy to see this EP come up to review. a pairing of Paul and Danny, who has also been playing music from an early age, It was at Paul’s home studio where Danny recorded his first

VARIOUS ARTISTS 50 YEARS OF HOUSE ROCKIN’ MUSIC

ALLIGATOR RECORDS

Since releasing their first Hound Dog Taylor record, Alligator Records has gone on to become the most successful blues label in the world.

Compiling and reviewing this triple CD set is a near impossible task. It was mostly compiled by the founder Bruce Iglauer and his backroom staff.

There are so many great tracks here that span five decades, the compilation has comprehensive liner notes and biographies of the bands involved.

First track, Give Me Back My Wig by Hound Dog Taylor and The Houserockers sets the tone bringing a South Side Chicago Club feel. Koko Taylor next, the Queen Of The Blues with I’m A Woman, a wonderful stage persona, a worthy addition to the list.

release in December 2019 and after featuring on several of each other’s recorded tracks and enjoying the process of creative minds they got together at Cafe Studios to jam a few numbers to see what came out. I believe that Paul was going to opt for a different instrument but thankfully he went back to harmonica from which came a four-track ep, Star Gate, Tell Me Alone and King’s Ransom. The first thing I notice on Star Gate is how natural these boys sound together, Danny’s voice and guitar along with Paul’s harp feel like your old favourite shirt, you know how it’s gonna feel, how comfy it is and that to me is a match made at the crossroads, as we don’t say heaven in this house. On the second track, Tell Me you could say the boys share the vocals as I swear Paul was making his harmonica sing and boy does he have some range, as we get into Alone and Kings Ransome a couple of things come to mind; I hope they carry on playing together because they have created a wonderful sound, the type of sound I love, the other is I hope to get to see these boys play live because I love guitar and I love harmonica and if that ain’t the blues, I don’t know what is..

It’s a who’s who of Chicago blues legends especially on the first disc that also includes a phenomenal live tune by Luther Allison, Soul Fixin’ Man and Roy Buchanan playing, That Did It. Next disc has some

more contemporary artists like Michael Burks on the wonderful Love Disease. Australian supreme blues guitarist Dave Hole plays Phone Line. Janiva Magness sings That’s What Love Will Make You Do. So many favourites just naming a few from each disc. Third disc opens with Marcia Ball playing Party town and the fifty-eight and last song is by Toronzo Cannon, The Chicago Way.

An apt song to finish on. This is a song that Bruce Iglauer called “A statement of identity”.

Here’s to the next fifty years. A fantastic blues compilation!

COLIN CAMPBELL

BARRY BLUESBARN HOPWOOD

“Here’s to the next fifty years. A fantastic blues compilation”

“I swear Paul was making his harmonica sing and boy does he have some range”

J HOUSTON BAND: MILESTONE Independent

Can’t tell you much about J Houston other than they’re Canadian, and judging by the internet, seem to have a lot of fans in Russia. Canada has a rich blues scene with many great bands and artists and discovering yet another act is a true pleasure. They are J. Houston, guitar and vocals, Carolyn Houston, bass, John Chapman, drums. All the ten tracks are original compositions, and they make a very meaty, satisfying noise. They also have a lyrical blues quality which offers a sharp edge of humour, all framed by some skilled musicianship and backing vocals. For example, Starving Dog Blues rocks like hell with an insistent guitar riff and some hearty background singing on the choruses; you can well imagine maximum audience participation on many of these numbers. Nice slide guitar opens Stompin’ Ground, and there is a driving, raucous harmonica on the spoken downhome country-flavoured Shadfly Shuffle. 20 Cents is a slick, slow blues and the final track, What’s on My Plate is another wry, spoken lyric delivered with a fine, laid-back backing. You can check this band out on YouTube and if we ever get rid of Covid 19 for good, we should keep an eye out for this outfit, because it’s a fair guess that their live act promises a good night out.

DENNIS SIGGERY & NEIL SADLER

HIGHER GROUND

Southside Music

This is the follow up to last year’s excellent Half & Half album and I think these two experienced campaigners have surpassed it in spades. Ten originals that display the subtle writing skills of Dennis and the musicality of Neil delivered with aplomb. The atmospheric swirl of deep blues is there from the opening notes of Hanging Around, a superb choice as first track. Dennis has a very distinctive voice, hints of Cocker but more soulful. Higher Ground is next, a reflective song written as was the entire album through lockdown. At six minutes plus this opus takes its time to engulf you, never rushed, space for the resonator playing to implant itself

into your brain. The intro to Gypsy Woman has a retro feel before Dennis tells the true tale of his encounter with the fortune teller in a caravan. Call Me is the most clearly inspired by lockdown tune, but a writer as good as Dennis takes the story of loneliness and isolation to a much broader area, aligned with the superb sparse arrangement makes this another memorable song that stays with you. Baby Where’s Your Pride is a breakup song of high order, while Gambling Man warns of the dangers of addiction. The Reason Why is kind of autobiographical and tells how Dennis found and was inspired by that greatest of all addictions, the blues! The Letter isn’t the old Box Tops number but based on a true event involving a white van man. Like People Like You is another atmospheric long blues inspired by the actions of those in power, the lyrics heartfelt and backed with twisted dark blues playing. I love the way Dennis never needs to scream or shout to get his message across, it’s all in the lyric and the delivery. Closing track, I Believe In Rock N Roll is a statement of intent that the guys have given up the more average career path to follow the dream and often hard journey of being musicians. I for one am glad they have. I highly recommend this album, it’s timeless and simply high quality throughout.

ROY BAINTON

“You can check this band out on YouTube and if we ever get rid of Covid 19 for good, we should keep an eye out for this outfit”

“this opus takes its time to engulf you”

MISTY BLUES NONE MORE BLUE

Independent

Misty Blues is a female led band from Berkshire County, Massachusetts and have been together since 1999 and were 2019 International Blues Challenge Finalists. Opener, My One And Only hears lead vocalist Gina Coleman in an angry frame of mind as Aaron Dean’s saxophone pours out.

Seth Fleischmann’s electric guitar tone on I Can’t Wait has a crisp delivery but Coleman’s vocal sounds like Ed Moran’s, so they get lost in the mix a bit. You could be forgiven for thinking you are in a smoky jazz club on These Two Veils as the solos pass between each other with a funky bassline from Bill Partriquin. Bodega Blues is an ode to the independent retailer and is in a similar vein to Alan Jackson’s Little Man.

The guitar riff on this is pure class. Moran’s harmonica excels on Ready To Play and Listen would be a great live set-opener. Step Right Up includes Benny Kohn on keyboards creating the carnival atmosphere with Coleman acting a ringmaster of sorts. An interesting idea but it did not connect with me personally. Gina reminisces on Days

Gone By and takes her cigar box guitar with her for the ride (I wonder if she knows Samantha Fish). Interestingly, Gina’s son, multi-instrumentalist Diego Mongue contributes bass, drums and percussion on the record making this a bit of a family affair. In conclusion, None More Blue is well-executed technically and does have a more Traditional Blues leaning which will appeal to blues enthusiasts and historians.

GLENN SARGEANT

“Gina reminisces on Days Gone

By and takes her cigar box guitar with her for the ride ”

Roots Music Report’s Blues album chart

TOMMY Z PLUG IN & PLAY

South Blossom Records

If high energy blues/rock is your bag, then look no further. The man from Buffalo NY opens with Pumpin’ (Lets Have Fun) a bluesy instrumental featuring plenty of Z’s SRV inspired playing as he fires out jazzy licks and sets up the party mood. The appropriately named Tommy Guns is a biographical funky rocker with Z relating the tale of his “blizzard blues” with his forceful vocals and displaying his arsenal of guitar pyrotechnics. Phew! My Alarm Clock is a rocking toe-tapper as Z brags of how he is woken everyday by his very special personal alarm clock and immediately reaches for his squeeze. What can he mean?

The pace drops for a cover of T-Bone Walker’s blues ballad Please Come Back To Me as the band stretch out and Mr Z proves that he can also handle more restrained numbers with his tasteful, softer style of playing. The album was partly recorded in the Nashville studios of Tom Hambridge who also contributes drums, percussion, vocals and production duties on some cuts. This is good time music, get your dancing shoes on, it’s party time! Title track Plug In Play is a foot stompin’, head bangin’ rave up reminiscent of British 60’s rockers Free/Stones/Faces. DYD is a New Orleans swampy romp featuring fine rolling piano from Michael Rojas as he duels with Z’s guitar.

X-Ray Girl is a steady roller which features wahwah guitar and distorted vocals. A Jimi Hendrix riff introduces the rumbling, ominous groove of Scowler with Z playing up a storm with his brooding guitar and his caustic vocals against the backdrop of wailing organ. Nice one, my favourite track. The album closes with the lengthy jazz/ blues instrumental workout Sticky Lips where the whole band can stretch out as Z displays his jazz chops. If anyone is looking for a new guitar hero this may well fit the bill.

DAVE DRURY

LITTLE HAT WINE, WHISKEY & WIMMEN

Rhythm Bomb

Rough and ready. Down home and dirty. Gritty and edgy. Just a few ideas as to how to describe this new release from Holland’s Little Hat band. A rollicking good time outing covering some fourteen obscure(ish) cuts to set your feet a dancing which is exactly what happens when you pop this into your player. The band, a trio, comprise Paolo de Stigter-drums, Willem van Dulleman-guitar and Machiel Meijers- vocals and harp cook up a veritable storm. Hot and sweaty the songs come thick and fast from the off. Clema, sounding a little bit like Little Richard’s Lucille in places gets us underway before giving way to Cutie Named Judy by Jerry McCain with its shades of Tutti Frutti illustrating just a couple of strong references throughout. Loads of great straight-ahead Rock ‘n’ Roll circa 1950s. The title track is based on the closely similarly named Wine, Women & Whiskey by Natchez born harpist Papa George Lightfoot

also covered by Fleetwood Mac I seem to remember. Big John From Mississippi leaves me wondering if it refers to Big John Wrencher, the one armed Mississippi harpist, or Mississippi John Hurt. Either way but I don’t care as it is a good song written by Titus Turner. Any song with the title Gimme Back My Wig is guaranteed to make you smile. It is a rollicking cut with nice resonator guitar hammering out. I think my abiding feelings about this album are a motivation to dance frantically and to constantly have a smile across my face. The album is fabulous fun guys, well done.

GRAEME SCOTT

“The album is fabulous fun guys, well done”

JIMMY

WITHERSPOON LIVE IN LONDON 1966

Rhythm & Blues Records

Swinging 60’s London was not just the Beatles, The Stones and The King’s Road, there was an equally vibrant jazz and R&B scene. Jimmy Witherspoon had a long and illustrious career stretching from the 40’s to the 90’s and was one of those singers who could “sing the phone book” and sound great. He definitely straddled the jazz/blues boundaries but, at the time of these recordings, critics were surprised that the combination of a young, British, modernist, sax man and his trio would work well with Spoon, but it clearly worked brilliantly: the man in question was Dick Morrissey who went on to form JazzRock pioneers If in the 70’s. The core of this CD is thirteen tracks recorded live at the Bull’s Head in Barnes, most of which formed the long-deleted Fontana LP Spoon Sings And Swings. The band on that night was Morrissey, pianist Harry South, bassist Phil Bates and legendary drummer Phil Seaman and you can feel the atmosphere as an enthusiastic crowd gets into familiar songs like Kansas City, Roll’ Em Pete and St Louis Blues, as well as a couple of Spoon’s best-known songs, Big Fine Girl and Times Getting Tougher Than Tough. The band, particularly Morrissey, is terrific and swings like crazy on the up-tempo numbers whilst giving sympathetic support on lush ballads like Please Send Me Someone To Love. The remaining tracks come from radio broadcasts made on the same tour: on six tracks Pete King replaces Morrissey on a BBC session and it is fascinating to compare three of the songs played with the live versions a week later at the Bull’s Head. Big Bill Broonzy’s When Will I Be Called A Man finds Spoon backed by Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated with Danny Thompson’s double bass particularly prominent. The CD is thoroughly enjoyable with excellent sound quality and a must for Spoon fans; anyone new to Spoon should check out the recent Move Me Baby! (Jasmine 2020) or The Blues, The Whole Blues And Nothing But The Blues (Indigo, 1993).

JOHN MITCHELL

CLYDE MCPHATTER THE VOICE OF R&B

Koko Mojo Records

What a gift, 32 tracks recorded from 1952 to 1963 and everyone a classic!! This album is Rhythm n Blues, so if you like your blues full of trumpets and bass with a rock n roll feel good factor then, you are going to love this album. Reminiscent of Fats Domino and other greats like Jackie Wilson, this album is at the epicentre of the cross over that Blues, with Rock n Roll and a little soul saw with the emergence of this type of music genre that took the US and then the rest of the world by storm.

With a background in gospel music and moves from North Carolina to New Jersey and the into the heart of New York city McPhatter honed his style and his very own type of vocal, known as the “crying tenor”, a vocal that had cross-over appeal taking fans of the Blue and Rock and Roll to a place called R&B, these records sold in their millions. Knowing the year these songs were first heard its astonishing to hear nostalgia so crystal clear, this music evokes a time and a style and

places where people danced and danced and danced. With a legacy of over 22 years’ worth of recordings Mr Clyde McPhatter was the very first artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, first as a solo artist and then consequently as a member of The Drifters!

JEAN KNAPPITT

“With a legacy of over 22 years’ worth of recordings Mr Clyde McPhatter was the very first artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice”

EDDIE SEVILLE HIGH & LONESOME Independent

From New England, Eddie Seville is the frontman and multi-instrumentalist with alt. country-rock band Steel Rodeo. The term “country-rock” itself sounds a little outdated, usually this kind of thing gets categorized as “Americana” these days. It is a vague term that covers country, some roots-rock, folk and blues, but you know it when you hear it. This five track CD EP certainly fits

ERIC BIBB DEAR AMERICA

Provogue/Mascot Label Group

there then; it also fits here because there is some wonderful music and excellent songs on this disc. There is nothing blues wise in the strictest sense, but take a listen to One More Guitar, with its subtle Hendrix quote near the beginning and lyrics I suspect many readers will empathize with. Eddie’s prowess on mandolin, shown on the just-mentioned track and more particularly Seeds In The Wind, recalled Ry Cooder more than a little, and maybe too the sound of bluegrass. That might also seem to be referenced by the title track (Bluegrass is often called “the high lonesome sound”) but the rather clever lyrics are meant literally. The closing track Talking To Myself is more than a little reminiscent musically of Bob Dylan’s mid-60s work with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, there is even some rack harmonica playing, and the lyrics are very much in the vein of a put-down like Positively Fourth Street. The opening All Night Radio could just about be a country-rock (and that is the best description for this track) updating of Ghost Riders In The Sky. To sum up then, if your tastes tend towards Americana, this excellent recording is most definitely for you.

Eric Bibb has a career spanning five decades; here he has written eleven of his finest ever songs. This album is an open love letter to America. He said recently “The way forward as a nation and a world, is to face what we’ve been doing to each other”. He went to Brooklyn and recorded at Studio G with producer and co-writer Glen Scott. The band includes Steve Jordan on drums, Ron Carter on double bass and a plethora of guest artists including Eric’s favourite electric bluesman Eric Gales who helps on Whole World’s Got The Blues, a particular highlight. Billy Branch adds harmonica to Talkin’ Bout A Train and Lisa Mills adds bassline to the wonderful finale One-Ness Of Love. Whole Lotta Lovin’ featuring Ron Carter is the opener and sets the tone and has that West African refrain. Shaneeka Simon joins in with the stunning Born Of A Woman. He narrates the opening of the title track Dear America, citing Martin Luther King a true civil rights tune for our age. Different Picture has a gentle rhythm and passionate lyrics about social injustice.

Tell Yourself, is a reflective song about hope for the future, the melody is sublime. Emmet’s Ghost is about the murder of Emmett Till a case that brought the civil rights move ment together, sung with such honesty, so moving. White And Black, is a haunting tune with soaring harmonies. Along The way is a song of salvation and reflection.

COLIN CAMPBELL

NORMAN DARWEN

“here he has written eleven of his finest ever songs”

“take a listen to One More Guitar, with its subtle Hendrix quote near the beginning and lyrics I suspect many readers will empathize with”

ROB LUTES: COME AROUND

Lucky Bear Records

Canada strikes again! It’s a nation of blues surprises and Montreal’s Rob Lutes is the real deal, a fine roots guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. This 12-track album is the ideal showcase for this talented artist with a great voice. Here he’s backed by a fine band, including backing singers Annabelle Chvostek and Kim Richardson. Lutes is probably the right surname for a man who picks guitar so deftly. The simmering opening track Knives, has a bluesy drive, and the musical quality of the gentle title track, Come Around, is as relaxing as a cold beer beneath a parasol. If you want a true blues feel, In My Time of Dyin’ will send a shiver up your spine, especially when Rob McDonald’s moody guitar cuts in. These are compositions by someone who knows his way around the blues and its possibilities. If you need front porch meditation, you can sit back and dream to Fisherman’s Rest. By and By, with its dexterous Chet Atkins-style picking maintains the sheer relaxation, and the final track, Away, is a silky-smooth guitar instrumental which made me think of a log cabin, a bottle of Jack Daniels and my pipe and slippers. A thing of beauty indeed. Keep ‘em coming, Canada! If Rob Lutes is anything to go by, there must still be a lot of gold in them thar hills.

ROY BAINTON

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AJAY SRIVASTAV POWERLESS Independent

This ten-track album is a little quirky, to say the least. I say that because it’s a mish-mash of blues, blues/folk, and the sixties protest movement all wrapped around each other. The Line, which is the opening track, kicks off with some wonderful slide guitar, courtesy of a Resonator guitar. It puts me in mind of Ravi Shanka playing the blues with more than a hint of Indian mixed in. Ajay has great vocals and handles the slide guitar with a certain degree of enthusiasm. A nice introduction to the album is this. Innocent People still retains the Indian

BLUESMATTERS.COM

influence but it’s the mastery of the slide that keeps it firmly on the blues path. Lyrically it has blues and folk running right the way through it. Powerless veers away from the blues/folk mix quite distinctively. The addition of what seems to be an accordion brings a more psychedelic touch to the proceedings. Lyrically, it has the sort of message that protest singers had back in the day. Break The Circle brings back the Resonator and slide with a vengeance. Also, the lyrics lean far more heavily towards the delta than in the first few songs. Then, as you have the delta firmly on your mind, the Indian influence joins in to give it a lovely twist. The combination of the two cultures and genres work well together, giving the listener the best of both worlds. Golden reminds me of a Bob Dylan tune. Radical lyrics with the by now obligatory slide. I love this song. One can imagine this being played in a live environment with the audience up and dancing along. Yeah, I really like this. Count Your Blessings has folk at its core. This album swings between blues and folk, sometimes entiwinng them both within the same song. Not a pure blues album, but a very goodblues/folk album nonetheless.

STEPHEN HARRISON

“Ajay has great vocals and handles the slide guitar with a certain degree of enthusiasm”

AWEK AWEK Independent

Awek is a tight French blues band, but to hear their latest offering Awek, you could be forgiven for thinking they were all natives of Chicago. The main protagonists of the band are Bernard Sellam on vocals & guitars, Stephane Bertolino on Harmonica, Joel Ferron on Bass and Olivier Trevel on drums. They are joined on a couple of tracks by their friends Fred Cruveiller on guitar and Pascal Rollando on percussion. From the information on their website, this might be their 13th album, suggesting quite a bit of experience and cohesion, which is borne out on this offering of 15 tracks. The band has toured France extensively and has amongst its honours The Best Band at the Festival award, from the celebrated Cognac Blues Festival, which has a fine history of blues greats in its back catalogue. All but four of the tracks on the album are penned by the band, although to listen to it you really wouldn’t notice, since the tracks move seamlessly from one blues number to the next. They all have an authentic blues feel. It’s great harmonica-led blues with tight backing and understated, but accent free vocals, which makes the whole album a very enjoyable experience. I can quite easily visualise the band being a hit at Cognac, or any other blues festival for that matter. The vibe is a chilled Chicago groove and recalls Little Walter or early Billy Boy Arnold. The album opens with We Gonna Make It Through, which is in a lovely classic Chicago blues style and could have been written by some Blues great in the 1950s. All the tracks written by the band are of a similar high quality and make for very good listening. The 4 covers on the album all do more than justice to their originals and my favourite is a lovely rendition of Jimmy McCracklin’s Just Got To Know, which is very reminiscent of the Billy Boy Arnold version, which in my book is very high praise indeed. This was a great listen and I’d love to catch Awek at some point performing these tracks live.

KINGS FOR SALE

Grandiflora Records

Afton Wolfe has been around a while. He seems to have started out in an alt pop band called Red Velvet Couch then it was onto Dollar Book Floyd then The Relief Effort and the decade long delayed Petronius’ Last Meal. None of these need trouble the readers of Blues Matters. He was silent for over a decade before returning to the studio for this release which sees him moving into a smoky, jazz, Tom Waits sort of world. In fact, it’s been produced by Oz Fritz who copped some engineering credits on the Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards box set a few years back. And it is very Tom Waits like with the semi spoken gruff vocals and late night, drunken, piano bar vibe. Musically it staggers between rough country blues and Steely Dan getting in a brawl with a proper jazz band. Most of the songs are originals and they are, in the main, good songs. Obviously, I like it best when he actually gets the blues which is why the harmonica fuelled Dirty Girl is a real standout with its tales of New Orleans, good voodoo and alligators. I’ve also got a soft spot for the late Billy Wayne Goodwin Jr. penned Cemetery

Blues which really goes full gumbo, more so as Goodwin appears from beyond the grave. Wolfe has put together an excellent set of musicians with a special mention to drummer Tommy Stangroom who does a fabulous job throughout. Naturally, how much you enjoy this is going to depend a lot on how you take to the gruff as nails vocals but there is a fair amount of good music wrapped around it. The brass section always seems as though they’re teetering on the edge of disaster but always pull it back at the last minute which is a splendid trick.

STUART A HAMILTON

STEVE BANKS

“Musically it staggers between rough country blues and Steely Dan getting in a brawl with a proper jazz band”

BEWARE OF THE SLEEPWALKING WOMAN

Koko Mojo Records

This wide-ranging and infectious collection of blues, doo wop, and the downright zany is the perfect soundtrack for a summer barbecue with a group of friends who appreciate the screwball nature of early Americana music. With these songs mainly possessing a blues spirit about them, it is the legendary blues harpist Sonny ‘Boy’ Williamson who blows a blues-some tune to start proceedings with The Goat.

Elsewhere, another legend, Bo Diddley, gets the feet shuffling and the body moving as he chugs along to the hypnotic Say Man. Yet the real treasures collected herein are the highly entertaining comedic collection of novelty songs from the golden age of Americana. There is plenty to dig and enjoy in the long running order of this 28-track anthology. Unsurprisingly, most of these songs sold very well in their heyday but seem to have been consigned to the mostly forgotten corners of American music history. Good on Koko Mojo Records for their forensic research and their work in licensing these tunes. The real beauty of these compilations is that most listeners will not have heard any of these songs before, and wonder why, as there’s a high calibre of songwriting and performance at play throughout. Where else would you hear the hilarious Cops And Robbers by Boogaloo And His Gallant Crew, Guitar Crusher’s Itch With Me, and Big Daddy And His Boys’ Bacon Fat? Not forgetting Smilin’ Joe’s Sleepwalking Woman that titles this release with its modus of music as fun.

If it’s time to fire up the barbie and have a party on the patio, then make this crazy compendium of rollicking songs your companion.

PAUL DAVIES

SHAKIN’ WOODS THE BLUES PROPER SESSIONS

VOL 2 - EP Independent

This four track EP is the bands second similar release, they have chosen the EP route as the best way to promote and get their music heard widely. Not a bad tactic especially when they have the production services of Jack Douglas and Jay Messina (Who, Aerosmith, Lennon etc) to call upon, who between them have created a meaty but very clean professional sound.

Shakin

Woods were formed in Washington in 2019 by Guitarist Rick Russman and drummer Paul Dudley with the idea of forming a blues project to write, record and tour. After some experimenting the four-piece band were formed with the inclusion of George Belton and Austin Day who adds guitar and keyboards. While the band have recorded twelve songs, eight of them originals, this release has three covers, two of which relate to Fleetwood Mac, namely The Chain and Long Grey Mare which are played superbly but just lack a little of the spark of the originals. the band share joint responsibility for vocal duties which offers the opportunity for the band to tackle different styles of blues ranging from raw to a more soulful sound. The original song Enemy is the standout track, it is a slow blues with some sharp flowing guitar and excellent vocals. Only four tracks to pass judgement on but they pass with flying colours, an excellent band who have a good feeling for the blues, look out for their debut album in the near future.

ADRIAN BLACKLEE

“The original song Enemy is the standout track, it is a slow blues with some sharp flowing guitar and excellent vocals”

SARDINIA PLAYS THE BLUES

Associazione Culturalle

Sardinia Plays The Blues is a film of six different bands playing in different regions. Shot during 2020, with pandemic precautions taken, and no audiences, the music ranges from one-man bands and solo singers, to four- and five-piece groups that take in everything from heavy metal and rock stylings, to slow acoustic reveries. The films have something of Pink Floyd’s Live in Pompeii, playing huge spaces with no audiences, but the bands still giving it some welly. The groups King Howl with their incendiary reading of Hard Time Killing Floor, and The Bad Blues Quartet with the bluesy funk of Louse are the two liveliest bands, but the duo of Don Leone also put on a fine exhibition of the blues-man craft, with The Number of The Beast being a fine showcase of control. The Francisco Piu Band offer a great version of Me and The Devil, which features bouzouki and samples and scratches to show the link the blues has to other forms of music, whilst

their version of Robert Johnson’s Stop Breakin’ Down adds Oud to the mix, very successfully. The dobro equipped singer Vittorio Ptzallis does a spirited reading of I am Alone, with the backdrop of caves at Grotte Di San Giovanni adding a natural resonance to his vocals. The Irene Loche Band blend blues and lively pop and funk during Get Away and Take Some More. The music is of a uniformly high standard, with the recordings both audio and visually are very high quality. The film is an excellent advert for the bands playing in Sardinia, and the country. Many of these bands have a presence of YouTube and are worth checking out.

BEN MACNAIR

“an excellent advert for the bands playing in Sardinia”

VARIOUS ARTISTS THE MOJO MAN SPECIAL, VOLUME 4

VOODOO MAN

Independent

This is a first for me, which I love, a compilation album of various artists in fact, different songs put together by the Mojo Man who tells me these are the cream of the crop, the tip of the top! The thing that I love on an album like this is you or me could find a new artist that we absolutely love and go on to buy, listen and research everything they do, Three songs in and my heart is racing, this is rock and roll blues, double basses being slapped, saxophones being blown so hard they hurt your ears, as the wife said it sounds like the soundtrack to a film like American Graffiti. The Mojo Man has put together some absolute classics that just flow like a raging river, this is party music for a certain generation but you’d have to be dead not to appreciate it, so many great tracks, one of which jumps out at me, Ooh Little Girl by Floyd Dixon who I thought sounded like Little Richard and if you picture the girl can’t help it, you’ll get the vibe of this album, until the next song King Coleman, Crazy Feeling which has a Wolf feel about it. The Mojo man has used a multitude of record labels to put this together from the greats such as Motown, Atlantic and Chess to lesser known ones like Blue Lake and Calvert & King but all from classic eras, these are the type of albums we need, not just because there are wonderful songs on here but to make sure they keep getting heard, I will play this at my blues barn after gigs and look around the room and watch the smiles ..long live Rock & Roll the baby of The Blues..

BARRY BLUESBARN HOPWOOD

JOHNNY

ACE THE JOHNNY ACE COLLECTION

1952-55

Acrobat Music

John Marshall Alexander Jr was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Under the stage name Johnny Ace, he had an all too brief music career, this 51 track 2-CD set comprises all his recordings under his own name for the Duke and Flair labels, featuring all his top 10 R&B hits, along with recordings he made with other Beale Streeters, BB King, Bobby Bland, Earl Forrest and Junior Parker. Accompanying them on piano, plus a selection of those tribute records which were released soon after he died. Ike Turner arranged for Johnny Ace and Earl Forrest to make a record for Modern, each recording one title. Johnny recorded Midnight Hour’s Journey a jazzy blues which came out a year or two later the Flair label after Johnny had had his first hits. Johnny Ace signed to Duke records with several of the Beale Streeters and released My Song a beautifully performed ballad with a natural soulful vocal delivery making it a No1 R&B record.

Similar ballads Cross My Heart, The Clock, Saving My Love For You, Please Forgive Me and Never Let Me Go all followed with his customary soulful vocals and delivery, while the B sides contained more up-tempo R&B tracks. Then came the fateful event on Christmas day 1954, Ace had been performing at the city Auditorium in Houston, Texas, during a break he was messing about with a. 32 calibre revolver with which he accidentally killed himself. Having just released Pledging My Love, the tragic event created a huge demand for the record making it a No 1 R&B hit. Duke released 3 more records with only Anymore making the charts. Although the A sides are very similar, the B sides offer more up-tempo instrumentals, rocking and grooving blues and a duet with Willie Mae Thornton.

Blues fans will be more interested with the Beale Streeters sessions which have been included, showing that Johnny Ace was certainly an accomplished pianist, an excellent booklet is also included, worth a listen.

SHIRL

BLACK PATTI SATAN’S FUNERAL

Rhythm Bomb Records

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Peter Crow C. on guitar and harmonica and Mr. Jelly Roll on guitar, mandolin and mandola may be operating under pseudonyms. Even more so because they’re a German duo who have spent the last decade performing prewar blues and roots music. And performing it very well, I may add. Herren Krause und Kraemer really do seem to have an affinity for the music they so obviously love but that doesn’t always translate into a good record. Here it does. They’re dipping back

“a set that mainly flits between acoustic blues and gospel. But whether their heads are in the lap of God or on a bar room table they never fail to shine. Musically, it’s mainly the former with a stunning take on the Skip James tune Be Ready When He Comes a real treat”

into the world of Skip James, Hank Williams, Blind Gary Davis and the legend that is Mr. Trad Arr as well as an array of lesser-known names on a set that mainly flits between acoustic blues and gospel. But whether their heads are in the lap of God or on a bar room table they never fail to shine. Musically, it’s mainly the former with a stunning take on the Skip James tune Be Ready When He Comes a real treat. Elsewhere things always take a turn for the better when Peter Crow C. whips out his moothie and the harmonica drenched God Don’t Like It highlights just how good he is at sucking and blowing. Best of all for me is Lonesome Valley which takes a surprisingly sprightly turn, far removed from the Fairfield Four. A special bonus point for tracking down legendary cartoonist Robert Crumb, to whatever remote part of France he lives in, and persuading him to illustrate the cover art. It may be retro but it’s good retro.

STUART A HAMILTON