SPEAK OF THE DEVIL

Tinsley’s interest in guitar playing dates to the age of seven and the day he encountered The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. This was an event that inspired many would-be musicians. “I can remember sitting in the living room - my mom, dad, my younger sister and me. We sat there, and The Beatles came on. My dad said I think we should watch this. Everybody is talking about it on The Ed Sullivan Show,” recalls Ellis.

“They started twanging and singing, and people were screaming. I said, that’s it, that’s what I want to do with my life. So, I’m blaming this whole thing on The Beatles. Everything that’s gone on in my life, I blame it on them.” Ellis describes how The Beatles had gone full circle. “All of us watching on television, hearing a band from far away playing music that came from here. Rhythm and blues – ‘Twist and Shout’ and

The Isley Brothers. We had to hear it happen over there before we could appreciate it here.”

Tinsley Ellis has spent a large part of his life touring, but these strange times have meant somewhat of a change of pace for the Atlanta-based artist. “Prior to the pandemic in March of 2020, I was on the road for over 40 years non-stop,” explains Ellis. With a halt to touring, Tinsley refocused his plans: “I moped around for a week or two, and then I said, if I’m not careful, I’m going to lose my chops and my playing ability.” the guitarist set himself a rigorous schedule. “I designated every morning from 7 am, or 8 am until noon, downstairs here in my studio as songwriting time. In just over a year, I wrote about 200 songs. I was able to choose from those to become the new album,” explains Ellis. Somewhat of a highly productive period for the bluesman.

Speaking about songwriting during the pandemic, Tinsley said: “Everything on this particular album came from scratch. Now - I’ve got so many songs that I still want to record from this bunch. It’s probable that some of these songs will come out in the future on other albums.” Although, this period of downtime was a double-edged sword. “There was an upside to this whole thing. But, a global pandemic, that’s a damn high price to pay for creativity. I would choose to be less creative any day of the week,” confirms Ellis.

The title of the new Tinsley Ellis album ‘Devil May Care’ is an interesting one. It immediately conjures up thoughts of the tale of Robert Johnson meeting the devil at The Crossroads. “I have used the word devil in a lot of my songs. I had ‘To The Devil For A Dime’. On this album, ‘Beat The Devil’. I had one called ‘Must Be The Devil’. So that has been a common word. I like that word - it sings well, and it tells a story,” explains Tinsley. “It has a throwback to the Robert Johnson myth. I’m always partial to that word.” However, it was an intervention from Mother Nature that inspired the title. “There were some tornadoes going through Atlanta. This was about six or seven months ago. Big tornadoes and it was all over the news,” recollects Ellis. “A friend of mine said - aren’t you going to go and get down in the basement? I said, nowe’re not going to do that. My friend said that’s very devil may care of you - because that’s the expression. And I said, oh - that is a great album title.” The same phrase can be found in the song ‘Viva Las Vegas’ by Elvis Presley.

Some of the inspiration for ‘Devil May Care’ came from delving into archive recordings by the greats of the blues/rock world. “As I’m drinking my coffee and checking my emails, I would put on some music that I hadn’t listened to in a while. Also, looking around on YouTube and finding old concert audio and sometimes video of BB King, the Allman Brothers, Mike Bloomfield, and Al Kooper,” explains Ellis. Listening to each of these artists would give the songwriter food for thought.

Tinsley would regularly send demos recorded during the pandemic to the head of Alligator Records. “If it was good enough, I would send it up to Bruce Iglauer at Alligator. He would write me back with what he thought about it,” recalls Ellis. “We started collecting the songs. He and I, both at the same time said it seems like it’s time to go into the studio. We’ve got a nice collection of songs.” Of course, the pair would deliberate over which tracks would make the final cut. “I had my ideas of which songs, and he had his ideas,” said Ellis. “It wasn’t my intention to have ‘Beat The Devil’ or ‘28 Days’ and one other song. He said you need to do those songs. Those are really good songs. I had some other songs planned. We went back and forth and decided on which songs should be on the album.”

In 2021, Alligator Records celebrated its landmark 50th anniversary. Of course, there are many Alligator artists that Tinsley admires himself. “I was a huge fan of Roy Buchanan, Lonnie Mack, Johnny Winter and Albert Collins,” says Ellis. However, there is one artist that resonated with Tinsley the most from the label’s extensive roster. “I always come back to Son Seals. He never stopped, and he kept making great albums,” said Ellis. “He was one of Alligator’s first artists. There’s something about Son Seals. When I wrote my song ‘A Quitter Never Wins’, that was very much me trying at my young best to sound like Son Seals playing in a small bar in Chicago.”

Tinsley Ellis has recorded albums on several different labels. One of which is Capricorn Records - famous for its connection with the Allman Brothers Band. “I always love blues music. But rock and roll is the music of the white kid growing up in the South that loves blues music,” explains Ellis. “Rock and roll is my heritage. Blues is my love,” The artist adds that: “Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, and the Allman Brothers, they did what I always wanted to do. Mix my rock and roll, which I was born to play, with my blues, that I love.”

One of the many stand out tracks on ‘Devil May Care’ is called “28 Days”. The song has a distinctive Hendrix sound, particularly in the guitar playing. Recounting the initial demo of “28 Days,” Tinsley states: “That song had me doing my Hendrix thing. I recorded the guitar in the basement with my Marshall amplifier, my Stratocaster, and my wah wah pedal. Just like he would use, and I was able to.” An early intake of caffeine fuelled the recording. “I think I recorded that song at 7:30 am - the guitar part. The coffee was kicking in, and I was in my pyjamas. I was being Jimi Hendrix in my basement.” However, the artist wasn’t sure if he should submit the track to the label. “I thought, maybe I shouldn’t send it because I don’t know if I want to do this song,” explains Ellis. “Bruce talked me into it. I’m glad he did. Bruce said - oh, you’ve got to do that. And I go, why? He said the guitar solo - that’s some of the wildest stuff you’ve ever played.” in the basement with my Marshall amplifier, guitar part. The coffee was kicking in, and

Speaking about Hendrix’s influence on himself, Tinsley said that: “He was such a game-changer.

It’s interesting to me that he was doing a lot of that great guitar playing here in his home country - my home country, America, and nobody paid any attention. Then he went over to London, and suddenly he was a smash hit. Then he was able to come back here.” Of course, Jimi Hendrix’s move to the UK was catalysed by a member of The Animals. Tinsley adds: “What if Chas Chandler hadn’t discovered Hendrix playing in Greenwich Village? What would have happened,” a thought-provoking question for sure. “I think it was great that he had Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell with him to give it a kind of Cream sound. He loved that music.” Tinsley states that: “I consider Jimi Hendrix to be either the last of the blues people from that era. Or the first of the psychedelic rock people from that era. He’s sort of like the missing link.” www.tinsleyellis.com

As previously mentioned, having spent 40 years on the road, the artist is “very excited” about his forthcoming US tour. “This is the first album in 25 years that we’re performing in its entirety live. We’ve worked on the whole album,” confirms Ellis. “We have to choose the other songs to do in concert. Songs that I’m more known for over the years like ‘A Quitter Never Wins’ or ‘Double Eyed Whammy’.” Ellis concludes by stating that: “We’re very excited about ‘Devil May Care’ and getting back on the road. Hopefully, getting back over to the UK because I haven’t played there in 20 years - maybe more.” Something to look forward to for British fans of the Georgia bluesman.

‘Devil May Care’ by Tinsley Ellis will be released on 21st January via Alligator Records.