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In This Issue
Chefjimi Patricola has our feature interview with Watermelon Slim this week.
We have six CD reviews for you this week!
Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony reviews a new CD from Dicky James And The Blue
Flames. Gary
Weeks reviews a new CD from Toby Walker. John Mitchell reviews a new CD from
Ivan Appelrouth.
Steve Jones reviews a new CD from Maria Muldaur. Ian McKenzie
reviews a new CD from Brick Fields and James "Skyy Dobro" Walker reviews a new
CD from Whiteboy James & The Blues Express. All this and MORE! SCROLL DOWN!!!
From The Editor's Desk
Hey Blues Fans,
Our friends at Chicago Blues Guide have posted a great review of last months
Blues Blast Music Awards. The show was held at Buddy Guy's Legends and Liz
Mandeville was there to capture all the fun to go with some great photos by
Michael Kurgansky, Connie Kenny and Jennifer Wheeler. Check out their great
review now,
CLICK HERE!
Good Blues To You!
Bob Kieser
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Featured Blues Interview -
Watermelon Slim
 Bill
"Watermelon Slim" Homans has always stood on his own, as a truck driver, a
soldier, an artist and musician and most of all as a man. An interesting
man beyond what many of us know, we hope this chat exposes you to some
of the depth of character and style of the man.
Blues Blast: I take it you have settled into the life of a
Mississippi Gentleman very nicely. How are you doing?
Watermelon Slim: I'm doing well, the first six months were very
good and I'm enjoying kicking back and doing some other things. Three
days of fishing at Lake Pontchartrain (one good, one fair and one really
bad one) but I got the freezer full of Red Fish and boy are they good.
Love to bake and stuff them up when, hoping the fall sets up good so I
can get some bass and leave that head on to improve the flavor, not all
fish mind you – but it also makes a great presentation.
BB: How's the garden coming ?
WS: Iffy season, the peppers and tomatoes wont fill the larder,
cilantro didn't make it. Got a few Watermelons on the hill. Since I was
traveling so much it didn't get the care I needed to give it. Come
winter, after I turn it over and get it ready, it should be in great
shape.
 I do love it down here, been here since October 2009, and have been
steadily been doing improvements, got the dog penned but he is an
extremely intelligent escape artist, I need to either get him on a
reality show, or take him to the army for the special forces !
BB:
Okiesippi Blues is your current release with James 'Super Chikan'
Johnson, that must have been fun to do.
WS: We made the record in December 2007, at Royal Studios in
Memphis, the late Pops Mitchell was part of that production team along
with his son and Charley Burch as co-producers (I was the producer) .
Definitely a humorous, back in the country blues with a certain
consciousness to it. It's off the beaten path from what you usually hear
but it is absolutely Mississippi Blues. I put a couple of surprises on
it myself. On one track I returned to the Kalimba, the African thumb
piano, I synthesized various styles of music into one track by calling
upon a Beatles tune and a Zimbabwe folk melody. It is really quite nice.
BB: You have always ventured outside the 'boundaries' of what are
the accepted forms of music. One just needs to look at 'Ringers'
and 'Escape From The Chicken Coop' as prime examples of this
spirit.
WS: I am glad that you mentioned that. I am moderately
disappointed that those two releases that I did in Nashville have been
summarily rejected by the powers that be in country music – they won't
review them so hence nobody buys them. I just want to say that these two
releases are some of the best country music as you will ever hear, this
is not just country music but country music from Watermelon Slim. I grew
up with country music and lived and heard that since the 1950's along
with the Blues - it's part of my roots too.
 BB: They were recorded with some of the best musicians in
Nashville correct ?
WS: Yes, these were the best of the very best of the Nashville
musicians. Produced by Miles Wilkinson who really knows how to let an
artist's artistry come through in the music. I have not made better
records than these two. 'Escape From the Chicken Coop' is such a
part of me, I was a trucker for so many years as most people know.
BB: Any idea why this reaction?
WS: I don't know, I haven't gone that deep into it. Maybe they
think that this old boy is just too far out there for them and the
audience. I know that some of the feedback from reviewers was along the
lines of 'we'll pass on this - it's too Blues to be Country and too
Country to be Blues' . . .come on it's still good music, has no one ever
crossed genres before?
BB: Maybe you are just too far out there for the average
listener?
 WS: Well I have been a political activist for over forty years.
Not only am I a truck-driving, blues-singing, grunt worker and musician
by vocation but a staunch anti-war veteran/activist. This dates back to
1971 when I joined Vietnam Veterans against the War. I was honorably
discharged, but deemed unsuitable for military service. I was a good
soldier – I followed orders and was fine while doing what I needed to
do, but it was when I was not busy with these tasks that I got into
trouble. I naively considered my off time my own, (we laugh) so it
certainly got me into lots of deep stuff. I am a much better soldier
now, I am one that you would want in your foxhole now as many can attest
to.
BB: I especially like your “Honor the Warrior, not the War'
slogan and way of viewing things. It finally seems to have come to a
state of recognition in today's constant war theatre that we see.
WS: That's the nut of it all, I am glad that so many more people
have come to that realization. My family has a long and illustrious
history of serving the country. It was just a matter of when and where.
But then again I was 19 going on 16 back then, I really had no job
skills so it was into the military I went.
BB: So how did you get from there to here – to this place where
you have been for the past forty years?
WS: My job in the military was really pretty boring, I was a
heavy equipment operator. Basically setting up communications on trucks
and such. Occasionally I'd go off base to remote signal sites but was
basically combat support. It was really boring when I wasn't working, so
my buddies and I would smoke all the dope we could and occasionally
dropping LSD, but I did learn to play guitar there.
 BB: Do tell....
WS: It started when I got sick I was in Cam Rhan Bay and started
to learn how to play slide guitar there. It was an old beat up thing
that was a god send to me at that point. I had other agendas in my life
while a soldier and that's not a good thing, one needs to be solely
focused on being a soldier and nothing else. I was exposed to Agent
Orange while in service and that stuff messes with your system in so
many ways. I am fortunate to have had one beautiful child and she is
fine so I feel I dodged that bullet, and my health is generally good.
BB: So can I ask if The Workers are still part of the picture?
WS: Not at the moment. We are now living in three different
places, Cliff and Ronnie are still in Norman, Oklahoma. Stovall is in
Boston, and I'm in Mississippi - it's really too unwieldy to do the
schedule that we did for the two years before. Even in '09 with us all
living in Oklahoma and Stovall-Brown in Boston it got to be too much. We
might record another record and come back in '012, but the travel is
just too rough at this point. Logistically it's a nightmare and with the
airline fees.
From what I know the boys are taking care of themselves, especially
Stovall he is a master at taking care of himself, way beyond what I can
imagine myself ever being.
My 2012 schedule at this point is from March 17th to April 7th I will be
in England, around the bottom two-thirds of England. I expect to be
doing a n extended tour in Italy for the summer (as he rattles off some
Italian phrases – stating that he has been studying Italian in
preparation for the tour). You can always check my site for updates
http://www.watermelonslim.com/tourcalendar.asp.
BB: If I can back-track to Chikan and you for a moment, any plans
on getting together again with him either in studio or on the road?
WS: Yes, there are things we are working on. I have to say that
Super Chikan is one of the most distinctive Blues-men around these days.
We plan on playing together more and thrilled at how our 'Okiesippi
Blues' release is being received.
If I may I just want to say how grateful I am to all the fans that I
have had that made me go from being musically nothing to be able to talk
about and make music in the last seven or so years. I quit my truck
driving job and within three months I had a W.C. Handy Award nomination.
It has worked seamlessly because of the fans and my entire team. I
cannot thank them enough, it means the world to me.
Interviewer Chefjimi Patricola is a classically trained chef, blues
loving writer and photographer, and creative master of
Blues411.com. He can also can be found on FaceBook and at festivals
and clubs in your neighborhood and town.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review 1 of 6
 Dicky
James And The Blue Flames - Hard Rain
Self Release
Time-63:34
Just what you would expect from the Midwest, good and sturdy blues.
Based in Indiana, but musically traveling through Chicago and
Mississippi along with a stopover in “Funk Town”, Dicky and associates
dish out a heaping helping of working man’s blues. Dicky leads the guys
with his guitar, vocal and songwriting skills, ably bolstered by an ace
rhythm section along with organ and harmonica shadings. Mr. James
possesses the requisite whiskey-soaked voice to make everything
copasetic. The occasional use of a horn section provides an extra kick.
We get two paeans to the blues in “A Real Good Blues” and “We Git To
Play”, both taken at a sprightly gait. Right from the git-go the
fearless leader’s guitar cuts right through the air and doesn’t let up
till this party is over. The former leads in with a snare drum shuffle
followed by a heavy bass sound, amped-up harp and organ washes. The
latter tune enthuses about the lift they get from playing the blues. The
first of two covers, B.B. King’s “Rock Me”, benefits from a driving
rhythm push and a refreshing Hammond organ solo courtesy of Johnny
“Lightning Boy” Beeson. Dobro-slide is trotted out on “Bulldog Talkin’”,
a laid-back country-blues underpinned by a thumping bass drum and Bob
“Icehouse” Freeze’s snaky harp playing.
What goes around comes around is the lesson taught within “It’s All
True”. Stinging guitar licks fly out like sparks over a tough groove
supported by sturdy harp, leading into a cool-jazz organ workout. The
title track rides along on a funky guitar-horn riff as the singer
berates the listener that “The muddy water gonna wash all over you”.
Dicky’s strong vocal here supports the vibe along with his usual
out-front guitar skills. In the hands of these cool-customers, the old
blues chestnut “Born Under A Bad Sign” sounds born-anew.
The lone instrumental “Icehouse Shuffle” is a chance for its namesake to
show the extent of his harmonica prowess, not to mention more strong
vocals and axe tricks from our hero. What starts out sounding like the
intro to “Somebody Loan Me A Dime”, turns out to be the slow blues vamp
of “Low Down Dirty Dog Blues”. More funk is brought to the front in the
horn-driven goodness of “Game On”.
“Special To Me’’ stands out like a whore in a nunnery. This must have
been a favor owed to a friend. In the midst of all this blues goodness
Wes “Dub C” Cox’s dub workout just doesn’t work out. Taken as a separate
tune elsewhere, its lilting reggae backdrop has a certain appeal and
Dicky manages to interject some blues licks.
The unlisted “Roll the Credits” is just that, as DJ Doc Long recites the
credits in his radio-worthy pipes over some more tasty blues riffing.
One miscue doesn’t mar the praise worthy musical effort put forth here.
Musicianship like this needs to be rewarded. Pick this puppy up and
groove to it until the next helping comes along..
Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review 2 of 6
 Toby
Walker – Shake Shake Mama
Time: 55:35
Another artist carrying on the traditions of acoustic blues and
following in the footsteps of John Hammond, Rory Block and Paul Geremia
is Toby Walker. For listeners who derive their pleasures in the sounds
of the Delta, Walker’s Shake Shake Mama will be a valuable cd to add to
their playlist.
It’s a minimalistic album with wife Carol adding stand-up bass to
several of the tracks. On the inner sleeve of the cd jacket, Walker
lists the guitars used on all the songs. The make of some of the guitars
stretches to the early twentieth century. A perfect choice for capturing
sounds that have their seeds in the Delta soil unearthed.
Justice is paid to the old masters ranging from Robert Johnson to Muddy
Waters. Walker’s slide unleashes a nervous tension and sprays steely
fire on strings that sound like they’re pulled taut over a metal garbage
can. His attack on Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” can make him
the candidate for journeying to the crossroads and striking his own deal
with the devil.
It’s the kind of playing that draws rave reviews from folks like Bob
Margolin, John Hammond and Jorma Kaukonen. Making appearances at guitar
clinics and Blues In The Schools is indicative of a musician who wants
to pass the torch to the upcoming generations.
While his vocals are not technically perfect doesn’t matter. Very few
players can capture Huddie Ledbetter’s “Midnight Special” with a
lightning in a bottle effect. The tune is familiar to fans of Creedance
Clearwater Revival. Although the rock band’s rendition is favorable,
it’s got nothing on Walker who bathes the song in whiskey with 12-string
guitar back-porch jubilee.
Indeed it is a record that more than lives up to the title. There’s the
homage to Big Bill Broonzy in the cheerful “Shuffle Rag.” But it’s in
Muddy Waters’ “Can’t Be Satisfied” that Walker is in his element. Just
in this song alone can Toby make folks spill out onto the dance floor.
His slide is giddy with drink and it’s the next best thing to a top-down
drive on Highway 61.
The CD is almost an hour in length. You’re more than listening to it.
It’s receiving an education of where this music came from. Although no
original material is found here, you simply won’t care. You’re just more
than happy that Walker wraps Hickory Smoke around these tracks.
The idea that Walker used what was probably his entire guitar collection
on the songs was a good choice. Collectors of old instruments can study
Walker’s technique and find the best sounds which capture the moment.
If you check out Walker’s website, he has a DVD on the HomeSpun Video
Series entitled Blues Fingerpicking Freedom. This would be right up the
alley of aspiring guitarists who want to forsake playing with a band to
concentrate and hone their chops on old school blues which for some is
the real American treasure. Walker may make his home in New Jersey. But
his traveling down South was the best teaching he could get. Now
imparting his knowledge in classrooms across the country, perhaps
there’s a youngster so enraptured with the meat and mysticism of the
blues, that when they’re all grown up, they’ll take a long or short
drive to the Delta. Or convince their parents to take them. And if Mom
and Dad are blues fanatics, than their arms won’t be too hard to twist.
In this regard, Toby Walker has already done his job.
A few listens to Shake Shake Mama might just make you gas up the car and
head into that part of the South where the old ghosts roam..
Reviewer Gary Weeks is a contributing writer. He resides in
Marietta, GA.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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BENEFIT FOR JIM O'NEAL AT BUDDY GUY'S LEGENDS NOVEMBER 30th
Louisiana blues star Kenny Neal is bringing together a cast of Chicago
blues veterans in a benefit show at Buddy Guy's Legends on Nov. 30 to
assist Living Blues co-founder Jim O'Neal, who was recently diagnosed
with lymph cancer. The Legends gathering, which will feature the Wayne
Baker Brooks band backing Neal and a number of other performers who
received their first magazine coverage in the early years of Living
Blues. The magazine published an interview with Buddy Guy by O'Neal and
Tim Zorn in its second issue in 1970 and has featured him several times
since.
Jim O'Neal, a former Chicago and Mississippi resident who has been in
Kansas City since 1998, had no health insurance in June when he learned
that his back pains were due to lymphoma and spinal tumors. Following
back surgery, he is now undergoing chemotherapy and continuing to work
at home when possible writing texts for the Mississippi Blues Trail
historical marker project. O'Neal, who was inducted into the Blues Hall
of Fame in 2002, co-founded Living Blues, America's first blues
magazine, in Chicago in 1970.
When Kenny Neal's Hooked On Your Love CD won an award in the 2011 Living
Blues Critics' Poll, Neal recalled: "I can't believe it's been 31 years
since I picked up my first Living Blues magazine and opened it up and
read an article on myself entitled "Kenny Neal and the Neal Brothers." I
can't describe the feeling that I got when I first saw the article; it
wasn't because I was in the article but because someone cared about the
blues. I was so excited I caught a flight to Chicago from Toronto and
found the Headquarters of Living Blues magazine. Knocked on the door and
there were Jim and Amy O'Neal inviting me into their house. They took me
on a grand tour down into the basement and showed me where Living Blues
was being printed. And this is at a time when we needed someone to help
keep the blues alive and they did just that. Now today here in 2011, the
blues is alive and well as ever before."
A fund has been set up at Commerce Bank in Kansas City to receive
donations, which may be sent to: Jim O'Neal Blues Fund, P.O. Box 10334,
Kansas City, MO 64171, or by PayPal to
onealbluesfund@aol.com.
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Featured Blues Review 3 of 6
 Ivan
Appelrouth – Blue And Instrumental
15 tracks; 61.57 minutes
Ivan Appelrouth is a protégé of Duke Robillard and has been performing
for some thirty years. He currently plays guitar with both Big Joe and
the Dynaflows and Li’l Ronnie and the Grand Dukes. Like me, you may not
have recognized his name, probably because this is his first recording
as band leader. Originally the idea was to record some 50s style blues/Rn’B
for potential use in film or TV soundtracks, but the recordings went so
well that they held a second session and ended up with these 15, all
instrumental tracks, recorded over a total time of just 10 hours in the
studio.
The band here is an enlarged version of The Dynaflows with Big Joe Maher
on drums and John Cocuzzi on piano throughout and Steve Potter sharing
bass duties with Tommy Hannigan. Saxes and trumpet are added by Chris
Watling and Dave Cwiklinski respectively and Hammond B3 by Steve Utt.
Ivan plays all guitars. It is interesting to note that the band had
never played these songs before the recording sessions and there is a
spontaneous feel to the tracks and a real sense that the players were
having a good time playing these charts.
The music is terrific throughout, most of the material being original
yet naggingly familiar. That is because Ivan has composed material to
honour his influences and we get tunes with titles like “Blues A La
King”, “Tribute To Magic Sam”, “T-Boned Again”, etc. There are four
actual covers: a superb version of Albert Collins’ “Frosty” has all the
elements of Albert’s original, the horns playing ‘that’ riff and the
guitar sounding very close to Albert’s style. Yet the very next track is
“Strolling With Bone” and Ivan’s guitar hits the T-Bone style perfectly,
the piano and horns backing him up brilliantly. “Junior Jumps” is a tune
written by harp player James Montgomery incorporating some of his
favorite Junior Wells harp licks. Here there is no harp, but a frenetic
pace is maintained throughout, Ivan’s guitar playing the lead role in
plucked style, hot piano and baying horns in support.
The only real oddity is the inclusion of Acker Bilk’s “Stranger On The
Shore” which can certainly not be classed as blues. Originally a feature
for clarinet, here pianist John Cocuzzi steps over to the vibes and is
featured alongside the organ of Steve Utt on what is really a cocktail
lounge piece. Perhaps this was one of the film/TV try outs, but for me,
it sits uncomfortably with the rest of the album (despite Acker being a
fellow Brit!).
Generally the album is upbeat and varied. Ivan deploys his slide style
on the two takes of “Olsen Ranch Shuffle” that bookend the CD and also
on “Booky’s Boogie”, a fast-paced boogie with driving drums and piano.
The horn players perform excellently throughout, though there was
clearly some overdubbing involved as on a tune like “Strollin’ Blues”
both tenor and bari saxes can be clearly heard and I don’t think that
Chris Watling played those two simultaneously!
Hard to pick favorites on this album, but if pressed I would select “The
Twisted Top”, a short but sweet rocker, “T-Boned Again”, the
aforementioned “Frosty” and the second version of “Olsen Ranch Shuffle”
that closes the album. Overall I found this a very enjoyable CD for
those who enjoy 50s style blues. If Duke Robillard floats your boat, try
Ivan Appelrouth and I think you’ll enjoy the experience.
Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK. He also
travels to the States most years to see live blues music.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review 4 of 6
 Maria
Muldaur - Steady Love
13 tracks
Let me say that any teenage boy who was about my age growing up that did
not have a crush on Maria Muldaur after just listening to “Midnight At
The Oasis” was either deaf or on their deathbed. That bias aside, Maria
is a superbly talented singer who can make any song sound good. With
“Steady Love” she has returned to the Crescent City and surrounded
herself with a huge cast of over a dozen outstanding supporting artists
and has produced a really great CD!
The title track has a great horn arrangement provided by the inimitable
Jimmy Carpenter. Muldaur sings of what a “more seasoned” woman
appreciates in her relationships. She growls and purrs nicely through
this one; Shane Theriot adds a cool little guitar solo, too. The CD
opens to the driving , stomping strains of Theriots guitar. Elvin
Bishop’s “I’ll Be Glad” is a good vehicle for Muldaur to set the stage
with- it jumps out at the listener and grabs them by the collar.
The Bobby Charles standard “Why Are People Like That?” shows Muldaur at
her bluesiest. Rick Vito penned “I Am Not Alone” and plays slide on it;
the cut is a slow and grooving spiritual that Maria nails. “Walk By
Faith” and “I Done Made Up My Mind” let Maria take the spiritual in
musically different directions and succeeds each time. Muldaur takes us
to church in “As An Eagle Stirreth In Her Nest” and makes you want to
throw your hands up and dance. Percy Mayfield’s “Please Send Me Someone
to Love” gets a sultry and sensual cover by Muldaur.
She gives us a great ride top to bottom on this CD. I really enjoyed it
and you can see she had a good time putting it together in her
performances. I liked this CD a lot. Her fans will love it and those new
to Muldaur can see her bluesy side by buying this well done CD!
Reviewer Steve
Jones is a Board Member of the
Crossroads Blues
Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy
commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In
addition to working in his civilian career, he writes for and publishes
the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival
and works with their Blues In The Schools program.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
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Blues Society News
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Send your Blues Society's BIG news or Press Release
about your
not-for-profit event with
the subject line "Blues Society News" to:
Submissions must be a maximum of 175 words or less in a Text or MS Word document
format.
Prairie Crossroads
Blues Society – Champaign-Urbana, IL
Prairie Crossroads Blues Society shows: Tuesday November 29th,
Kilborn Alley Blues Band, Release Party for their fourth CD with
Blue Bella Records, Four, at 8 pm at the Iron Post, Urbana; Friday
December 2nd, Matt Hill, winner of the 2011 Blues Music Award for
Best New Artist Debut from the Blues Foundation, 10pm, Memphis on
Main, Champaign. $5 non-members, $3 members. For more info:
prairiecrossroadsblues.org.
River City Blues Society
- Pekin, IL
River City Blues Society presents: Bringing The Blues To You with
the following shows - Kilborn Alley Blues Band - Wednesday November 30th, Victor
Wainwright & The Wildroots - Saturday December 17th, Jan 11th at
7PM • Brandon Santini. Location Goodfellas 1414 S. 8th St, Pekin, Illinois 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm $5.00
non-members $3.00 members. For more info visit:
www.rivercityblues.com
Illinois Central Blues Club -
Springfield, IL
The Illinois Central Blues Club presents "Blue Monday" every Monday
night for the last 25 years - BLUE MONDAY SHOWS - Held at the Alamo
115 N 5th St, Springfield, IL (217) 523-1455 every Monday 8:30pm $3
cover. 11/28 Deak Harp
Blues Band, 12/5 Kilborn Alley Blues Band, 12/12 Nick Moss and the
Flip Tops, 12/19 Jason Elmore Blues Band, 12/26 Brooke Thomas and
the Blue Suns. icbluesclub.org
The Friends Of The Blues - Watseka, IL
2011 Friends of the Blues shows - December 1, Dave Herrero, 7 pm,
Kankakee Valley Boat Club. For more info see:
http://www.wazfest.com/JW.html
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Featured Blues Review 5 of 6
 Brick
Fields - Gospel Blue
10
tracks 47:31
Fields
Of Sound
We don’t
get too much Gospel music in the pages of Blues Blast, yet in my mind
the genre is inextricably linked with blues. In the past, many blues men
(and women) moved seamlessly from one type of music to another. To be
sure, some of them became conscience stricken and either gave up playing
altogether or stuck, like Thomas A, Dorsey with gospel, after years of
living with the sobriquet Georgia Tom and playing and singing blues,
sometimes of a very ‘adult’ nature. Rev. Gary Davis played wahy is
sometime called “Holy Blues” and often asked people not to tell his wife
when he played secular pieces.
Brick
Fields are first and foremost, a gospel group. Fronted by Larry Brick
and Rachel Fields, they hail from Eureka Springs, Arkansas and have, for
some years, been performing in a variety of venues throughout NW
Arkansas. They were the winners of the recent Ozark Blues Society
Challenge and were headliners on the Gospel Blues Stage at the King
Biscuit Blues Festival, October 8th 2011.
Let’s say
right a way, that Rachel Fields has a fabulous voice, sometimes full on
gospel, like many of the southern Baptist raised singers, sometimes laid
back and jazzy with tinges of Billie Holiday or Sarah Vaughan. She is
also a fine flute player with a terrific haunting, ‘singing’ tone. Larry
Brick, Rachel’s partner – to use the current vernacular – is a fine
guitarist and singer, matching Rachel’s, passion with six string skills
and a honey and wine voice.
Gospel Blue
contains nine originals many of which are delivered with deeply felt
love verging on passion (sometimes of a very non-religious kind - check
out On The Vine – which seems to be a declaration of personal one-to-one
commitment). The CD ends with a thoughtful jazz inflected cover of
“Amazing Grace.”
My favorite
track, without a doubt is In “The Light Of Love” which starts with a
delightful close harmony acapella introduction before morphing into a
jazzy, up-tempo piece of gospel in the old tradition.
A 32 bar
blues “Addicted To You” features Fields’ super alto voice in a statement
of earthly passion, a tradition harking back to Georgia Tom.
The rest of
the music is filled with passion, fervour and fine instrumentation and
the production is – to my ears – flawless. It is the kind of music heard
in many an Episcopal church throughout the USA on a Sunday, here
delivered with skill, passion and commitment.
If you are one of those people who avoid gospel music like the plague, take a chance on this one. You will be very pleasantly surprised. .
Reviewer Ian McKenzie lives in England. He is the editor of Blues In The
South (www.bluesinthesouth.com)
a monthly flier providing news, reviews, a gig guide and all kinds of
other good stuff, for people living and going to gigs along the south
coast of England. Ian is also a blues performer (see
www.myspace.com/ianmckenzieuk) and has two web-cast regular blues
radio shows. One on www.phonic.FM in
Exeter (Wednesdays: 1pm Eastern/ 12 noon Central), the second on KCOR –
Kansas City Online Radio (on Fridays at 1pm Eastern/ 12 noon Central)
www.kconlineradio.com.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
|
Featured Blues Review 6 of 6
 Whiteboy
James & The Blues Express - Extreme Makeover
12
songs; 40:20 minutes; Suggested
Styles:
Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, Retro Electric Blues, Jazzy Blues, “Blues-a-billy,”
“Drunk-a-billy,” “Jump and Jive”
Whiteboy
James should be in jail! Especially, when one considers how anything
really raucous and fun in our society is eventually declared by the
government to be beyond immoral to completely illegal, then
incarceration here is overdue.
Here is a
list of Whiteboy James’s jail-able infractions:
1. He drinks cheap, $2.00/bottle “Night Train Wine” and carries the bottle around in his pants. 2. He scribbles! (Hell, he can “barely write [his] name”). 3. He likes “Big Butted Women.” 4. He will “Stay Out Late at Night” and then sleep all day. 5. His middle name is “Trouble.” 6. He “gold-bricks’ and even hangs out at the “Gold Brick Bar.” 7. He makes love to various women until “past 4 o’clock” in the morning. 8. He “‘likes’ drinkin’ whisky, vodka, scotch and gin.” 9. He fantasizes about murder of the deserving. 10. He provides alcohol to “Jungle natives.” 11. He “takes” women from other guys.
All the
information contained in this indictment can be audibly deduced from the
10 original songs (plus two covers) which gloriously and wonderfully
celebrate mischievous decadence and passion. This CD is my guilty
pleasure for 2011.
As a record
reviewer, I should strive for erudition, rewarding writers for cerebral
lyrics that challenge thoughtful contemplation. Further, rewarding a
touch of Blues purism would discourage any feelings but the deepest from
the soul. Well, screw all that! Let’s pop in this CD, get drunk and have
some irreverent fun. That is what this album is about. This is
Whiteboy’s second release and is an updated version of the band’s
self-titled debut from 1992.
To be
clear, there is plenty of intelligence on display here. For all the
rough-neck, feisty fun in the songs, the lyrics are anything but
thoughtless or uninspired. As a struggling song writer myself, I am most
amazed at James’s tune, “Excuse Me for Scribblin’ (I can barely write my
name).” How did he come up with that one? There has to be a great story
behind that song.
“Whiteboy”
James Page is a West Coast Blues legend. The talented singer,
songwriter, and wailing harmonica player is a survivor of the Southern
California Blues explosion of the 1980s and 90s. Since reforming in 2006
after a five year absence, the band has re-established itself as the
legendary band that they once were. The current Blues Express
collaborators are: Scott Abeyta (guitar), Blake Watson (bass), and Max
Bangwell (with the best name in the business for a drummer).
Musically,
the entire CD is a relentless throw-down Blues party. James blows
dance-a-billy harp and his big voice and shouts propel unadulterated raw
feeling and ballsy wit. Abeyta on guitar displays imaginative skills and
technical power, but his tasty single note runs never collapse into
pedestrian power-chording. A huge part of the sound is the killer
backing beats from Watson and Bangwell playing with confidence and
verve.
Whiteboy
James is my newest hero! I have fallen in love with this CD for all the
wrong or right reasons – not sure which. All I know is, its upbeat songs
kick ass mercilessly, it is fun, it is funny, and it is ultimately
entertaining. Get this CD and a bottle of Night Train wine, and your
night is set.
Reviewer James "Skyy
Dobro" Walker is a noted Blues writer, DJ, Master of Ceremonies, and
Blues Blast contributor. His weekly radio show "Friends of the Blues"
can be heard Saturdays 8 pm - Midnight on WKCC 91.1 FM and at
www.wkccradio.org in
Kankakee, IL. To See James “Skyy
Dobro” Walker's CD rating system,
CLICK HERE.
For other reviews and interviews on our website
CLICK HERE
|
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