Wednesday, January 31, 2007


Underground Ballroom – Contradictions (Underground Ballroom).

Lancaster based Underground Ballroom are a four piece band that blend blues, funk, jazz and rock to produce a sound rarely heard these days. The opening track, Drawing The Line has a contemporary feel with blues influences. Main songwriter, Mike Atherton takes care of the vocals and his delivery on this sets the tone for the rest of the album. Big Road is an often covered song but Underground Ballroom has turned it into a funky blues with Jake Jackson excelling on keyboards and the staccato delivery is used to great effect. It’s back to the self-written songs with Devil My Deceiver, a classy, urban soft rocker that is blues influenced sophistication. The boys show their background on I’ve Got To Use You which I can only describe as Prog Rock meets the blues and this theme continues with Here, Looking In Your Eyes. This 8-minute epic harks back to the halcyon days of the genre. The title track is funky and Love Lies Bleeding follows on very well to give an uplifting finish to a more than competent album. Jake Jackson excels again and Atherton pours his heart into it.

Underground Ballroom delivers contemporary, urban blues that we will all want to hear more of.

http://www.undergroundballroom.com/

David Blue.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007


Various Artists – Eat To The Beat (The Dirtiest Of Them Dirty Blues) (Bear Family Records).

Modern day rappers may think that they have got a monopoly on innuendo and smutty lyrics, but, as is shown on this collection of bawdy blues from the 1940s and 1950s with one each from the 60s and 70s, nothing in this world is new. This album has twenty eight tracks of the most suggestive, and sometimes outright filthy, lyrics that the blues has to offer. Starting with 1945s I Want A Man (Who’s Gonna Do Right) by Annisteen Allen and Her Home Town Boys, a tale of a girl who wants her man to stand up all night we are taken on a journey with more double entendre than the entire series of Carry On films. Dirty Red’s Mother Fuyer has slurred lyrics to give the effect of swearing at the appropriate times and is of a high standard musically with some great piano playing. Dinah Washington is one of the more famous names on the album and the first of her two contributions, Long John Blues, is a tale of dentistry. This has been a favourite theme for innuendo for some time and Dinah fills this standard jazzy blues with references to drilling and filling cavities. Tom Archia and His All Stars give us Fishin’ Pole and there’s no need to explain what the suggestion is here. Weddin’ Day Blues by Cousin Joe with Pete Brown’s Brooklyn Blue Blowers is one of the upfront songs – there’s no hiding here on this speakeasy song. Another of the more famous contributors is Amos Milburn. His input is Hard Driving Blues, a standard blues but it is, after all, from one of the greats and he stamps his earthy personality all over it. The quaintly named Crown Prince Waterford offers up Move Your Hand Baby, a classy boogie-woogie with an energetic vocal. The standard of Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends’ Don’t Come Too Soon is very high even if the lyrics are a bit tame by today’s standards. Wynonie Harris is another of the albums luminaries and his I Like My Baby’s Pudding is a jazzy blues with a gritty vocal. By now I’m wondering just how many euphemisms you can get into one album! Some artists take their song seriously but that can’t be said of The Dominoes. Their Doo-Wop, Sixty Minute Man, has an exceptionally silly lead vocal and is on the album for novelty value only. Moose Jackson (Bullmoose Jackson) joins up with Tiny Bradshaw’s Orchestra for Big Ten Inch Record. This has a great use of a pause and shows that you can be frivolous and good. The Clovers give us Rotten Cocksuckers Ball, barbershop as you’ve never heard before. I’ll say no more! Chuck Berry had a number 1 with My Ding-A-Ling but Dave Bartholomew’s version pre-dates it by a number of years. I think that I prefer this big band, bluesy version. There are a number of styles on the album and The Treniers give us some post-war jump blues on Poon-Tang!

Jesse Powell & His Orchestra contribute The Walkin’ Blues (Walk Right In, Walk Right Out) and this big band style is the most prevalent on the album. He leaves it to your imagination to make up the rhymes and this is probably the best way to deliver this type of song. The wordy, The ‘5’ Royales with Charlie ‘Little Jazz’ Ferguson & His Orchestra provide Laundromat Blues – you shouldn’t have to think too much to guess what this one is about. Wynonie Harris returns, this time with Todd Rhodes’ Orchestra, for Keep On Churnin’ – so filthy yet so innocent. Dinah Washington also makes a return with Big Long Slidin’ Thing and, as I’ve said before, some are less obvious than others. This one is about a trombone, wink wink. There are some things that you don’t expect to hear and The Blenders’ Don’t Fuck Around With Love in a Doo-Wop style is one of them. I suppose it’s the contradiction that makes it attractive. Dorothy Ellis’ Drill Daddy Drill is a return to the often covered theme and is an energetic blues with all of the compulsory innuendo. The Royals Work With Me Annie is not a blues as such but leans more toward R&B/Doo-Wop and falls into the less in your face category. The Toppers’ I Love To Play Your Piano (Let Me Bang Your Box) is about playing the piano, apparently. One person that I did not expect to hear on this album was Jackie Wilson but he appears with LaVern Baker on Think Twice (Version X). You can hear LaVern giggle all the way through this as they put just about every swear word known to man. They have great rhythm though, no matter what. Snatch & The Poontangs featuring The Mouth on vocal throw up Two Time Slim, a true talking blues. This is how rap stars would play the blues and the Delta guitar in the background is sheer bliss. Chuck Willis’ Stoop Down Baby is tame compared to some of the others but it makes up for it by being one of the best musically. We’re treated to some Cajun by Boozoo Chavis who gives us LA Women Love Uncle Bud. This is another strong song musically and it’s helping to give the album a powerful finish. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was never one to hide his light under a bushel and Bite It just confirms that. The album finishes with The Fred Wolff Combo and Somebody Else Was Suckin’ My Dick Tonight. Growling vocal, short and not so sweet, what else can I say?

Bear Family Records has also included a wonderfully informative booklet which includes the offending lyrics.

http://www.bear-family.de/

David Blue.

Thursday, January 18, 2007


David Brake & That Damn Band – Spin Around (Westerland Records).

12 new songs, all played live, yes David Brake and That Damned Band are back. Live albums are notoriously difficult to pull off for many a reason and, in my opinion, every band that is worth its salt has to release at least one in their career. They open with the title track with a Bob Dylan style verse and Billy Joel rapid delivery a la We Didn’t Start The Fire. It has a strong, simple chorus and it allows the band to set out their stall as a tough live band. Greyhound Bus is good modern country rock and suits Brake’s easy style. He has the ability to become another great American storyteller. It’s so easy to listen to this band and they are on top form on Kayla Blue. She Owns My Bones leans toward classic country and although it’s a bit sedate for me I’m sure that it will please those many country fans out there. There’s some more contemporary country on Ugly People and I Got Friends is pleasant enough middle of the road fare.

Ignorant Hicks is Eagles style country rock and a jovial dig at city dwellers whilst the effortless Kingdom Of One is top class new country – a standout. Bottle Of Beer is more traditional country and not particularly inspired and Jennifer’s Leavin’ is standard fare new country. Things lift up with Bar Tab Blues, a great example of Brake’s excellent songwriting skills and the album finishes with Beer Gut. The fun filled lyrics obviously strike a chord with the men in the crowd and there’s some good interaction with the audience at the end but it’s a woman’s voice that you hear most clearly.

It takes a good band to pull off a live album – this is a good band.

http://www.thatdamnband.com/
http://www.davidbrake.com/

David Blue.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007


Mitch Woods – Big Easy Boogie (Club 88 Records).

San Franciscan Mitch Woods has assembled a stellar New Orleans band for what has been described as the Big Easy version of The Buena Vista Social Club. They open with the eponymous title track, a big band blues that verges on rock n roll, and it’s a great way to start. Erving Charles, Jr on bass, who is sadly no longer with us and Earl Palmer provide the driving force and they are complimented by some great other New Orleans old timers. Woods takes on the vocal duty in addition to his piano but it is his piano playing that transcends all. Thought I Heard Satchmo Say is a pleasant New Orleans shuffle and Fallin’ For You is a slow rock n roll stroller, both of which are played with heart. Mitch and the band stay in the rock n roll arena for Counting The Days which moves along very well and shows just how good a band they are. Mojo Mamba is a good fun-time boogie with an earthy voice from Woods and the telling introduction of female backing vocals. Mitch shows what he is about on Crescent City Flyer; this piano boogie is certainly from the high end of the market.

It’s back to the slow rock n roll for Heart And Soul To You and this is pretty standard stuff at best. He stays in the rock n roll field for Short, Sweet And Tender but things are speeded up quite significantly. This will be a real crowd pleaser and again shows Woods to be in the higher echelon of boogie-woogie piano players. Back In Your Arms Again is medium paced rock n roll and is lit up by the horns of Herb Hardesty, Clarence Johnson III and Fred Sheppard on tenor sax, Reggie Houston on baritone sax and the legendary Dave Bartholomew on trumpet. I Left My Baby At The Mardi Gras Cryin’ is played in a Professor Longhair style but the added guitar of Jimmy Moliere gives that different feel as he does his thing. The slow swinger, New Gert Town Blues is a fine example of Woods leaving the audience in no doubt that the piano is the star of this show. They crank up the pace again for I’m Ready, the Fats Domino classic, and this excellent version leads us up toward the end of the album in fine style. The closing track, The Ballad Of Dr Daddy O has a spoken narration about the first Black radio DJ and is a good story, if somewhat a strange way to end the album.

Also included is a DVD with a live New Orleans performance, recording studio footage, interviews, biographies and a discography. This all makes for a top class package.

http://www.mitchwoods.com/

David Blue.

Thursday, January 11, 2007


Bob Brozman – Blues Reflex (Ruf Records).

Bob Brozman says that he has been playing guitar for 45 years and he’s just beginning to figure out some of the basics of music. I know what he means – he’s revisiting his deeply held ideas and re-evaluating them. Blues Reflex is the result and Brozman opens with the superbly titled Dead Cat On The Line. This is a stomping Delta blues where he plays all of the instruments apart from the drums and there’s a fantastic prelude speech by the Reverend J.M. Gates lifted from 1929. Brozmans National guitar playing is superb and he plays an instrument by the name of a duff bender which I think is an Arabic device of some sort, all of which, when added to his gruff vocal, makes for a wonderfully eccentric song. Rattlesnake Blues is a traditional tune given the Brozman treatment and his beautiful rolling guitar is the making of the song. He turns to the jazz genre for One Steady Roll and the French influences abound. Despite the exaggerated vocal it is his guitar that carries this one. Death Come Creepin’ is a good old Delta blues and Vieux Kanyar Blues is more contemporary. The overdubbing a la Les Paul is welcome and shows how innovative a guitarist he is. Only three of the thirteen tracks are not written by Brozman and Poor Me, written by Charley Patton, is one of them. This is very slow but is full of character.

The last of the covers is Skip James’ Cypress Grove Blues and this is an interesting version of the song. Brozman just about gets away with it and his guitar playing, as usual, is on top form. He goes on to give us a slide guitar master class on Little Tough Guy Blues before giving us a first on New Guinea Blues (I’m sure that no-one else has ever written a blues about that country). The song itself is a standard blues and little else. It’s Mercy We Need is the third instrumental of the album and is a sobering piece of music. Mean World Blues is bouncy but More Room At The Edge is probably one too many instrumentals. He seems to be running out of ideas but there are some Indian influences in the guitar work. The final track, Workman’s Song, is yet another instrumental and although he has been playing Hawaiian guitar throughout it is this one that sounds most like it. The album has petered out a bit but is worth buying at least for the first eight tracks alone.

http://www.bobbrozman.com/
http://www.rufrecords.de/

David Blue.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007


Bob Margolin – In North Carolina (Steady Rollin’ Records).

Blues veteran Margolin releases his first album on Steady Rollin’ Records and the former Muddy Waters guitarist gives us a personal insight to his blues world. To have played with Muddy Waters for seven years is testament to Bob’s playing and he can be seen playing alongside the great man on Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz. Just to prove his high level of musicianship, Margolin plays all the instruments heard on the album. He opens, appropriately enough, with a Muddy Waters song. Tell Me Why is a great song to start an album with and Margolin’s slide guitar and fractured solo compliment his understated vocal. The soft vocal is a good idea because it would be potential disaster to try and match Waters’ delivery. The title track is almost played to a tango beat and Bob turns in a silky vocal performance. This is the first of Margolin’s originals; the album is split roughly 50/50 between covers and originals, and gives an indication of his particular lyrical style. You Rascal You is a Sam Thread song and, as the title suggests, is a bouncy, good time song. It’s acoustic, unlike the first two, and I really have taken to it. Just Before Dawn is another original and is a slow Chicago blues. The Muddy Waters influence is there for all to hear, as is that of Johnny Winter who he also played with. He’s not a blues shouter by any manner of means and he’s kept his voice on a leash so far. It’s two self-penned songs in a row with the slow instrumental Colleen. This allows him to show off his guitar skills although he’s leaning towards country rather than the blues with this one. He returns to Muddy Waters for Lonely Man and he’s back to the blues, no mistake. Snappy snare and punchy guitar make for one of the albums highlights. A track from Bob Dylan may be a strange choice but this reminds me of The Rolling Stones, Wild Horses ilk – very good.

J.W. Henry’s Natural Blues is given a funked up treatment with slap bass. It’s a swing blues but an even more beefy sound would have been welcome. Margolin’s own Bring Me Your Blues has a very deep vocal and is painfully slow (no bad thing though) but he returns to the Chicago style blues for Lillian Shedd McMurry’s Red Hot Kisses. This has some of the best guitar work on the album and although he delivers a laconic vocal he does put a bit of rage in there at last. Hard Feelings is an acoustic blues that has Bob on top form again but Floyds Blues is another slow instrumental that doesn’t really go anywhere. She And The Devil continues in the sedate vein but this self-penned Delta blues has some of the best guitar playing that I’ve heard recently. Baby Baby Baby is played in a Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee style with some added electric slide and gets top marks from me. The final, bonus, track is a spoken tale of blues bands, what songs they get as requests and other interesting things. It’s a bit of a strange way to finish the album and I, personally, would have preferred it if he had just finished with Baby Baby Baby.

This is a top class album from a man steeped in the blues. He’s played alongside two of my heroes and that would have been enough for me but he’s added the cream on top by releasing this.

http://www.bobmargolin.com/

David Blue.

Friday, January 05, 2007


Steve Ashley – Live In Concert (Dusk Fire).

Steve Ashley’s 60th birthday party was recorded for posterity and a number of his friends turned up to help him celebrate. Fairport Convention’s Dave Pegg and Simon Nicol help out on the jokey folk of I’m A Radio and Tinderbox contribute to the acoustic The Spirit Of Christmas. Pegg returns with orchestral backing for None Can Tell and Ashley’s voice shows no signs of his age. Springsong is the kind of song that we non-folkies would describe as finger in the ear stuff but Ashley’s Jethro Tull type vocal wins me over. Broken Wing is another gentle song but is not strong throughout and becomes rather bitty. Well Well Well is superbly played and is suited to Ashley’s laid back style whereas The Well At The Worlds End picks up the pace a bit and is the best track so far. Richard Byers on mandolin is the star here.

Back On The Road Again keeps the pace up with Ashley’s tales of bygone tours. There’s a good backing vocal here and Chris Leslie on fiddle fits in supremely. The Weapon makes it three up-tempo songs on the trot. This is an anti-war song but they lose it a bit at times and that’s a real shame. There’s a jug band feel to Easy Come and he provokes some thoughts on Ships Of Shame, a song about the need for our nuclear submarines. Ashley throws in some jolly English Folk on Family Love and he seems to perform better on the slower songs as shown on Once In A While. His gentleness pervades the album and his friends, Pegg, Leslie & Nicol plus Martin Brinsford, certainly back him well throughout. There’s some more of Ashley’s down to earth Folk on Feeling Lazy and the concert finishes with Say Goodbye, appropriately enough, with its earthy lyrics. Steve Ashley sings songs with a social conscience and these days, that’s no bad thing.

http://www.duskfire.co.uk/

David Blue.

Thursday, January 04, 2007


The Barcodes – With Friends Like These (Note Records).

Britain’s foremost R&B label, Note, has a roster to die for and The Barcodes epitomise the quality on offer. Bob Haddrell, Alan Glen and Dino Coccia are the current incarnation and the guest stars compliment them perfectly. Opening with Taj Mahal’s Paint My Mailbox Blue they produce thirteen tracks of British R&B that is rarely matched. Val Cowell and Paul Cox guest on vocals and their voices fit together very well on this sultry blues along with Papa George on slide guitar and Roger Cotton on Hammond. There are only four covers on the album and the second, Mose Allison’s I Won’t Worry About A Thing, shows a bunch of top musicians on top of their form. This is played in Allison’s jazz/blues style and the newest member, Bob Haddrell, effortlessly shows his keyboard skills. However, it is Alan Barnes on sax that is the standout. The first of the originals is a result of many hands and Back At The 4 Aces is an airy instrumental that takes in jazz and a little bit of reggae. Jim Mullen adds his considerable guitar talents to this one. Great British blues musician Alan Glen is a much lauded guitarist, harmonica player and songwriter and his Petunia is next. This is slinky jazz of the highest order and has Glen written all over it, as you can tell from the guitar work. Everything Or Nothing is another Glen song and he showcases his harmonica this time – British blues from a British bluesman. He teams up with Coccia for Halfway To Nowhere, another good British R&B topped off by Zoot Money on vocal and Hammond.

It’s a full band effort for the instrumental Blues For Judy which is on the jazzy side of the blues again, with Glen’s guitar shining through. Can’t Hold Out Much Longer is a Little Walter song but the understated vocal lets it down a bit. I also thought that Glen would have given the harmonica part a better treatment. Coccia and Haddrell team up for the first time to write Time, Talk ‘n’ Trouble, a slow methodical blues that doesn’t really get anywhere. The Snitch is a band effort again and is plain and simply well played, British jazz/blues. They stay in the jazzy vein for Coccia & Haddrell’s Undercover Lover. Although it has the added extra of Nick Newall on flute it’s really nothing out of the ordinary. The last of the covers is a laid back version of Peter Green’s Watch Out. It’s jazzed up a little and I’m sure that it’s not what Green had in mind when he wrote it. It’s a low key finish with No Light In My Life. Well played, as are the others, and in the jazz vein which is a side of the band that has come out more than I’d hoped.

http://www.note-music.co.uk/

David Blue.