Various Artists – Knights Of The Blues Table (Viceroy Music).
This is a tribute to the memory of Cyril Davies, widely recognised as one of the fathers of British blues, and the opening track, Send For Me, is fittingly one of his compositions. This version is from Jack Bruce and is a classic British Blues sung by one of the best in the business. Bruce’s vocal is more than complimented by his lung bursting harmonica breaks (bet there’s a few out there that didn’t know he played harmonica as well). Clem Clempson also has a high profile on guitar. Georgie Fame is up next with If You Live, the Mose Allison song. This is a silky, jazzy blues given Fame’s renowned panache. Go Down, Sunshine is a traditional acoustic blues with the smokey voice of Duffy Power. Lonnie Johnson’s Rocketeer Blues is sung by Chris Jagger, with able backing from his brother, Mick. This acoustic stroller is great stuff. Pete Brown, Phil Ryan and Dick Heckstall-Smith join forces for Rocks In My Bed. This Leroy Carr tune is given the British treatment and builds up very well. I must have a special mention for Les Davidson here on guitar. The much recorded Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood is hardly a blues song but it is very welcome on this selection. Performed, solo, by Miller Anderson who provides an emotion laden vocal. Big Jim Sullivan and Maggie Bell give us Blind Man. They are two of the UK’s best blues exponents and Sullivan’s guitar work is masterful. To compliment this, Bell’s voice has that gritty quality that makes for a great blues singer.
Travelling Riverside Blues is one of the classics of the genre and Peter Green is one of the few who can carry it off, even though this was not recorded in his heyday. Backed by Nigel Watson they both simply play guitar and sing, giving it a natural feel. TS McPhee plays Drop Down Mama, the Sleepy John Estes song, in a gritty, punchy manner before Clem Clempson and Jack Bruce join forces for I’ve Got News For You. This is a slow, powerful Chicago blues to match the best from the USA with Clempson in particularly good form. Nine Below Zero play the Sonny Boy Williamson song from which they took their name. They were always a popular band, if commercially unsuccessful to a degree, and their powerful harp player, Billy, nails this dirty, gritty blues. 60s favourites The Pretty Things contribute Judgement Day and they capture the essence of the blues with novel use of John Povey’s harmonica. Paul Jones & Otis Grand throw in Play On Little Girl/T Bone Shuffle and this gives Jones the opportunity to show how good he is on the harmonica. It plods along very nicely until the T Bone Shuffle where Grand takes over and the blues come alive. James Cotton’s One More Mile is a bit uninspired given the calibre of the artists, Mick Clarke & Lou Martin. The set closes with Mick Taylor and Max Middleton with the Willie Dixon & JB Lenoir song, You Shook Me. I was expecting big things of this but its ponderous treatment only leaves the slide guitar as the main point of interest. It’s a shame that it’s a little disappointing at the end but overall, this is a good representation of British blues and a fine dedication to Cyril Davies.
http://www.lightyear.com/
David Blue.
This is a tribute to the memory of Cyril Davies, widely recognised as one of the fathers of British blues, and the opening track, Send For Me, is fittingly one of his compositions. This version is from Jack Bruce and is a classic British Blues sung by one of the best in the business. Bruce’s vocal is more than complimented by his lung bursting harmonica breaks (bet there’s a few out there that didn’t know he played harmonica as well). Clem Clempson also has a high profile on guitar. Georgie Fame is up next with If You Live, the Mose Allison song. This is a silky, jazzy blues given Fame’s renowned panache. Go Down, Sunshine is a traditional acoustic blues with the smokey voice of Duffy Power. Lonnie Johnson’s Rocketeer Blues is sung by Chris Jagger, with able backing from his brother, Mick. This acoustic stroller is great stuff. Pete Brown, Phil Ryan and Dick Heckstall-Smith join forces for Rocks In My Bed. This Leroy Carr tune is given the British treatment and builds up very well. I must have a special mention for Les Davidson here on guitar. The much recorded Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood is hardly a blues song but it is very welcome on this selection. Performed, solo, by Miller Anderson who provides an emotion laden vocal. Big Jim Sullivan and Maggie Bell give us Blind Man. They are two of the UK’s best blues exponents and Sullivan’s guitar work is masterful. To compliment this, Bell’s voice has that gritty quality that makes for a great blues singer.
Travelling Riverside Blues is one of the classics of the genre and Peter Green is one of the few who can carry it off, even though this was not recorded in his heyday. Backed by Nigel Watson they both simply play guitar and sing, giving it a natural feel. TS McPhee plays Drop Down Mama, the Sleepy John Estes song, in a gritty, punchy manner before Clem Clempson and Jack Bruce join forces for I’ve Got News For You. This is a slow, powerful Chicago blues to match the best from the USA with Clempson in particularly good form. Nine Below Zero play the Sonny Boy Williamson song from which they took their name. They were always a popular band, if commercially unsuccessful to a degree, and their powerful harp player, Billy, nails this dirty, gritty blues. 60s favourites The Pretty Things contribute Judgement Day and they capture the essence of the blues with novel use of John Povey’s harmonica. Paul Jones & Otis Grand throw in Play On Little Girl/T Bone Shuffle and this gives Jones the opportunity to show how good he is on the harmonica. It plods along very nicely until the T Bone Shuffle where Grand takes over and the blues come alive. James Cotton’s One More Mile is a bit uninspired given the calibre of the artists, Mick Clarke & Lou Martin. The set closes with Mick Taylor and Max Middleton with the Willie Dixon & JB Lenoir song, You Shook Me. I was expecting big things of this but its ponderous treatment only leaves the slide guitar as the main point of interest. It’s a shame that it’s a little disappointing at the end but overall, this is a good representation of British blues and a fine dedication to Cyril Davies.
http://www.lightyear.com/
David Blue.
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