River Bottom Blues Redux

River Bottom Blues--A crime novel for blues fans is due out sooooon!

Really. It is.

Bobby Mack's Texas Guitar Review

I'm quite late with this, but, if you want to witness three of the "Best Damned Blues Guitarists in Texas" get down with it "LIVE" head to the Big Easy in Houston tonight (1/14/12) or tap into Bobby Mack's live stream at http://www.bobbymack.com/ It's is definitely the next best thing to being there. These guys seriously bring it to the blue table.

Sugar Ray Norcia & the Bluetones

Sugar Ray Norcia and The Bluetones
Evening
Severn CD 0052

THIS is more like it! This is what drew me to Sugar Ray Norcia way back when and why I've followed his career ever since. I've got most of Sugar Ray's recorded output, with and without the Bluetones, and I've always preferred the releases on which he get down and dirty, nitty and gritty with his harmonica tones the best. Oh, I've found his work with the Roomful of Blues pleasant, and his forays off into Sinatra-land enjoyable enough, but the straight ahead, down-in-the-alley blues is just where my blues taste buds reside. The low down, gut bucket stuff, and the scruffier, the better.

Now, for the better part of the last decade, Norcia would stick such a blues on his albums here and there, but Evening is chock full of prime cuts of nasty. All one has to do is listen to the two cuts that bookend the album to know that this is all about gettin' down with the grit. The Johnny Young penned opener, "I'm Having A Ball" fires a heavily distorted amplified first shot---and it's also heavenly amplified. Norcia is ripping tones out that sound as if he's trying to emulate what Pat Hare had going on with his legendary distorted blues guitar back with Muddy and the Wolf.  Norcia also gets a gritty timbre happening in the vocal department, which belies the velvety smooth chops normally associated with him. He does a darned good job of sounding eerily like the song's author, as the Bluetones employ some of that good ol' Chitown ensemble playing where everyone is threading their instrumental sounds around each other's grooves. Especially effective is orginal Bluetones' piano pounder, Anthony Geraci, who lays down a good Otis Spann impersonation. It the nasty that Norcia's getting from his harp that does it for me, though. I don't know exactly what he's playing through, other than he credits Sonny Jr's Four-Ten amp, but he's got to be processing some of that dirtyness through a pedal or two. That's my guess anyway. He gets down and dirty throughout the CD, but nothing touches the rock bottom grit coming out of the speakers on this tune. Perfect start.

The last cut "XO" is just one of those fine ol' amplifed harmonica instrumentals in the vein of his mentor, Big Walter Horton, or Little Walter, or whoever. Just kickin' sold lick after lick played like the masters played 'em back in those Chicago clubs in the '50s. It's apparent that he's having a ball and he shouts through his harp mic, "Let's take it home brothers and have a good time with it now".

In between, Norcia does vary slightly a time or two from the all out amped up harp assualt, such as when he almost made me forget Otis Rush when he lights into the Willie Dixon penned, "You Know My Love" with vocals that are just as deep and tortured as the original. "Monster" Mike Welch, who has been in and out of the Bluetones over the years, does just as much justice with his string bending. This is only one of two songs without harp at all added to the mix, but Norcia's vocals, like Rush's were, is as much of a blues instrument as his harp. The other is "Dancing Bear (Little Indian Boy)" with Norcia opening up with a Native American riff on flute. Sounds strange in the beginnig, but quickly segues into a swinging shuffle, with Welch's taking over with some nice Gatemouth Brown type riffing on his guitar. Another departure is "Dear John", as in one of those letters, and it lopes along pleasantly in a country/western groove with Norcia supplying some melodic, but still gritty harp runs.

He adds to the variety by showing off his estimatable acoustic harp chops on  the lowdown, slowdown of "Too Many Rules and Regulations" and shows his wit with lyrical turns like They tell you don't do this, don't do that/If you eat too many calories, it's gonna make you fat. He puts down the harp mic for "I Came Down With The Blues", which has a "Look Over Yonder Wall" feel to it and a Junior Wells' vibe. The title tune, "Evening", breaks out the chromatic harp for some minor keyed, laid back stuff. This, and the Dixon/Johnny Young tunes are the only covers on the twelve track program. The rest of the tunes showcase Norcia's skill as a tunesmith, along with the Welch penned, "Hard To Get Along With" and bassman Mudcat Ward's "(That's Not Yet) One Of My Blues", both of which are solid blues. Welch's number would fit well alongside of Floyd Jones' "Stockyard Blues" in the Chitown blues tradition.

Well, anyway, I do believe that this will go down as my favorite Sugar Ray Norcia release just because of the sheer number of times that he decides to get down with the nasty ol' gritty amplified blues harmonica. Oh, yeah, and of course he's singing his butt off  with a more gut bucket approach than he's ever done before. 'Nuff for now.

Resoluting

Ya know, I really can't recall my resolutions from last January. Maybe it's because I rarely make any. I do think I did make a few last time out, but if I did, I certainly didn't write them down anywhere as proof. So I don't know if I met those goals. Gonna change that today, because I'm jotting down a few here. I doubt if I go back a year from now and check to see if I did 'em or not, but they be recorded for posterity...or whatever.

FIRST--I need to maintain the ol' blog here a bit better with mo' frequent posts.

SECOND--Some of those posts would be reviews of some CDs that I've been meaning to review such as:
Evening by Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, Live In Boston 1966 by Junior Wells & The Aces, The Bull Creek Sessions by The Moeller Bros, The Little Elmore Reed Blues Band, and Choice Cuts by Big Pete. I'll just say right now that all of these are worthy editions to anyone's blues library...just in case I don't get around to reviewing them.

THIRD--Stay busy writing, writing, and writing. Even though River Bottom Blues hasn't hit the market yet, my second book in the series is ready to go and I need to get more of the third down on paper. RBB should be out by the end of January (I'm thinking anyway), so I need to also focus on putting a marketing/promotion cap on the ol' head and figure out the best way to get the word out to readers.

FOURTH--Try to get out there and see more live blues in action.

FIFTH--Ain't no fifth. I'll be doing good to do the last four good. 'Nuff for now.

RIP Hubert Sumlin

Hubert Sumlin has left us at age 80. One more blues legend of several that we lost this past year, and one that no one will ever replace or duplicate.

No one played blues guitar licks like Hubert Sumlin. IMHO he was the most innovative blues guitarist to ever walk the planet. All one needs to do is listen to enough recycled, 12 bar, I-IV-V blues progression licks to know that Sumlin came from another dimension when he applied his fingers to the fretboard. No where can one hear the type of things that he pulls off on classic Howlin' Wolf cuts, such as "Smokestack Lightning", "Killing Floor", or "Spoonful" and how they give snap, crackle, and pop to Wolf's brand of blues. He'd ride Wolf's rhythm and then throw down total surprise riffs that slipped out of nowhere, or outer space. Like most blues fans, it is the Wolf albums that define Hubert Sumlin, but he did have a very long and distinguished solo career. I have a good number of his solo efforts, like Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party, Healing Feeling, Heart and Soul, and Wake Up Call. All of them have remarkable examples of Sumlin's brilliance, but they don't hang together as well as a couple that I'm listing here.

I was reluctant to purchase About Them Shoes because I thought would be one of those star studded affairs, where the guests out shine the hosts. I should have known better and that folks such as Eric Clapton, Levon Helms, Jame Cotton, and Paul Oscher would defer to the master and let him shine, and shine he does on a set dominated by songs associated with Muddy Waters instead of the Wolf. Of course, Sumlin did have a short stint playing in Waters' band when he and the Wolf fell out for a bit.

I Know You has Chi-town harp master Carey Bell on board (who passed away not too long ago) and they cover a bit of Wolf territory, standard Chicago blues stuff, with a little Bo Diddly thrown into the mix. The folks at APO records really brought out the best of what Hubert Sumlin is all about on this release.

Of course, Howlin' Wolf's complete Chess stuff is the mother lode of Hubert Sumlin's shining examples of why every blues guitarist since has deferred to the man with the wry smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

FREE Preview Plus Discount

FREE is alway good, huh? In this case Barking Rain Press is offering a four chapter free preview of my crime novel for blues fans, River Bottom Blues. Once it is available. Sign up now and they'll send out the chapter preview in PDF. Those that are enticed by the preview can order River Bottom Blues for 35% off, but have absolutely NO obligation to do so. The form over in my blog sidebar can be filled out, or visit the publisher's website here: http://www.barkingrainpress.org/

Also, my official press release can be found here: http://www.barkingrainpress.org/2190/river-bottom-blues-acquire/

Yo-Yo Blues

Yeah, that's it. I'm going to subtitle my crime novel, River Bottom Blues, with Yo-Yo Blues. It just fits what's been going on with this book. I could have posted the info that I'm going to reveal here today a couple of weeks ago, but I'm getting a little gun shy touting the novel. Now, I'm tempted to say that I've just signed my third book contract within a little more than a year. Those that haven't read the blog, or could care less about my novel ideas, would think that I'm quite prolific. At some point, though, I'd have to explain that the contract is indeed for the same River Bottom Blues for which I signed two previous contracts.

In my last post on this subject, I lamented that my second publisher for the book quit publishing in October, after my first publisher folded up shop in March. Somewhere along the way, I mentioned just how enthusiastic both publishing houses were with my crime novel and its blues element and how pleased I was that they were excited about my tale. So, originally the book was set for an October 2011 release by the first press and I went about shouting out into cyberspace, handing out business cards, and telling friends and family to look for it then. Then, the publisher's partners quit partnering so well and they all parted ways. Then, my second publisher promised an April 2012 release and I blasted that news around, until their demise forced me to say: "nevermind".

Okay, to cut to the chase, River Bottom Blues has been acquired by Barking Rain Press and being run by one of the partners associated with the first publisher and who has plans to get things done right. My previous editor is also on board, so extensive edits aren't needed and it could hit the market by Christmas. They are as excited about getting my book on the market as they were the first time, so I'm looking forward to the relationship there. 'Nuff for now.