Billy B & John P

Authorly things jumped in my path to purchasing more blues music for my birthday last month. One of those Kindle e-readers came my way as a gift and I set about spending b-day money on e-books instead of blues. Nevermind that I haven't read all the papermade books that I bought back in June for Father's Day. Never thought that I'd get into buying more books than blues music, but I guess my thinking is that it'll make me a better writer.

Every once in awhile, during a hiatus from buying blues music, I'll try to remind myself that I have tons of blues music aroung the house, so I'll grab something off the shelf and give it a spin. It'll also remind me that there's some fine musicians that I need to dust off more often. Lots of times it's just a random grab, but this time I went looking for John Primer's The Real Deal because it was my absolute favorite blues release back in--wow, was it really 1995. Can't believe it's been that long ago. What impressed me the most was that the title lived up to it's name--the CD was chock full of stone cold, solid blues played with conviction. It represented John Primer's step up to the majors in terms of recording contracts. The Code Blue label was a subidiary of Atlantic/Warner records, Mike Vernon producing a great bit of those releases.  The fact that Primer had Billy Branch on board whipping up blues harp notes Chi-town style had me listening to the release fairly consistently.

The problem back then was that I reviewed a slew of CDs back during that period, with many being sent to me with expectations of a quick turnaround for the review. My ears were bleeding the blues, so plenty of releases hit rotated through my head, then headed for the 'reviewed' stack. Not The Real Deal, because Primer and Branch played my kind of blues to a tee. It also reminded me just how much I liked Billy Branch's blowing, who I heard for the first time on Johnny Winter's 1990 return to the blues on Guitar Slinger. The man met the challenge of  keeping up with the Great Albino and help ground the album in deep blues. Sittin' and listening to The Real Deal again over the past couple of days also reminded me that I haven't bought anything by either of these guys since then, except on the ensemble cast represented on the YouTube clip here and the CD Chicago Blues: A Living History which I reveiwed last year. These two guys highlighted that double live recording for me.

Primer's newest album is called All Original, because it features, well, Primer originals, but The Real Deal featured half a program of well written tunes in the vein of Magic Slim (his ex-boss) and Willie Dixon. So, even though he forayed into covering other artists, such as the Elmore James tribute, Blue Steel (and by the way, he's a heck of a slide guitarist), he's always had a powerful blues pen. Now, I'm sort of departing from this being a regular review type review. I guess this is more to remind myself (and others), just how potent Primer and Branch were on this release fifteen years back and to remind me that I need some new blues--by both these guys. Heck, I don't even know if it's still available any longer, but I guarantee that it is worth seeking out---and then go do what I'm going to do. Get some of their new stuff, like I plan to do.

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As an addendum, since I have Primer on my mind, I heard some really fat, fat toned harp on sat radio's BB King Bluesville being played by Bill Wax. Something I'd never heard before, so I stopped all activities in hopes that Bill called out the artist's name. This guy just flat slipped up on me and the band played some kind of knocked out Chicago style blues. I had to go to http://www.chrisharper.info/ to find out that Swississippi Chris Harper had rounded up Jimmy Burns, Bob Stroger, Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith, and John Primer for a foray into that type of blues on Four Aces and a Harp. I'll leave it at that, because that's all the info I have right now--but I plan to investigate (and invest) a lot deeper into the music from this guy. I'll check him out and get back later, but with these guys on board, it's got to be killer.

A Bit More Chi-Town Blues

Chicago Blues
A Living History
Raisin Music RM1003

I thought that I'd put my two cents in on the music that I ran the promo material about last month. I'm not in the habit of touting a release before I have a chance to listen to the music, but the fact that the CD was up for a Grammy, that the links to the youtube vids were available as bait, and that the artists involved would lay down quality stuff enticed me into promoting it here on the blog. Now, since receiving the two disc set the day after Christmas, I have a chance to affirm that these guys live up to my expectations and sling some solid gold Chi-Town blues.

Lurrie Bell, Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, and Billy Branch have been the torch bearers for the genre for quite some time now. They all literally grew up eating, breathing, and absorbing the music that exists on this release, which is a tribute to those that defined the genre. The music follows a chronological path (disc one covers 1940-55 and disc two 1955 to present) beginning with Sonny Boy Williamson I's (John Lee Williamson), logically covered by Billy Boy, who idolized the bluesman as a kid and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Arnold captures the essence of the blues harmonica's first real star. He knows this stuff, and he put out his own fine tribute to SBWI this past year. He'd be the first to tell you that he never developed the technical mastery of the instrument that his hero had, but he ain't no slouch. His vocals throughout he proceedings are the best that I've heard from him in recent years as he also covers Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, and Memphis Slim. These cuts exude the '50s Chicago vibe that the originals did. That can also be contributed to producer Larry Skoller and the additional musical backing by Billy Flynn (guitar), Johnny Iquana (keyboards), Felton Crews (bass), and Kenny "Beedy" Eyes Smith (drums); who all know their way around a Chicago block or two. I was especially impressed with Iquana's work on Memphis Slim USA and his solo instrumental cover of Maceo Merriweather's Chicago Breakdown, which allows him to crank on the 88s. Also, his swirling organ really sets up Otis Rush's minor keyed My Love Will Never Die for Lurrie Bell's impassioned vocals.

Of course Billy Boy Arnold's own star was shining in the '60s, as his tunes (written in the '50s) were being cover by the likes of the Yardbirds with a young Eric Clapton on guitar. He covers his hit, I Wish You Would, that has a timeless message and his signature harmonica riffing. Even though he never achieved the same level of acclaim for his blues harping, I guarantee you that his harp licks were some of the first to be copied by rock and rollers. His work on this disc is a testament to his importance as much as it is for Muddy, the Wolf, or Little Walter.

Speaking of Little Walter, no release claiming to be a tribute to the heyday of Chicago Blues can overlook the master blaster's contribution, and Billy Branch blasts his take on Hate To See You Go. Once the self-proclaimed new kids on the block, Branch is now quite the veteran Chicago bluesman. Seems like he's led his Sons Of Blues band forever, and one can still catch his live performance just about any day of the week around the Windy City. He's developed his own blues harp style, but he is somewhat the vocal chameleon here and nails LW's vocal timbre perfectly, and works his harp around Walter's notes admirably. He does more of the same on Junior Wells' classic, Hoodoo Man Blues, on which I'd swear is Wells doing the singing if I didn't know better. Billy Flynn does the Buddy Guy parts on the tune. Flynn stays out of the way throughout most of the proceedings, as a good Chi-Town ensemble man should, but they turn him loose on Earl Hooker's Hookin' It, and he lets his wah-wah out of its cage and smokes the meat. Branch's take on James Cotton's One More Mile is as funky as the original.

I've been a John Primer fan for a long, long time. He's always been true to his blues roots and has never wavered in keeping it real. Much like Branch did with the Wells' number, Primer sounds eerily like Howlin' Wolf on Moanin' At Midnight and Muddy on Feel Like Going Home and Sugar Sweet. He also lopes along perfectly on Jimmy Reed's Can't Stand To See You Go with contributing harp from Matthew Skoller. I have a couple of releases by Skoller and he always places some inventive riffs in the context of playing blues, but he keeps it traditional on this one and mimics Sonny Boy Williamson II's tone without being slavish on Your Imagination, which features Primer's spot-on vocal adaptations also.

I've mentioned Eddie C. Campbell a time or two on this blog, and it was on Campbell's King of the Jungle that Lurrie Bell debut his guitar chops on record (the album also featured his dad Carey). I've followed his well documented up and down career since then. He's really on the upswing right now and plays and sings with intensity on his tributes beginning with Elmore Jame's I Believe, which has the variant Dust My Broom theme going. Lurrie doesn't try to mimic James, he just wails away vocally and lets Flynn slip on the slide. He really cranks up the vocal chords on Otis Rush's My Love Will Never Die, which to me has always been a vocal showcase more than a guitar pull. There's some big singing shoes to fill when tackling that song, and Bell steps up and belts it with the emotion that it takes to do the song justice. He shouts out Buddy Guy's Damn Right I've Got The Blues with the same intensity. Of course, on a release such as this, the selection has to be selective, but if I'd been Lurrie, I would have insisted on the inclusion of a Carey Bell song, who was as instrumental in the advancement of the Chicago sound as anyone on the program.

Even though they include a cover of Three O'Clock Blues to illustrate B.B.King's influence on those Westside cats such as Rush, Buddy Guy, and Magic Sam, I don't think anyone will confuse him as being associated with Chicago. The author of the tune, Lowell Fulson, did record for Chess, but he came by way of the West Coast/T-Bone style of playing. Anyway, Mike Avery can sing this stuff very well. I'll admit that I've heard of Avery, but I'm not too familiar with him. The man can sing, though, as he proves it here and on Magic Sam's Out of Bad Luck. His lack of celebrity keeps him from being marqueed as one of the featured artist, but he's legit in my book--and he's a cousin of Magic Sam's, so it's in his genes.

The other non-featured feature is Carlos Johnson, who I also know very little about. He's represents the contemporary side of things by smokin' the strings on John Lee Hooker's The Healer and the aforementioned Damn Right I've Got The Blues. He sings on the former. He knows his book of blues/rock. I'd quibble with including Hooker on a Chi-Town tribute, because he created his own genre which fits nowhere, really, but he did record for Chess (and EVERYBODY else), so let ride.

If Chicago Blues floats your boat, here it is--played by those that play TODAY in tribute to those that played it YESTERDAY. These guys carried this show on the road and I only wish that it had made it somewhere close to Houston. They play this stuff with conviction. 'Nuff for now.

Chicago Blues: A Living History

My friend Joe, from Joe's Blues Blog, left me a comment in regards to me getting my hands on a "must have" blues release featuring some of the finest bluesmen that are still out there doing it and I told him that I planned on doing just that. Since then, August Forte of NoVo Arts, Inc sent me links to live performances from the tour touting the album and a press release that'll tell you more than I know about their grammy nod AND since some of you just might need a little mo' blues for Christmas or know someone who does, then this ought to convince you as to what to choose.




****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED TRIBUTE TO CHICAGO BLUES GARNERS GRAMMY NOMINATION

CHICAGO BLUES: A LIVING HISTORY PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE EVOLUTION OF THE GENRE FROM ITS EARLIEST DAYS THROUGH THE PRESENT

Chicago, IL – December 9, 2009. Raisin’ Music is proud to announce that Chicago Blues: A Living History has been nominated as “Best Traditional Blues Album (Vocal or Instrumental)” for eligible recordings released October 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009.

In an unprecedented collaboration, the legendary Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Billy Branch and Lurrie Bell--inheritors of the Chicago Blues tradition—joined forces early in the year to celebrate and pay tribute to the evolution of Chicago Blues. In April of 2009, this super-group released Chicago Blues: A Living History (on the indie label Raisin’ Music) to overwhelmingly positive reviews. During the following summer, the group toured Europe, playing to packed crowds at fifteen major music festivals in seven countries.

Produced by Raisin’ Music’s Larry Skoller, co-produced by Aulnay All Blues (Aulnay-sous-Bois, France) and recorded by Blaise Barton at Chicago’s JoyRide Studios, Chicago Blues: A Living History features Arnold, Primer, Branch and Bell leading a crack band on songs made famous by the forefathers of Chicago Blues, including Big Bill Broonzy, Elmore James, Willie Dixon and Buddy Guy.

The 2-disc, 21-track double CD pays tribute to the genre's creators, its rich history and current practitioners and is accompanied by a 36-page booklet with extensive liner notes, photos by Marc PoKempner and a handsome 8-panel Digipak designed by Larry Kazal.

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC, will air on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For more information on Chicago Blues: A Living History, please check out the following links:

http://www.chicagobluesalivinghistory.com
http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/52nd_show/list.aspx
http://www.larrykazal.com

"...21 tracks of gorgeous blues; will undoubtedly challenge for blues recording honors this year. [Chicago Blues: A Living History] is a tremendous project that ought to be a finalist in a few awards categories. [It] is just a joy to listen to (and to look at), and it is without a doubt a recording that you will return to -- even if you have all the originals... Sonically superb and carefully conceived". -Living Blues Magazine



I can't see any blues lover not jumping on this one--these guys are just way TOO GOOD to ignore.