Different Strokes

Porter Davis
Live At Eddie's Attic
Atlanta, Georgia
2007

Prologue: I don't quite know what happened here. I wrote this back on May 29 and was sure that it was posted back then. Buuuttt-I was scroll through my list of posts on my edit list and there this was, but as a DRAFT. Meaning, that I had not posted it.

Oh, yeah, I love discovering talented bands who I've never heard of before, especially if they employ an harmonica slinger. Actually, I checked these guys out for two reasons. The first one came from a comment left on the Harp Attack post from Simon Wallace who mentioned that he had met Stephen Schneider at the Austin Blues Society fundraiser this past Sunday and his impressions of the Lone Wolf Harp Attack pedal. The second came from Stephen who passed along his impression that the band had a trio thang going on that came close to the Collard Green's and Gravy groove. That's all the information I needed to head on over to www.loveporterdavis.com and check them out for myself.

Didn't take long to get slapped with the fact that I've been sucking hind tit as far as knowing Porter Davis' music. The entire music community of Austin apparently knows the group well enough to declare them the Best Roots Rock band and hand their drummer, Mike Meadows the Best Drum award and then give Simon the Best Instrumental Miscellaneous for his harmonica playing. Seems that they also placed in the Best Blues Band, Best Band, Best Male Vocal, and Best Electric Guitar categories. Reminds me of when I witnessed the Band of Heathens opening for Kim Wilson, I kept asking myself, "who are these guys".

I'm not going to re-gurgitate any more of their website info here. The guys do remind me quite of bit of that Band of Heathens. They defy being categorized and that does seem to be a trend with a lot of young bands and it seems that's what appeals to a lot of young music fans also. These guys do it as quite a unique trio.

I think Stephen's Collard Greens and Gravy comparison comes a lot from the Smack You Back groove, where they turn Simon Wallace loose with his harp skills and similar to Ian Collard, he pulls in some nicely sustained fat notes with solid intonation and vibrato. His inventive lick vocabulary contains nary a cliche. Like Collard, he gets the blues harp to do his bidding outside of the standard format. Kind of sets the tone that this ain't no blues band--but then Dan Barrett's slide guitar gets Muddy Water's Can't Be Satisfied going and his vocals take on a blues timbre and Wallace jabs his blues harp licks out. But then--

They'll get you thinking Townes Van Zandt with their version of White Freightliner and then Barrett channels Cat Stephens and James Taylor and Dave Mattews and they slip back down in the alley with Robert Johnson's Come On In My Kitchen. The entire time Mike Meadows pops and bops a very individualistic percussive beat nowhere close to being played on your standard drumkit; even throwing down a bit of a solo on Come Closer and Wallace makes his harp fit into what ever direction the band takes. The interconnection between his harp, Barrett's guitars/vocals, and Meadow's strange percussive display makes this band work for me. By the way, there ain't no one named Porter Davis. Anyway--'nuff for now.
PS.--pardon the small pix of the album, but it wouldn't grow any larger for me.

Shout Out To Memphis

Kudos to my main Memphis man, Billy Gibson! He won the blues industry equivalent to the Grammy for best instrumentalist-harmonica a little more than a week ago in Memphis. Well deserved for an extremely hard working musician trying to make a go of it in a difficult business. I've posted in regards to my relationship to Billy earlier and this award just validates my respect for the man. Can I get an AMEN! Go to the www.blues.org site for a complete list of winners.

Speaking of Memphis, my brother Rusty brought me a CD by some Memphis cats that go by the name Delta Highway. He and my Woodlands, Tx brother, Tim (and son Tanner) were in town for some of our Mom's gumbo. Rusty had heard them play at Mr. Handy's Blues Hall on Beale Street. I had heard of the band, but had not heard the band.




They gave him a promotional copy of their latest The Devil Had A Woman (without liner note info), so I had to stroll over to their website to find out about these guys. I had only listened to a couple of quick snippets long enough to tell that the harp player had some chops. When I read, though, that he (Brandon Santini) and the guitarist's (Justin Sulek)influences were John Popper and Stevie Ray Vaughan, I almost dismissed them. Don't get me wrong. Both Popper and Vaughan are tremendous talents. I have most everything SRV recorded because no one has ever played the blues with more soul than he did--too many try to duplicate that in the same way that some try to duplicate Little Walter. Popper just does not play music in my choice of genres.

Reading on, though, clued me into to the fact that both had found that the old school guys really had something going on and leaned on what they could learn there and blended it a bit with what they refer to as "High Octane Blues". Hmmm. Sounds like Blues/Rock, huh? And to an extent, you'd be right. What they really are successful at achieving, though, is a blend that is neither fish nor foul.

I've said before that Blues/Rock is not my cup of tea, but that is mainly because CDs in that category today stretch way too far away from the blues for me to consider it blues. The Delta Highway band incorporates a bit of the screaming guitar at times and some million note harp speed licks, but Santini and Sulek sprinkle them in like adding black pepper to a stew to make it tasty, but not to overwhelm the flavor.

The opening tune will fool you into believing that these guys are into a laid back groove with Santini's nicely played acoustic harmonica licks bouncing off some old school distortion from Sulek's guitar. Doesn't take much of 23 Hours to also prove that Santini's vocals are gritty enough for the blues.

The title tune ramps things up a smidgen (okay a lot) and we're given a harp and guitar ride, but things stay grounded in a blues context. Victor Wainwright's piano hammering are really a highlight of the tune. Oh, by the way, all the tunes are originals by Santini or he and Sulek.

They have quite a variety of grooves happening for anyone to label this Blues/Rock, actually. Funky Little Baby is a funky little tune with Santini's chromatic harp leading the way and a Westside Chicago guitar vibe from Sulek. For me, the deep harp tones make We Got A Thing Going On a favorite and Chris Stephenson's rhythmic organ shows up and swirls through the proceedings. Shake It Just A Little A Bit is a jumping harp work out and reminds me a lot of my good buddy Sonny Boy Terry's style. And that's kind of the way these guys work it and straddle the fence of the genres.

It is really apparent that both of these guys (Santini/Sulek) can shred on their instruments, but they choose to restrain themselves just enough to make this work for me. I hear more Billy Gibson than John Popper in Brandon Santini and like Billy, he knows how to keep it real. Anyway--I like these guys, someone has to keep it going.

Blues Across The Pond

I've got a few examples in my collection of just what some of those foreigners can do with a blues harp in the mouth. Some of these guys prove that they are dead serious at doing the blues right. As a world geography teacher, I always included a unit on blues music as an example of cultural diffusion as the music moved from where it was born into cultures far removed from that experience. Okay, getting too academic here, so here are some folks that deserve a listen and some much more than that. My blues collection is a bit more scattered around the house than it should be and I couldn't physically locate some of these artist's product, but I have 'em somewhere. I have several releases by some of these folks, so I'll just list the artist or band. Some of these were hard to come by, but they actually may be better known now, than then. In other words, I'll let you check and see if they are on iTunes or have a myspace or if they went off and joined a cult.

1. Collard Greens and Gravy/Australia--They are the #1 Veterans of Foreign Blues Wars in my book. I've already professed my love for Ian Collard's harp tones, so just go get everything that they've done.

2. Blues Before Sunrise/Australia--Okay, this is a bit of Ian Collard again. He's playing with a darned fine blues band from Down Under, though.

3. Paul Lamb/UK--The best traditional Chi-town blues harp type of guy over there. He's got it all going on, proving that he is well studied in the American Masters. Anyone who can hold there own with Kim Wilson, is substantial in my book. Not just a fat toned amped dude,either, because he absolutely nails Sonny Terry's style. I couldn't find his CD around here, but I've pulled a lot of his stuff off iTunes. He's got an instructional/confessional DVD out that I've been meaning to get, but at the time it was in the European format. I thinks its available for here, now. Looks like a good one.

4.Christian Dozzler/Austria--I almost didn't include Christian because he's been living in the Dallas area long enough to be called a Texan by now. I'm pretty sure that I had written him personally go get a couple of CDs that he had out at the time. He plays a lot of boogie woogie piano and keyboards, but when he whips the harp out, he has some serious tone. I met him at the Granada Theatre in Dallas at a Little Charlie and the Nightcats show. He was playing keys with Wanda King, Freddy's daughter, who opened. Nice guy.

5. Blues Fools/Hungary--I interviewed Matyas Pribojszki back in the day when I frequently contributed articles to the American Harmonica Newmagazine. It was by e-mail and if I could find the article, I would quote from it. He was quite a player back then and I'm sure that he is still proving that he's one of the best in Eastern Europe. They sent me a couple of different releases of predominantly originals in a West Coast swinging style--which was hotter back then than now.

6.Nine Below Zero/UK--The blues met a punk attitude with this crew of Brits back in the early '80s when harp whiz Mark Feltham was blowing and singing with the group. What I have is a double disc, Live At The Marquee and Don't Point Your Finger. Now, I'm not a fan of blues bands filtering the guitar through a Marshall stack, but these guys just had an unbelievable amount of energy and it's fun listening to the harp applied to guitar centric tunes by Freddy King and Otis Rush along with the Little Walter and Muddy Waters cover. When's the last time you heard anyone cover "Wooly Bully", huh?

7. BB & the Blues Shacks/Germany--I think the CD I have is Midnight Diner, but it's where I haven't looked I guess. The brothers Arlt run this gig. Michael(harp)and Andreas(guitar) are well respected on the European blues circuit and they are the go-to guys for a lot of traveling bluesmen from the U.S. who need expert support. RJ Mischo and Tad Robinson have recorded with them. I'm still looking for the one with Robinson. They play a variety of blues styles and may even kick in some rockabilly.

8. Horton's Briefcase/Sweden--Enjoyable release by a bunch of different Swedes blowing Big Walter tunes.

9. Helge Tallqvist/Finland--This cat includes a great booklet detailing his trip to the U.S. to meet his hero, George "Harmonica" Smith. He includes personal photos of he and George and family and then blows through twelve covers of tunes made famous by the man. There's also an interview snippet. Lots of chromatic work. The title is Helge Tallqvist & Groovy Eyes Plays George "Harmonica" Smith.

10. Little George Sueref/UK--What really impresses my more than Little George's harp playing is his singing. He has a JB Lenoir vocal nuance that is quite unique and he can call up Junior Parker's pitch as well on a set of originals that sound like they came out of the Chess vault. No kidding. This one was Little George Sueref and the Blue Stars. Lazy Lester even makes a cameo.

11. Bharath Rajakumar/UK--How's that for a blues name? Bharath and his Rhythm Four hit Little Walter tunes just about note for note on Friday Night Fatty. That is also what critics take to task, also--too much note for note. He does stray a bit from Little Walter on the CD, but then it's Sonny Boy II note for note. I think there was a time that doing the carbon copy was cool, but I think the argument is that we've been there and gone. Guys like Rick Estrin, Kim Wilson, and Rod Piazza were doing that back in the late '60s/early '70s and pushed it into their own styles. I remember the first Mitch Kashmar release that I got was him doing Little Walter and I liked it, but it lacked excitement--why not just listen to Little Walter? Kashmar has moved way beyond that now and I think that since Bharath has that one out of his system that he'll smoke 'em on down next time.

12. Steve Baker/Germany--I can't remember where I put his stuff either, but EVERYBODY knows he can play, right? right?

13. West Weston/UK--Still looking for something that represents the harp playing that I've heard him do on YouTube--that's sounds exactly the way I like to hear the blues harp played.

Okay, that's it. I know there is tons of more talent over there, those are just some releases that I have lying around--somewhere in some cases. Anyway--

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters
Classic Concerts
Reelin' In The Years
Hip-O
DVD


I mentioned this DVD a few months back when I told my son that Muddy Waters would be an interesting subject for his History Fair project, especially since the theme was historical figures who left a legacy behind. I used that as an excuse to purchase Muddy Waters Classic Concerts. The concerts were pulled from the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960, The Copenhagen Jazz Festival in '68 and the Molde Jazz Festival in '77. I never could persuade him to sit through the entire performances. I had told him that what would be of absolute value for his project were the inclusion of two interviews. He wanted to cut to the interviews, but I told him that he really needed to soak in the essence of the man. His response was, "Dad, I've been listening to your Muddy Waters since the day I was born." He had a point.

This collection is brought to us by the same folks that issued the complete Little Walter that I raved about earlier--Hip O Select in conjunction with Reelin' In The Years. It is just so remarkable to be able to watch the blues master kickin' butt in concerts separated by almost a decade between them. Each of his assembled bands displayed such a high level of blues musicianship. Notice that blues isn't in the title of any of these festivals. It took awhile for the music to earn its own place in the spotlight.

I didn't obtain a copy of Muddy's historic Newport Jazz Festival recordings until they were released on CD a few years ago. Live recordings of blues bands in the '60s were very rare. The Newport recordings were released in stereo sound and captured one of Muddy's best bands laying down an energetic set of Chicago blues and showed an East Coast crowd how the Mojo worked. A clip of this frequent encore tune has been out there for some time and his dancing and clowning with James Cotton is just flat cool. All the footage that has been available was in recorded in mono. The folks here took the stereo CD tunes and synced them up to the video and it works marvelously. A couple of tunes, that were not on the original stereo audio release, sound just as potent in mono and nothing is aurally lost there. The producers also edited out host intros, and other such distractions, to bring us an entire 26 minutes of the Newport show. Guitarist Pat Hare, pianist Otis Spann, bassman Andrew Stephenson, drummer Francis Clay and Cotton smoke 'em on down.

Otis Spann is the only musician still with Muddy when he hits the Copenhagen stage with guitarists Luther "Snake" Johnson and Pee Wee Madison, harpman Paul Oscher, bassist Sonny Wimberley and drummer S.P. Leary and they are as a potent of a team as his previous bands. Eight years later, the set list includes a few of the same hits that he wowed the Newport crowd with, but if the festivals are anything like they are today, the artists have to get in, do their top hits and get out. Along with Hoochie Coochie Man and Got My Mojo Working, Muddy throws out a nice rendition of T-Bone Walker's Cold, Cold Feeling. Pee Wee and the "Snake" have always impressed my with their blues picking and just how they weave things around each other. Nice to see Oscher in action also, especially in the opening. What is missing is the fact that this band carried no piano player.

Muddy's band plays for a rather subdued Norwegian audience at the Molde Jazz Festival. The band roster is completely different than it was nine years earlier, but Muddy never put together a band that couldn't get after it. A Luther Johnson is playing guitar, but his middle moniker is "Guitar" and not "Snake". His solos are just as tasty as his predecessor, though. The other guitarist is Bob Margolin, who was the subject of one of my very first posts on this blog. Bob had a hand in the process of getting this project off the ground and has some very informative liner notes of his remembrances. Valuable stuff. Jerry Portnoy is in the harp chair now and having a chance to watch him and listen to him work is a treat for me. Listening to him blow Evan's Shuffle was worth the price of the DVD. Calvin Jones on bass, Pinetop Perkins on piano and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums. This band, minus Margolin, became the first incarnation of The Legendary Blues Band when they left Muddy. I reviewed some of their stuff earlier in a previous post. Blow Wind Blow crackles with energy as Pinetop lays down a solo that proves just how well he filled Spann's huge shoes.

If you know Muddy like I know Muddy, then the Norwegian and British interview snippets will provide no additional insight, but it still nice to watch him answer for the upteenth time, "What is the blues?" Even if you have a bunch of Muddy Waters, a little more is never too much and this is absolutely priceless. Now, I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase the recently released CD The Authorized Bootleg, Live From The Fillmore. With George "Harmonica" Smith blowing the Mississippi Sax, I just may have to bite. If I do, then you'll hear it here or read it here or something like that. Anyway--'nuff or now.

Just In Case...#3

I'm going to throw out some lesser known (some becoming well known now) blues harp players that may have flown under your radar, but are all worth hearing. These are brief snippets, so I'm not going to keep searching for another new term to describe their nasty fat toned playing. Anyone reading along with me for any length of time probably knows what I like by now. So here's some that you may have missed and maybe can't find (some of them, I had quite a time tracking them down). In some cases, I have multiple releases by some of these guys, but I'll just stick up one from a label that may still be around. Here goes:

1. Mitch Kashmar/Wake Up and Worry--Delta Groove Productions: I know. He's getting to be pretty well known now, but when I first heard about him the only release was a Little Walter tribute called Crazy Mixed Up World and it wasn't easy to find.

2. Paul Orta/Don't Mess With Mezcal--Red Lightnin': The copy I have was released on this English label. The Tex Mex Bluesman spends a great part of his year overseas and has put out a catalog that has been frustratingly difficult to get in hand. I've written off to German musicians to see if I could get a copy of what he recorded with them (ex: Cool Step, which is great). Paul was doing it in Austin way before anyone else. When he makes it back to his hometown of Port Arthur, the Great Recordings label does entice him into a studio.

3. Lynwood Slim/Lost In America--Atomic Theory: Lynwood apparently has been a very influential harp man on Mid-Western Americans. I know that RJ Mischo points to him as someone who got him on the right tonal track. This release has a couple of my favorite guitar slingers--Junior Watson and Kid Ramos.

4. Greg "Fingers" Taylor/Hi Fi Baby--Warehouse Creek Recording: I know, I know, everyone knows that he's Jimmy Buffett's harp playing buddy and a founding member of the Coral Reefer Band and that he puts down some great blues lick chops...just in case, though, remember? His blues harp has graced a number of other artists' albums over the years. Harpoon Man is a good release to get, but I love the amp tones on this one. Kim Wilson helped produce it and plays on a couple of cuts. I don't know how in the heck they botched Fingers' vocals, but I've heard him sing great live and they failed to capture that. Otherwise--fat toned greasy...never mind.

5. Walter T Higgs/Just A Few Miles To Go--Doc Blues Records: A stable mate of Sonny Boy Terry's, Walter T Higgs is a hoot. Matter of fact, it was at one of Sonny Boy's harp blowouts that I heard his talent for the first time and he was impressive. He hails from the same area of the Texas Gulf Coast that Paul Orta came from. I think maybe the air from the plethora of chemical plants has something to do with spawning some great bluesmen or maybe they just figured that they should follow Clifford Antone out of there. Twelve really nice tracks of originals done up by an original.

6. Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish/In Action--Self Release (I Think): Johnny's one of those guys that is content with staying put and off the road. Pretty sure that he mostly just hangs in the Martha's Vineyards area and treats the locals and the tourist to some mighty fine harp playing and he may lay brick for them the next morning. His is not a new name on the horizon by a long shot and he had a couple of releases out there on a more major label, but I think he's content to do things his way. This release debuts guitarist Paul Size as a Bluefish. His playing on Lester Butler's Red Devil's King King live album highly impressed me.

7. Wallace Coleman/Wallace Coleman--Fishhead Records: I first heard Wallace Coleman in a video featuring Robert Jr Lockwood's band and knew nothing about him, so...I had to find out. Lockwood has gone on record as saying that he'd prefer not playing with a harp player (he who helped make Little Walter's releases swing), so Coleman had to be someone special. Coleman spent most of his career on his day job raising a family. I'm pretty sure that Fishhead Records is his own label. He has that authentic old school touch in his playing.

8. Rob Stone and the C Notes/No Worries--Marquis Records--Stone hangs out mostly in the Chicago area and he keeps that style alive and kicking. Tourist can at least go and hear someone in the city playing blues harp the way it's suppose to be played. A couple of cats that I posted about recently and who are making a name for themselves, Patrick Rynn and Chris James, were members of the C Notes back then. Stone has stepped up to the more major Earwig Records label since this was released.

9. Lee McBee/Soul Deep--Pacific Blues Recording: I might have mentioned McBee somewhere, if I haven't then it's a huge oversight on my part. He's a killer diller harp man and he can flat sing his ass off. He's not woefully under recorded, because he led Mike Morgan's Crawl band through quite a number of releases. This, though, is only one of two recordings that I know of under his own name. The other is 44 and may be more readily available now, but I think I had to get it overseas at a premium price. I think I actually e-mailed Lee for a copy and he didn't even have one to sell.

10. Andy Santana & The West Coast Playboys/Swingin'Rockin'Jumpin'&Jivin': The title says it all, because Andy and the boys do all that on this one. The West Coast Playboys on this go 'round include Junior Watson, Coco Montoya and Rusty Zinn bending strings for us. How can you go wrong with that.

11. Reverend Raven/Featuring Madison Slim Live At Blues On Grand--Nevermore Records: Madison Slim is another one of those cats that can play his butt off doing the real deal, but prefers to stay off the road. Hey, if I could hang out with a band called Reverend Raven and the Chainsmoking Altar Boys, I wouldn't leave town either. Impressive harp chops.

12. Bill Rhoades & The Party Kings/Voodoo Lovin'--White Owl Records: Everyone living in the Pacific Northwest who listens to blues music, knows Bill Rhoades. He's a mover and shaker in the blues scene there (which by the way, is enviously active) and has been plying his trade for quite sometime, so he knows his way around the block.

13. The Matthew Skoller Band/These Kind of Blues--Tongue 'N Groove Records: Skoller doesn't adhere strictly to a blues format here, but he stays close enough to interest me. He employs some inventive licks along the way and writes songs hooked with messages for the masses.

14. Pat Ramsey/Johnny Winters' White, Hot & Blue--Yeah, this ain't his album, it's Johnny's, but I think it is a great example of Ramsey's playing. He was a young pup when Winters tapped him to play on this return to the blues and he had no preconceived notion as to what to put into the songs, because he hadn't listen to the blues harp masters. Winters had to show him how a Jimmy Reed song was suppose to be played and was a bit taken aback when Ramsey hadn't really heard of him. So, don't expect Big Walter licks on Walking By Myself--it is all Pat Ramsey making it up. Stephen Schneider sent me a copy of this way-out-of -print release a few years back. I hear that it can be had again, so go get it.

15. Jerry McCain/That's What They Want--Excello: If you don't know Jerry McCain's Steady by now, then, where the hell have you been? No, seriously, Steady is up there with Little Walter's Juke as a must hear, learn, play blues harp instrumental. Maybe the only song that you've heard of McCain's or the T-Bird's doing Tuff Enough. Ding Dong Daddy was one of Gary Primich's favorite covers from McCain's catalog and you need to here it from the source on this compilation of the best of Jerry McCain's Excello numbers. If you've heard Ding Dong Daddy, then you also know that it ain't blues, but is a rocking little number which is more the norm on this collection. It's rough and tough (don't look for Tuff Enough because it ain't here) music that's in the raw and may not suit everyone, but it is all fun.

16. Al Miller Chicago Blues Band/...In Between Time--Self Release: I hadn't heard of Al Miller prior to this release and I haven't heard of him since, but anyone that can get John Primer, Billy Flynn and Dave Specter in a studio with them, is alright in my book.

17. Good Rockin' Charles/Good Rockin' Charles--Mr. Blues: Apparently Charles Edwards was a reluctant studio musician and when he didn't show for a Jimmy Roger's session, then the story goes that Big Walter stepped in and recorded the classic licks for Walking By Myself. Charles puts don't a solid style on this collections of covers that would be considered overdone chestnuts, but they weren't back then.

Anyway--'nuff for now.

Dave Nevling

I heard from Dave Nevling the other day and it reminded me that I hadn't mentioned him much in my blog. No excuse, but I had written a review of his excellent Heady Brew back in the day when the now defunct Delta Snake website was publishing my stuff and since I thought I had printed out all those just in case the website disappeared, I was going to reprint it here when I ran across it again. After hearing from him, I spent most of a morning cleaning out a filing cabinet that I'd been meaning to clean out before now and found that I couldn't find the review or several others. Oh, well. I'll make it up this way.

I first heard Dave Nevling at one of Sonny Boy Terry's excellent harmonica blowouts. Now I know that readers here have heard me mention Mr. Terry's name a time or two and if you haven't gone over to DocBlues records by now and picked up his CDs, then you're missing out. Sonny Boy hosted a series of fine, fine harmonica revues featuring some of the finest harp blowers around and this particular one was at a fine Houston club called Dan Electros. Besides Sonny Boy's usual kick-butt playing, it was Dave who caught my ear that night. What really impressed me was his articulation and how he just flat worried the hell out of a note until it produced the tone that he wanted. At the time, I think he had two releases out called Nightshade and That Look and of course, I grabbed both of those and have enjoyed them immensely ever since.

Dave came out to a couple of different HOOT (Harmonica Organization Of Texas) meetings in Tomball (I've got to get around to a story or two about that group at some point, also). During his first trip Dave gave us a lesson in amplified harmonica and demonstrated his techniques and what stood out the most for me was his immaculate use of employing a flutter tongue in his playing. The second time around he brought his current, at the time, guitarist, Adam Birchfield with him. Adam plays some of the finest blues guitar around Houston. He's been in both Sonny Boy's and Dave's band and Snit Fitzpatrick's Snit's Dog and Pony Show and is just a well rounded player--oughta here him tear rockabilly up. Along with Adam, he brought out his new Meteor amplifier and those two got the blues vibe a-going all night long. Highlight for me was when he invited anyone who wished to get up and blow through his rig with Adam. No one bit but me, but I couldn't pass up playing through one of the best harp amps on the market, nor a chance to play with Adam. Dave and Adam were both complimentary of my playing, so that kept me pumped for awhile.

I'm ashamed to say that I think that the last time I saw Dave play was a great set at the Navasota Blues Festival a couple of years ago or maybe three. Seems that since I retired that I get out to see folks playing way less than when I worked for a living. What's up with that?! I dunno.

At some point, Dave put out what I think is his finest album. There is really nothing lacking with Heady Brew. Hey, just go over to his website or to CDBaby and listen to the opening harp tone on the very first cut, You the One and if that doesn't convince that harp player in you that you need this CD, then I can't help you. It's the first of twelve original tunes that make up a very fine harp release. Chase the kids away from the stereo before the second cut, Dip My Wick, because they may catch on that it's for adults only.

On the 6:51 Sweet Thing, Dave turns Adam Birchfield loose so you can hear what he's been hinting at on the previous nine cuts. I'll have to admit that I really don't know where Leon's BBQ is located, but based on the streets than Dave names, I'd have to say Galveston and it has that Gulf Coast groove, as does Jovina and I think that is what informs the style of blues that Dave plays--Texas Gulf Coast stuff that you don't find anywhere else. Of course, he cut his teeth playing with Coastal legend Bert Wills before venturing out solo. I think Bert, Sonny Boy, Tommy "Big Daddy Gumbo" Dar Dar and Dave have all absorbed the sea salt that is in the atmosphere of the region. Anyway--Good stuff!

Just In Case... #2

Little Walter
The Complete
Chess Masters
(1950-1967)
Hip-O Select
Geffen Records
2009
B0012636-02


I just finish listening to the 5th disc of Little Walter's The Complete Chess Masters, so consider this as a "just in case" for those that didn't know it was on the market and to just go get it--period

Harp buddy, Stephen Schneider, e-mailed me last week asking if I had my copy yet. Not if I was going to order a copy, but if I had mine in hand as he did. He knows me well enough to know that I wasn't going to pass up such a release. I didn't have mine in hand (it was in the mail)and I had actually questioned whether I needed the 9 or so previously unreleased songs for the price of a box set of songs that I already had in my collection. I even e-mailed Stephen back for re-assurance that I spent wise money--an Unequivocal Yes was returned. He was under the opinion that this Little Walter collection had undergone the best re-mastering and had superior sound over any of Little Walter's previous releases. He was also impressed with the unreleased cuts as being a substantial addition to what we had of Walter.

I wholeheartedly agree. Hip-O Select has proven once more that they are one of the premier re-issue labels around and as I sat and listen to these recordings, it was almost as if I was hearing Little Walter's music for the first time (of course it was the 1,000th time), but it's not just his harp, but also the snap of the drums, the swirl of the guitar notes, and the pluck on the bass strings of his sidemen. Fred Below, the Myers brothers, Robert Jr Lockwood, Luther Tucker, etc...never sounded so sharp or so good. Of course, I wanted it all to sound better since I spent more money for more of the same. I wanted it all to sound better than my Essential Little Walter and the Blues With A Feeling follow-up and by golly it does. No lie--AND I just thought that I had everything that the man blew except these nine unissued cuts, but there were a couple that I somehow missed. Some of those nine are alternate takes and it's nice to have those and the issued alternate takes back to back with the issued singles--to see just what alternate ideas Walter had floating around on the same tunes or his bandmate's different attack. By listening to these discs, I was also reminded just what a monster Walter was playing the harp acoustically--absolutely untouchable. Liner notes come from the same folks that brought us the Blues With A Feeling-The Little Walter Story biography and they sum things up nicely. No one knows the master better than Tony Glover, Scott Dirks, and Ward Gaines and if you haven't bought their book, then you're missing out on a great story.

That's all I've got to say. Anyone who plays blues harp has a bunch of Little Walter and may be like I was in the beginning--hesitant to spend the money, but this IS worth every penny. This is definitely a must-have for anyone remotely interested in blues harp or for that matter just to hear one of the biggest stars ever to play the game. I don't think the Essential Little Walter nor the Blues With A Feeling CDs are still in print and this one may not be after the initial 5,000 limited releases are gone. Of course, I'd print up 5,000 more--don't bet on that, though. Just get it! Anyway--'nuff or now, gotta spin LW some more.

Harmonica Blowouts

Mark Hummel's
Blues Harmonica
Blowout
Electro-Fi Records

I've always enjoyed listening to Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout releases. His gatherings of some of the best harmonica players in the land at Yoshi's in Oakland and Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz have been legendary events and Hummel has done his best to share those live events with those of us that couldn't be there and Mountain Top Productions released his first three double discs of some really great live blues harmonica performances.

The fourth example of these shows has been put out by Electo-Fi Records, who has released Hummel's last three solo recordings. These cuts represent recordings that didn't make it onto the previous collections and stemmed from performances dating from 1993-2007. Actually, William Clarke's contributions are the only one's dating back to 1993 and Rusty Zinn is on board as the guitarist of note. Along with Clarke, several of the harp stars on this release are no longer with us, so that makes this release a document of some of their last live recordings. Paul DeLay, Carey Bell, and Sam Myers have all passed on to harp heaven and are all in fine form in their performances.

With all the blowout CDs, there have always been performances that grabbed me much more than others, even though ALL the talent is always world class. R.J. Mischo and Gary Smith were just getting into something deeper and more toneful on that first release, even though Kim Wilson, Rick Estrin and James Harman were all laying it down. On the second release, no one touched Gary Primich and R.J. and Smith were on that one also. I did like Annie Raines' amped up stuff. I thought that Hummel stole his own show on the third release blasting cuts like Roller Coaster with immaculate precision.

This fourth one kicks off with Hummel gettin' it just fine on his own roller coaster called Harpo-Ventillating where he briefly quotes all the harp gods along with his own fine licks and it kicks. I really liked James Harman's Extra Napkins, but I've always like that tune and I've always like Harman's tone. Anyone not familiar with Lee Oskar outside of War, will get a good idea of what the man is all about with his rendition of In A Sentimental Mood and how he treats a blues tune on Lee's Blues. Let's just say that his take is different. As is Paul DeLay's. Good to hear the big man doing his unique stuff live. His lick placement is so removed from what any other harp players stick into the blues--but it works so well. They take a while getting his sound up in the mix on Blues and Trouble, but once they do, then the DeLay is over or all over you or whatever. Love the man's vocals, also.

William Clarke is William Clarke and Rusty Zinn really helps him Stretch His Money, as they both stretch out on their instruments on a subject that is very topical today. His Chrome Jumpin' gets his big harp pumping. Sam Myers does his I Done Quit Getting Sloppy Drunk with his partner Anson lending a hand and hits the chestnut, Sweet Home Chicago very well--I can always do without the sing-a-longs though.

I would have like to hear more of Johnny Dyer. His take on You're Sweet is typical, down the river, Chicago blues, but he excels at making it seem simple to do. Carey Bell is in good shape on one fine cut--I Got To Go. He was well represented on volume three, so this may be the only performance that Hummel has left of him and the same goes for Billy Boy Arnold's Sugar Gal, which has him knocking out the John Lee Williamson song, not quite as good as his mentor, but a fine version.

If Magic Dick could sing a little bit better, he would be a monster. His harp tone is instantly recognizable (to me, anyway). It has an aggressiveness that is like sharp slap shots. He spins a nice yarn about Sonny Boy Williamson II before he launches into Pontiac Blues and he heats up Little Walter's High Temperature. I've never thought of his vocals as being bad, but just a little lightweight for the blues.

These releases always have such of a variety of styles and tones and there will always be favored performances on each one of them. What I find most appealing someone else may not, but there is something for everyone that likes harmonica played well and this latest from Hummel is not any different. Anyway--'nuff for now.

Live Wolf

Howlin' Wolf
Rockin' The Blues:
Live From Germany
1964
Acrobat
2008

These guys do be Rockin' the Blues is right! From the opening slam bam of Shake For Me to the rollickin' licks of 44, this is primo Howlin' Wolf kicking it for German enthusiasts back in 1964. Backed by his perennial sidekick and blues guitar genius, Hubert Sumlin stabbing, slipping,and plinking some of his trademark licks and tricks, the Wolf puts it all out there with his vocal ferocity. He's got Willie Dixon slapping strings with an intensity that I've never heard from the bass man, especially notable on Wolf's All My Life--I think he thinks that he can catch up with the machine gunning that Sumlin gets going. Good to hear the Wolf jumping into the fray with his under appreciated harmonica skills, which are always so on-the-money well placed toneful licks. And, then, if you happened to overlook what Sunnyland Slim was contributing on the first couple of numbers, well he makes his presence known by hammering the opening notes on Going Down Slow and then weaves around, through and deep into the groove. By the time the set ends, Sunnyland proves that, maybe, Otis Spann came anywhere close to driving the blues on the 88s with this type of ensemble playing. Sweet stuff, indeed--or nasty, or whatever. Oh, then there's Clifton James, who by 1964 was the go to drummer around Chicago blues circles. He's a bit low, but not lost in the mix on some of the tunes, but his contributions are substantial--he and Dixon lock in on a driving version of Dust My Broom and he really rides it on home. The Wolf breaks out the well placed harp licks again and Sumlin is just playing outside himself on the tune. They be gettin' it.

The title tune is an instrumental of Wolf's that has everybody getting after it--especially Hubert. Wolf gets his guitar licks in now and then, though, and sometimes the dominance of his vocals makes some forget that he can pick out some pretty mean blues riffs and he and Hubert bounce 'em back and forth on this little diddy.

I'm pretty sure that it's Wolf's guitar licks that get the 44 groove started (oh, what a groove!) and then Sunnyland takes over and James' snare snaps and pops out the rhythm and Hubert does his sly little things, before Wolf gets going with his staccato tongue blocking harp tone to keep it all in the groove. Ooohh, yeah, this is the Wolf and did I tell you that he's doing it live. If you know the Wolf and Sumlin, then you know what wicked jive they spew out on Howlin' For My Darlin'--SIGNATURE song for them both. Riffs that every blues guitarist that ever picked a string has tried to get their fingers to emulate. Love Me is another Wolf classic and if you only know it by Stevie Ray's cover, then wait until you here the band take it at a slinky slow snails pace that oozes the blue mood. Okay, that's enough. If you're familiar with Howlin' Wolf and know how little he was recorded live, then get one of the best examples of the master in his prime, singing his heart out to a bunch of Germans.

This was one those moments captured of the touring blues musicians that I mentioned in the Little Walter post and it carries a bit of historical significance with it. This Bremen, Germany gig has been available in Europe and Acrobat Records released it there on CD in 2003. Acrobat released it here for the first time in late 2008, so kudos to those cats for that. Keep in mind that live recordings from 1964 are not going to approach the sonics of modern recordings, but the minor scuffs do nothing to detract from the power of this music--for me anyway.

The Wolf's style can be an acquired taste for some--kind of like one of his mentors Charley Patton, but once you get it, then it will not wash off. Actually, this wouldn't be a bad place to start for someone needing a little Wolf, but the Chess box or his early Memphis recordings might be a better fit. Back in the day, there was the Wolf and there was Muddy and they were the Kings of Chicago. Kinda like down the road, it was the Beatles and the Stones. Some liked one or the other and some like both. The Wolf had it going on here. Anyway--'nuff for now.

Thrill On The Hill

Thrill on the Hill
Johnny Nicholas
Topcat Records

I mentioned Johnny Nicholas in a couple of previous posts and how I became familiar with him through his work with Big Walter Horton and also on the Blind Pig Records Johnny Shines/Snooky Prior release.

I miss out on a lot of marvelous music, such as what Johnny is laying down here on Thrill on the Hill, due to economics more than anything else. At some point, I had to narrow my focus and purchases down to my personal preference of listening to that nasty ol' amplified blues harp stuff. Just can't buy it all. Back in the day when I reviewed CDs for the Delta Snake Blues website, I was deluged with volumes of blues releases that covered the spectrum of the genre and many times stretched the imagination in an attempt to find anything bluesy in some of them. So, for a period of time, I sort of heard it all--the good, the bad and the ugly. There were some solid gold blues gems with plenty of dogs mixed among them--but I didn't have to pay to listen to them.

So, even though I had read very positive reviews of Thrill on the Hill when it was released on Antones Records back in 1994, it didn't fit my economic criteria and I passed on it. I figured that at some point maybe I would pick it up, but like often happens it ended up out of print. I was glad to see that Guitar Johnny and Topcat Records were in collusion with each other and saw fit to re-release this 'un and add four bonus tracks while they were at it. I've already mentioned that I thanked my daughter and son-in-law for picking it up while they were dining at his Hilltop Cafe. Gettin' long winded here, so I'll get on with it.

This is just rollickin' good music played by a great group of musicians that are obviously have fun and for an audience that eggs them on to keep it doing it. It is not hard to determine that these guys are having a jam up and jelly tight good time (although, it's hard to determine just who is playing what because the information is not printed anywhere). There is a picture of Johnny and his cohorts gathered around singing a chorus or two, but that only helps those that recognize those. I do know that Asleep at the Wheel alumnus, Floyd Dixon is banging' the 88s on some of the tunes, because Nicholas calls out his name a time or two. Being the multi-instrumentalist that he is, it is probably Johnny applying his skill to the harmonica, guitar, mandolin and maybe even piano on Johnny's Deathray Boogie/Thrill on the Hill, because he calls in Dixon to lend his hand about halfway through the jumping, jiving, dive bombing instrumental. Pretty sure, also, that Stephen Bruton is bending some strings somewhere in the room, since he lent his hand in the production and appears to be a partner in rhyme with Johnny.

They do be boppin' on this original which is way down on track 15. The CD opens and closes with Robert Johnson tunes and before you think that you've heard his stuff more than enough by more than enough players, just listen to the long moanful blues harp note that Johnny opens Kind Hearted Woman with and realize that there ain't many that apply the harp to RJ's songs. He nails the King of the Delta Blues' vocal nuances on Phonograph Blues which wraps up the proceedings. He throws down some great Resonator slide on one other Johnson tune, Stones In My Pathway, just for good measure. Hanging around with Johnny Shines had to have helped influence what Nicholas gets going with these chestnuts and it didn't hurt to have Big Walter as a companion to straighten him out on the harp licks--many of them played very well from a neck hung rack. Johnny's harp finds its way into quite a number of the tunes here and he gets a great acoustic tone going on and I'd bet that he could do some real damage with a bullet mic cupped in his hands.

Most of the other cuts are good examples of how important ensemble playing is to the blues. These guys are all jumping in there contributing to the overall sound to make joyous noise together. Even though he's nicknamed Guitar Johnny, the only time that he really lets it rip is on a solo acoustic original called Thinkin' Bout Junior. The electric guitar shows its presence on the high spirited, but down hearted shuffle, Blue and Lonesome that sounds very similar to Jimmy Reed's High and Lonesome. Whoever is leading the charge on the electric string bending here (maybe Johnny, maybe not), does so with restraint and taste, but drives and guides the tune and throws down well chosen riffs when soloing. The only other time the electric stands out is during a couple of well manicured solos within a Tin Pan Alley type crooner, Tomorrow Night, which is awarded with a hearty round of applause and whoops from the crowd.

A few songs, such as that one, break away from the twelve bar groove and add a little variety to the set. There is not a heck of a lot of covers of Link Davis' material, but Johnny's harp leads the way in the Cajun flavored stomp,Let's Go To Big Houston and the acapella rendition of Son House's John The Revelator with the group providing a doo-wop, gospelish background chorus is just too cool. My Rice Ain't Got No Gravy isn't exactly blues either, but it fits the good time vibe and illustrates Johnny's penchant for penning humorous lyrics when he sings: My rice ain't got no gravy/Just about to drive me crazy/My rice ain't got no gravy/When I ain't got my baby/Things just ain't so nice/When I ain't got gravy on my rice.
Beulah Facyson's House Cleaning Blues mines similar humor laden territory along with like minded Nicholas penned numbers, Prince Charming and Mandolin Moan. The latter tune showcases Johnny Young's influence with some might fine tater bug (slang for mandolin) picking, which he does the same on Mandolin Boogie. Ironically, the one Young song that he covers is Sleeping With The Devil that has no mandolin, but as on the original, is pushed by the electric guitar and has its own twist of humor.

This stuff is just plain infectious and when I need a bit of a lift, I grab it and give it a spin (or whatever a CD does in there)and before it finishes, it definitely coaxes a grin or two out of me. That's good music. It ain't going to appease anyone's needs for nasty ol' amplified blues harp, but it sure will remind us of what we're missing. Anyway--

Happy Birthday....To Me

I'm going to keep this short because I'm pretending that today is my birthday. Yesterday was actually my birthday, but it turned out to be less than enjoyable. I had to go under the knife for what has become a frequent routine for me in recent years--the removal of a basal cell carcinoma. My skin doesn't like the sun, but I spent a good deal of my time as a teenager on the beach and a great deal of my time as an adult working summers on a workover oil rig--so, my skin is in full retaliation and this one was on the left side of my nose, which will match the scar on the right side of my nose from the same procedure. Not gonna go into a lot of detail, but yesterday was not fun and was a great deal more painful than my past trips to the derm doc. So, forget yesterday. My mom did bring out a great chocolate cake and gave me money and my wife did hold my hand for the bad trip and feel sorry for me and gave me an Adirondack chair for the front porch (which I'm enjoying today).

Anyway, I didn't go through my usual routine of ordering some kind of blues so that it would arrive by the 9th. The pending operation just sidetracked me a bit, so yesterday I decided to download a bit from iTunes--since posting about such kinda got me looking around again and since it would appear on my harddrive in an instant, then it made it sorta birthdayish.

I'd had my eye on the Texas Northside Kings for some time now, mainly because Johnny Moeller and Mike Keller were both a piece of the fabric for another Dialtone Records revue that follows their Texas Southside Kings and Texas Eastside Kings. Where the latter two showcased unsung veterans of the music, this one here focuses on some of the young bucks (and buckette) of the genre. Joining Moeller and Keller are Nick Curran, Seth Walker, Shawn Pittman and Eve Monsees with Houston keyboard veteran Earl Gilliam thrown into the mix (Dialtone dialed up a winner with a Gilliam CD a couple of years ago). All those present have been adding there touches with their own releases and on a multitude of other artist's recordings. Moeller and Keller stepped in to the role of Fabulous T-Bird guitarists when Curran stepped out. Walker and Pittman both have garnered the respect of most everyone around the Lone Star state with both their guitar and vocal skills. Monsees has gained a reputation around Austin with her band the Exiles (formed with ex-T-Bird drummer Mike Buck) and as being quite a butt rockin' guitarist and a heck of a singer.

So, there's a bunch of guitaring going on here, but it is not at the expense of the songs that they cover. This is OLD SCHOOL stuff. They show their reverence for the R&B, Blues and Rock 'n' Roll from four and five decades ago as they offer up covers from Lazy Lester, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, Little Richard, etc...and it sounds oh, so authentic and sweet. Keller gets the Red Hot Mama going with a wicked slide tone, Curran gets down, way down and dirty with the Wolf's I'll Be Around with some wicked distortion and gruffed up vocals, Monsees belts out some Magic Sam, Seth Walker nails down sweet ballad vocals on Since I Fell For You, Gilliam and Moeller (he sings one too) bounce off each other on the Junior Walker sounding Radio Groove with a exquisite sax from the mighty Spot Barnett. Oh, did I say there were some guitarist on this release? Yep, and they do be slinging it in a tasty sort of way. If you like it done the way it was once done, then get this.

I didn't know much about San Pedro Slim when I downloaded his release, Barhoppin', but I had read favorable reviews and I knew he was a harmonica man and that Rick Holmstrom was on board as guitarist and producer, so I clicked on it and sucked it into my machine. This is pretty much traditional West Coast/Chicago style blues and is a fairly enjoyable ride. Anyone who is a fan of Holmstrom's blusiest guitar work (such as from his Johnny Dyer and Rod Piazza days) will certainly enjoy what he gets going here. He is quite intent on keeping the tonal variety quotient up by summoning some of the heaviest reverb ladened plucking on one tune and then the deepest distortion possible on another and then swinging to and fro the rest of the way. If you know Rick, then you know the trick. I think he keeps the purist in us and him in mind and doesn't flip out into left field, as he's wont to do on some of his solo stuff.

Well, what about Slim? He has a lot in common with James Harman, both vocally, harmonically and lyrically. Maybe a little too much in common. He sounds like he is trying to sound like Harman. It's tough to do that without coming off sounding like a second rate version. He writes with the same hell bent for humor lyrics and comes up with some really nice ideas. Even his amplified harp tone has a Harman quality on a couple of the cuts, but Slim's chops are not quite equal. If I wasn't such a Harman fan and didn't know his music well, then I'd really enjoy Slim's singing and writing a lot more and it may grow on me, heck, I've only listened to the songs once. Back in the day a bit, before I realized what separated the men from the boys on blues harp, I would really enjoy his playing also. It's not a bad release of trad blues music, but I would get it for Holmstrom's playing. I may be over-analyzing and he may not be influenced by Harman in the least, but I think that San Pedro Slim will progress once he develops more of a style of his own.

Since I had new birthday money, I did order up a couple of CDs the traditional way through Bluebeat Music. They had a copy of Johnny Young's Complete Blue Horizon recordings. Young is one of those few blues artist that could be considered an original, since he took the mandolin and applied it to the format. Of course, he wasn't the first and not the only one to do so, but in the context of a Chicago blues band it was indeed unique. I'm not a huge fan of Englishman Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label, but a number of his releases are valuable snippets of blues history as it was being made--this being a prime example and I also wanted to hear what harpman Paul Oscher was putting down with Johnny Young's band. I also ran across a band called The Special 20s and since that is also the name of a Hohner harmonica, I figured that the band is led by a harp player and it is. I ordered a copy of their second album called Morry Sochat and The Special 20s just to hear what some new bloods are doing with Chicago blues. Anyway--'Nuff for Now.

Scattershots

I got into the ipod thang relatively late in the game. When I finally got around to getting my hands on a nano version, very shortly afterwards they dropped the price by half because they upgraded the gizmos and doubled the capacity and added video capabilities and such. I have a tendency to drag my feet when it comes to jumping into new technology. It took me forever to buy a cd player, but my hand was forced on that account because records and tapes faded away.

I do enjoy visiting the iTunes site and seeing what's available as far a blues goes and adding a tune here and there to my library. For the most part, I've kept it aimed at blues harp tunes because I've found the ipod great for wood shedding the harp skills and for taking my mind off mindless exercise (two activities I'd like to stick to and increase throughout retirement). I'm not about to give up buying CDs. There is just something about holding the product from the artist in my hands and reading the liner notes and such that has a satisfaction quotient that searching for the same and downloading it on a computer can't meet for me(this is where I miss the ol' LP version the most). I want to know which musicians are adding what to each cut and who's playing the cowbell. I really don't trust this ipod stuff. I'm thinking POOF! and it all disappears. I've downloaded very few full albums, unless it is something that I don't have and can't find. I have transferred a few of my CDs over to the ipod in order to steal a lick or two, but for the most part I look around for some songs that really have strong, toneful harp from the heart and that I don't have a copy of in another format.

Okay, I'm just going to occasionally throw out and comment on some of the artists or tunes that I have in captivity on my little friend and share it with those that care to read it.

1. Jimmy Rogers--I grabbed some songs off of his Gold Tailed Bird album that is woefully underrated. Leon Russell's Shelter Records was doing us all a favor signing up and recording bluesmen in early '70s such as Rogers and Freddie King back in the day. In fact, this was Rogers return to recording after getting out of the scene for quite some time. Sure, these albums suffer in comparison to the their classic recordings of the '50s and '60s and sure some rock icons had their fingers on the product, but I think, that in retrospect, Shelter put out some good stuff. The Aces (Little Walter's old bandmates Fred Below, Dave and Louis Myers) and Freddie King are on board for this release, so how can you go wrong? The real reason that I downloaded tunes from this album was due to the harp blowing of Bill Lupkin (whose CD I mentioned in an earlier post). I wanted to hear what he was doing back in the day with one of the masters which helped define his reputation. He was just a young pup in '72, but had his chops down. If you don't any Jimmy Rogers, get his Chess stuff first or Ludella (with Kim Wilson) on the Antones label.

2. Little Walter--I listen to something by Little Walter every day, because he's just the greatest blues harp player that ever walked the planet. I downloaded the entire Confessin' The Blues. I mentioned in one of my blues history posts that this was the first LP that I ever had of Little Walter's stuff and that the liner notes were in Italian. I was just going to download Rocker and Rock Bottom, because I had listened to this record many, many, many times, but I wanted those couple of instrumentals on the pod for a little practice. I did that, but then went back and bought the whole enchilada. Great balls of fire, here!

3. Tad Robinson--This guy was made for my ipod--as far as cherry picking the songs that I like the best (namely those with his harp in his mouth). See, Robinson is one of those fantastic harp guys, with tone to die for, that puts out albums that highlight their vocal chops more than their harp and that's great if that's what they feel like doing. Darrell Nulisch, John Nemeth and Curtis Salgado fit into this same category. These cats can ALL sing their butts off--and pull some serious stuff from the harmonica. A lot of what they like to get across vocally is more in the soul/blues bag and well, that just ain't my cup of tea. I don't care who keeps saying that it is all blues to them; it ain't, but if that's what smokes their shorts, okie dokie. What I like, though, is when they get down and dirty with the blues--harmonically and vocally. So, the ipod does its duty for me here--as I pull up Robinson's work with Dave Specter and the Bluebirds Live In Europe. Whoa! The boy do get down with the harp business on chestnuts like Eddie Taylor's Bad Boy and Little Walter's It's Too Late Brother. Dave Specter can really swing the axe on this fine set of live stuff. From there, I just took a swing through Tad's catalog of work available on iTunes and snatched off his harp blowing numbers--all of it very good.

3. James Harman--James is one of my main men. There ain't too many dudes that can write a blues song as well as Harman does and then sing it and then add one hell of a tonally righteous harmonica to it. He doesn't blow harp on every song on his albums either, but when he doesn't, it's because he's letting someone like Hollywood Fats or Kid Ramos kick butt on guitar to carry the song--and it's all blues, so all is forgiven. I've got most of everything that the man has recorded and some of his finest is some of his first, such as, Extra Napkins, Mo' Napkins and Strickly Live in '85 (one of his finest of the fine). I let some of his Blacktop recordings get by me and then the label went out of business, so I snagged a few of those that I'd missed back in the day and they're classics. I mean, how can you pass up a song that's narrated by a man who's left for dead by his lover on the hard floor and all he can feel is the freezing air conditioner and all he can see is the knob saying HI COOL--which also is the song's chorus. Cool.

4. Watermelon Slim--Now I have one of Slim's CDs and like it a lot. Some doubt just how legitimate his Hillbilly Bluesman persona can possibly be, given that he has a degree in literature and can quote Shakesphere off the cuff. He sounds darned authentic, so if his schtick ain't real, then he's a good actor. He's got a rough, gruff vocal style that promotes the Okie from Muskogee blues thang well. He does put his academic background to work in his songwriting skills. He's a bit of a countryfied Rick Estrin as he twists the humor threads of life experiences from driving trucks, dealing with check bouncing, juke joint women, and laboring the hard way. He works with a rock solid band of journeymen musicians and applies his skills both with the slide guitar and the Hohner diatonic. He is fairly formidable at both. I'll probably grab another of his CDs, but in the meantime, I went through his stuff on iTunes and pulled his harp playing tunes over to my ipod. Pretty hopped up ride.

5. Moreland and Arbuckle--These guys are a close second to Collard Greens and Gravy (mentioned back a bit) or maybe an American version of Collard Greens and Gravy as far as stripping down the music to its bare essentials. Anyway, what these young Kansas cats are doing is a Mississippi hill country/Delta stomping kinda blues thing with harmonica, guitar and sometimes drums. It is raw and it is real The first examples I downloaded was from Moreland, Arbuckle and Floyd (Floyd being the drummer) called Floyd's Market which was a mix of original stuff and covers of such artists as RL Burnsides, Mississippi Fred McDowell and even Little Walter. Aaron Moreland can get a nasty, distorted vibe going on with his slipping, slide guitar and its really nice to hear a young (or younger) dude like Dustin Arbuckle quote some of the masters of the blues harp. He has his chops down pretty good and even pulls off a nice rendition of Juke, which is far from being just a slavish copy of Little Walter's masterpiece. These guys are rawkus in their attitude towards the music and play it with wild abandon. They be stompin' on it! I also pulled some stuff from their latest, called 1861, which has some great cuts on it. Their sonic aura does wear on me after awhile, so an ipod shuffle mix is the right place for them for me.

Anyway--'Nuff for now. I'll share my snippets from time to time.

Rick Estrin

Rick Estrin
On The Harp Side

People have been asking me for years to do a more low-down, harmonica-focused CD...here it is.--Rick Estrin

Amen, Rick. I've been waiting for such myself. Don't get me wrong, I love what Little Charlie and the Nightcats have been putting down for the past many moons. The mix of Charlie Baty's swinging, stinging guitar slinging and Estrin's hepcat singing and wry, tongue-in-cheek songwriting cut a definitive path that set the band apart from every other blues band. When Estrin put his harp to mouth, though, magic happened (for me anyway) and I always wished for a bit more of it with each CD release. Of course the band was not called Rick Estrin and the Nightcats and some may argue that more variety was had by not including harp on each cut. This CD negates all that.

The Nightcats are Rick Estrin's band now that Charlie has opted for a sabbatical of some sort. Seems that they re-ignite for a few choice concert dates, but it is officially Rick Estrin and the Nightcats doing the do and this CD is documented proof that a harpcentric album can be way far from stale with a whale of a lot of variety. I'm guessing here, but since there is nothing in the way of a label name on this offering and very little in the way of liner notes, that this recording is sold at their gigs until Alligator (I'm guessing again) decides what to do with 'em.

Ain't no re-inventing the wheel here. What you get is what we've always gotten with Rick Estrin's mouth--singing and sucking and wearing his influences on his sleeve or mustache or whatever. I've only listened to the release a couple of times, but that's all it took me to say, "Yeah, man!" and just enjoy the hell out of it. He does kicking instrumentals like the opening track, Headin' Out, which is his nod to Little Walter's Juke, Off the Wall, etc...Like traditional Chicago blues harp tonal technique done right? He lays it all out on this one and then follows it with Walter's Tell Me Mama.

If you'd rather he get licking with something more original, then wait till you get to the instrumental Porn Bred, which has some of the NASTIEST, low end, dirty drawn bent note tones ever pulled from a 10 hole diatonic. He does some kind of low-down honking that just hits the spot.

Fans of the Nightcats know that Estrin pulls off some great Sonny Boy Williamson II tones that are so eerily close to the master that suggests a reincarnation could be a possibility. He covers several of SBW II's tunes, including one of my favorites--Fattening Frogs For Snakes. I don't know of anyone who comes as close to this harp sound as Estrin. SBW II proved that the blues can certainly stir a little humor into heartbreak, a style that had obvious effect on Estrin's lyrical commentaries.

He doesn't leave his other main man, Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee Williamson hanging by covering his Tell Me Baby and since it follows Fattening Frogs For Snakes, it offers up how different the two were in their tonal presentation and how proficient Estrin is at pulling off sounding so authentic.

If that's not enough variety, he breaks out the chromatic to crank one of his signature tunes, Big and Fat, into groove city while lauding the assets of the large and lovely. Nothing fancy here, just proving that he knows how to fit the instrument into a driving blues tune. He does get fancy with the chromatic on the jazz chestnut, Harlem Nocturne. I'd challenge anyone to point out a better played version than what the Nightcats get up on here.

With a generous helping of 17 cuts, that include the aforementioned, 6 originals and covers of Muddy Waters, Big Boy Spires and Eddie Burns and all with a heaping, helping dose of Rick Estrin's variety of harp skills on display, harp fans have a reason to rejoice. Estrin's Nightcats have Kid Andersen filling Little Charlie's esteemed shoes. He's been the go to guy out on the West Coast for awhile and was on Charlie Musselwhite's tour dates and recordings for the past year, put out one of his own critically acclaimed CDs and made numerous studio appearances for a number of artists. He knows his blues guitar and can also get a jazzy touch or two going on. On this release he has a partner in crime with Rusty Zinn (see an earlier blog post) and we know what he brings to the table. J Hansen (drums) and Lorenzo Farrell (bass) fill out the rest of the band, with Ronnie James Webber (past Nightcat) playing bass on about half the cuts on this album. Bob Welsh does the keyboarding here. Haven't listened to the CD critically enough to analyze the musical detail that everyone is putting down here and don't intend to--just think the Nightcats, without Little Charlie, but with lots of harp by one of the modern masters of the instrument.

Again, I don't know any label details. If all you care about is amped up, gritty Chicago harp, then this may disappoint you a bit--what there is of it, can't be beat, though. If you enjoy both SBWs along with your Little Walter, then you've gotta have this one. I got my copy from Charlie Lange over at www.bluebeatmusic.com Check out Estrin's myspace page. Anyway--

Rob Roy Parnell & The Navasota Bluesfest

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I met Rob Roy Parnell one night over in Bryan, Texas at the Third Floor Cantina (same place that I met Sam Myers & Eddie C. Campbell--wish someone over there booked up the blues like they did back in the day). I mentioned in an earlier post about also meeting Johnny Moeller, who was playing guitar with him that night. They played a crackling set that night and we chatted between sets and after the gig we swapped phone numbers when my intentions to write an article about his exploits became clear. When I called him on his cell, he insisted on calling me back on his "dime" as they were pulling out of Corpus Christi the morning after a gig. We covered quite of bit of territory while they were covering quite a bit of territory between Corpus and San Antonio.


When I wrapped up writing the article, Rob Roy suggested sending it into the Allman Brothers' unofficial official magazine called Hittin' The Note. I told him that I would try Blues Access magazine first, since they published my Sam Myers story. They agreed to publish the article, so I submitted it and sat back and waited for word on which issue to expect it to appear in print. The magazine fell into the same type of schedule as the other two major blues magazines and was published on a bi-monthly basis. I remained fairly patient, until so much time passed that I decided that contact was needed, plus they had hired a new managing editor that maybe needed a reminder that my article was in the magazine's hands. So, I contacted the new guy (who'll remain nameless) and was assured that Rob Roy's article would see print in the next issue. Good! The issue came in without a whiff of my stuff and I re-connected with the managing editor, who assured me that it just had to be bumped for good reason. Can't remember now what that was, but long story short is that my story still hadn't seen the light of day a year after submission.

Rob Roy suggested Hittin' The Note again and I agreed. I contacted the managing editor by e-mail and explained that it was not quite fair to keep delaying the debut of the article and that after a year, it definitely needed updating and that I had other placement options, so I would just like to have it back. I think I came off as being quite irritated and the reply suggested that I not to tell him how to do his job and that the article was not really up to snuff by their standards anyway, so they had no use for it. So, Hitting' The Note, issue 32, Fall 2001 ran the article on Rob Roy Parnell as a companion piece to an article on his brother Lee Roy Parnell. Sweet!

So, whenever Rob Roy is booked to play the Navasota Bluesfest (honoring Mance Lipscomb's memory), which is 30 miles from my house, I try to make it over to say hello and touch base and did so yesterday (July 9th). I talked my fifteen year old son John into going with me and he was less than enthused, but agreeable to checking it out with me and since he is beginning to show an interest in picking the guitar, I felt he should. I also decided not to subject him to more than a couple of the preceding acts that I felt were representative of good, solid blues musicians.

We arrived at the tail end of Sweet Mama Cotton's solo piano set and she was sounding pretty good wrapping up with some salacious ain't the meat, but the motion and such. As we were standing in line for barbeque, I recognized Bernie Pearl, long time West Coast blues musician, standing in front of us and I introduced myself and my son. He knew that I knew a thing or two about what he does when I mentioned his deceased partner of years past, Harmonica Fats. He had brought his son and daughter-in-law along with him and promised to do his best on some of Mance's material.


After we found a seat, we were treated to some substantially authentic piano blues and singing from Nat Dove, who ran through quite a few standards such as Everyday I Have The Blues. He sang in a wonderful baritone that swung up into the high falsetto range for emphasis at times. He got a rolling, rollicking, boogie woogie shake down going on a few tunes. Pretty sure that he said that he was originally from Bryan, but like a lot of Texas musicians of his era, he migrated to the West Coast and made his living there. Think that he and Bernie had been in some of the same bands, but at different times.


Bernie Pearl had a connection with Mance Lipscomb that went back to when Mance made his first foray out to California after recording his first record for the Arhoolie label back in the '60s. Bernie even made his way to Navasota to meet up with Mance on his home turf. At the festival, he came out nailing Mance's finger picking style on tunes such as Freddie, Baby Please Don't Go, Going Down Slow, Tom Moore's Blues and many others. He proved to be a solid blues singer and let her rip on tunes that were not associated with Mance, but with Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Mississippi Fred McDowell when he produced his National Steel guitar and applied the bottleneck sliding. Mojo Hand and Shake 'Em On Down got him rockin' way back. Good set of solid acoustic blues.


I introduced my son to Rob Roy while he was sitting in his van listening to his latest recording, Let's Start Something. He claimed that he was trying to remember the words to a song from the CD that was going to be featured prominently in his set list that afternoon. The new one is a long overdue follow-up to his well received Jacksboro Highway released at the end of the millennium and ten of the twelve cuts were written or co-written by him. I quit packing pen and paper to gigs a long time ago and if I write a review of such, then I need a lot more total recall than I can summon nowadays. So, I can't tell you what the band began with and everything they played, but can tell you that I'm pretty sure that they wrapped it up with a rocking rendition of Jacksboro Highway with Hector Watt's Strat leading the way and Rob Roy's harp jacking up the ante and leaving the crowd wanting for more.


I do believe that they kicked off with I Know Better that has a '50s T-Bone vibe, jumping the boogie and provided the crowd with the first example of just what the harp can sound like in the hands of Rob Roy, played through his '63 Fender Princeton and Fender Bassman Reissue by way of an old Shure Green Bullet mic. He glissandos up, down and around the notes. Rob Roy carries no horns on the road, but the tune is filled out and driven by the sax of Don Wise and Scott Ducaj's trumpet with James Pennebaker guitar plucking T-Bone riffs throughout on the CD. On stage Rob Roy and Hector Watt were carrying the load, along with Chris Wallis' drumming and Pat Whitefield's bass. They got Parnell's roadhouse rumble cranking in the right direction, right off the bat.


Rob Roy can sing the proverbial phone book and writes tunes that are steeped in tradition in their tonal flavors. He moved from singing his and Will Indian's If Mama Ain't Happy that reminded me of a '50s Jerry Lee Lewis rocker to the ballad Rose Petals with a Louisiana swamp groove, like Matilda, that would impress a Conway Twitty fan with his vocals. He applied his substantial chromatic harp skills on the former and gets melodic riffs from his diatonic harp on the latter. A great deal of Rob Roy's harp licks worked the melodies of his tunes much more than simply blasting generic Chicago blues harp riffs. He proved that he could do that also, though, especially when he lit into That's What The Blues Is All About, co-written with Sarah Brown, when he offers up some Little Walterish stuff played acoustically at the vocal mic and hit the high end Jimmy Reed lick or two. Matter of fact, he evokes Reed's name within the lyrics of the song. The band gave it a Chuck Berry bounce with an infectious groove.


He also got down with it on Roy Brown's Lollipop Mama, most memorably performed my the late, great William Clarke, and he worked the harp hard, emphasizing the middle octave notes that wailed and hitting the low end to make it nice and fat. He turned Hector loose with the Strat and he absolutely smoked it. Before the song, Rob Roy introduced the tune as one recorded by William Clarke and the house was relatively silent when he asked if anyone was familiar with the deceased harp ace. Shame on them.


The band kept the crowd engaged during their hour and a half set. The folks were ready for a full band sound and were up dancing and prancing. They played good time music and the crowd had a good time moving to the grooving and they played most of what can be found on Let's Start Something that can be found on the Blue Rocket Record label. He ventured to Nashville to record the CD and he employed a slew of veterans such as guitarists Dave Milsap, Pennebaker, and Stephen Bruton; drummer Lynn Williams, keyboardist Kevin McKendree, bassist Steve Mackey and others that have graced stages with stars such as Delbert McClinton and brother Lee Roy (who spices the hell out one tune with his slide work). These tunes just flat harken back to the good old days that few folks are recording anymore. He hasn't been just Lee Roy Parnell's little bro anymore for awhile--Rob Roy's his own man making his own racket and I like it. Anyway--

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Rob Roy getting his '63 Fender Princeton & Fender Bassman Reissue lined up to crank up in the top photo. He got the reissue the first year that they came out, so it's been around the block a time or two. Then, there's the Bushdog with RR taken by son John, who admitted that he had a good time. BY THE WAY--all you good Aggies need to get out and get this CD from an A&M grad of '84.

Big Walter Horton

Bocce Boogie
Live 1978
Featuring Big Walter
Topcat Records

Oh, it's wonderful day in the neighborhood...when I run across something new that has Big Walter's harmonica featured so prominently as this live disc from 1978. Those of you that are students of the instrument need no introduction to Big Walter because you've got all his stuff. If you don't, then your blues music library is sorely lacking from the absence of the talents of the absolute tone master of the blues harp. This CD was recorded during the era that Walter was working with Johnnny Nicholas who has to be one of the most under appreciated blues guitarist out there. It's also during the same era that Walter played with quite a few pick up bands captured very well on the Little Boy Blue release with Sugar Ray Norcia's Blue Tones band with Ronnie "Youngblood" Earl doing quite the same thing that Jimmy Vaughan was doing down in Texas--picking some kind of authentic blues. Sugar Ray's band with Ted Harvey (drums), Mudcat Ward (bass)and Little Anthony (piano)joining Earl in kicking up a joyful noise at a party celebrating the marriage of Joan and George Nicholas at The Bocce Club in Rhode Island. Walter and Johnny take over this party, bigtime. Other than the opening standard, Every Day I Have The Blues, sung by Sugar Ray and a scorching closing instrumental by Earl, it is all about the interplay between Walter and Nicholas.

Big Walter nails his signature tunes, Walter's Boogie, La Cuaracha and Hard Hearted Woman with that fat, deep tone that is captured here very well. He throws in old time standards that he claims he hasn't played in decades such as Trouble In Mind and Don't Get Around Much Anymore. His singing has never been his strong suit, but his vocals were nice and strong for this party. As he says, "I'm in a good spirit and when I'm in a good spirit. Look out!" He sets about proving that statement and to me one of the values of the CD is his between song patter with the audience, establishing a party time connection.

It's the songs that I haven't heard from the Big Walter that are a revelation for me. He hijacks Willie Dixon's My Babe to make us forget Little Walter's version and make it his own as only he can and he takes Baby Please Don't Go out for a harp ride as well. I can't remember his Little Bitty Girl, and it may be on a recording I have, but it is a great tune and he cooks on it. When he's not the featured vocalist, then he is slamming out the tone backing up the proceedings. Nicholas provides substantial vocal chops on a couple of tunes and proves throughout that he knows how to swing the guitar behind a harp master.

I'll just stop here. If you want some 'mo Big Walter and none of us have enough, then go to www.topcatrecords.com and order directly from their website. I was extremely impressed with their prompt service. I almost ordered the Hollywood Fats with the Paladins CD because I KNOW what the Fatman can do with a guitar, but the budget needs a rest. Anyway--

P.S.--CAUTION: This recording was done on a reel to reel recorder with one microphone in a noisy club. I like it better than the Little Boy Blue live stuff. Think Magic Sam's Alex Club recordings--not hi-fi, but he left behind very little before he died, so it is valuable. I think Big Walter's harp comes through really well and that is the point. We don't have enough of his stuff and some of what is out there is way worse than this. THIS is not the place to begin a Big Walter collection. Snag Big Walter Horton With Carey Bell (Alligator), Chicago/The Blues Today! Vol. 3 (Vanguard), Fine Cuts (Blind Pig) and some of his first on Mouth Harp Maestro (Ace) or the Memphis Recordings (Kent) for starters. 'Tis all my opinion.